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​

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm playing a warlock in Level Up, whose patron is the spirit of the city.

Is that a Level Up archetype or is that using an existing warlock subclass? It's a compelling one and I can't quite map it to any I know.

 

[Marandahir]

Is that a Level Up archetype or is that using an existing warlock subclass? It's a compelling one and I can't quite map it to any I know.

Can't speak for Arilyn, but there was a Warlock Patron in the early days of 5e Unearthed Arcana called "The Ghost in the Machine" - designed to support cyberpunk urban fantasy. August 2015 - "Modern Magic" - it was the 7th UA published.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is why every module in the book is written by a person who identifies as a member of a minority group - the idea is to raise up voices and make it an inclusive place where everyone has a place. This isn't Game of Thrones; it's not trying to tackle racism or sexism or any other isms or phobias via portraying how awful they are so that the heroes can bash fantasy-Nazis.

A bunch of the adventures are about tackling real-world evil, but they're more "the damages wrought by colonialism" than they are "punch an SS officer in the mouth."

What conflicts can arise in a setting that is essentially Good? What does Marvel's Wakanda (on a good day) or Star Wars: The High Republic (at least, before the end of Phase I) look like in a D&D setting? There ARE conflicts to be had and perhaps even more interesting storytelling opportunities than you'd get if you just did another Sigil or Ravnica-type Nexus Hub.

Absolutely. It doesn't take much effort to realize that even fundamentally good people won't agree all the time and deeply felt beliefs by good people can lead to conflict, even war. (Many traditional settings have featured elves and dwarves fighting in the past, for an easy example.)

 

[Marandahir]

A bunch of the adventures are about tackling real-world evil, but they're more "the damages wrought by colonialism" than they are "punch an SS officer in the mouth."

Absolutely. It doesn't take much effort to realize that even fundamentally good people won't agree all the time and deeply felt beliefs by good people can lead to conflict, even war. (Many traditional settings have featured elves and dwarves fighting in the past, for an easy example.)

Sorry, yeah, I couldn't remember if they took that tact too. Still Solarpunk, in the same way Black Panther is a solar punk work and yet broaches issues of racism and colonialism etc. The setting's hidden world Afro-Futurist science-fantasy utopia is quite analogous to Radiant Citadel. Note that these real-world evil adventures are OUTSIDE the Citadel itself; I presume this separation of utopia and conflict was as much about trying to keep these things from distilling the magic of the safe space, almost akin to how Frodo & friends have to leave the Shire to protect the Shire (and do so nigh-completely in the movies; the book had a bit of a different message and setting thesis with the final chapters).

 

[Arilyn]

Is that a Level Up archetype or is that using an existing warlock subclass? It's a compelling one and I can't quite map it to any I know.

It's from the Zeitgeist book for Level Up.
The warlock can commune with city for info, and at a level I'm not at yet, shop from a distance, within city bounds.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's from the Zeitgeist book for Level Up.
The warlock can commune with city for info, and at a level I'm not at yet, shop from a distance, within city bounds.

That is really fun.

There need to be more generic 5E urban supplements. (And Kobold Press needs to magically finish up theirs and give it to me already.)

 

[Ruin Explorer]

So, we explicitly have that the poorest people pay nothing, or have to make an approved trade in order to be able to stay. No one is getting in for free.

I mean the entire problem is, if that quote is correct, that is absolutely not explicit.

The entire quote is vague as hell, and entirely excludes the main "use case" for adventurers, which is that they're rich AND not that keen on giving away what they have to total and utter strangers who are demanding some unspecified amount of money from them with menaces and threats. Why would you give more than explicitly required to strangers? It doesn't make any sense. Why not specify how much? Doesn't make any sense.

And trying to tax or charge adventurers to get into somewhere that doesn't offer them some kind of obvious benefit? That's utter madness. It doesn't matter whether your group is members of an actual commune, or a total bunch of rule-following accountants of a centrist liberal persuasion, or wild and wooly libertarians ranchers, they're not going to like it! They're probably just not going to go in! This isn't their people, these are threatening strangers.

They should have applied the tax strictly to traders, rather than implying it applies to everyone.

So that quote a huge damn problem.

It specifies two things - one fine, one dumb as hell.

The fine one - there big import taxes - makes utter sense. All sorts of trade hubs do similar things. Very common.

There's a fee for individuals to enter the hub. Absolutely demented. Almost entirely without historical precedence. Makes no sense whatsoever, and worst of all, is like kicking an adventurer directly in the crotch and insulting their mother, and expecting to get a good result. Someone on the team should have put the nix on that. This is dumbass MCU flavour of fantasy, where the actual consequences and logic are thrown out the window for what is essentially window-dressing, rather than anthropologically-inspired, rational, heartfelt of LeGuin.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm not sure why taxes are handwaved in the case of Cormyr (or Sharn or Ansalon or Greyhawk) but @Azenis insists it has to be played out in the Radiant Citadel. This isn't a unique issue and I have a hard time seeing it as a defining element of the Radiant Citadel setting.

What do you mean handwaved?

People loathe Cormyr because of the taxes. I've seen basically Good-aligned parties get into running battles with the Purple Dragons because of the taxes and the enforcement of various idiot laws in Cormyr. Sheesh I think there's a 1E or early 2E adventure which basically assumes the party will get into a squabble with Cormyr's law-and-order over the taxes and uses a solution to that to motivate the adventures (Azure Bonds even maybe? Maybe not, dunno.)

I have no awareness of any taxes in Sharn, and Anaslon and Greyhawk are entire settings so I think it's extremely unfair of you to expect even a super-nerd like me to know what the heck you're talking about there! Certainly I don't recall any situations were you get robbed by powerful strangers to even get into a place. Where there have been fees it's been nominal in my experience - where the fees aren't - like Cormyr, unhappiness for everyone ensues.

Taxing every individual a vague and undefined amount which you can be punished for guessing wrong on is absolutely unique to the Radiant Citadel. That's wild stuff man. Wild. It's hostile and tricky. I won't say deceptive or dishonest quite, because it's their culture and it probably makes sense to them, but it's pretty messed-up. You can tell it's undefined from the language used, too, which just makes it extra-bad. They don't just come out and say "For you 550gp", they just say "pay up", and you get it wrong, welp, too bad, you're in trouble.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I mean the entire problem is, if that quote is correct, that is absolutely not explicit.

It's the copy and paste of the Radiant Citadel setting that everyone got on D&D Beyond for free before it was released. Did everyone not grab that? I even got the super-cheesy Spelljammer Academy, which I have zero chance of ever running.

The entire quote is vague as hell, and entirely excludes the main "use case" for adventurers, which is that they're rich AND not that keen on giving away what they have to total and utter strangers who are demanding some unspecified amount of money from them with menaces and threats. Why would you give more than explicitly required to strangers? It doesn't make any sense. Why not specify how much? Doesn't make any sense.

The stuff talking about merchants doesn't talk about adventurers, but just merchants? That's true.

But "visitors to the Radiant Citadel pay a toll to enter" is clear. Poverty stricken visitors pay with something other than money, subject to approval by the incarnates.

The voluntary extra donations don't apply to anyone who doesn't want to give more. I would expect it's mostly paladins (who until relatively recently were still supposed to tithe 10% of their wealth to their character's church) and people wanting publicity to do so.

And trying to tax or charge adventurers to get into somewhere that doesn't offer them some kind of obvious benefit?

If you don't pay, you are not allowed in the citadel. It's spelled out: "If their toll is accepted, the visitor is allowed to stay in the Citadel."

It's an admission fee.

Wandering around the Ethereal Plane is free. Entry into safe haven is not.

It doesn't matter whether your group is a total bunch of rule-following accountants of a centrist liberal persuasion, or wild and wooly libertarians ranchers, they're not going to like it! They're probably just not going to go in!

If your PCs have never had to pay a toll to cross a river or ride a ferry or enter into the City-State of the Whathisface, I am mildly surprised.

They should have applied the tax strictly to traders, rather than implying it applies to everyone.

It doesn't imply that: "High tariffs on imports keep the public coffers full, but the Speakers lower or remove tariffs for civilizations in trouble. Similarly, visitors to the Radiant Citadel pay a toll to enter."

If it were me, I'd have made the visitors sentence be the start of another paragraph, but it's clearly talking about a different group of people.

There's a fee for individuals to enter the hub. Absolutely demented. Almost entirely without historical precedence.

Gate tolls were apparently a thing in the middle ages.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

But "visitors to the Radiant Citadel pay a toll to enter" is clear. Poverty stricken visitors pay with something other than money, subject to approval by the incarnates.

The voluntary extra donations don't apply to anyone who doesn't want to give more. I would expect it's mostly paladins (who until relatively recently were still supposed to tithe 10% of their wealth to their character's church) and people wanting publicity to do so.

That's just not correct. The text disagrees with you.

This is EXACTLY THE PROBLEM with stuff that isn't explicit!!!

Here's the text, as you quoted:

Similarly, visitors to the Radiant Citadel pay a toll to enter. Those who come with nothing except good will pay no fee. Those with big pockets and big hearts give more according to their conscience rather than risk the rebuke of the city’s guards. Rich and poor alike can instead offer something unique that might be to the liking of the Incarnates, such as a lost song, a secret tale, or a rare piece of art. Those who choose this option may present their gift to the Dawn Incarnate of their choice. If their toll is accepted, the visitor is allowed to stay in the Citadel.

So we can establish some things:

1) Anyone can choose to try and pay by coming out with some kind of song or whatever. Not just poor people.

2) Poor people don't have to pay at all. Cool, irrelevant to adventurers.

3) People who aren't dirt-poor have to pay, but it's entirely unclear how much, it very much appears that you don't know how much, and you "risk the rebuke of the city's guards", if you get it wrong. What that even means? Absolutely unclear.

Nothing is explicit here. Very little is well-explained. This is like something you'd write if you were intentionally trying to cause a problem, especially when neurodiverse people get involved. I think that's a bit ironic given the supposed good intentions of Radiant Citadel and the writers - they created a situation likely totally screw over neurodiverse people (which very much includes the players, here) and people who have trouble with social cues.

It's like why can't they be up front about it? They know how much they'll accept from you. The only reason I can see if they're hoping people will "overcharge" themselves in order to get into more swiftly, rather than saying "301gp? No. Okay. 302gp? Still no?" and so on for the rest of eternity.

As for gate tolls, the ENTIRE POINT of those is that they're explicit, and if they're not, they're deeply corrupt. They're not like "guess the number or we'll get mad" bollocks like this is. This is absolutely quarter-baked thinking on the part of the writer. They were like "Oh a flat gate toll isn't progressive! Let's make it super-progressive by making it not only not be charge to poor people, but also to be basically the donation you make when you go to a UK museum! Except they get mad and throw you out if it's not enough!".

It's like make your bloody mind up mate. It's a mess.