D&D 5E What D&D Product Can Be Seen In The Crystals?

WotC has posted an image of a pile of crystals through which distorted glimpses of what looks like a product can be seen. In the comments below, folks have been flipping, enhancing, and generally squinting at the image behind the crystals, and while it's hard to make out, guesses include 'Journey Through the Radiant Ocean' (although I personally think that first letter looks more like an X or K than a J). 'Citadel' is also a popular guess for that last word--'Journey(s) to/from the Radiant Citadel'? Take a look and see what you think (or check the comments for flipped and enhanced versions).

In Spelljammer lore, the phlogiston--the space between the crystal spheres in which the prime material worlds can be found--is also known as the 'Rainbow Ocean'. And crystal seem on-brand for crystals spheres.

Below the text, the image appears to be of some kind of marketplace. Above it, WotC wrote "Through the depths of the Ethereal Plane is a beacon of possibility and adventure... "

There was apparently a press event today, pending some kind of product announcement on Tuesday.

D&D 5E - Announcement Next Week--What Hints For Upcoming D&D Books?

WotC uses Unearthed Arcana to playtest D&D material which often ends up in a later hardcover book. Mages of Strixhaven was in Unearthed Arcana in June 2021, and Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos was published in December 2021. Draconic Options was in Unearthed Arcana in April 2021, and Fizban's...

www.enworld.org

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

You don't need a lot of special rules for an adventure on planes, a module of Planescape, but Spelljammer is about to sail in skyships and this really needs some rules.

 

[Jer]

No, I’ve never understood why they care. I don’t think a major competitor is going to swoop in and produce a viable competing product in the next 4 days.

Companies really like to control their hype machines. I mostly think it's probably the marketing folks who don't want to see their work undermined on a planned rollout by 1000 clickbait sites posting the same "You Won't Believe What's Coming Next For Dungeons And Dragons" articles with a screenshot of an Amazon page with nothing but a title on it and then a 5 paragraphs of speculation.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Oh, I get it! The new format for the next D&D product is crystals!

 

[Lidgar]

Still getting vibes it’s an adventure compilation around the Rock of Bral, similar to Yawning Portal. It has The Citadel and the Vanes are from a radiant dragon.

 

[DEFCON 1]

What I always find amusing is all the talk trying so hard to speculate what the next book is going to be... only for the conversation to turn to how much the new book is gonna suck once its identity gets released.

Presumably these two groups of people are different, but it does tickle me to think there's one of you out there going through all the images trying to divine the title, but who will immediately turn on it once it is finalized.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What I always find amusing is all the talk trying so hard to speculate what the next book is going to be...

The speculation is a game in it's own right. It doesn't matter about the product. You realise people like to try and solve puzzles?

 

[J.Quondam]

The speculation is a game in it's own right. It doesn't matter about the product. You realise people like to try and solve puzzles?

I think you figured it out: the new format is "pure speculation"!

 

[Parmandur]

I thought it might be CITADEL. However I think the second word on the top line looks longer than "into".

JOURNEY into
the RADIANT CITADEL​

Centering the text the "J" ends up where the "U" is. I.e. the second word on the top line is about six letters, not four. "BEYOND"?

JOURNEY BEYOND
the RADIANT CITADEL​

Journey Beyond the Radiant Citadel has a classic D&D-ish ring to it. Also would fit if the "Radiant Citadel" is a hub for modular plug and play modules.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think this has been brought up yet:

I think this is the product "George" is doing a "South Asian thing" for. But it's more like Ghosts of Saltmarsh than either Ravenloft, Stryxhaven or Spelljammer.

That illustration has Hong Kong waterfront market vibes. Combined with "Radiant" suggests radiant dragons*, drawing from the same well of South Asian mythology as Raya and the Last Dragon.


* => gem dragons => Sardior. Who is dead, hence the bone emoji. The crystals that are being mined on the ethereal plane and sold in Not-Kong are Sardior's bones. Or so Luis tells me.

That would explain the oddities about Saridor in the Fizban book, too..tying unto this...

 

[Parmandur]

No, I’ve never understood why they care. I don’t think a major competitor is going to swoop in and produce a viable competing product in the next 4 days.

Nathan Stewart laid it out pretty clearly in some of the old Spoiler & Swag streams: it helps drive revenue. Sure, it's BS, but it actually improves sales to pull these theatrics and get people focused on one release for a few months. Apparently a clearly laid out annual schedule hinders sales numbers. So they do this instead of that.

It's about the bottom line.