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!

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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gyor

Legend
I’m not happy about this. In my opinion, Matt Mercer is fun to watch as a DM, but his home setting is definitely the weakest part of his games.

I want the older D&D settings officially updated for 5e first, and new settings to follow afterwards.

I would have prefered that too, but look on the bright side, now that AI and Critical role are out of the way, there are no more streamer groups popular enough to have their own books, which means WotC is likely to turn towards traditional settings now that is out of the way.

Btw does the settings of the Rick and Morty and Stranger things starter boxes count as Settings or is their not enough meat for that?
 

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gyor

Legend
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.

The Forgotten Realms is. Honestly most of the old campaign settings are still sellable with the right marketing campaign.

Eberron isn't that young anymore and while Ravnica is new to D&D it's been around for years now in MtG.
 

If CR has been a great hook to get new fans then this has to be used to sell more books. You can't blame WotC about this.

If WotC is making money with the old titles in the DM Guild.... why not to add new things, when to continue the metaplot/timeline of Grayhawk, after any agremeet with Gary Gygax games?

Now I wonder about the return of the old worlds in the 6th Ed when all classes, races and crunch to be attached, and a clear idea about the reboot of all worlds after a secret multiverse infinite crisis war.
 


R_J_K75

Legend
That map is hideous. I lost any interest I had, which was zero, after skimming three places on the map, something about a war and I refuse to learn how to pronounce anymore ridiculous nation names. Unless this is fake then I'll spend my money elsewhere, which after this announcement is probably gonna be the liquor store.
 

Leatherhead

Possibly a Idiot.
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.

Eberron was a brand new setting built from the ground up to incorporate the recently revised 3.5 edition ruleset. You cannot say the same thing of the GGTR or this EGTW, because those are preestablished settings.

It's also a bit dishonest to berate people for nostalgia, and then go on to praise the freshness of 15 year old and 5 year old settings
 

I hate this. D&D is not a comic book.

It can't work as a superhero comic, but it is a franchise not only for TTRPG. I bet Hasbro has got projects for the media, for example new streaming series after the "test" of Magic: the Gathering.

And a "multiverse war/secret crisis" would need a really good plot but for this you need the best cripters and now they are publishing their own novels or working for the big or little screen. I guess the future media projects will cause some retcon of the lore/background canon.
 

vpuigdoller

Adventurer
That map is hideous. I lost any interest I had, which was zero, after skimming three places on the map, something about a war and I refuse to learn how to pronounce anymore ridiculous nation names. Unless this is fake then I'll spend my money elsewhere, which after this announcement is probably gonna be the liquor store.
Is that the map on the book or a mock-up?
 

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