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​

 

[Parmandur]

I'm still reading through this thread so someone has probably addressed this, but;

• The Spalljammer UA is not being published in this book. There are no racial options being advertised here.
• The alternate cover is certainly not the alternate cover teased, with Boo (the space hamster) and a beholder.

I'm still pretty confident that Spelljammer is coming this year, IMO as the big campaign book (like Witchlight was last year). Dragonlance IMO will take the last book space for the year, and we also get the box leaked earlier. That's... five products for the year, fairly on track for the slate of products annually for WotC.

We also have a leaker onthe DNDLeaks Subreddit, confirmed by the mods, who called an Adventure compilation, followed by Spelljammer and Dragonlance books later in the year...who called that in February, well ahead of the Dragonlance UA, and nobody thought an Adventure compilation likely.

 

[Jer]

In fairness to @Paul Farquhar's point - at least in my memory of Planescape - the central tension of the setting was less alignment, and more "what does it mean to be an alive person who lives in the afterlife?"

That's interesting - to me it was about living in a world where belief really did change the universe. Alignment mattered because the planes were in struggle with each other and everyone was trying to shift the great wheel around to their own way of thinking. For us that was always front and center - I think the afterlife portions of the whole setting kind of faded into the background after a while for us.

 

[Yaarel]

The editorial oversight was that this should've been caught before it became a controversy, with clear guidelines, page count, etc. Give the writers an outline they're expected to follow, don't just let them write whatever they want and hope you can stick it in a book.
As far as the writers go, I certainly wish them the best. Anthologies are just such a mixed bag. If I'm spending this kind of money, I want to know that I'm going to get some consistent quality, theme, tone, etc., not just a grab bag of adventure shorts when I probably won't use 3/4ths of the adventures.
And I'm sorry for coming across like such a curmudgeon. I'm feeling disappointed in their offerings as of late.
Like this could've been a sourcebook for Planescape, with a full-on campaign to high levels with planar travel, epic showdowns. Instead, we're getting a grab-bag of unconnected adventure shorts by freelancers.
If people aren't disappointed in this announcement, I guess you're lucky.

My impression is, Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is a high quality product.

 

[Parmandur]

I soooooooo feel you there. I was expecting excited speculation, and got a substantial amount of unexpected grumpiness instead.

Well, we still have a lot of the fun stuff: I use the rest as a chance to improve my overall experience of the site.

 

[ersatzphil]

That's interesting - to me it was about living in a world where belief really did change the universe. Alignment mattered because the planes were in struggle with each other and everyone was trying to shift the great wheel around to their own way of thinking. For us that was always front and center - I think the afterlife portions of the whole setting kind of faded into the background after a while for us.

I would say it feels like we're describing two different faces of the same coin, but I suppose we almost literally are.

 

[Parmandur]

My impression is, Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is a high quality product.

Man, Ajit might be one of the best pitchman in RPGs, his enthusiasm is infectious while still instilling confidence in the professional level of the product.

 

[Micah Sweet]

WotC should keep an eye on the forum discussions . . . but take all the whining with copious amounts of salt. WotC does great customer surveys, and this is what should, and does, guide them. Grumpy gamers complaining has been a part of this hobby as long as I can remember, even back to the before-times, pre-internet. And it also exists in every fandom I've ever poked my head into, not just D&D.

It's fear of change. Fear of being left behind. Groundless fears, but very human ones.

Also keep in mind that its not always the same voices making contradictory complaints. The complaints only seem contradictory in the aggregate.

But . . . it's so tiring. I go through these threads for details on the upcoming products and to celebrate with fellow positive gamers . . . but my "ignore" list grows with each of these announcement threads as some of the cranky gamers just get to be too much.

I don't usually purchase adventures or adventure anthologies in dead tree formats, but this one has me excited! Both because of the very deliberate diversity push and the location of the Radiant Citadel and its connected realities sounds super neat!

What's groundless about being afraid of being left behind? People get left behind for one reason or another all the time. And the people who move forward usually say "good riddance ".

If you're happy about being catered to, I truly am happy you're happy. I also understand being tired of all the negativity. But hearing people gush over something that holds no interest you for time and time again isn't great either.

 

[Faolyn]

Union is an extraplanar city detailed in the 3E Epic Level Handbook. It exists within its own mysterious demiplane, and has connections all over the multiverse, similar to Sigil. As you might guess, it caters to high-level adventurers. To me, Union always felt like Sigil, but stripped of all flavor. YMMV. You can google wiki descriptions of the city without picking up the book itself.

Dis is the second layer of Hell, an infinite, hellish city ruled by Dispater, one of the archdevils, or Lords of the Nine. It has been described in many D&D books over the decades, but in relatively recent years has been given a more multiplanar hub feel . . . I think to facilitate your players going there.

Thanks on Union; I haven't read the Epic Level Handbook (except for a Let's Read, but that was ages ago). While I know of Dis, I didn't realize it had been made more hubbish.

 

[Yaarel]

In fairness to @Paul Farquhar's point - at least in my memory of Planescape - the central tension of the setting was less alignment, and more "what does it mean to be an alive person who lives in the afterlife?"

I never use used the Wheel in my campaigns.

Is Planescape like getting trapped in a movie, where all the NPCs are nonfreewill nonpersons playing out their story of bliss or damnation, and the player characters are the only real people?

 

[Cergorach]

No, the new format is for the two setting books, not this adventure anthology.

Boxed sets confirmed? ;-)