D&D 5E Journeys into the Radiant Citadel shows up in the wild!

[Mort]

I think you mean the second and third adventures, and, yes, they are quite dark. The first isn't dark at all, with it just being a marketplace squabble using fey creatures.

The 3rd and 4th level ones. I may have accidentally skipped over the first one - seeing it on D&D beyond so not always easy to tell!

 

[Guest 7034872]

Is it possible that Spelljammer and Planescape were too early and time was needed for their audience to arrive?

I think so. They departed from that Dark Ages/early Middle Ages feel that so many of us expected and wanted back in the 80s and early 90s, so it may be that they just didn't find the traction of which they were capable. Today, few players or DMs bat an eye over such departures. I've a hunch their kind of wildness appeals to the eclectic attitudes pervasive among gamers today.

That's my wholly uneducated guess, and I'm stickin' to it!

 

[Havrik Stoneskimmer]

I think so. They departed from that Dark Ages/early Middle Ages feel that so many of us expected and wanted back in the 80s and early 90s, so it may be that they just didn't find the traction of which they were capable. Today few players or DMs bat an eye over such departures. I've a hunch their kind of wildness appeals to the eclectic attitudes pervasive among gamers today.

That's my wholly uneducated guess, and I'm stickin' to it!

Maybe... though I was really into Ravenloft in the mid '90s, and I played in a somewhat short-lived but memorable Planescape campaign. Even back then there were a lot of people interested in D&D with a different twist from "orcs and ogres".

 

[Demetrios1453]

It's interesting that adventures 2, 3, and 4 take place within the backdrop of a local festival. I've seen some complaints elsewhere about how that's repetitive, but actually, that makes stringing together the first few adventures very easy. The party can simply be guards for a merchant who travels via the Radiant Citadel to these festivals, and who is fine with them doing what they want once their destination is reached. Adventure 1 is easy to pull into this as well - either the merchant needs something from the Night Market and sends the party there, or the merchant is from the Night Market originally, likely one of the food vendors that are the focus of that adventure and who is setting up a mobile food cart to expand business by traveling to these festivals, and who has hired the party in gratitude for resolving that conflict.

This falls apart by adventure 5, which doesn't feature a festival (although one is mentioned as potential hook), but it's at least a good start if you want to run these as a continuous campaign. And, from a quick page-through, a couple of the later adventures do again take place with a festival backdrop...

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Got a nice stack of the variant cover and a sizable pile of the regular cover on my new RPG shelf right now!

 

[Parmandur]

Been flipping through my copy tonight: great art, love the maps, some of these dungeons are wild.

The suggestions for how to use the microsettings in existing Settings are fascinating: they always give the standard Radiant Citadel iteration, and two old school D&D options. I've seen suggestions for FR, Greyhawk, Ravenloft, Eberron, and...Mystarra. The blurb suggests putting the Empire of Great Xing to the West of the Republic of Darokin.

 

[overgeeked]

Has anyone compiled a list of the specific real-world cultures these adventures draw from? I haven't tracked down every single interview or video to find out. I know there's Mexico with Hollow Mine and Bangladesh with Mists of Manivarsha. But that's it.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Is it possible that Spelljammer and Planescape were too early and time was needed for their audience to arrive?

Definitely the case with Spelljammer.

Planescape - no, that was of its time, and found its audience, all be it a rather narrow one.

 

[Parmandur]

Has anyone compiled a list of the specific real-world cultures these adventures draw from? I haven't tracked down every single interview or video to find out. I know there's Mexico with Hollow Mine and Bangladesh with Mists of Manivarsha. But that's it.

Sure, see below, the missing elements here is the second Gazateeer only Setting in the back is Japanese, Sins of Our Elders is Korean, and Gold for Fools & Princes is West African:

I don't know if folks have pinned each adventure to their author (and likely cultural inspiration) yet, so I'm going to try and piece it together!

Salted Legacy - Surena Marie (Thailand)
Written in Blood - Erin Roberts (US Black South)
The Fiend of Hollow Mine - Mario Ortegon (Northern Mexico)
The Wages of Vice - TK Johnson (Louisiana, Caribbean)
Sins of Our Elders - Stephanie Yoon
Gold for Fools and Princes - Dominique Dickey
Trail of Destruction - Alastor Guzman (Mesoamerica)
In the Mists of Manivarsha - Mimi Mondal (Bengal, Gangaridai, Sundarbans, Ratargul, Assam, Purulia, Bagan, Myanmar)
Between Tangled Roots - Pam Punzalan (Luzan, Philippines)
Shadow of the Sun - Justice Ramin Arman (Iran)
The Nightsea's Succor - Fox Harrell (African American)
Buried Dynasty - Felice Kuan (China)
Orchids of the Invisible Mountain - Terry Hope Romero (Venezuela)
The Radiant Citadel itself - Ajit George
Beyond the Radiant Citadel (gazetteer) - Basheer Ghouse (India, Mughal Empire and Thughluq Dynasty)
Beyond the Radiant Citadel (gazetteer) - Jane Miyuki

Before you ask, I used only the culture/nations names used by the authors themselves in their own tweets. I used their words, so please don't @ me!

These adventures also seem to be in order (roughly) by level. Shadow of the Sun is 11 level, for example.

 

[overgeeked]

Sure, see below, the missing elements here is the second Gazateeer only Setting in the back is Japanese, Sins of Our Elders is Korean, and Gold for Fools & Princes is West African:

Awesome. Thank you.