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​

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The only way the Citadel would work would be if they got so much money from the minority who would effectively "donate" to the city that it just didn't matter than a lot of people didn't donate.

Like the dragon who lives there and helped found it?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The LoP's government of Sigil is far more laissez-faire than the government of Singapore, to the point where it's laughable to make the comparison

Singapore is nominally a democracy. There is no way to oust the Lady of Pain if you disagree with what she's doing. You can't even reason with her, since she can't be entreated with.

While its politics are not great from a Western perspective, a lot of people want to live in Singapore, including Westerners, because it's a beautifully gilded cage that everyone believes they retain autonomy within, whether it's the nominal democracy or the ability to just leave.

If the Lady of Pain decides she doesn't like you, you don't get to leave, you don't get to appeal your sentence, you're just punished.

The idea that the LoP's minions are going to be knocking on your door because you said the wrong thing, or caning you in public (both of which can happen in Singapore) is obviously laughable.

I agree. That's why I didn't say anything of the sort.

I've actually been to Singapore and the caning thing -- while it gets lodged in Westerners' memories -- isn't the whole story. There are also warnings on the airplane before you land in Singapore that bringing any marijuana into the country leads to long (maybe lifetime) prison sentences. The "free press" in the country is almost entirely free of even the mildest criticism of the ruling parties.

It's a very aggressively Lawful Neutral society. (Although I'd argue that only one family having any chance of winning power in elections suggests that maybe it's not as LN as officials would like everyone to believe.)

The better kind of SF/speculative fiction/fantasy goes to great lengths to understand why and how alternative societies, ones that don't operate like our own, would work. That requires some actual thought, effort and maybe even research on the part of the author though, not mindless hand-waving.

While I certainly have criticisms of recent WotC books, I think we have to blame this on, once again, WotC cutting the setting info down to beyond the minimum.

I believe the implicit reason for the taxes is it takes a lot to maintain a city with no resources other than the planar connections, including a peacekeeping force that has to deal with whatever comes out of the Ethereal at them. That's something that has a lot of value.

The issue with Citadel is indeed like the issue with early TNG - the society hasn't been thought through. The utopian vision is there, but there's little idea as to how it would work, particularly when people test the limits, which being humans, they will. Later TNG and DS9 did a vastly better job, and interestingly Strange New Worlds has done a good job here too (I would argue that Discovery has not, despite attempting it).

In my campaign, I'm going to spend at least the first adventure actually exploring the city before jumping into the level two adventure. I think the obvious answer to the underwritten parts of the Citadel setting are that ... it's complicated. The Deep Space 9 parallel is a good one, as the citadel is full of people seeking refuge from war and other crises, in addition to the other travelers. In some cases, people will be happy to pay for security and calm (and note that some of the other settings in the book have a very oppressive sort of "peace" imposed on them),

The mind-reading is there, IMO, to keep out the people who are determined to bring the drama of their home worlds to the citadel. It won't always work -- meaning that there's things to do for Shield Bearers who want to do more than settle disputes between merchants and the like -- but it's not there for no reason (even if one doesn't agree with the reason).

Adventurers (and their players) absolutely loathe, detest and are enraged by being taxed.

Especially if they're taxed in some sort of flat way that doesn't reflect any benefits gained. It doesn't matter if the taxing entity is Cormyr, or the Radiant Citadel or wherever, it doesn't matter how nice the people are, adventurers loathe it. Further, the taxes and requirements levied tend to be extremely ill-conceived and not at all thought through, which exacerbates the issue.

Partly this is because adventurers tend to be nomads, or to put more cruelly, hobos, and further, adventurers don't typically get protected by the authorities, it's usually the authorities protecting people from them ("Are we the baddies?"). If you show adventurers what benefit the tax is giving them, and make it so the tax is proportional to that, and to their residence somewhere, then things improve, often drastically.

I'm not sure why taxes are handwaved in the case of Cormyr (or Sharn or Ansalon or Greyhawk) but @Azenis insists it has to be played out in the Radiant Citadel. This isn't a unique issue and I have a hard time seeing it as a defining element of the Radiant Citadel setting.

That said, it does make me think it'd be interesting to map out -- probably on another thread -- how real-world politics map onto different fantasy settings and groups. (I assume most wandering bands of murder hobos are toting around a copy of Atlas Shrugged in one of their backpacks, for instance.)

 

[Azenis]

If you don't like the setting being too utopian, disrupt things. The Incarnates disappear, there's a murderer on the loose, the players discover there is some magical mind manipulation going on to keep peace. Do they mind or do they want to go all Kirk on the place? I'm sure there's plenty of ways to disrupt the status quo.

As I pointed out more than a few times, the fun I've having with that section of the book is imagining how it'd play with the players if I ran it 'as written'. Definitely made me laugh out loud. And I'm definitely tempted to do so in the near future.

But as a reminder, this is a commercial product and that section is supposed to facilitate (i.e. provide adventure seeds and the like) & spark ideas for a DM and their game. What they have...well...gone on about that enough but they could have just saved the page count for something else and provided a much more interesting one-page 'nexus' (Even the World Serpent Inn or something like Muryland's mansion from Land Beyond the Magic Mirror).

 

[MichaelSomething]

I'm surprised no one suggested that PCs do some type of quest in lieu of paying taxes?

 

[Azenis]

I'm not sure why taxes are handwaved in the case of Cormyr (or Sharn or Ansalon or Greyhawk) but @Azenis insists it has to be played out in the Radiant Citadel. This isn't a unique issue and I have a hard time seeing it as a defining element of the Radiant Citadel setting.

I'm not insisting anything. In my games I run those fees & other nuisance things 'as written'. I also allow my players to 'support the city guard' or other forms of corruption as well.

But I've never seen in a published product anything remotely like a essentially heavy tax, applied on entry to a city, based on the worth of what the traveler brings with them. I just have to figure out a breadcrumb to get my PCs to just not turn right the heck around and keep a straight face when they enter the Citadel.

I'm surprised no one suggested that PCs do some type of quest in lieu of paying taxes?

That's essentially what the 'Shieldbearers' are but there are issues with that as well (it restricts adventures and how players play the game, not facilitate them or add to the fun). Not to mention, do you work for Free? Taxes are voluntary so why bother.

 

[Arilyn]

As I pointed out more than a few times, the fun I've having with that section of the book is imagining how it'd play with the players if I ran it 'as written'. Definitely made me laugh out loud. And I'm definitely tempted to do so in the near future.

But as a reminder, this is a commercial product and that section is supposed to facilitate (i.e. provide adventure seeds and the like) & spark ideas for a DM and their game. What they have...well...gone on about that enough but they could have just saved the page count for something else and provided a much more interesting one-page 'nexus' (Even the World Serpent Inn or something like Muryland's mansion from Land Beyond the Magic Mirror).

But all this is personal taste. My players have no problem with Radiant Citadel as is. The adventures are not taking place there, after all. The seeds for further adventuring are in the other Realms. The citadel is home base.

No setting is going to perfectly match all players. I find the citadel interesting and not at all wasted pages. I like the place. And sure, I've changed a few things but I've never not tinkered with settings.

 

[Azenis]

But all this is personal taste. My players have no problem with Radiant Citadel as is. The adventures are not taking place there, after all. The seeds for further adventuring are in the other Realms. The citadel is home base.

No setting is going to perfectly match all players. I find the citadel interesting and not at all wasted pages. I like the place. And sure, I've changed a few things but I've never not tinkered with settings.

Exactly! This is why that section is a waste of page count in a product good money was shelled out for . It contributes nothing to a DM's campaign.

Edit- Unless you go the route of using it to creep out your players.

 

[Arilyn]

Exactly! This is why that section is a waste of page count in a product good money was shelled out for . It contributes nothing to a DM's campaign.

Edit- Unless you go the route of using it to creep out your players.

It's kinda nice to have a home base with background and description though. It's adding to the campaign, even if only as a haven.

 

[Azenis]

It's kinda nice to have a home base with background and description though. It's adding to the campaign, even if only as a haven.

One of the best my players built in a campaign was a small mountain village. They solved all the local problems, had reasons to get attached to various colorful npcs, made the place a safe haven that they'd return to in between adventures. It was a haven by their efforts (and there were still a number of adventure seeds I could get them involved within the small settlement).

Give me a city setting where most typical urban adventure seeds don't work however....well the only thing I'm getting from that product is a map and some location descriptions as I basically have to reinvent everything else.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But I've never seen in a published product anything remotely like a essentially heavy tax, applied on entry to a city, based on the worth of what the traveler brings with them.

How many RPG books do you own?

The word "tax" appears 91 times in Ptolus, the setting book I have open in Adobe Reader right now.

D&D Beyond tells me that taxes are mentioned in Dragon Heist, Acquisitions Incorporated, Curse of Strahd (the real bloodsuckers, omg!), Descent into Avernus, Lost Mines of Phandelver, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Dragon of Icefire Peak (Neverwinter's tax on essential goods is called "outlandish"), Eberron: Rising from the Last War, Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep (bandits pose as tax collectors), Explorer's Guide to Wildmount (where people have permanently moved into the forest to avoid paying taxes), Xanathar's Guide to Everything (which suggests creating a tax collector to hunt down players for not paying taxes), Storm King's Thunder and Sword Coast Adventurers Guide (which specifically calls out Luskan for not taxing citizens, suggesting that every other location covered does).

Taxes, even onerous taxes, are part of lots of settings.