Justinian

Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos is a module with a lot of potential that doesn't deliver. It requires a lot of work from the GM to make it compelling. The module has a wondrous magic school setting, including some decently fleshed out student characters and interesting mechanical concepts (like ways to study or not study for exams). But there are many areas that need further fleshing out. The most glaring weakness of Curriculum of Chaos is the included campaign. The majority of Curriculum in Chaos is campaign content (Chapters 3 through 7, of seven chapters). But the campaign itself is very linear, has a weak villain, few opportunities for meaningful decision-making, and flavorless dungeon areas lacking interactivity. Online GMs in particular will want to replace many of the black-and-white maps with colored maps. Perhaps most egregious is that the relationships with student NPCs so core to the appeal of Strixhaven as a module are left entirely to the GMs to manage. In the module, the campaign often has interlude "Relationship Encounter" sections that tell the GM to make up a scene between a student NPC and a PC. Poor guidance.

Journeys through the Radiant Citadel features some fascinating new worlds inspired by real-world cultures (Korea, Persia, etc). The standout element of this module are the gazetteers at the end of each adventure covering each region's customs, beliefs, lore, possible adventures, and even food. Like other anthologies before it (Candlekeep Mysteries, Quests from the Infinite Staircase), it is tougher to run as a single campaign and better with specific adventures slotted into other campaigns. The central location, the Radiant Citadel, features in none of the adventures proper, which feels like a missed opportunity. Some of the adventures are superb (Salted Legacy, Written in Blood, Fiend of Hollow Mine), and others (Gold for Fools and Princes, Sins of Our Elders) require a lot of work to be more compelling. Unfortunately, it has more mechanical weaknesses than other anthologies. Many adventures feature underwhelming combat posing little challenge (Sins of Our Elders in particular), little treasure (rewarding players with physical treasure is a staple of 5th edition D&D), and areas lacking dynamic interactivity. But the settings of the adventures are undoubtedly big draws, and I hope Wizards of the Coast revisits the Radiant Citadel for future modules.

5th edition Dungeons and Dragons is undoubtedly popular, with streamlined mechanics (particularly compared to earlier D&D editions), wide variety in classes and subclasses, as well as items. It is best used for a medieval fantasy setting, though that still gives GMs a lot of room to run modules in worlds ranging from Greek myth-inspired epics (Theros) to magic schools (Strixhaven) to classic fantasy adventure (Lost Mine of Phandelver). As a system, it has some rough edges, particularly in areas where GMs need to do heavy lifting creating their own systems and mechanics. Many of its spells could use some rewrites to be more concise, though 2024's new spell descriptions do some work there over the 2014 version. Combat takes a long time in person because with each attack roll come multiple die rolls (to hit, and then the damage) that can be further modified with various feats, spells, and so on. D&D 5th edition combat is overall best suited for an online environment where die-rolling can be automated to some degree.

With 17 adventures in one volume, Candlekeep Mysteries is a varied mix of (mostly) decent adventures with some especially compelling ones and some duds. Among the module’s strengths are some mechanically and thematically strong adventures worth the price of the module in and of themselves like Shemshime’s Bedtime Rhyme (a pandemic-style horror of madness), Price of Beauty (a somewhat more open world spa with secrets), and Canopic Being (an excellent mummy tomb adventure), to name a few. Negatives: Not all the adventures are “mysteries” (many are fairly straightforward, linear adventures) and only two are set in Candlekeep proper. Several adventures need substantial GM alteration to make more compelling (one adventure involves evil yuan-ti, but their motivations are largely missing). It is tough to make it work as a single campaign, and most GMs are likely to just run select adventures within other campaigns. Some of them work quite well mixed into Strixhaven, for example.

Wild beyond the Witchlight is a wonderful mix of fairytale inspiration—from Alice in Wonderland, the Grimm’s fairy tales, Peter Pan, and Wizard of Oz for example. It’s a whimsical story with some darkness via the villains, and bursting with curious nonplayer characters ranging from children to talking animals and monsters with heart. It is the perfect campaign for theater nerds and those seeking a character-centric campaign, because one of the hooks (“lost things”) revolves around the player characters recovering something precious from their childhood that they lost. This can create some very interesting narratives of heroes who are unable to lie, missing a key sibling, or cursed, who are then able to overcome these obstacles and develop as characters. There are some minor flaws: the campaign arc is largely linear, and you will need to put in work to change combat balance if you want to allow players to flexibly choose where to go in the Feywild (though there is some choice in each individual Feywild realm). Not all the narratives land quite well—there is a band of villains who show up near the end who could be far better integrated into the story with a little work. Similarly, the vast number of NPCs can sometimes mean a fun NPC disappears as quickly as they appear, and consolidating NPCs might be best if you want them to develop alongside the player characters (who may naturally develop fondness for some of them). In addition, some of the combat is quite challenging, as the module is designed around the principle that most encounters could be resolved without combat. GMs will need to modify the module for combat-loving groups so that combat appears more often. Beginner GMs may also be overwhelmed by the amount of information they need to remember or key up for busy areas like the Witchlight Carnival, which is bursting with story threads and mini-games. Overall, Wild beyond the Witchlight is one of the best prewritten modules for D&D 5th edition, partly because of its evocative fey theme.