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​

 

[Yaarel]

They suffer and die just like any "real" person does.

Wait. Re Ravenloft. That is the point. If they lack "souls", namely consciousnesses, then they cant suffer. They are like a computer game mimicking the facial expressions of pain. They dont suffer, just like a photograph of a sad person doesnt itself suffer.

If they can suffer, they have "souls".

 

[Jer]

gods that thing is creepy.

I firmly believe that Classic Doctor Who is the show where the producers were trying to figure out how far they could push into children's nightmares before the parents would call up the BBC to complain.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Before the preorder snafu I saw it at a close #2, and it was probably #1 shortly before that. I think it hit #1 out of all books on Amazon for a bit, then the preorder process broke.

Probably best to not oversell this situation. It's currently at #296 for all books on Amazon, and #3 for "Dungeons and Dragon Game." What's more likely, that it actually hit #1 overall, beating out a slew of insanely popular mass market bestsellers, or that internet fandom did what it does best, and bathed itself in hyperbole? We can get excited about this stuff without thinking it's taking over the world.

 

[Jer]

Wait. Re Ravenloft. That is the point. If they lack "souls", namely consciousnesses, then they cant suffer. They are like a computer game mimicking the facial expressions of pain. They dont suffer, just like a photograph of a sad person doesnt itself suffer.

If they can suffer, they have "souls".

Um, we're getting into metaphysical territory here but to keep it strictly to D&D that doesn't appear to be what souls are. Souls are the bit of an individual that lives on in the afterlife and that's about it. The Ravenloft connection is that the souls cannot escape Ravenloft to their appointed afterlife so they get reincarnated. Beings without souls still have meat - they can feel pain. They still have connections to other people - they can feel loss and sorrow. They're not just wandering around as empty shells with no emotions because if they were they wouldn't be serving the Dark Powers purposes.

If the Dark Powers create people to suffer then they suffer. If you don't believe that beings without souls can suffer then you might see it as the Dark Powers creating them with the belief that they're suffering and dealing with all of the effects of that. Which honestly might even be more horrific when you think about it.

 

[Yaarel]

Um, we're getting into metaphysical territory here but to keep it strictly to D&D that doesn't appear to be what souls are.

The immaterial aspects of the multiverse are metaphysical territory, literally.

Souls are the bit of an individual that lives on in the afterlife and that's about it.

In the separate quality of the "soul" persisting in the Shadowfell, it is an aspect of consciousness that is there. Individual "souls" can suffer if they dont rest.

The Ravenloft connection is that the souls cannot escape Ravenloft to their appointed afterlife so they get reincarnated.

The souls that are trapped in the samsara of Ravenloft suffer. The nonsouls are just the shapes of the clouds in the mist.

Beings without souls still have meat - they can feel pain.

Only the "material plane" has matter. All other planes are immaterial. The ether with its fey and shadow, are a spirit world.

There is no "meat" in the spirit world.

That said, the ghostly bodies are virtual bodies that have the form of meat. But these ghosts are made out of ethereal forces.

They still have connections to other people - they can feel loss and sorrow.

A tape recorder can record a voice that sounds sorrowful. A computer algorithm can imitate one.

This is the torment of the darklords, they suffer in isolation.

They're not just wandering around as empty shells

To have no soul means to be an empty shell, exactly.

with no emotions

No suffering, no feeling, no consciousness: no soul.

because if they were they wouldn't be serving the Dark Powers purposes.

The echoes of a life misspent, torment the darklord.

If the Dark Powers create people to suffer then they suffer.

Empty shells are like the Unseen Servant spell and like the "servants" of the Magnificent Mansion spell.

There is no suffering, nor consciousness. They are soulless automatons.

If you don't believe that beings without souls can suffer then you might see it as the Dark Powers creating them with the belief that they're suffering and dealing with all of the effects of that.

That is the karma. The monsters treated people as if people dont matter. Now they exist in a place where people really dont matter.

Sadly, a few souls are trapped in this hel. But hopefully they can escape from such dysfunctionality.

Which honestly might even be more horrific when you think about it.

Yes. Ravenloft really is that horrific.

 

[Jer]

Empty shells are like the Unseen Servant spell and like the "servants" of the Magnificent Mansion spell.

There is no suffering, nor consciousness. They are soulless automatons.

Disagree entirely. They believe they are suffering so they are suffering. They believe they are conscious, they have consciousness. Like a self aware AI whose creator has gifted it with awareness and has dropped it into a virtual torture chamber.

They merely lack the gnostic soul - the inner light- created by the gods (or intrinsic to the multiverse) to persist into the afterlife because their creators are incapable of giving it to them. The Ravenloft Dark Powers are like the Demiurge and have crafted a half-creation that cannot create that spark of inner light, leaving their creations to suffer for their own purposes. (Perhaps they can grow a soul if presented the opportunity - certainly if I ran a game where it became an issue it would be an interesting path to explore).

 

[Imaro]

I'm definitely going to buy this book if only to support the culture and am hoping I will be pleasantly surprised (even though I'm not big on using pre-made adventures)... that said I really want an actual 5e version of Planescape, there's just something about the "Philosophers with swords traveling a multiverse in a cold war to shape reality to their beliefs" that resonates with me. Hopefully the Radiant Citadel resonates with me as well, I'm willing to give it a shot.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

It is curious because with Ravenloft, a D&D setting, we can talk about the nature of the souls, and that is mature philosophy. In my opinion the true soul can't be destroyed, eaten of altered by magic or supernatural creatures, not even the outsiders, the "lifeforce" maybe, but that is a different thing.

Hurting or causing damage against "husks" is not right, and you could get a lot of karma. A hiperealistic ginoid (robot withe female humanoid shape) is not a human, but I wouldn't trust who enjoyed torturing her.

 

[TheSword]

New cultures will be covered in this book that have never been represented in D&D before. Not only this, but they'll be represented by people with actual connections to those cultures, instead of just white guys like those that made Oriental Adventures and Al-Qadim.

The sad thing, is that if a world like that was actually fleshed out and done properly instead of in a snapshot featurette I would be absolutely stoked. Unfortunately here we will have unconnected vignettes that will only ever offer a glimpse. Believe me if this book was split into three chapters each in a different cultural setting or had continuity from the cultural settings in Candlekeep I think that would be awesome.

This site is one of the more popular ways for people to get their D&D (and other TTRPG) news, so the discussion of this release in threads like this will definitely impact how some people buy their D&D products. People who have written for official WotC products have directly responded to and referenced posts/discussions on this site in the recent past. James Haeck responded to my post about Netherdeep and its similarities to a Ravenloft Domain of Dread on Twitter. One of the designers for this book commented on the speculation thread and how some people got close to guessing the title and theme of the book.

I think you’re flattering us all if you think our threads have impact on the overall success of WOCs books. It’s great that artists come on here. I’ve personally thanked one of the writers of Ubersreik Adventures when he replied to one of my posts. With all due respect it’s not sensible to come into a forum if you don’t want to hear other peoples opinions.

That is why I'm so fed up with the knee-jerk negativity around this book that is pervasive in this thread (and similar discussions on other platforms). We don't know anything about the actual quality of the book, so basing your opinion on it now in such a definitive way and portraying the book in a negative light months before its release will have an impact on how many people buy it and on the writers that put a lot of effort into making this book.

I will reserve my judgment for this book until it has been released and I have fully read through it. Until then, I'm going to argue against the people crapping all over it, and I'm going to try to point out some of the falsehoods and bigotry that I have seen present in these discussions. Doing any less would be a disservice to the talented people involved in making it and the unreleased book.

You mistake some of the criticism here as being towards the writers/creative work when in fact it’s a criticism of the structure of the book and it’s place in the schedule which is down to the editorial/project team/exec.

• Saying you don’t like short unconnected adventure anthologies is not bigoted.
• Saying that you want another element of D&D selected is not bigoted.
• Saying that you want some continuity between these adventures is not bigoted.

Claiming it is, really doesn’t help the situation. It’s a method of trying to shut down disagreement by imputing some pretty nasty qualities.

If this was a Ghosts of Saltmarsh and the adventures built on each other there wouldn’t be the complaints. I have a major issue with WOCs decision to publish anthologies with a tenuous link to a location that they then leave behind that location to go to totally different places. In my opinion that is a valid criticism. You may not think it matters. You are free to ignore.

 

[darjr]

Probably best to not oversell this situation. It's currently at #296 for all books on Amazon, and #3 for "Dungeons and Dragon Game." What's more likely, that it actually hit #1 overall, beating out a slew of insanely popular mass market bestsellers, or that internet fandom did what it does best, and bathed itself in hyperbole? We can get excited about this stuff without thinking it's taking over the world.

True.

Couple of things though

I just wanna know. I know I’m a bit obsessive about it. No worries.

under 300 in preorder is mind boggling great.

I do wish there were two maybe three rpg companies that hit that level, or were closer anyway. Maybe that’s a bad thing? I dunno.