D&D 5E The Next D&D Book is JOURNEYS THROUGH THE RADIANT CITADEL

We peered, poked, squinted, flipped, and enhanced the teaser image that WotC put out last week, and it turns out we got it right -- the next book is, indeed, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.

Wraparound cover art by Evyn Fong​

Through the mists of the Ethereal Plane shines the Radiant Citadel. Travelers from across the multiverse flock to this mysterious bastion to share their traditions, stories, and calls for heroes. A crossroads of wonders and adventures, the Radiant Citadel is the first step on the path to legend. Where will your journeys take you?

Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is a collection of thirteen short, stand-alone D&D adventures featuring challenges for character levels 1–14. Each adventure has ties to the Radiant Citadel, a magical city with connections to lands rich with excitement and danger, and each can be run by itself or as part of an ongoing campaign. Explore this rich and varied collection of adventures in magical lands.

• Thirteen new stand-alone adventures spanning levels 1 to 14, each with its own set of maps
• Introduces the Radiant Citadel, a new location on the Ethereal Plane that connects adventurers to richly detailed and distinct corners of the D&D multiverse
• Each adventure can be set in any existing D&D campaign setting or on worlds of your own design
• Introduces eleven new D&D monsters
• There’s a story for every adventuring party, from whimsical and light to dark and foreboding and everything in between

Slated for June 21st (update - I just got a press release which says it's June 21st "in North American stores"; I'm not sure what that means for the rest of us!), it's a 224-page adventure anthology featuring a floating city called the Radiant Citadel. The book is written entirely by people of colour, including Ajit George, who was the first person of Indian heritage to write Indian-inspired material for D&D (in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft). Around 50 POC writers were involved in total in various ways.

The Radiant Citadel is on the ethereal plane and is carved from the giant fossil of an unknown monster. A massive gemstone called the Royal Diamond sits at the core, surrounded by a bunch of smaller Concord Jewels, which are gateways to the Citadel's founding civilizations. DMs can link any world to the citadel by placing a Concord Jewel there.

The Citadel, unlike many D&D locations, is more of a sanctuary than a place of danger. The book's alternate cover features a Dawn Incarnate, a creature which is the embodiment of stories and cultures.

D&D 5E - Here's Radiant Citadel's press release

Dropped in my inbox a short while ago, if you want the official announcement. It's the same info as in the news article on the front page. Dungeons & Dragons Invites You to Explore the Radiant Citadel Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel is a new collection of short adventures set in wondrous...

www.enworld.org

The adventures are as follows:

• Salted Legacy
• Written In Blood
• The Fiend of Hollow Mine
• Wages of Vice
• Sins of Our Elders
• Gold for Fools and Princes
• Trail of Destruction
• In the Mists of Manivarsha
• Between Tangled Roots
• Shadow of the Sun
• The Nightsea’s Succor
• Buried Dynasty
• Orchids of the Invisible Mountain

UPDATE -- the press release contains a list of some of the contributors: "Justice Ramin Arman, Dominique Dickey, Ajit A. George, Basheer Ghouse, Alastor Guzman, D. Fox Harrell, T.K. Johnson, Felice Tzehuei Kuan, Surena Marie, Mimi Mondal, Mario Ortegón, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Pam Punzalan, Erin Roberts, Terry H. Romero, Stephanie Yoon, and many more."

Regular cover by Even Fong

Alternate Cover by Sija Hong​

 

[Weiley31]

So, the Radiant Citadel is basically the "modern" Sigil of 5E, while also being similar to one of those Pit-Stop rest zones you come across on the highway sometimes when traveling.

"Hey, wanna take a trip to Sigil? I hear it's the center of the Multi-Verse?"

"Nah, just drop me off at the Radiant Citadel man."

And like the Haregon, it shares the distinction of being a completely new add-on to Dungeons and Dragons as a whole. Sure, the location is already established but the Venue is something new entirely.

I see nothing wrong with it at all and welcome it.

 

[OblivionDrive]

Undertale was a success for a reason. Kids these days like to engage problems in different ways, and if D&D is able to support it, I don't see that as a problem. It means the game is flexible.

I’ve seen so many people grouse about how D&D doesn’t do anything but encourage solutions through combat and that the other pillars of gameplay are underrepresented in a mechanics sense. The second we start seeing moves to address that more, OTHER folks get mad that there’s less than 100% “killing people solves every problem” in a new book. It’s just weird to me honestly. I would love to see more books offer solutions that don’t just involve a combat slog. Then again, I would also like to see more classes festooned with “ribbon” abilities that do more than just enhance combat too.

 

[Maxperson]

Press release: "There’s a story for every adventuring party, from whimsical and light to dark and foreboding and everything in between"

Grumpy Old Men: "It's all fluffy! It's California! Childish! Give us Sigil, you cowards! Fluffy!"

Hey! I feel like I should be offended at that, but I'm not sure why.

~ Grumpy Californian

 

[OblivionDrive]

worships Lady of Pain doll

gets to a minimum safe distance from you in case that Flaying Gaze has splash damage

 

[Steampunkette]

This book also has no less then 3 Gazeteers, one for the Radiant Citadel, one each for the new lands. So I think the book will be bigger then Candlekeep, were talking no less then a hundred pages of Gazeteers, plus like you said roughly six pages of monsters, and 13 adventures.

A HUNDRED pages of Gazeteers? No.

Take a look at Candlekeep and it's Gazeteer.

MAYBE you'll get 10 pages of Gazetteer on the Radiant Citadel itself, like you do on Candlekeep. But each adventure is going to be it's own self-contained story in what looks like different locations based on the actual stories involved. "In the Mists of Manivarsha", for example, reads to me like a Ravenloft adventure. You'll get a little primer on Manivarsha as part of the adventure, maybe a map of the Realm of Dread itself...

Dunno where you got the idea that a 224 page book (Confirmed by Morrus) would be 100 pages of Setting and around 100 pages of adventure for 13 separate adventures.

 

[TwoSix]

Invincible perfect jackhole the universe thinks is great and awesome despite not earning it?

I know what it means, mate.

Earn it? She's the Lady of Pain, she's a fundamental force of the multiverse. She didn't earn her power any more than a supermassive black hole "earned" its mass.

 

[Scribe]

It could've been Planescape.

I'm coming to believe they actively avoid Planescape.

 

[Nebulous]

More "cute and fluffy D&D?"
I dislike the aesthetic of D&D these days - displacer beast kittens, flying lemurs, etc. It makes it look childish. Couple that with "talking through problems with the bad guys" from recent campaigns, and I'm not interested at all.
It could've been Planescape.

Agreed. I'm still holding out for Spelljammer to exceed my expectations. Or Darksun.

 

[Morrus]

There was all that controversy with the freelancer PanzerLion. It could've been the writer with sour grapes, but it doesn't seem like the freelancers have much freedom in design. Which I understand, but it does show that creativity isn't valued in these endeavors.

Candlekeep Mysteries Author Accuses D&D Publisher Of Adding "Colonialist Language" To His Work

Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast has come under fire by one of the contributors of the recently released Candlekeep Mysteries.

www.thegamer.com

I'm aware of that controversy (which, ironically, was about the opposite of a lack of editorial oversight, which is what you claimed). That quote you used doesn't appear anywhere.

I don't know what's bugged you here, but you're just making stuff up. It's not fair to the writers.

 

[Mezuka]

First, I don't like the illustration style of both covers. Secondly, I'll have to look at the book at the gaming store to make up my mind if I have use for the adventures themselves. Finally, I hope the Radiant Citadel is detailed and not just a name with very brief descriptions leaving all the heavy lifting to the DM.