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]

So does this rule out Sigil/Planescape/Spelljammer happening for 5E, or can this coexist with them?

There's no conflict involved at all. There are probably a dozen other planar hubs in D&D, and this just adds another.

 

[Yaarel]

Sigil's write-up in the 5e DMG is smaller than Waterdeep's in SCAG.

Give the City of Doors something comparable to the gazetteer sections for Dragon Heist and Descent into Avernus (and/or what it got in the 4e DMG2), plus a proper "Manual of the Planes" for the Great Wheel, and that's pretty much all I need.

So, an adventure-setting hybrid with one local setting for, say, eight Wheel domains?

 

[OblivionDrive]

If you have the 2nd edition stuff, I'm sure the deck plans work just as well now. And isn't updated setting info exactly what people are complaining about?

Wildspace rules night be something, but for my part I don't see the need for more PC races or backgrounds. And I may be in the minority, but I'm dead serious when I say I'd rather see them leave the rest of it alone than diffuse it into irrelevancy or see it changed beyond recognition.

Sadly, I don’t still have my 2e SJ boxes anymore. And beyond that, it would be nice to see some new/updated ship designs regardless.

Some folks complain about updated setting info but I don’t count myself among them. The Ravenloft changes didn’t bother me one bit. YMMV of course. I do think some elements, like the Unhuman Wars or the Imperial Elves will likely get changed given current attitudes toward the non-Demi human races, but who can say? I don’t see anything being changed “beyond recognition” though. But I guess everyone’s definition of that varies too because a lot of folks claim that’s what happened to Ravenloft and I don’t really agree there.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Half-serious,

So Planescape fans want "Evil is sexy" tropes and alignment mechanics?

Not really. Planescape was more "all those alignments are as bad as each other, what you really need to do is drop out and tune into philosophy".

But Sigil is a setting in itself. If you made it the nexus there wouldn't be any room left in the book for adventures.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

So, an adventure-setting hybrid with one local setting for, say, eight Wheel domains?

No, just a setting book for the Great Wheel - give each of the planes the treatment you'd give to a nation or region in any other setting book, and a dedicated chapter for Sigil as a jumping off point.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

And we know Spelljammer is coming this year.

No, we don't. We may hope and piece together clues that we interpret as a high chance of getting Spelljammer this year. But we don't know.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

That's a whole different adventure!

Ooops, Freudian slip of the keys 8-P

 

[darjr]

Did this get posted here?

 

[Scribe]

Half-serious,

So Planescape fans want "Evil is sexy" tropes and alignment mechanics?

I don't need evil is sexy, but I absolutely want Alignment, Gods, Great Wheel, to be the focus.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't need evil is sexy, but I absolutely want Alignment, Gods, Great Wheel, to be the focus.

And I think you have just answered why WotC are not using Sigil.