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​

 

[Vaalingrade]

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.

And you're ignoring that there HAS been 'criticism' directed toward the creative team's make-up. On this and every thread here about the book on top of all the other unfounded stuff.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

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".

Frankly, I think this is a loathsome idea, no matter what the metaphysics. In traditional Christian belief, animals have no souls, therefore they cannot suffer, therefore any amount of animal cruelty is okay.

This is even worse when you realise that historically the category of "animal" has been extended to include black people, and hence justify slavery.

 

[Micah Sweet]

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.


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.

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.

Someone said above that the existance of this book does allow a wealth of additional related products to exist. I could get behind an expanded version of one of the cultures touched on here (probably, obviously I'd have to see it first). And as I've said above, I'm sure many people are excited about this and are looking forward to it. I am not really, but I'm happy for those who are.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

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.

Oh yeah, breaking the top 300 for all books on Amazon is completely incredible, and I totally agree--would be even better if other companies could get anywhere near that. Could Avatar RPG once it hits Amazon? Would certainly be cool.

But being the negative Nelly that I am, I also immediately think "Damn, wouldn't it be a million times better if this book's ranking was way lower, because everyone was getting it from their local gaming store?" Or for people like me without a FLGS, something like Bookshop.org, which actually supports local bookstores? Amazon truly doesn't need our business, so as fun as it is to see those rankings climb, it's a little like rooting for Sauron.

 

[Parmandur]

Frankly, I think this is a loathsome idea, no matter what the metaphysics. In traditional Christian belief, animals have no souls, therefore they cannot suffer, therefore any amount of animal cruelty is okay.

This is even worse when you realise that historically the category of "animal" has been extended to include black people, and hence justify slavery.

That's...not accurate. The word "animal" literally means "thing with a soul," and Christian theology (at least Catholic) reflects that. But to keep it on topic...if something moves and has any sort of life, it has some sort of souk, metaphysically speaking otherwise they wouldn't be animate.

 

[darjr]

Barovians can feel. They are flesh and blood. They are unhappy and can fear.

 

[Parmandur]

Barovians can feel. They are flesh and blood. They are unhappy and can fear.

Hence they have some sort of Form (in the sense of Platonic Ideal) to their bodily existence, that ia, a soul.

 

[darjr]

Oh yeah, breaking the top 300 for all books on Amazon is completely incredible, and I totally agree--would be even better if other companies could get anywhere near that. Could Avatar RPG once it hits Amazon? Would certainly be cool.

But being the negative Nelly that I am, I also immediately think "Damn, wouldn't it be a million times better if this book's ranking was way lower, because everyone was getting it from their local gaming store?" Or for people like me without a FLGS, something like Bookshop.org, which actually supports local bookstores? Amazon truly doesn't need our business, so as fun as it is to see those rankings climb, it's a little like rooting for Sauron.

Yea.
I will note that my local FLGS, six of them now? Move a lot of D&D.

 

[darjr]

Hence they have some sort of Form (in the sense of Platonic Ideal) to their bodily existence, that ia, a soul.

No, explicitly they do not.
At least not most of them.
And yes, it doesn’t make sense in any real life way, because it’s fiction.
They are HP Lovecrafts worst nightmare, living breathing conscious beings with cares and needs and desires and loved ones but when they die they cease to exist entirely except for their dead flesh.

Now, for me, that’s just the state of things. That’s real life. For D&D characters, NPCs and PCs that’s a tragedy.

Add in that they are ruled by a vampire that needs them and hates them and terrorizes them because he can.

 

[Yaarel]

Disagree entirely. They believe they are suffering so they are suffering.

They have no soul. There is no believing or disbelieving. They are automatons of the darklord.

They believe they are conscious, they have consciousness.

There is no consciousness to believe in consciousness.

The nonsouls are wallpaper.

Like a self aware AI whose creator has gifted it with awareness and has dropped it into a virtual torture chamber.

Regarding AI. There is no scientific understanding of where the seat of consciousness is, yet. Algorithms are something different. The difference translates into the difference between a soul and memory. These shadow automatons explicitly have no soul. They seem to be the habits of the darklords memories.

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 "soul" is consciousness itself, the seat of consciousness.

The speculation about whether consciousness persists after death is a separate question. In D&D it does.

The Ravenloft Dark Powers are like the Demiurge

The entire Shadowfell including its dark powers are manifestations from the material plane.

and have crafted a half-creation that cannot create that spark of inner light,

Namely, Shadowfell cannot create souls. The dark powers can form automatons, similar to many spells.

leaving their creations to suffer for their own purposes.

It is the dark powers that suffer. The place is a place to torment the dark powers.

(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).

There are actual souls that are trapped there with the dark powers.

Perhaps if materializing into a living animalistic body in the material world, it might embody these memories in a living consciousness that can feel the thoughts and emotions and memories. Become a soul.