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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MarkB

Legend
Yeah, that is kind of what I mean.

It is similar to why I can't get into Marvel or DC comics, I'd have to go back and read so much, making sure to skip this event because it was retconned and definitely should start with that one because it was really influential, but to understand why I have to go back and...

It is a commitment, one that is fairly sizable.

And for some players, even reading a 12 page history is far more work than they really want, but as they were building their character they were inspired and made a lengthy backstory.
Yeah, this is why I could never get into FR back in the 3e/3.5e days. There just seemed to be such a mountain of information about the setting to absorb in order to portray a character within it - let alone actually DM a game for experienced players - that I just bounced right off that wall, repeatedly.
 

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Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
Damn right! Using Unearthed Arcana is questionable, Wilderness and Dungeoneer's Survivav Guides are right out!
When WotC did the 1E reissues in the months before 4E came out, I gave Unearthed Arcana a good re-read for the first time in decades. It's way more problematic than I remembered, although even as a middle schooler, I could tell a lot of it was flat-out broken.
 
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Ace

Adventurer
Its not my cuppa but its nice to see Critical Role doing well and at least one guy in my former group will be all over that.
 





Chaosmancer

Legend
Out of curiosity, what feels different about it than, say, Forgotten Realms material?

For me it is the highly specific plot.

Part of this is because I only read a few of the early novels, but so much of Dragonlance for me is tied up in a specific story with specific characters within the War of the Lance, its aftermath, side stories focusing on what else those same characters did. It feels cohesive to me.

Forgotten Realms meanwhile is sprawling. They have characters, plots, stories and such that are insular and not connected. Sure, they make cameos in each others stories, but I remember picking up Forgotten Realms novels and them being completely removed from each other, without even sharing a similiar geography or villain.

To maybe put it more succinctly, I feel like Dragonlance is a single storyline with a few branches. Forgotten Realms is a massive sprawling web that you can't see the other side of.
 

Reynard

Legend
For me it is the highly specific plot.

Part of this is because I only read a few of the early novels, but so much of Dragonlance for me is tied up in a specific story with specific characters within the War of the Lance, its aftermath, side stories focusing on what else those same characters did. It feels cohesive to me.

Forgotten Realms meanwhile is sprawling. They have characters, plots, stories and such that are insular and not connected. Sure, they make cameos in each others stories, but I remember picking up Forgotten Realms novels and them being completely removed from each other, without even sharing a similiar geography or villain.

To maybe put it more succinctly, I feel like Dragonlance is a single storyline with a few branches. Forgotten Realms is a massive sprawling web that you can't see the other side of.
I think everything you said is true, but it was also intentional. Dragonlance came out at the dawn of what I call the "middle school" era of D&D where story and metaplot were taking over.
 

JeffB

Legend
IDK if anyone else mentioned this-(and I don't feel like dredging through 500+ posts) but the D&D Beyond yootoob channel has a bunch of videos discussing things in the book including the crunch.

From what Matt talks about the setting doesn't really capture my imagination - he speaks specifically about 4 regions and an adventure tied to each one

Countries at war/on brink of war
Great northern wilderness/savage frontier with a crashed flying city full of lost tech/magic that everyone wants
Coastal seafaring/pirate-y section
Another part of continent for all those into politics

Pretty standard stuff.

Oddly enough, I am super interested in the new magic systems, and the artifacts after watching the vids.
 

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