D&D 5E The Next D&D Book is JOURNEYS THROUGH THE RADIANT CITADEL

We peered, poked, squinted, flipped, and enhanced the teaser image that WotC put out last week, and it turns out we got it right -- the next book is, indeed, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.

Wraparound cover art by Evyn Fong​

Through the mists of the Ethereal Plane shines the Radiant Citadel. Travelers from across the multiverse flock to this mysterious bastion to share their traditions, stories, and calls for heroes. A crossroads of wonders and adventures, the Radiant Citadel is the first step on the path to legend. Where will your journeys take you?

Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is a collection of thirteen short, stand-alone D&D adventures featuring challenges for character levels 1–14. Each adventure has ties to the Radiant Citadel, a magical city with connections to lands rich with excitement and danger, and each can be run by itself or as part of an ongoing campaign. Explore this rich and varied collection of adventures in magical lands.

• Thirteen new stand-alone adventures spanning levels 1 to 14, each with its own set of maps
• Introduces the Radiant Citadel, a new location on the Ethereal Plane that connects adventurers to richly detailed and distinct corners of the D&D multiverse
• Each adventure can be set in any existing D&D campaign setting or on worlds of your own design
• Introduces eleven new D&D monsters
• There’s a story for every adventuring party, from whimsical and light to dark and foreboding and everything in between

Slated for June 21st (update - I just got a press release which says it's June 21st "in North American stores"; I'm not sure what that means for the rest of us!), it's a 224-page adventure anthology featuring a floating city called the Radiant Citadel. The book is written entirely by people of colour, including Ajit George, who was the first person of Indian heritage to write Indian-inspired material for D&D (in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft). Around 50 POC writers were involved in total in various ways.

The Radiant Citadel is on the ethereal plane and is carved from the giant fossil of an unknown monster. A massive gemstone called the Royal Diamond sits at the core, surrounded by a bunch of smaller Concord Jewels, which are gateways to the Citadel's founding civilizations. DMs can link any world to the citadel by placing a Concord Jewel there.

The Citadel, unlike many D&D locations, is more of a sanctuary than a place of danger. The book's alternate cover features a Dawn Incarnate, a creature which is the embodiment of stories and cultures.

D&D 5E - Here's Radiant Citadel's press release

Dropped in my inbox a short while ago, if you want the official announcement. It's the same info as in the news article on the front page. Dungeons & Dragons Invites You to Explore the Radiant Citadel Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel is a new collection of short adventures set in wondrous...

www.enworld.org

The adventures are as follows:

• Salted Legacy
• Written In Blood
• The Fiend of Hollow Mine
• Wages of Vice
• Sins of Our Elders
• Gold for Fools and Princes
• Trail of Destruction
• In the Mists of Manivarsha
• Between Tangled Roots
• Shadow of the Sun
• The Nightsea’s Succor
• Buried Dynasty
• Orchids of the Invisible Mountain

UPDATE -- the press release contains a list of some of the contributors: "Justice Ramin Arman, Dominique Dickey, Ajit A. George, Basheer Ghouse, Alastor Guzman, D. Fox Harrell, T.K. Johnson, Felice Tzehuei Kuan, Surena Marie, Mimi Mondal, Mario Ortegón, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Pam Punzalan, Erin Roberts, Terry H. Romero, Stephanie Yoon, and many more."

Regular cover by Even Fong

Alternate Cover by Sija Hong​

 

[Demetrios1453]

Dollars to donuts that the authors all expand their worlds on DMsGuild.

Hadn't even thought of that, but I bet you're right. That will definitely help add some unique and varied settings for the game...

 

[Malmuria]

I’m wondering why the need for the hyperbole and the extreme reaction to a little genuine criticism. Mainly couched in terms of “I’m a bit disappointed”, “shame they couldn’t cater to the old and the new”. I literally used the phrase ‘not my cup of tea’.

I didn’t say it shouldn’t exist. I asked for these kinds of releases to be interspersed with a good old Forgotten Realms reprint. You know those kinds of books that built 5e into what it is now. You can have your talking humanoid rabbits as long as I get an adventure set in Myth Drannor. Why is that an unreasonable thing to request?

The only folks saying books shouldn’t exist are those saying that they wish the Forgotten Realms was canned, and how dare 5e do reprints.

Where I’m genuinely confused is that producing a mix of things is wotc’s actual production plan at this point. You can focus on witchlight, but 2021 also saw a release of a classic setting, a dragon book, and a set of FR-centric adventures (Candlekeep M). 2022 will see more older campaign settings. One can criticize their execution on those products, but it is clear their intent is to “cater to old and new.”

 

[Demetrios1453]

A plane of existence that has historically not been that fleshed out (the Deep Ethereal) is getting an adventure hub, adding something to the plane that it previously didn't have.

This is definitely one of the more intriguing things for me (not that the others aren't as well!). The Deep Ethereal has been so under-developed that even the Planescape product dedicated to the plane couldn't come up with even a dozen locations of interest in that part of the plane. Heck, the Deep Ethereal was actually written out as "official" material entirely in 3e (although it was presented as an option). This is exactly the sort of thing you want developers to do - take something unused and do something interesting with it! And the Deep Ethereal gives the perfect excuse as to why it hasn't been known previously - it's hard to find things in all that mist if you don't know what you're looking for...

 

[JEB]

Was this thread really improved by folks who like this product criticizing folks for disliking this product?

 

[Hussar]

Was this thread really improved by folks who like this product criticizing folks for disliking this product?

Yes, it was.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Was this thread really improved by folks who like this product criticizing folks for disliking this product?

Was every. single. thread about this product improved by people not just disliking but insulting it?

 

[Hussar]

Dollars to donuts that the authors all expand their worlds on DMsGuild.

That's a pretty solid point too.

Let's not forget here, one of the things WotC has really managed to do here is turn every module release into its own product line. You can go on DM's Guild and click the button for Dragonheist - a module that generates some pretty sharp criticism - and find hundreds of add ons for it. You could easily take any of WotC's modules for 5e and run them for years using the additional stuff available. There's freaking MOUNTAINS of it.

THAT'S why positivity matters. That's why enthusiasm matters. Even if I don't like a given module, that's fine. There's SO MUCH MATERIAL out there for every single module that you cannot possibly claim that your play style isn't being served. Or your artistic tastes aren't being served. Or whatever other bitch you happen to have isn't being addressed.

It absolutely is.

 

[darjr]

Gosh I hope they do!

 

[JEB]

Yes, it was.

How so? How was another round of the same arguments between the same folks to the same end better than a thread that stayed focused on the new product and its features?

Was every. single. thread about this product improved by people not just disliking but insulting it?

What kept folks who liked the product from just disagreeing with the complaints and moving on, rather than going in circles and then targeting the critics themselves?

If you like this product, that's great! Talk up the positives, get folks hyped, gush about the possibilities. All way better uses of your time than complaining about complaining.

 

[whimsychris123]

The only folks saying books shouldn’t exist are those saying that they wish the Forgotten Realms was canned, and how dare 5e do reprints.

I’m not sure what you mean by reprints. I feel like all the adventures published for 5e are still available and many have had several printings. Do you mean new adventures based on existing FR lore or reimagined adventures from older editions?