The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021)

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is an adventure module set in the Feywild for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

Contents

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is designed to take player characters from level 1 to level 8 in the first 5th Edition adventure set in the Feywild. It is setting neutral allowing the Dungeon Master to transition the players from any starting location to the Prismeer, a Feywild domain of delight, via the Witchlight Carnival with two plot hook options. Prismeer has been fractured into three realms (Hither, Thither, and Yon) and is ruled by a coven of hags who overthrew the archfey Zybilna. The players traverse the domain to thwart each of the hags.

The book expands on game elements for the 5th edition, such as:

All encounters have non-combat options to resolve conflict

Storytelling tools for the Dungeon Master such as a story tracker, roleplaying cards, and maps

Two new character races — the fairy and the harengon (humanoid rabbits)

Two new character backgrounds — "the Feylost (for characters who grew up in the Feywild) and the Witchlight Hand (for characters who work at the Witchlight Carnival)"

32 new character traits, 21 magic items themed around the Feywild, 13 non-player characters, and 18 monsters

Characters from the 1980s AD&D action figure line return in this module

Publication history

The new module was officially announced on June 7, 2021, however, this announcement occurred after the product was leaked through an Amazon product listing. It was released on September 21, 2021. The standard cover was designed by the artist Tyler Jacobson. An alternate art cover edition, designed by the artist Hydro74, of the book is only available through local game stores. The storytelling tools for the Dungeon Master are also included in the PDF supplement Domains of Delight (2021) which can be printed out. Chris Perkins, the principal story designer for Wizards of the Coast, is the book's story lead, and the writers are Stacey Allan, Will Doyle, and Ari Levitch.

SyFy Wire highlighted that "traditionally, the Feywild is an alternate plane of existence that mirrors and overlaps the material world. It’s a place of perpetual twilight that’s full of both enticing beauty and terrible dangers. Time works differently inside the Feywild, and those who leave may find what they thought was a brief venture instead lasted years — assuming they’re even able to leave at all. In short, it’s a good place for a magical and eerie adventure". On the Feywild setting, Perkins said: The plane itself has almost a transformative quality. It responds to emotions. If you’re feeling sad and you sit next to a rock in the Feywild, an expression of sadness might actually form in the rock; or the clouds overhead might start to take the shape of a sad face. But if you’re feeling happy and joyous, and you’re dancing around in the glade, you might find that the flowers in the glade seem to sway or dance with you; that you can exert as a creature of the Feywild some influence over your environment. [...] It’s not all whimsy, but it’s not all dark, Brothers Grimm. It sort of blends it all together, but gives the DM license to kind of lean one way or the other, to sort of give it the atmosphere that they know their players will respond to most.The book is also available as a digital product through the following Wizards of the Coast licensees: D&D Beyond, Fantasy Grounds, and Roll20.

Related products

Unearthed Arcana

The Unearthed Arcana series is the 5th edition public playtest where the content released is "a near-final draft of the rules"; parts of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight was developed through this playtest. New character races indigenous to the Feywild premiered in Folk of the Feywild (May 2021) which presented the Fairy, the Hobgoblin, the Owlfolk, and the Rabbitfolk as playable options. CBR reported that "Folk of the Feywild is the game's second Unearthed Arcana released after Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Like the previous set of playtest material, Gothic Lineages, it makes use of a particular design philosophy implemented in Tasha's: the removal of race-specific ability score improvements".

Domains of Delight

Domains of Delight is a PDF supplement published on the Dungeon Masters Guild by Wizards of the Coast in September 2021; sale proceeds go to the Extra Life charity. It is an optional add-on to The Wild Beyond the Witchlight and establishes additional information on the Feywild such as the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, Fey Gifts and Hospitality, Fey contracts. It also includes information on building Feywild domains, creating an archfey, and converting pre-existing stat blocks into Fey themed stat blocks. On the decision to create an add-on supplement, Perkins said to Polygon: When we were working on the Domains of Delight portion [of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight] we weren’t necessarily sure where it was going to land finally. It could have been in the book. It could have been a separate thing. Some of that was based on just how the adventure was flowing. [...] Ultimately, it was pretty much my call to keep it separate from the rest of the adventure simply because a section of the adventure that big that doesn’t have anything to do with the narrative of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight seemed a little odd.Both Charlie Hall, for Polygon, and Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, commented that Domains of Delight is "advertised in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight" which is "the first time that Wizards has promoted a DMs Guild publication" within "a physical D&D book". Hoffer also highlighted that "as part of the Domains of Delight release, the DMs Guild also teamed up with several creators to produce several 'Dungeoncraft Spotlight' adventures. These adventures use the rules and tips from Domains of Delight and can be used either as accessories to The Wild Beyond the Witchlight or as standalone adventures".