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.

journey_citadel.jpg

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.


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."

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Regular cover by Even Fong

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Alternate Cover by Sija Hong
 

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I actually prefer the adventure compendiums - Tales from the Yawning Portal and Candlekeep Mysteries are the only adventure books I've bought in 5E. Its far easier to adapt them into my campaign settings than overlong "adventure path" style books. (And when it comes to adventure paths, the ones Paizo did in Dungeon were far superior to any produced by WoTC.

I think I'd like to see them try something between the two formats (Adventure Path & Anthology); More like the anthology, but with less adventures, so each can have a little more depth. The centralized location is great, IMO, but trying to cram 13 adventures into the book might make them have to edit some good or important stuff out for space, as apparently happened with Candlekeep.

I wonder what the sweet spot would be? I suspect six to eight adventures, and maybe as many "throw 'em anywhere" encounters. Now THAT might be an awesome idea. What do you think?
 

RotFM isn't all all that gloomy, and the evil is far from undefeatable. Bit of a walkover really. And have you read Call of the Netherdeep? It's not particularly dark at all. I would describe them as having an average balance of light and dark.
I havent read it yet but plan to get. My impression from several reviews (including professional ones) is Netherdeep moves from light into darkness, a story of progressing into corruption, loss, and dispair. Aberration themes are (typically) gloom-and-doom.
 


I think I'd like to see them try something between the two formats (Adventure Path & Anthology); More like the anthology, but with less adventures, so each can have a little more depth. The centralized location is great, IMO, but trying to cram 13 adventures into the book might make them have to edit some good or important stuff out for space, as apparently happened with Candlekeep.

I wonder what the sweet spot would be? I suspect six to eight adventures, and maybe as many "throw 'em anywhere" encounters. Now THAT might be an awesome idea. What do you think?
Well, here's what we have so far for the compilations:

- Tales from the Yawning Portal: barely a hub at all (about 4 pages), and 7 Adventures (9, I suppose, if you break up Against the Giants) in 248 pages.

- Ghosts of Saltmarsh: a robust Gazateer for the region (about 30 pages), plus a significant random exploration and Adventure section (40 pages!), and 7 Adventures in ~240 pages

- Candlekeep Mysteries: a decent hub (about 10 pages), and 17 (!) Adventures in 224 pages.

- Radiant Citadel: a hub and 15 additional Gazeteers and 13 Adventures in 224 pages.

Honestly, yeah, I think 7 or so with support material is maybe ideal? Though I have hopes this one will be good.
 
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Well, here's what we have so far for the compilations:

- Tales from the Yawning Portal: barely a hub at all (about 4 pages), and 7 Adventures (9, I suppose, if you break up Against the Giants) in 248 pages.

- Ghosts of Saltmarsh: a robust Gazateer for the region (about 30 pages), plus a significant random exploration and Adventure section (40 pages!), and 7 Adventures in ~240 pages

- Candlekeep Mysteries: a decent hub (about 10 pages), and 17 (!) Adventures in 224 pages.

- Radiant Citadel: a hub and 15 additional Gazeteers and 13 Adventures in 224 pages.

Honestly, yeah, I think 7 or so with support material is Mayne better? Though I have hopes this one will be good.

I guess Yawning Portal and Saltmarsh are more along the lines of what I'm thinking than Candlekeep or Radiant Citadel, but I wasn't thinking so much of them because they collected "proven" adventures.

I'm guessing here, but It seems that they develop a bunch of new adventures when working on a new anthology, and then perhaps are too close to it to want to leave out any of their babies, so they edit them down to fit.

Yes, hopefully Radiant Citadel will manage to cram all 13 in without doing any damage to them! I have high hopes for it.
 

I guess Yawning Portal and Saltmarsh are more along the lines of what I'm thinking than Candlekeep or Radiant Citadel, but I wasn't thinking so much of them because they collected "proven" adventures.

I'm guessing here, but It seems that they develop a bunch of new adventures when working on a new anthology, and then perhaps are too close to it to want to leave out any of their babies, so they edit them down to fit.

Yes, hopefully Radiant Citadel will manage to cram all 13 in without doing any damage to them! I have high hopes for it.
An interesting point, though I would wager for a lot of customers to whom the old Adventures are "New to You!", the distinction isn't obvious.

I actually recall now, in the leadup to Candlekeep, that Perkins cited Dragon of Icepire Peak as an inspiration: 11 small and modular adventures with a hub.
 

No, the soulless he cannot feed off of. That’s one of the main points of the souless, it’s also why he “invites” new souls into the realm.
That’s silly. I’ve never seen anyone use that in play. It also doesn’t make sense. There are still plenty of people, and they still make babies, which will provide new people with souls to feed on.
And Strahd isn’t even a normal vampire. He can’t just keel over from lack of food.
 

That’s silly. I’ve never seen anyone use that in play. It also doesn’t make sense. There are still plenty of people, and they still make babies, which will provide new people with souls to feed on.
And Strahd isn’t even a normal vampire. He can’t just keel over from lack of food.
No, he suffers from lack of food. Have you read the section on Barovians?
 


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