Contents
- 1Welcome to the Radiant Citadel
- 2The Radiant Citadel
- 3Salted Legacy
- 4Written in Blood
- 5The Fiend of Hollow Mine
- 6Wages of Vice
- 7Sins of Our Elders
- 8Gold for Fools and Princes
- 9Trail of Destruction
- 10In the Mists of Manivarsha
- 11Between Tangled Roots
- 12Shadow of the Sun
- 13The Nightsea's Succor
- 14Buried Dynasty
- 15Orchids of the Invisible Mountain
- 16Beyond the Radiant Citadel
- 17Credits
Welcome to the Radiant Citadel
In the heart of the Ethereal Plane lies an ancient and mysterious city called the Radiant Citadel. Through tradition, cooperation, and ancestral magic, fifteen civilizations are bound to this wondrous site. Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is an anthology of exciting adventures that explore the cultures and myths of these realms.
The adventures in Journeys through the Radiant Citadel were created by members of the Dungeons & Dragons community with connections to various real-world cultures and mythologies. Embarking on the adventures of the Radiant Citadel will expand your gaming horizons, can give your characters new perspectives, and might change the way you look at fantasy tropes and traditions. As adventures are the lens through which we explore fantastic worlds, they shape who our characters are and what they believe in. The greater the variety adventures offer, the richer our characters and, by extension, our gaming experiences.
From glittering night markets to undersea cities, from curse-afflicted villages to angel-ruled city-states, these adventures provide a pathway to never-before-seen lands and stories. The gates of the Radiant Citadel stand open, and a rich tapestry of stories is yours to explore.
Using the Adventures
The Journeys through the Radiant Citadel table summarizes the adventures in this anthology. Each adventure is designed for four to six characters of a particular level, but you can adjust it for larger or smaller groups as well as for characters of higher or lower level by making a few changes, like swapping one monster or trap for another, changing the number of foes in an encounter, or adjusting DCs to make important tasks easier or harder for the characters to accomplish.
Each adventure in this anthology is versatile, and characters might become involved in any of the following ways:
- The characters have ties to the plot as detailed in the "Character Hooks" section in each adventure.
- The characters have journeyed to the Radiant Citadel, and their connections to individuals or organizations there lead them to investigate the plot.
- A character hails from the land where the adventure takes place and has a connection to the plot.
These short adventures work best with players who like exploring new lands and finding clever solutions to complex challenges. That said, each adventure contains opportunities for exploration, roleplaying, and combat to appeal to players of all persuasions.
Running the Adventures
To run these adventures, you need the fifth edition core rulebooks: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual.
The Monster Manual contains stat blocks for most of the creatures encountered in these adventures. When a creature's name appears in bold type, that's a visual cue pointing you to its stat block as a way of saying, "Hey, DM, get this creature's stat block ready. You'll need it." If a stat block is new, the adventure's text tells you where to find it.
Spells and equipment mentioned in the adventures are described in the Player's Handbook. Magic items are described in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
Exploring New Reaches
Each adventure in this book introduces a new location—be it a city, a nation, a region, or otherwise. Before running an adventure, review the gazetteer presented at the adventure's end. Aside from providing an overview of the people and plots in that land, each gazetteer provides cultural details useful in describing the setting and making it feel vibrant.
Setting the Adventures
The locations in this book can be incorporated into any D&D setting or a world of your own design. Each adventure includes a "Setting the Adventure" section that suggests where you might place the adventure. Weave these locations into your version of your favorite world, adding them where you like—even replacing other lands on your world map. Alternatively, use the Radiant Citadel or planes-spanning magic to place these locations in entirely new worlds, and use them as the thresholds of realms defined how you please.
Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
| Level | Adventure | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | "Salted Legacy" | A conflict between rival night market vendors draws characters into a hunt for a mysterious saboteur and a series of whimsical contests. |
| 3 | "Written in Blood" | A community is terrorized by a horror lurking in a distant farmhouse. |
| 4 | "The Fiend of Hollow Mine" | The cure for a spreading curse leads from an abandoned mine to a city celebrating the departed. |
| 5 | "Wages of Vice" | A murderer stalks the streets during a raucous festival. |
| 6 | "Sins of the Elders" | A slighted spirit takes vengeance on the community that forgot her by stealing their memories. |
| 7 | "Gold for Fools and Princes" | Mysterious creatures cause a gold mine to collapse, precipitating a race between rival princes to save those trapped. |
| 8 | "Trail of Destruction" | A legendary creature reawakens and begins a chain reaction of volcanic eruptions that threaten the land. |
| 9 | "In the Mists of Manivarsha" | A local champion goes missing after a deadly flood, leading to a search for her along the rivers of a vast swamp. |
| 10 | "Between Tangled Roots" | Rageful spirits provoke a dragon to go on a deadly rampage. |
| 11 | "Shadow of the Sun" | Rival factions clash in an angel-ruled city on the brink of rebellion. |
| 12 | "The Nightsea's Succor" | A quest for ancient lore reveals threats from the past and leads to a mysterious nation beneath the waves. |
| 13 | "Buried Dynasty" | Agents of a long-lived emperor seek a timeless secret to keep their ruler in power at any cost. |
| 14 | "Orchids of the Invisible Mountain" | Adventurers must travel to the Feywild and the Far Realm to prevent otherworldly forces from tearing a land apart. |
New Homes
At your discretion, players can create characters who are from the locations presented in this book. Consider allowing players to review the gazetteers of the lands that appeal to them. Each gazetteer provides questions you can ask players during character creation to help them create characters immersed in their homeland.
Thoughtful Introductions
While exploring the locations introduced through these adventures, be thoughtful about how you roleplay and describe groups of people. Consider the guidance here when running adventures.
Broad Descriptions
Describe everyone's features, not just those whose features are different from your own.
Detail, Not Stereotypes
When describing a character's appearance, strive to detail more than just one thing and avoid descriptions based on stereotypes. The more you can say about body type, hair style and texture, skin tone, clothes, accessories, and the like, the more dimension a character has. As some societies strongly associate ethnicity with skin color, take extra care when describing characters' skin colors. Consider a range of literal descriptions, such as copper, umber, onyx, or ebony, with modifiers such as rich, lustrous, warm, or cool.
Gradual Explorations
You don't have to reveal a setting's entire culture at once. Skip details that aren't immediately relevant to characters, and reveal details as they arise. A scene in a tavern presents opportunities to introduce distinct foods, while a market trip is a great time to note varieties of dress.
Highlight What's Familiar
Highlight what's familiar in a culture and how it's like other locations. This can help characters ground their experiences and better understand where they're visiting.
Online and Streamed Games
Just as you don't have to breathe fire in real life to play a dragonborn in D&D, you don't need to be from the cultures that inspired the adventures in this book to play characters from them. However, take care to portray characters as three-dimensional people with relatable desires and fears.
One person's culture isn't another's costume. If you dress up, simple outfits are best. Avoid leaning into stereotypes or clothing with real-world religious significance. Instead, focus on "everyday wear" from the cultures you're exploring. Don't change your skin color, alter your features, or emulate hair styles you wouldn't normally have to appear like a different real-world ethnicity. Similarly, avoid mocking real-world accents in your roleplay.