After Wizards of the Coast let slip the announcement of a newDungeons & Dragonssourcebook, fans have been speculating as to what it could be about. As it turns out,Dungeons & Dragonsisn’t resurrecting old settings or adventures, but rather going somewhere entirely new; Wizards of the Coast announced their partnership with belovedD&DshowCritical Role, for the creation of theExplorer’s Guide to Wildemountsourcebook.
Critical Rolehas lead the wave of renewed enthusiasm forD&Dsince it began airing in March of 2015, a show comprised of popular voice actors playing the game, captained by DM Matthew Mercer. When the show began, Mercer didn’t use an alreadyexistingD&D5e campaign settingfor his game: he created the world of Exandria, including the current setting of the show’s campaign 2, Wildemount.
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TheExplorer’s Guide toWildemountwill actually beCritical Role’s second published sourcebook, but its first,Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Settingwasn’t an official part of the 5th edition universe. This new book, on the other hand, will joinD&D5th edition canon when it releases, formally linking Exandria with theForgotten Realms, Eberron, and any other campaign settings that join the 5th edition family. Not only does theExplorer’s Guidethoroughly establish the setting of Wildemount, but it also contains beginner adventures, plot hooks, and new player options to unlock. Among those options are the Echo Knight fighter subclass and the Dunamancy school of magic–along with a whole bunch of creature stats and magic items, of course.
Before the book’s reveal, many fans speculated that it would bring back an old, well-loved campaign setting fromprevious editions ofD&Dsuch as Planescape or Spelljammer. Those both remain very much a possibility for future releases–theExplorer’s Guide to Wildemounthasn’t delayed any such projects, but merely introduces something new to the classic multiverse. The book isn’t intended just for existing fans ofCritical Role; it’s written in such a way that someone who had never watched the show once could still enjoy Wildemount and craft homemade adventures without issue.
“D&Dhas been such an influential element of my life, of who I am, and to have contributed to it in this way is beyond words,” Mercer wrote. “I set out to create this book not as a tome specifically forfans of Critical Role, but as a love letter to the D&D community as a whole…I wanted this to be a book for any D&D player, regardless of their knowledge of (or appreciation of, for that matter) Critical Role. I made this for ALL of you."
TheExplorer’s Guide to Wildemountreleases on March 17 and is available for pre-order now, whileDungeons & Dragonsremains as vast and accessible as it’s been for decades.
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