D&D 5E Everything You Need To Know About Witchlight

Todd Kenrick posted a video summarizing a press conference which listed many of the things you need to know about The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. The video is below, but I've bullet-pointed the key items if you can't watch it right now.

• The Witchlight carnival is a mirror of the carnival in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Shadar Kair are in charge of the feywild carnival and someone else in charge of the Ravenloft carnival. If these two carnivals meet the ownership shifts again and it is part of the plot that Mr Witch and Mr Light do not want to trade the carnival back.
• The carnival will go to multiple worlds. Inspiration actually came from things like Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes; Mr Light is a reflection of Mr Dark from that movie.
• There's a map of the Witchlight carnival laid out like an amusement park map.
• Time is a component of the adventure. Time moves very differently in the feywild and the shadowfell. Expect time hijinks!
• The Witchlight carnival is a way of getting into the feywild itself.
• There are domains much like the dread domains but these are called domains of delight. Each is controlled by an archfey that has power over each of these domains.
• Some art included the Palace of Hearts of Desire, and they showed a treant called Little Oak who has a tree house built into his back and children live in that tree house, plus a displacer beast kitten named Star.
• This adventure will be a very light hearted. Any challenge in this book can be solved with combat but also in a non violent way. Talking your way out of things etc.
• The carnival has attractions and NPCs like a mermaid, a mime named kendlefoot, a Kenku that's up to to to to no good. Also classic characters from the D&D animated series. On the map there is a rollercoaster identical to the rollercoaster in the intro to D&D the animated series. This can imply that that entire amusement park was the Witchlight carnival in disguise.
• Playtesters loved the game you can play in the carnival.
• There's 'custard damage'.
• Player options include new backgrounds. The Feylost and Witchlight Hand. Plus the fairy and herangon (rabbit folk) races.
• Warduke, Strongheart, and Kellek from the cartoon.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I wonder if Witchlight will become the name of this new transitional setting.

Other question is if the animated adaptation to the screen will be by Paramount, Disney or Netflix.

 

[Charlaquin]

Sounds like a great adventure for kids (and/or for adults who want something more lighthearted and nonviolent, of course)! I probably won’t run it myself, but it sounds adorable, and good to have available as a lighter option. And there is something appealing about the symmetry between this and the carnival domain in Ravenloft.

 

[Parmandur]

Groovy stuff.

 

[Mistwell]

I am definitely in on this one. Sounds perfect for me to run for my 10 year old daughter.

 

[whimsychris123]

I plan to play this with my students, and I'm sure we'll love it. However, I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed that this is the first serious venture into the Feywild for 5e. It feels too focused on the carnival aspect and very much geared toward younger players. I would rather have had a sourcebook on the Domains of Delight. Perhaps we'll be getting that next year. I'll cross my fingers.

 

[Weiley31]

There's 'custard damage'.

Watch out Force Damage, you've just been demoted to second best damage type.

Name me one monster in 5E so far that's Immune/Resistant to that!

 

[Zaukrie]

This is a "I have to skim it first" book for me for sure. I can't see running it from what I've read, but I'm willing to look and see.

 

[Thunder Brother]

This looks to be a bit too far on the whimsical end of the spectrum for me, but I can't begrudge WotC for making an adventure targeted more towards younger players (and nostalgic older fans).

 

[Weiley31]

This looks to be a bit too far on the whimsical end of the spectrum for me, but I can't begrudge WotC for making an adventurer targeted more towards younger players (and nostalgic older fans).

Well one possibility is that you could always combine this with Heckna, which is the opposite side of the spectrum.