D&D 5E The New D&D Book: Candlekeep Mysteries: 17 Mystery Adventures [UPDATED!]

The cover of the upcoming D&D book has been revealed! Candlekeep Mysteries is an anthology of 17 mystery-themed adventures for character levels 1-16.

The image has appeared on Penguin Random House's product page for the book.

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UPDATE! Penguin's product page appears to have now vanished, but we now have the product description! Thanks to @Fezzwick for spotting that!

An anthology of seventeen mystery-themed adventures for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Candlekeep attracts scholars like a flame attracts moths. Historians, sages, and others who crave knowledge flock to this library fortress to peruse its vast collection of books, scribbled into which are the answers to the mysteries that bedevil them. Many of these books contain their own mysteries ̶—each one a doorway to adventure. Dare you cross that threshold?

· 17 mystery-themed D&D adventures, each tied to a book discovered in the famed library fortress of Candlekeep
· Easy to run as stand-alone mini adventures or to drop into your home campaign
· Adventures span play from levels 1 to 16
· Includes a full poster map of Candlekeep, plus detailed descriptions of the various locations, characters, and creatures that reside within it
· Introduces a variety of Dungeons & Dragons monsters, items, and non-player characters (NPCs)

Candlekeep Mysteries is a collection of seventeen short, stand-alone D&D adventures designed for characters of levels 1–16. Each adventure begins with the discovery of a book, and each book is the key to a door behind which danger and glory await. These adventures can be run as one-shot games, plugged into an existing Forgotten Realms campaign, or adapted for other campaign settings. This book also includes a poster map of the library fortress and detailed descriptions of Candlekeep and its inhabitants.

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There have been mentions of an upcoming adventure anthology since 2019, with Kate Welch's name attached, along with other celebrity adventure writers including Critical Role's Marisha Ray, and actor Deborah Ann Woll. There were also suggestions that the authors might all be women. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!

 

[That other guy]

I wonder why some have and some don't?

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

Oh god here we go. So tedious. So predictable. Drop that line of discussion please. There’s plenty of unpleasant places on the web who will welcome that conversation with wide open arms, but we’ve had enough of it here.

Plenty minus one according to recent news

 

[Faolyn]

Deleted double post

 

[Faolyn]

I’m not saying they shouldn’t bring them out. I’m saying they’re more likely to come along as part of an adventure. I would love a Dark Sun book but Tomb of Annihilation had dozens of monsters, psionics are not going to be an entirely new system of casting, just an extra class/subclass and some extra spells, and again Defiler/preserver is a subclass. More than possible to fit into an appendix.

Neither of us know that. There is a huge amount of call for for psionics as its own system, and so many people who want psionics for non-Dark Sun settings that nobody will be happy if its relegated to an appendix--especially one that players can't get without spoiling themselves for the adventure. WotC would actually make more money selling Dark Sun as a setting than they would by selling a Dark Sun adventure, since a lot more people will be able to justify spending the money on a book where they can use a lot of it over a book where they can only use a fraction of it.

ToA only had "dozens" of monsters if you count things like zombified versions or "use jackal statistics to represent a wild dog" variants of existing monsters as new, or if you count things like Tabaxi Minstral as a new monster. It also didn't include any of new races or archetypes, nor did it try to describe an entire world and its history.

CoS did a mediocre job of describing just Barovia, turning it from a breathing country to an adequate adventure local; it didn't even try to explain there was more of the world outside of Barovia's borders, let alone actually try to flesh it out. There is no way they are going to be able to adequately explain even a pretty vanilla world like swords-and-sorcery Greyhawk in just an appendix, let alone one as different as Dark Sun, Planescape, Spelljammer, or even Ravenloft.

What you're forgetting is that it's entirely possible for them to put out both an adventure and a setting book, especially for a weirder setting.

I’m not saying they won’t release campaign settings. But let’s be clear with the exception of SCAG (not like the kind of Campaign setting most people would expect or want) the settings you mentioned are all brand new, and crossovers with other franchises. They just aren’t reprinting earlier editions campaign settings like that.

Since they've said they're actually putting out three "classic settings" in '21 and '22, I guess we'll both see.

And I really think you don't know what people in general want. Go to r/dndnext, where every announcement of a possible new book is met with literally hundreds of people declaring their hopes for a particular world. Even here and on the RPGnet forums there are people writing about their desire for different settings, and what they hope will be changed and updated for them.

As an example, a while ago on RPGnet there was a huge thread on updating the Planescape factions to make them both more philosophically and player interesting, while at the same time removing the socially problematic issues from them. Which is why people want these things officially updated. Yes, you, and maybe a bunch of other people, can create fan updates based on old information, but it's not canon and it doesn't translate to other people's campaigns.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I like how some of these adventures seem to be set in parts of FR we haven't seen before in 5E. The Canopik Being looks to be set in Tashalar, a region east of Chult.

Jen Kretchmer Teases Her Candlekeep Mysteries Adventure: THE CANOPIC BEING

Geek icon,accessibilityadvocate, and Beyond Heroes star Jen Kretchmer talks about her upcoming adventure in Candlekeep Mysteries, and how it takes us BE...

www.dndbeyond.com

Taymoor Rehman Teases His Candlekeep Mysteries Adventure: ZIKRAN’S ZEPHYREAN TOME

Wizards of the Coast’s talented rookie designer Taymoor Rehman has risen from D&D intern to contract writer to full-time game designer on D&am...

www.dndbeyond.com

Candlekeep Mysteries Unveiled! Everything We Know About the New D&D Book

The first D&D book of 2021 is CANDLEKEEP MYSTERIES, an anthology book featuring 17 new adventures for characters of 1st to 16th level! Preorder your...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Guest 6801328]

Well, I’m wrong. Confirmed in a couple places, they do all start in Candlekeep :/

Careful, you might get an infraction. Given the scarcity of posts admitting to error, I think there might be a rule against it.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

This book sounds like it would be a good one for a West Marches type campaign.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

no you aren't wrong about it looking off somehow if you've ever seen someone with dreads in person

I’m thinking it’s supposed to be an accessory that goes around the back of the head and frames the forehead, like a laurel crown.

 

[Remathilis]

I imagine the "book in Candlekeep" adventure hook format might be popular on the DMs Guild for a little while as a tie in to this product.

 

[guachi]

I'm cautiously optimistic about this book, which is saying a lot as I've largely checked out of D&D for the last year or so and not purchased anything. The alternative cover is quite nice. Probably my favorite so far.

I need you guys to all buy this day one and review it for me!