Worldbuilder's Journal

[Dire Bare]

A new Dungeons & Dragons journal product has been released this month, "The Worldbuilder's Journal of Legendary Adventures", and I just got my copy from Amazon. This is one of a number of recent D&D journals published by Random House under license with Wizards of the Coast, and has an MSRP of $16.99. The journal is compact and thick (7 1/4" x 6" x 1 1/4"), with 365 journal pages, one for each day of the year. The cover is flexible but sturdy with a finish reminiscent of the larger rulebooks. The cover design also fits in with your "special edition" D&D books with red dragon art by Hydro74. The journal has a premium feel to it with the high quality cover, nice endpapers, and high quality paper on the inside. Each page has some D&D art flourishes that maintain the theme each day you write in your journal.

If this book was simply a D&D themed blank journal, I'd recommend it. But it is actually a more interactive and useful product for a budding world builder looking for some inspiration. Each journal page has a daily prompt for you to write about. Here's the first prompt:

Describe the black market in one of the cities you encounter. Start by writing down the names, appearances, and personalities of three vendors. What are some of the unique, unusual, or magical wares they sell? Or what valuable information do they have?

You are not likely to find this product at your local FLGS, as it is distributed through the book trade rather than the hobby trade. You can probably find it at your local Barnes & Noble, or local independent bookseller. You can certainly find it online easily through B&N or Amazon. I'll link to the Random House product page.

I'll add briefly some information about the other journal products recently (or soon to be) published by Random House and other publishers, none of which I have purchased. Random House offers the "Bestiary Notebook Set" for $19.99, this is a set of 5 very thin and small notebooks in a nice slipcase. There are no journal prompts, these are just small, blank journals with a few pages dedicated to full-color art. This journal set is available now. RH will also be releasing "The Book of Holding" journal for $19.99 on August 4 of this year. This is another D&D themed blank journal, but larger and more "deluxe" (7.2" x 9", 144 pages) with a magnetic closure and some full-color art inside. The cover is the stylized dragon ampersand first shown as a cover of a Dragon+ issue and that has since appeared on t-shirts and some other places. It's a neat piece. Another journal product I stumbled across is the "Words are the Mightiest Weapon" 200-page notebook and pencil set available now on merchoid.com for $17.99. The cover has the same artwork as the special edition Player's Handbook and reads "Player's Notebook" instead. Definitely check out the other D&D licensed products available now on Merchoid, which include a D&D d20 lamp, umbrella, money box shaped like a book, and some other fun stuff. I just got my d20 lamp and money box, and so far love them both!