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!

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!

Wildemount%2C_Version_20%2C1.png

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).

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Enrico Poli1

Adventurer
At First I was disappointed but...
In the end, at WotC they want new players, so they use Ravnica, Stranger Things, Rick&Morty, and now Critical Role, as a doorway to have even more new players.
Good for the game.
5e is already the nostalgia edition that makes old grognards like me very happy.
Some new material could be interesting.
 

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pogre

Legend
It is a sensible release. It has a built in audience.

If you are a CR regular I assume this excites you. If not you are probably like me - in wait and see mode to see how much of it I can mine. ACQ inc. was a pass for me and this probably is for me too.

Just because I won't buy it does not make it a bad product. A concept some have difficulty with around the nerdosphere.
 



gyor

Legend
I suspect a lot of the naysaying is because it's Critical Role, and some people are turned off by some of the baggage that comes with that. If this were a new setting, or just a book with the options mentioned but no setting detail, I suspect a lot of naysayers here would be on board.

Now imagine if the player options in this book, the subclasses and feats and such, become the focus of optimization talks over the coming months, and the new character concept role playing frontier as well.

I suspect a lot of the naysayers will be on board later, if they start seeing those optimization and role playing discussions. We shall see. But FOMO my kick in, if you start seeing new discussions like those which surrounded Xanathar's.

I suspect it's more to do with how long it's taking them to get to traditional and well loved D&D Settings. I mean even FR doesn't have a proper Campaign Setting Book for all of Faerun yet. So I understand and sympathize with them.

But I understand why they went with this, CR setting has a proven and huge fan base and WotC wants to tap into that. It makes business sense. And if this is successfully it will encourage WotC to do more Campaign Setting Books.

Plus given much of the work was undoubtedly done by critical role, it will likely be like Aquistitions Inc book, and "not count" towards using a slot in WotC's release schedule, which means there is more room for other books. I could be wrong.

This might not be the only Setting released in 2020, as long as all the settings are connected to each other (like you can get to Exandia from FR to Greyhawl, to Kynn to Nerath, to Mystara, to Birthright to Sigil to Spelljammer, to Ravnica, to Eberron, ect... Then it won't split the base".
 



Reynard

Legend
It's the best way to get new people to play in your preferred setting.
The best way to get new people to play in your preferred setting, old, new or homebrew, is to run a game in it.

Face it, if you are pining for a Planescape or Dragonlance update, you are old. Your desires are driven by nostalgia. Nothing would kill D&D's current forward momentum quite like slavishly adhering to old, tired ideas.

Think about the 3.x era. What sold and drove the edition forward was the new -- Eberron. And back then lots of grey hairs were gnashing their teeth about it.

D&D is evergreen but it's settings aren't necessarily.
 

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