Candlekeep Mysteries Has Been Announced! A Couple of Things To Know About Candlekeep
Rejoice, adventurers! a New D&D Adventure Book has been announced - “Candlekeep Mysteries” and will release on March 16, 2021.
So this adventure book will have seventeen mystery-themed adventures that revolve around the location of Candlekeep - probably one of the biggest Library of the Forgotten Realms. This is what the Wizards of the Coast get to say about “Candlekeep Mysteries”:
“Candlekeep attracts scholars like a flame attracts moths. Historians, sages, and others who crave knowledge flock to this library fortress to peruse its vast collection of books, scribbled into which are the answers to the mysteries that bedevil them. Many of these books contain their own mysteries—each one a doorway to adventure. Dare you cross that threshold?
Candlekeep Mysteries is a collection of seventeen short, stand-alone D&D adventures designed for characters of levels 1-16. Each adventure begins with the discovery of a book, and each book is the key to a door behind which danger and glory await. These adventures can be run as one-shot games, plugged into an existing Forgotten Realms campaign, or adapted for other campaign settings.
This book also includes a poster map of the library fortress and detailed descriptions of Candlekeep and its inhabitants.
Adventure writers include: Graeme Barber, Kelly Lynne D’angelo, Alison Huang, Mark Hulmes, Jennifer Kretchmer, Daniel Kwan, Adam Lee, Ari Levitch, Sarah Madsen, Christopher Perkins, Michael Polkinghorn, Taymoor Rehman, Derek Ruiz, Kienna Shaw, Brandes Stoddard, Amy Vorpahl, and Toni Winslow-Brill.”
My Thoughts On “Candlekeep Mysteries”
I got to say the premise of this adventure book looks excellent. One of the reasons is the setting in which it takes place. This Alexandria Library inspired location really has an excellent fit for any D&D world or campaign setting. Now where I have my doubts and see it also as a great opportunity is that 17 Adventure writers will write the book, and that’s a lot of cooks in the pot. To be fair, writers will make 17 One-Shot adventures around Candlekeep and its Mysteries rather than one continuing story. But my only fear would be to get a lot of half-baked ideas since there will be new adventure writers on the team. But we will see in almost two months, and I’m getting this one right now because the setting in which this takes place is brilliant.
Another reason why I’m getting “Candlekeep Mysteries” is that it promises new Magic Items and Monsters in the mix. And if wizards will provide, I expect some monsters around the library/forbidden knowledge theme. I would also like to have maybe a book table of some of the contents of books you can find in Candlekeep, especially a new magic Books, but we shall see that I would personally want from this book additional features. They promise that each adventure starts with the discovery of a book, and I would like to see how they do it.
What’s also pretty interesting is the additional map of Candlekeep and deets on its locations and inhabitants. I would love to see a similar information presentation as they did on Essentials Kit where they had sidekicks handouts or something similar, but I’m not getting my hopes for that at least. At least the map of a library will be useful in any campaign, really.
Candlekeep Lore
If you’re still not familiar with the lore of Candlekeep, I would strongly suggest checking this Jorphdan video out where he shows the most interesting things about Candlekeep.
As I said, I love the Candlekeep idea, the Alexandria Library inspiration, the weird location facts like lead structures, and all that to prevent scrying wizards. Candlekeep location is a well though location with many adventures to have.
Prepare for the Candlekeep Mysteries Adventure!
If you’re thinking of preparing for “Candlekeep Mysteries,” check out this Mystery and Magical Spotify playlist for your games, and if you’re thinking of pre-ordering the book, help a Goblin out buy it through this Amazon link, where I could get a small kickback for bringing the joyful news!
Again, “Candlekeep Mysteries” and will see the light of day on March 16, 2021. What are your thoughts about the new adventure book?
