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​

 

[whimsychris123]

Looks like it’s some kind of ceremonial path. Either for the walkers to experience or the watchers to enforce.
Or maybe it covers specific areas over the ground that needs watching?!

My latest theory is that it has to do with the “invisible mountain” from the adventure entitled Orchids of the Invisible Mountain.

 

[Malmuria]

Small one-shot adventures are fine for what they are. Sure you can fit them anywhere and fill a session or too that’s great. There is a reason for that though. Where is the slowly unfolding mystery revealed a layer at a time? They lack depth, they don’t build on existing NPC relationships, develop places you’ve already started to explore or provide a narrative arc (without the DM writing these things in themselves)… that’s how they can be slotted in anywhere.

You mean like this?

Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep | Dungeons & Dragons

Explore Exandria like never before in Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep, an adventure bursting with lore and all-new art inspired by the campaigns of Critical Role.

dnd.wizards.com

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Because it’s another anthology of bite sized adventurettes that don’t make a campaign no matter how you stick the name of a single location in the title. Just like Yawning Portal adventures had nothing in common, and Candlekeep was only superficially linked.

Small one-shot adventures are fine for what they are. Sure you can fit them anywhere and fill a session or too that’s great. There is a reason for that though. Where is the slowly unfolding mystery revealed a layer at a time? They lack depth, they don’t build on existing NPC relationships, develop places you’ve already started to explore or provide a narrative arc (without the DM writing these things in themselves)… that’s how they can be slotted in anywhere.

They’re not campaigns, and I seriously miss the unified, structural, crafted campaigns we saw in the first five years of 5e. Anthologies with multiple writers are much easier to publish I’m sure and require a lot less thought. I have no doubt there will be some useful stuff. I just see them as a poor alternative to the heady heights of Tomb of Annihilation, Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd.

I fear nothing I’ve seen in the last two years makes me think we can return to those days. That’s disappointing as I would have hoped to we would have got at least one slam-dunk in that period.

You're complaining about an apple not being an orange. The reason they don't "make a campaign" is because that's not the point of the product. They have other products for that (Netherdeep, Witchlight, Rime of the Frostmaiden, Descent into Avernus, Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihiliation, etc). This product is for gathering smaller adventures that can be easily placed into another campaign and used to fill up a few sessions with minimal prep work necessary (which is especially helpful for new DMs that just want to introduce their friends into the hobby without having to design their own adventures or commit to a giant campaign like the other books have).

This is like complaining that the sample adventures in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount and Eberron: Rising from the Last War don't make a whole campaign. That's a valid reason not to buy the adventures, but not a valid reason to criticize their existence. These types of adventures are generally good at what they're intended for. Fitting together into a cohesive narrative that can fill a whole year-long campaign is simply not what these types of books are designed for, and that's absolutely not a flaw with the books.

Also . . . have you not been keeping up with new releases? Because WotC has absolutely published unified, structural, crafted campaigns like they did in the first five years of 5e. Obviously this is subjective, but IMO, Netherdeep and Witchlight are just hands-down superior adventures to quite a few of the first adventures released for D&D 5e (Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse, Storm King's Thunder, Out of the Abyss). A lot of those early adventures were just absolute messes.

Curse of Strahd is genuinely great, and I also love Tomb of Annihilation, even with all of its glaring flaws. However, WotC is still publishing good adventures, some of them even superior to their early ones.

 

[Parmandur]

Because it’s another anthology of bite sized adventurettes that don’t make a campaign no matter how you stick the name of a single location in the title. Just like Yawning Portal adventures had nothing in common, and Candlekeep was only superficially linked.

Small one-shot adventures are fine for what they are. Sure you can fit them anywhere and fill a session or too that’s great. There is a reason for that though. Where is the slowly unfolding mystery revealed a layer at a time? They lack depth, they don’t build on existing NPC relationships, develop places you’ve already started to explore or provide a narrative arc (without the DM writing these things in themselves)… that’s how they can be slotted in anywhere.

They’re not campaigns, and I seriously miss the unified, structural, crafted campaigns we saw in the first five years of 5e. Anthologies with multiple writers are much easier to publish I’m sure and require a lot less thought. I have no doubt there will be some useful stuff. I just see them as a poor alternative to the heady heights of Tomb of Annihilation, Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd.

I fear nothing I’ve seen in the last two years makes me think we can return to those days. That’s disappointing as I would have hoped to we would have got at least one slam-dunk in that period (No Witchlight and Strixhaven were absolutely not slam dunks for me, and judging by the recent thread on review data not for a lot of people]

I'm not trying to rag on you, but I am genuinely fascinated that we have reached the point of 5E Grognard feelings...and 5E is still in print!

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I'm not trying to rag on you, but I am genuinely fascinated that we have reached the point of 5E Grognard feelings...and 5E is still in print!

If memory serves (and it increasing doesn't these days) one need 10 years in the ranks before being eligible to be a member of the Old Guard. I would reckon the same minimum requirements for 5e Grognards. Was there a nickname for the Young Guard? What is French for mutterer? We need a name for aspiring Grngnards that have not attained the required 10 years service.

 

[Scribe]

You mean like this?

I'd need to see more of the art first, to see if it passes the dark and grim check.

 

[J.Quondam]

If memory serves (and it increasing doesn't these days) one need 10 years in the ranks before being eligible to be a member of the Old Guard. I would reckon the same minimum requirements for 5e Grognards. Was there a nickname for the Young Guard? What is French for mutterer? We need a name for aspiring Grngnards that have not attained the required 10 years service.

groglings?
grognitos?
grogpoles?

 

[Azzy]

They’re not campaigns, and I seriously miss the unified, structural, crafted campaigns we saw in the first five years of 5e. Anthologies with multiple writers are much easier to publish I’m sure and require a lot less thought. I have no doubt there will be some useful stuff. I just see them as a poor alternative to the heady heights of Tomb of Annihilation, Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd.

Tons of people (on these very boards) have complained about campaign-length adventures and said they wanted shorter adventures. Then Yawning Portal happened, and people said they wanted more. Blame your fellow ENWorlders.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

grognitos

This is my vote.

 

[TheSword]

You're complaining about an apple not being an orange. The reason they don't "make a campaign" is because that's not the point of the product. They have other products for that (Netherdeep, Witchlight, Rime of the Frostmaiden, Descent into Avernus, Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihiliation, etc). This product is for gathering smaller adventures that can be easily placed into another campaign and used to fill up a few sessions with minimal prep work necessary (which is especially helpful for new DMs that just want to introduce their friends into the hobby without having to design their own adventures or commit to a giant campaign like the other books have).

This is like complaining that the sample adventures in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount and Eberron: Rising from the Last War don't make a whole campaign. That's a valid reason not to buy the adventures, but not a valid reason to criticize their existence. These types of adventures are generally good at what they're intended for. Fitting together into a cohesive narrative that can fill a whole year-long campaign is simply not what these types of books are designed for, and that's absolutely not a flaw with the books.

Also . . . have you not been keeping up with new releases, because WotC has absolutely published unified, structural, crafted campaigns like they did in the first five years of 5e. Obviously this is subjective, but IMO, Netherdeep and Witchlight are just hands-down superior adventures to quite a few of the first adventures released for D&D 5e (Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse, Storm King's Thunder, Out of the Abyss). A lot of those early adventures were just absolute messes.

Curse of Strahd is genuinely great, and I also love Tomb of Annihilation, even with all of its glaring flaws. However, WotC is still publishing good adventures, some of them even superior to their early ones.

So essentially we agree on your core point. Yes this book is an apple, and I prefer oranges. I’ll eat apples from time to time, but I already have a cellar full of apples and don’t need any more of them.

Witchlight is definitely a marmite product. Fae have a pretty specific style and they clearly wanted to write something more whimsical as well as catering to a younger audience. Which is fine they shouldn’t try and keep everyone happy every time it’s a fools errand.

Critical Role too is pretty polarizing. You either like that world or you don’t. I don’t expect everyone to like Eberron or Planescape either.

Strix haven, either your cup of tea or not.

To my mind they had a structure that worked, a kitchen sink campaign setting with unified campaigns that could easily be based into that world or repurposed as needed. They’ve taken a step away from that in the last two years. I was just hoping they would shift back to it. They haven’t. I understand why, I’m just not happy about it.

I totally get that we fundamentally disagree on this. I’m just sharing my opinion, rather than trying to start an argument.