In June, Dungeons & Dragons is releasing a brand new anthology of adventures, titled Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. Located within the ethereal airplane, the Citadel is one-step faraway from any location on this planet. Imagine a large diamond-like moon surrounded by sheer-faced floating gem stones, a circling ring of portals that enable any creature on the fabric airplane the power to entry the Citadel, in the event that they solely know the best steps to take. This thrilling little bit of worldbuilding creates a intelligent framework for the adventures inside the e book.

Much like 2021’s Candlekeep Mysteries, and 2017’s Tales from the Yawning Portal, Radiant Citadel is an anthology e book comprising 13 particular person adventures for character ranges 1-14. Each degree will get its personal journey (with one of many lower-level adventures combining a pair) and every chapter is penned by a special creator, who’ve all collaborated to go away hints in regards to the different works inside their very own writing. The tone of those adventures varies as effectively, from comedies to horror and all the things in between.

But there’s one thing else, and I needed to provide this a little bit of a lead in earlier than the large reveal: Every single journey is penned by an creator of coloration.

The undertaking was co-led by Ajit George (a D&D vet who wrote for Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft) and Wes Schneider (Senior Game Designer), and the writers who had been out there at convention for press on to disclose Radiant Citadel included contributors Surena Marie, Erin Roberts, and Justice Ramin Arman. George has been a groundbreaker in some ways for Wizards of the Coast. He was the primary particular person of Indian origin to write down particularly from his tradition for D&D, and was in a position to create a completely new land and area for Ravenloft—the land of Kalakeri, if you happen to’re curious.

In truth, this undertaking had over fifty individuals of coloration engaged on it, and each the normal and alternate coloration had been drawn by ladies of coloration. This groundbreaking achievement surpasses the inclusion efforts of any earlier Dungeons & Dragons e book, and is a transparent indicator of the dedication that George and Schneider needed to ensuring that Radiant Citadel was distinctive not only for the breadth of adventures it will current, however for the variety of concepts that may be obvious within the e book. When you present house for individuals of many cultures to create a multi-cultural e book, you’ll get one thing that’s a lot greater than the sum of its components. Much just like the Radiant Citadel itself.

George defined throughout the press convention (lead by Greg Tito, Senior Communications Manager for D&D) that he first pitched the core thought of Radiant Citadel to each Jeremey Crawford, D&D’s Lead Rules Designer, and Schneider throughout the pandemic. “I couldn’t shake the idea of a whole book written by Black and brown writers, writing from our own cultures, myths and stories,” George added. He needed to create one thing that may enable a nuanced, thoughtful, and considerate exploration of minority expertise and understanding, impressed by their very own lives, that may be particularly created to look at stereotypes inside the better fantasy style.

Schneider and Crawford had been all in. By September of 2020, George and Schnider had assembled the author group that may create the adventures inside Radiant Citadel. George remarked that probably the greatest items of recommendation he acquired earlier than beginning this undertaking was that, “the key to the book’s success [would be] to create adventures that would be a gateway to new lands.”

George and the group have developed an extremely lore-savvy method to enable Radiant Citadel to turn out to be that gateway. Schneider explains that as a result of the Citadel is positioned within the ethereal airplane, it’s “floating on the multiverse, just one step away from reality,” and might technically be accessed by a large number of methods in accordance with the established D&D canon. What this implies is that even if you’re taking part in by way of the adventures of Ravenloft, Waterdeep, and even your individual created world, there’s a means so that you can seamlessly entry the adventures included in Radiant Citadel with out breaking any of the principles that you just’ve already established in your individual video games.

The lore of the titular metropolis itself is vital to the e book’s mechanical perform. The Citadel is a previously-abandoned metropolis which has been resurrected by fifteen separate cultures. The unique founders of the Citadel got here from 27 cultures, 12 of which had been “lost,” or have been forgotten. When any tradition finds its means into the town, they get a harmony jewel set within the orbit across the Citadel, which serves as a portal to that tradition’s roots within the materials airplane. It’s by way of these portals that every of the adventures takes place.

When Tito requested in regards to the viewers for these adventures, George and Schneider defined that they, for probably the most half, aimed on the traditional D&D viewers, though a few of the early adventures are appropriate for teenagers, particularly “Salted Legacy,” which we’ll get into just a little extra later. It’s the Citadel itself that’s actually the crown jewel of this new e book, George defined, and that’s the place any variety of adventures can materialize.

The Citadel isn’t meant to function an city battlefield, it’s designed to be a spot of relaxation, surprise, and full of colourful characters who’re wanting to get adventurers out on their subsequent journey. Carved out of a large fossil left over from a creature misplaced to time, George mentioned he was impressed by Indian rock-cut structure when he developed this setting. It’s an ecological paradise the place the lifeless give again to the dwelling. Surrounding this world-diamond is a cyclone of keening gloom. While the Citadel is a spot of refuge, there’s a sense of impending doom simply on the outer-edges of the setting. This creates a rigidity between security and insecurity, and permits for extra investigations within the metropolis itself for the crafty adventurer.

There is far about this setting that enables adventurers to fill within the blanks of the lore. You can import your individual cultures by way of one of many twelve lacking jewels; you’ll be able to create your individual fusions inside the Citadel itself. There are recommendations written originally of each journey to not solely will let you port between the Citadel and the assorted settings described in every chapter, but additionally between any particular person journey and the fabric world of your individual sport. Versatility and framework have been baked into the design of this e book at each step, a guidebook of hints and measures to take to include any single metropolis, valley, or marshland into your individual world.

“It’s meant to be a respite, a place to regroup and rebuild. I wanted a place of home, that feels good to return to, but which can launch out adventures,” George mentioned. “There’s a lot of ways to expand… and organically generate outwards adventures.”

During the press assembly we got previews of three of the 13 adventures. “The 1st-level adventure, “Salted Legacy,” presents a comedic thriller set in a bustling evening market; “Written in Blood,” the Third-level journey, sends characters to analyze a farm with a terrifying haunting; and the Eleventh-level journey, “Shadow of the Sun,” encourages adventurers to decide on allegiances whereas navigating the escalating tensions of an angel-ruled metropolis.

Surena Marie described her journey, “Salted Legacy,” as a comedic Family Feud with meals. The journey, for character ranges 1-2, sees the adventurers transported into the bustling Syn Singh Night Market, nestled in a Sub Sunco Valley surrounded by verdant inexperienced mountains. The location is the industrial jewel of the area, surrounded by farmland, and a mysterious, magical forest, and these opposing natures of trade versus custom are expressed within the journey itself. In “Salted Legacy,” rival meals vendor households accuse the opposite of robbing the opposite, and the gamers are requested to determine what’s actually occurring. But with a view to resolve the thriller they should play market video games to earn the belief and renown of the distributors.

Marie, who has a background in Chicago improv, mentioned that she needed to create a lighthearted and enjoyable journey that may be carried out on the desk, not simply performed. Her aim was to make this accessible, not simply to new gamers however to streamers and content material creators as effectively (Marie acquired her begin as an Actual Play actor, and has starred on the Rivals of Waterdeep stream). Inspired by cooking exhibits like Chopped and Hell’s Kitchen, gamers should defeat big prawns with a view to make prawn patties to serve on the market. There’s additionally a scorching wing consuming contest and a drastic chase by way of the evening market impressed by the chaotic and playful monkeys of Lopburi. “I wanted a sense of chaotic wonder with these ridiculous challenges to be reflected in the story,” Marie added.

“These are almost icebreaker games when you’re at a new table,” Marie mentioned, “they put you in right away even when you don’t have any story established.” Marie additionally dived deeper into the themes of her work, saying that her Thai roots impressed the best way this sport comes collectively, and the way she designed this sport together with her mom’s cooking in thoughts. Marie makes use of the journey to replicate on the obligations we have now to one another and our group, the legacy of households, and how one can resolve issues and trauma even when they’re generational.

“I didn’t want to create a game about a lone wolf slashing through a dungeon, this is about helping a community resolve issues… it’s about helping resolve generation trauma, at least a little bit,” Marie mentioned. The journey evokes duality of the primary technology immigrant expertise, “where we want to live the big American dream, we want to live the life that our parents had [in mind]. And, meanwhile there’s a part of us that worries about losing our culture, or we aren’t given full access to it because of the pressure to assimilate.”

Marie’s rival households create a commentary on the character of being a primary technology immigrant, specializing in a extra intimate journey that requires emotional buy-in and empathy, whereby the destiny of those two households are within the participant’s arms. “Everyone,” Marie says, “can relate to caring about your family,” even when they won’t have the entire story. But that’s the place the gamers are available in.

Like many anthologies, the tones of every chapter are likely to shift. Erin Roberts launched her Third-level journey, “Written in Blood,” as a haunted farmland journey impressed by the American South. It’s set in a brand new area known as God’s Breath, which Roberts describes as a “personal love letter” to her household’s roots in Mississipi, Alabama, and Florida. God’s Breath follows the American South by way of its agrarian roots, exploring many alternative areas in lots of contexts. There are murky coves and bayous, farmland within the silt-mud of a river, the Ribbon, a belt of farmland that cuts a affluent swath by way of the area, which has been slowly shrinking yearly due to an ongoing drought that no person fairly understands. “But,” Roberts laughed, “that’s not what this adventure is about.”

“Written in Blood” takes place in a port metropolis, Promise, impressed by Biloxi, New Orleans, and Memphis, a spot the place the land meets the river in unusual and mysterious methods. There is a way of shared historical past inherent within the setting, whereby yearly a big group of bards and clerics known as Proclaimers get collectively to sing the Awakening Song, “an oral history of everything of note that’s happened in the region over the years.”

That’s when the journey begins: in the center of this celebration, when normally-friendly farmers assault Promise. The gamers have to determine what’s unsuitable, why the assaults are occurring, and observe Tungsten, a Proclaimer, into the harmful, monster-infested farmland that many determined farmers are compelled to until with a view to make ends meet throughout the drought. It’s essential to impress Tungsten, Roberts joked, “because you could either have your deeds sung about for all eternity, but if Tungsten’s like ‘nah’ then your deeds are lost to time.”

God’s Breath is a bigger metaphor for the Black diaspora by way of the American South, the place gods have introduced a gaggle of individuals into this area from a distant land the place they had been beneath assault, and they’re compelled to start out a brand new life. “It’s my way of asking ‘how do we see the richness here’,” said Roberts. Players get an opportunity to journey and perceive the area to get a greater sense of this tradition, the hauntings and thriller embedded deep into the soil of this land. It is essential to do not forget that this has a large Southern Gothic Horror vibe, and Roberts was given an opportunity to create a monster, aptly named the Soulshaker. Describing it, Roberts laughed after which added “without spoiling too much… what happens if too many hands, but way, way worse?”

“Shadow of the Sun,” an journey for degree 11 adventures, was written by Justice Ramin Arman, who not too long ago introduced he was becoming a member of Wizards of the Coast as a Senior Game Designer at Dungeons & Dragons. This journey, impressed by the traditional Sumerian cities of modern-day Iran, takes place within the metropolis of Akharin Sangar, which is a holy city-state dominated by the angel Atash. This is an historic land with wealthy traditions, however is at present wrecked by a rebellious rigidity as Atash guidelines over this metropolis which he delivered from disaster 50 years in the past. “My hope is that DMs and players get used to the ‘akha’ sound used in the Persian language,” Arman joked, “so good luck to you all!”

The journey begins on the evening of a lunar competition when the characters get thrown right into a conflict between completely different factions within the metropolis. With little to no room for impartial floor, characters should navigate between numerous resistance teams just like the Ashen Heirs and the Silent Roar as they arrive up in opposition to Akharin Sangar’s Brightguard, a gaggle of holy enforcers who serve Atash and keep the peace. “Every nexus point of this adventure there’s always going to be two decisions,” Arman defined, and characters can be compelled to facet with both the resistance of the Brightguard. Arman added that due to the upper degree related to this journey, the stakes are going to be inherently just a little bit increased, and he’s designed this sport in order that the burden of their determination will have an effect on the climax and the destiny of the town as an entire. “Everyone is going to remember what you do,” Arman insisted.

Arman, who’s Iranian-American, has drawn from historic Persia, Iranian poetry, the epic Shahnameh (often called The Book of Kings), and mythology. However, Arman mentioned that “not all aspects of this fantasy are rooted in the distant past… ‘Shadow of the Sun’ has these themes that [will] feel relevant to modern Iranians and people of color at home and in the diaspora.” He defined that since Akharin Sangar is an remoted metropolis state, they’ve “a complicated reputation with outsiders” who’ve drawn their very own conclusions about Sangarians from a distance. This mirrors the customarily unfavorable portrayals of Iranians within the media. “Shadow of the Sun” goals to problem perceptions and confront stereotypes. “Everything,” Arman added, “is not as it seems.”

Much just like the tone of the adventures previewed, Schneider mentioned that there can be a variety of completely different ways in which persons are requested to play the sport. “You won’t be able to hack and slash your way through every adventure,” he says, “versatility is the name of the game.”

There was a variety of collaboration between the writers. “At every point the writer’s could see each other’s work,” George says, “it was a vibrantly communicative and collaborative process and you can see that in how the work is written.” The adventures are deeply referential, talking not solely to the structural framework of Radiant Citadel but additionally to the narrative of cultural alternate that occurs within the Citadel itself. This can be indicative of the meta-textual ways in which the writers all conferred and spoke with one another, making a “deeply unique” collective expertise.

Schneider goes into a few of the nitty gritty particulars. There are going to be eleven new monsters on this e book, together with the mischievous Windling proven on the quilt and the red-winged Hari current in Arman’s journey. Some of the adventures additionally carry again some legacy beasts just like the aurumvorax and monstrous weasels. He mentions there aren’t any new subclasses or races established on this e book however there may be “a ton of guidance on how to play characters from these new locations.”

One of these character sects is the Shieldbearers, the Citadel’s rescue and relocation pressure that’s despatched out to assist save individuals wherever there may be want. They get known as to hotspots of pure and magical disasters with a view to rescue civilians and innocents and produce them to the citadel. However, Shieldbearers are usually not allowed to assault or intervene until they’re defending direct assault. “There’s a pretty high morbidity rate among their ranks,” George says, “I wanted to share a kind of hero who actually doesn’t solve the problem causing the disaster, but goes in just hoping to prevent collateral damage.”

Seen on the alternate cowl is one other piece of worldbuilding distinctive to the Radiant Citadel. The faceted animals are known as “Dawn Incarnates.” Schneider explains that they’re manifestations of the adventures that exist within the e book. They are folklore and legend made actual and present-the tales informed on the desk turn out to be characters in and of themselves. The gamers will be capable of work together with these lore-animals inside the town, and may even be despatched on an journey or two of their service.

George helps wrap up the press convention by reminding listeners that whereas these campaigns are deeply rooted within the experiences of the writers, they don’t seem to be one-to-one analogues with the true world. “Each adventure is a new place, full of new monsters, new characters, new challenges,” he says, “this is still D&D, but just with a new flavor.”

Ultimately what George needed to do with this e book was to provide writers freedom and construct their adventures organically from the bottom up. The advantage of a framework just like the Citadel is that they don’t have to fret in regards to the a long time of lore connected to a spot like Eberron or the Forgotten Realms. It was as much as George and Schnider to do the work to make these lands accessible and moveable right into a sport that was primarily based in Eberron. The e book is structured to facilitate an unimaginable quantity of various settings as a result of “we know a lot of players’ favorite worlds are their own.”

He pauses. “D&D gave me a lot when I needed it most. [Journeys through the Radiant Citadel offers] depth, complexity, nuance. Your characters will always be changed by the adventures. The care that the writers put in will ask a lot of the players and characters… I want players to think about these games afterwards and think, my character became different after this adventure, and so did I.”

Journeys by way of the Radiant Citadel can be out there digitally and in North American shops on June 21 with a canopy designed by Evyn Fong, whereas a restricted variety of copies with another cowl designed by Sija Hong can be out there solely by way of sport shops.

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