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​

 

[Fallen star]

Oh, definitely.

And heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Sigil gets a mention, or possibly even a small cameo, in Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.

It's worth noting that Sigil always has a grimey, run-down urban feel. This seems more shiny sparkles Disneyland, in the same way as Strixhaven and Witchlight. This must be what the surveys say modern players like.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

And I no longer trust the hints and signs. Until we get official confirmation I am more than a bit sceptic about us getting SJ and PS. As I wrote, with all transportation needs solved with the Radiant Citadel, I see no need for them. And it's not like WotC is flagging their urge to satisfy us grognards and our old dusty settings. If we get SJ I would not be surprised to see an earlier dangerous travel through Illithid-filled spheres replaced by a Dr Snuggles whimsy trip.

But enough of my nagging, I'm happy for all the gamers who will love the Scarlet Citadel.

The Radiant Citadel connects 15 civilitions to itself and a Demiplane (Ancestoral Lands) in it's crystal, it doesn't connect to all the inner, outer, mirror, or energy planes unlike Sigil, and it doesn't connect to wildspace unlike Spelljammers so no these settings aren't redundant.

They will want a Manual of the Planes eventually and that will likely be combined with Planescape (not this year). And we know Spelljammer is coming this year.

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

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.

I like very much the non combat option way of writing adventures. But the illustrations make me think that the non combat is identified with "furry tiny pets". Can we find a more equilibrated position?

 

[darjr]

Sigil is in the DMG. Isn’t it?

 

[Retreater]

Even considering there’s a mini-gazetteer for each world’s setting, plus layout for the Citadel itself and new monsters and such, I highly doubt the adventures are going to be 3 pages each.

I get this is hyperbole and such but why are you so salty about this book? I’m a huge Planescape fan as well but I’m also excited to see what’s gonna be in this one. New things are what keep the game interesting! It’s nice to see things branch out from the same calcified path the game has stuck to for ages and ages. Heck, even Sigil was once a brand new thing that I remember people back in the day complaining about because they preferred their old 1e Outer Planes that were nigh-unusable if you weren’t a high level character.

I thought the adventures in Candlekeep were disappointing and too short for anything more than a distraction during a regular game. And most of them were very lackluster with no actual adventure. Just "go here and talk to this guy and get this book, then come back."

Sure, but Candlekeep was very well received and reviewed. So it's not like this method of production necessarily leads to something undesirable.

It was? Compared to other stuff I've seen from WotC it seems to have quickly fallen off the radar.
There are people who will love anything with the D&D logo on it. Me, I'm pretty much the opposite. I don't like most of what they produce, which is fine. The past several years have been nothing but "psych up the old fans by suggesting something they want" then rip the rug out from under them by phoning in some freelance product.

 

[BookTenTiger]

It's worth noting that Sigil always has a grimey, run-down urban feel. This seems more shiny sparkles Disneyland, in the same way as Strixhaven and Witchlight. This must be what the surveys say modern players like.

I imagine punk Sigil was also what modern players liked at that time!

Honestly the art in recent books reflects the fan art I see on Reddit and other sites. I think it's matching up very well with the current generation of newer players.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I'm coming to believe they actively avoid Planescape.

Yeah.

We already know they want to connect all the settings and homogenize them all together. If they aren't going to use Sigil the City of Doors to that then yeah making a new happier fluffier 5th ed planar city seems more the target product.

 

[OblivionDrive]

And I no longer trust the hints and signs. Until we get official confirmation I am more than a bit sceptic about us getting SJ and PS. As I wrote, with all transportation needs solved with the Radiant Citadel, I see no need for them. And it's not like WotC is flagging their urge to satisfy us grognards and our old dusty settings. If we get SJ I would not be surprised to see an earlier dangerous travel through Illithid-filled spheres replaced by a Dr Snuggles whimsy trip.

But enough of my nagging, I'm happy for all the gamers who will love the Scarlet Citadel.

Except it doesn’t replace SJ or PS in any way. There’s a finite number of crystals that connect to a finite number of Prime worlds. At a single finite hub city floating in the Ethereal.

It’s not the huge omniversal nexus Sigil is, nor does it cover Wildspace travel between worlds like SJ does. Is there some overlap in themes? Sure. But it’s very limited unless the DM expands the Citadel beyond what they’ve outlined that it covers so far.

But I can’t stop you from being all doom and gloom. That’s a choice you have to make for yourself.

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

It reminds me of a mix between the Troll Market from Legends of Arcadia/Trollhunter and the Goblin Market from Hellboy II. Both of those things are awesome and make me more rather than less interested. Granted, the first show I mentioned is a kids show, but it's also Guillermo del Toro and full of the kind of whimsy I love. Grimdark is starting to get a bit stale for me frankly.

Maybe between it and grimdark we could find something...

 

[Zaukrie]

I like very much the non combat option way of writing adventures. But the illustrations make me think that the non combat is identified with "furry tiny pets". Can we find a more equilibrated position?

This. I like the idea of not having it all be combat, I'm not sure I love the implementation yet.