Critical Role The New D&D Book Is 'The Explorer's Guide to [Critical Role's] Wildemount!' By Matt Mercer

It looks like Amazon has leaked the title and description of the new D&D book a day early (unless it's all a fake-out by WotC) -- and it's a new D&D setting book called The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount; it's the Critical Role campaign setting, penned by Matt Mercer!

image from Critical Role wiki​

There's no cover image yet, so we're stuck with the "Coming Soon" image.

This book appeared without a title on Amazon last week, and a 'reveal' date of January 9th, which was then later delayed until January 13th. Amazon appears to have jumped the gun a day early.

Here's some information about Wildemount, which is a continent in the same world as Critical Role's other setting, Tal'Dorei. It is described by the official wiki has having "real-world Eastern European influence.... The Dwendalian Empire takes inspiration from 15th century Russia as well as Germanic nations in Central Europe (e.g., Prussia). Xhorhas has a more 13th-century Romanian flair. Outside of Wynandir, on the edges of the Dwendalian Empire, the cultures and peoples of those regions display a distinctly 14th-century Spanish flavor."

HOW DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS?

A war brews on a continent that has withstood more than its fair share of conflict. The Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty are carving up the lands around them, and only the greatest heroes would dare stand between them. Somewhere in the far corners of this war-torn landscape are secrets that could end this conflict and usher in a new age of peace—or burn the world to a cinder.

Create a band of heroes and embark on a journey across the continent of Wildemount, the setting for Campaign 2 of the hit Dungeons & Dragons series Critical Role. Within this book, you’ll find new character options, a heroic chronicle to help you craft your character’s backstory, four different starting adventures, and everything a Dungeon Master needs to breathe life into a Wildemount-based D&D campaign…

• Delve through the first Dungeons & Dragons book to let players experience the game as played within the world of Critical Role, the world’s most popular livestreaming D&D show.
• Uncover a trove of options usable in any D&D game, featuring subclasses, spells, magic items, monsters, and more, rooted in the adventures of Exandria—such as Vestiges of Divergence and the possibility manipulating magic of Dunamancy.
• Start a Dungeons & Dragons campaign in any of Wildemount’s regions using a variety of introductory adventures, dozens of regional plot seeds, and the heroic chronicle system—a way to create character backstories rooted in Wildemount.

Explore every corner of Wildemount and discover mysteries revealed for the first time by Critical Role Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer.

Critical Role's other setting, Tal'Dorei, was published a couple of years ago by Green Ronin. This brings the list of settings in official D&D books to five: Forgotten Realms, Ravnica, Ravenloft, Eberron, and Wildemount.

UPDATE! Barnes & Noble has the cover (but not the title or description).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Other sources (Like 1d4chan) counter it so, not as clear as it seems

Then take our word for it, I was there at the time, as where many others on this forum. The Wiki account is accurate, if 1d4chan says otherwise it is wrong.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

Physical copies yes, digital copies and audiobooks less so.

Are the Forgotten Realms novels available in a digital format?

Ok...

So you wouldn't want Dark Sun, Spelljammer, or any other setting either?

I mean, the only Darksun game I ever played was heavy on the intrigue and police state politics of the Sorcerer-Kings.

You can get the same sort of challenges in a crashed and ruined space hulk as you can in a crashed magical city.

Any game setting that has a large body of water can have seafaring adventures.

I mean, I'm not sure what could interest you that hasn't already been released in a different setting, if that is what we are going for here.

Spelljammer and Planescape are the most radically different official published settings. They did and would provide something quite different to the 'D&D pablum'. At their core the intent behind these two settings was to be able to allow PCs to easily travel between different worlds/planes of existence. I personally found Spelljammer to be the weirdest setting of all; the Spelljammer itself is a huge semi sentient ship with a city on the back. One of my favourite D&D monsters of all time only appears in this setting; the Primary Witchlight Marauder - a colossal slug like creature 100s of feet in length that multiplies every few days, eats everything down to bed rock; sheds secondary and tertiary marauders, and was magically created by space orcs to destroy planets.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Well, virtually all of those Forgotten Realms novels are now out of print unless they are Dragonlance or written by R.A. Salvatore. So, yep they don't count as easily accessible sources of lore. There are some good FR wikis though and plenty of FR info generally online.

We must be grateful for small mercies. Unfortunately second hand bookshops are full of the blighters.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

I can tell you exactly why I'm not pleased that they are devoting publishing schedule and resources to Wildemount. Its because it is no longer about the game. Its about voice actors who happen to play D&D being paid to voice act who are getting a product published that does nothing to further the game and everything to further their gravy train. Want your homebrew setting published? Great - have at it, but if the idea of publishing a campaign setting is so wildly-popular amongst their fans they should have self-published rather than take up schedule that could be used for a 5e version of any of the campaign settings that players have been begging WotC to produce - Planescape, Greyhawk, etc., or a crunch book, or anything else, while at the same time saturating D&D with yet another setting.

Entitled much? Good grief!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

the Primary Witchlight Marauder - a colossal slug like creature 100s of feet in length that multiplies every few days, eats everything down to bed rock; sheds secondary and tertiary marauders, and was magically created by space orcs to destroy planets.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

This is what the Marauder reminded me of when I first heard of it.

The Primary Witchlight Marauder stays on the surface of the planet though and eats everything on the surface. However, there is also the Space Witchlight Marauder which I think wins the prize for the largest D&D monster ever created...

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

They did. With Green Ronin. It sold out, and showed Wizards the demand was there. And Mercer and contract writers did the writing, so it hardly "took resources away from Wizards" and "nothing to further develop the game?" Are you serious? Mercer is a) a great ambassador for the game b) brings tons of new players c) creates a stack of content both crunch and fluff.

The Tal Dorei campaign setting is still in print and will likely get a massive boost from the Wildemount book.


I love the argument that publishing the Wildemount book does nothing to further the game. Really? It will attract massive attention from CR fans, be a best seller, and may encourage CR fans who only watch the show to play the game. Also, how does publishing 5e versions of old settings further the game? It will just be the same old, same old. Where's the innovation there?

 

[Nikosandros]

The Tal Dorei campaign setting is still in print and will likely get a massive boost from the Wildemount book.

It seems to me that it is gone from Green Ronin's web store.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'm glad he did, it was the right thing to do for fans of other settings, who are getting frustrated.

Really? Do we suppose Mercer owed something to those fans?

I am a fan of Patrick Rothfuss, I'm frustrated that the third book in his trilogy hasn't been published yet. Should I expect an apology from Robert Crais? They are both published by DAW books and Crais just got a new book released. The agents who worked on that book could have been working with Rothfuss. The space in their printing schedule could have been used by Rothfuss. The advertising dollars could have been used on Rothfuss.

So, does Crais owe me as a fan of Patrick Rothfuss any sort of apology?

Of course not. Crais has no control over when Rothfuss finishes his book, he has no control over the company that publishes the material. He has nothing to worry about except getting his own work published.

Why is Matt Mercer different? Should he have told WoTC that they shouldn't publish his work, because fans of Greyhawk are frustrated there isn't more material? When he was meeting with editors to go over his work for errors, should he have instead told them to go and find a Spelljammer manuscript to edit, because the fans want it?

No. He has no responsibility to do anything with those settings. They are not his work, they are not his concern. And even if his setting delayed the release of all of those settings by two years, he has zero responsibility to those fans. Because he has his own fans, his own work, and it deserves to be acknowledged.

 

[3catcircus]

They did. With Green Ronin. It sold out, and showed Wizards the demand was there. And Mercer and contract writers did the writing, so it hardly "took resources away from Wizards" and "nothing to further develop the game?" Are you serious? Mercer is a) a great ambassador for the game b) brings tons of new players c) creates a stack of content both crunch and fluff.

If they published through Green Ronin, then they didn't self-publish. Green Ronin, WotC, Games Workshop, they're all established publishers.

You fail to understand that for every independent writer on WotC's schedule, there's a slew of WotC or other contract employees involved - laying out galleys, copyediting, selecting artwork. So yes, it does take away resources.