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​

 

[Michael Linke]

Did they say whether this had anyting to do with the "Classic Settings" we're supposed to be revisiting? I can't tell if we should take products like Candlekeep Mysteries and Ghosts of Salt Marsh as classic settings, or that we're supposed to be expecting more traditional understandings of what a campaign setting is?

 

[Arilyn]

With that line of thought, I’d argue most dungeons in D&D are highly impractical. At any rate, until we know the reasons behind the image (maybe the wall WAS on the ground and some magical force changed it), I’ll hold my judgement and appreciate the artistry.

And what about all those Norman style castles scattered about D&D worlds that would be utterly useless in defending against magic?

Best not too dig too deep, and as you say just enjoy, or at least wait and see.

 

[Dire Bare]

I prefer OSR games, where characters die at 0 HP and there isn't this silly, colorfull aesth...

View attachment 154023 View attachment 154024

Heh.

Some of the weirdest and not-dark stuff I've seen recently has been in the OSR space. Lots of weird fantasy, not so much grim-and-gritty (although I'm sure that exists in the space too).

I'm still processing the vegetable people as PCs in one of the Five Torches Deep supplements (they look like walking, giant carrots) . . .

But, to be fair, I don't think those complaining about Radiant Citadel are saying that all of this fuzzy cuteness is NEW, just that it is not to their tastes. Or perhaps I'm being charitable . . .

I think the criticism is misplaced and a result of cranky gamer syndrome . . . fear of change and all that. Folks affronted that not every book caters to their own narrow tastes. I mean, it's certainly reasonable to not be interested in a thing because of its tone, but . . . some folks are working overtime here to share their upset over "cute and fluffy" D&D. Which, is a thing, but this book isn't it.

Radiant Citadel certainly appears to have a lighter tone than other D&D 5E books, but "cute and fluffy"? We'll see once the book is out in June, but the weight of evidence doesn't support this criticism of a book none of us have opened yet. And the dog whistles over the diversity issue, hoo-boy.

It's worse in other places though. I'd recommend avoiding the discussion of this book on Redditt . . .

 

[Jer]

I've only done AL at conventions, but it's never once even come up - not even when I had a cleric.

At conventions I've rarely had an AL DM ask me anything about my character at all beyond "what class/level are you" and "what's your name so I can put it on the initiative track". They're too concerned with keeping the games moving through the restricted time slots.

it sounds like there's a lot more that goes on with AL stuff at game stores though - I guess if you have folks coming in for longer AL campaigns they might be stricter about this stuff.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Did they say whether this had anyting to do with the "Classic Settings" we're supposed to be revisiting? I can't tell if we should take products like Candlekeep Mysteries and Ghosts of Salt Marsh as classic settings, or that we're supposed to be expecting more traditional understandings of what a campaign setting is?

This is unrelated to any of the classic settings that are supposedly still in the pipeline, by my understanding.

I originally thought that Radiant Citadel might count as the "classic setting cameo" we've been told to expect, given it's adjacency to Planescape, but I believe Ray Winninger said in a tweet that it is not.

 

[Parmandur]

Well, there's another reason for me to never touch AL!

Yeah, same here. I certainly don't see it as a major product concern (probably the AL assumption will be that PCs from the Sword Coast are a "16th civilization" thst has been rediscovered).

 

[Parmandur]

Comic Book Guy voice I think you'll find sir that DC comics had a multiverse before Marvel did, making DC comics the original thieves here.

While true, there is more evidence of direct Marvel influence on early D&D than DC, to my knowledge.

 

[darjr]

I don't play AL, either, but actuI understand that AL DMs have to be stickers about that sort of detail: there are strict Alignment and patron deity guidelines, and they are enforced.

Eh, they’re more like guidelines.

 

[Jer]

While true, there is more evidence of direct Marvel influence on early D&D than DC, to my knowledge.

I think that's true - Ditko's Dr. Strange is one that seems obvious to me for example. Just being pedantic on who stole what from who

 

[darjr]

Well, there's another reason for me to never touch AL!

In my best pirate voice, “there what might call guidelines”