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​

 

[Scribe]

And I think you have just answered why WotC are not using Sigil.

Yep, I think you are correct.

 

[Micah Sweet]

All the complaints are exactly why WotC ignores all of us. Because there is no consistency with anything anyone says here. It's the exact same caterwauling that they have heard over the last 7 years.

- Some people want these books written by "established" writers. While other people just want the properties opened up on DMs Guild-- so that all kinds of material can be written for them by what would be a whole heap of non-established writers.

- Some people want classic material updated and produced for 5E. While other people can't stand any of the modernization of the classical material when it DOES get updated for 5E.

- Some people are sick and tired of retreaded material and want WotC to finally produce something new and original not based upon any previous established IP. While other people can't stand that something new has been made that is taking a slot or pushing back an established IP that they want to see made for some reason... despite the fact they probably wouldn't like what got made for that IP when it came out anyway.

- Some people are desperate for WotC to stop putting everything they make into the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms and to go somewhere different. While other people think that putting this weird location in the Deep Ethereal not connected to anything done previously is a waste.

- Some people hate the idea of WotC having produced nothing but long campaign adventures that take characters from 1-15. While others see a compilation of small adventures-- adventures that in fact aren't even re-prints from adventures written previously and instead are completely new-- aren't useful to their needs and make them want to "walk away" from D&D.

This is all some of the most comical and ridiculous commentary that we see here on EN World over and over and over and over. And yet it never changes, LOL. And for all the times we see people here post "Well, I guess it's time I walk away from D&D because they aren't producing what I want anymore"... they sure do keep showing up post after post every time a new book gets announced. I don't even know why they even bother making these woe-is-me-my-time-with-D&D-is-almost-over posts, seeing as how WotC hasn't been listening to us for years so the posts are all falling on deaf ears anyway. Heh heh...

My time with D&D is far from over, but my money to WotC might be. They are the IP holder though, and 3rd parties I do like still take their cues from them, so I am motivated to comment on things they do I don't like (which, granted, is a lot lately).

 

[Micah Sweet]

Upon further reflection, this is what I've asked for.

"Make new stuff, leave the old stuff alone."

The 'modern player' can keep it.

You know, you're right. I'd rather they made new stuff that all the new players they've chasing can buy, and leave the old stuff alone. WotC and I can do our own things.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

As for the optimistic tone, I think at least a certain portion of Gen Z and Millenial creatives have just suffered from doom & gloom burn out. Science fiction in particular has been mostly bleak and depressing for as long as I can remember (I'm thirty-three), but you can look back at the early days of sci-fi and see a lot of hope for the future and humanity. Cynicism in media came about as a reaction to optimism but also resulted in a dearth of aspirational works, possibly even contributing to a lack of hope for the real world and humanity. It's not surprising that more optimistic and aspirational works would be created as a reaction to a prevailing trend of cynicism.

Good science fiction is almost always a reflection of its time and its problems, or lack thereof.
And the golden eras of optimistic and positive western sci-fi correlates to eras where the western, privileged world was optimistic about the future.

What may be viewed as dark, doom and gloom is also a reflection of real world collective anxiety. And at least for me personally an overly fluffy-happy and overcolorated fictional world is a panic reaction to a seriously dystopian reality.

But that was a sidetrack, back to nagging about the current book ;-)

 

[RobJN]

Between this, Candlekeep, and the Matt Mercer book, does WotC even write anything anymore - or just farming out everything to freelancers?

It worked for much of the D&D line in the 80s and 90s

 

[darjr]

 

[Scribe]

And at least for me personally an overly fluffy-happy and overcolorated fictional world is a panic reaction to a seriously dystopian reality.

Nail on the head.

And with that, back to lurking.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Sadly, I don’t still have my 2e SJ boxes anymore. And beyond that, it would be nice to see some new/updated ship designs regardless.

Some folks complain about updated setting info but I don’t count myself among them. The Ravenloft changes didn’t bother me one bit. YMMV of course. I do think some elements, like the Unhuman Wars or the Imperial Elves will likely get changed given current attitudes toward the non-Demi human races, but who can say? I don’t see anything being changed “beyond recognition” though. But I guess everyone’s definition of that varies too because a lot of folks claim that’s what happened to Ravenloft and I don’t really agree there.

Not having the 2e stuff anymore stinks. Especially since even if you buy the PDFs now, a lot of the time they don't come with the maps and plans.

When I sold all my 2e (well, really my pre-WotC) stuff 20-odd years ago, what I kept was the Al-Qadim and Spelljammer stuff, plus an odd book like the Illithiad here and there - and I still regret selling a lot of the stuff I got rid of!

I guess overall with Spelljammer, I feel most of the setting is actually contained in other settings; characters from Krynn or Toril or Oerth coming into space, for example. Obviously there are exceptions, like the Astromundi Cluster and the Rock of Bral, but overall I personally don't see much need for new PC options.

But then, that's also my approach in general, and I have the luxury of still possessing the 2e box sets.

As far as monsters go, I agree that more is better than less, but the most important ones are already taken care of. And by that, of course, I mean the giant space hamsters, available for 5e courtesy of yours truly.

Giant Hamsters From Outer Space!

 

[Demetrios1453]

The Next D&D Adventure Book is a Vibrant, Personal Multicultural Anthology

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel is a planar portal fantasy with thirteen adventures written entirely by people of color.

gizmodo.com

A really thorough article that addesses the tone issues. Yes, there is light and fluffy, but there's also some darker stuff in the adventures..

 

[Nebulous]

That's a whole different adventure!

I'm prepping Scarlet Citadel! I am unabashedly a Kobold Press fanboy.