The Wild Wait is over! The Witchlight Carnival Awaits!
In a previous blog, I expressed my excitement and interest for the upcoming D&D module The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. In that blog I shared my predictions for this highly anticipated module. I am excited to share that today is the day to test my prescience! Without further ado, let's jump into the first prediction and see how correct (or incorrect) I was!
Prediction 1: The Wild beyond the Witchlight will not be a horror module.
The past two Adventure Storylines, Descent into Avernus, and Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, both contain heavy horror themes so it would follow that it is time for a break from horror in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. While I think that The Wild Beyond the Witchlight may contain some horror elements, I don’t think it will be the main focus. Also, last time Dungeons and Dragons 5e doubled up on the horror with Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd it was followed shortly after by Storm Kings Thunder: a sprawling trot across the lands of the Forgotten Realms.
When I made this prediction it seemed to be a pretty safe bet as the previous two adventure paths had both relied heavily on horror as a central theme. It was safe to assume that Wizards of the Coast wanted to try something different and boy did they! I was even correct in one of my sub-assumptions as The Wild Beyond the Witchlight does contain some horror elements but they are not central to the theme. I got the first prediction right so we are off to a good start!
Prediction 2: The focus will be on Roleplaying and Exploration.
The past few Adventure Storylines have focused on survival in hostile environments and have leaned more towards combat than other modules I have run. This leads me to believe that The Wild Beyond the Witchlight will focus on the other legs of RPGs: Exploration and Roleplaying. I believe this for two reasons. First, I think Wizards of the Coast wants to reward and reach those players who want to roleplay in a whimsical setting. Second, I think there is a ton of cool stuff to explore while in the Feywild--flora, fauna, and locations to visit!
All signs point to this being the case as there are lots and lots of neat flora and fauna to encounter throughout the adventure path, meaning it is heavy on the exploration. Minor spoiler here but one of the novelties of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is that it can be played through without resorting to violence but only if the players are clever. This indicates to me that the second focus is good roleplay. I must admit that I find the idea of an adventure path that rewards the players for cleverness and offers a non-violent path very intriguing and am anxious to see how it plays out. Two for two!
Prediction 3: The players will start the game trapped in the Feywild.
Through some machination or another, I have a feeling that the players will find themselves trapped in the Feywild, trying to find something. I believe this for a couple of reasons. First, portals to the Feywild just appear and disappear semi-randomly which means the players could fall into one one day and it could shut behind them. Second, from a purely metagaming standpoint, having the players be able to wander wherever they please is problematic for a narrative.
More minor spoilers. Okay, so I got this one partially right. While the players do not begin the game in the Feywild per se, they do each have their own reasons for wanting to make their way to the magical realm of the fey and quickly find themselves faced with a one way ticket to the Feywild. Once there, they must find their own way home. 2.5 correct. Still doing pretty well!
Prediction 4: There will be a section in the book about how to make your game more whimsical and magic will work differently in the Feywild.
Many of the other Adventure Storylines have contained tips and tricks on how to evoke a horror feeling or how to make your game feel like it is happening on another plane of existence. Also, in previous Adventure Storylines that take place on different planes, magic has worked differently, even if only aesthetically. This would be a great way to make the Feywild feel especially unique.
This was my first miss and I was very surprised. In the other Adventure Paths that visit different planes (like Curse of Strahd and Descent into Avernus), magic works differently and there are suggestions on how to make those spells more flavorful and better fit with the aesthetic of the plane the players are on. In the modules mentioned above and in Rime of the Frostmaiden, there are also tips and suggestions on how to better incorporate the themes of horror when running the modules. The Wild Beyond the Witchlight includes some new and very interesting tools, but there isn't really a section that describes how to incorporate whimsy into your campaign and I am very surprised and rather disappointed. Better read Alice in Wonderland for some inspiration before running the campaign if you want a good basis in whimsy!
Prediction 5: The main storyline will interact with the whimsical conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie Fey.
One of the most interesting things about the Feywild are the courts of the summer and winter fey. The fairies of legend have been classified in a variety of ways but one of the most well-known is the Scottish division of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. With the Unseelie being the more dangerous or mal-intentioned of the two. William Shakespeare was inspired by this division and, in turn, the Feywild was greatly inspired by one of his most famous plays: “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” which features the court of Queen Titania. She is a key character in both the play and in the Feywild of Dungeons and Dragons 5e and is spoken of by name in the 5e Dungeon Master's Guide. It would seem a fairly big miss for the players to visit the Feywild and not encounter the two fey factions and their conflict.
I got this one dead wrong! There is a conflict in the realm of the fey which I will not spoil here but it is not between the well known fey of Queen Titania or her court. The adventure path does introduce some familiar faces though which will tie into my next prediction.
Prediction 6: The Adventure Path will tie into at least one of the other adventure paths.
This prediction is pretty outlandish, but it has some merit because almost all of the other adventure paths have tied into other published adventures in one way or another. If I had to guess it would be Out of the Abyss, as it has the most whimsical inspiration, with many of the story points being influenced by Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” It may be difficult to tie the two together but I think this link makes the most sense.
I got this one kind of right. When I made this prediction I thought we would see other characters from other modules, not characters from the original 1983 Dungeons and Dragons TV Series! We also see some familiar faces that were seen previously in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft and there are several tie-ins to that source book. There are also several Easter eggs hidden throughout the book from pop culture and Dungeons and Dragons History. Can you find them all?
Final Score
I am going to award myself 3 out of 6 points for my predictions. Go me! Looking back at my predictions I feel that most of them are pretty safe assumptions; I will have to be extra daring next time! I am also going to try to have 10 predictions next time for a more even score.
Conclusion
At first glance, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight looks like a lot of fun and it is such an incredible departure from the heavy horror-themed adventure paths we have seen prior that it feels like a breath of fresh air. This is the first adventure path that my wife has expressed an interest in and it makes sense, as whimsy is very much her thing. Hopefully I will have a chance to run it for her soon. I very much look forward to running this adventure path for our community of gaming enthusiasts in the near future! Keep an eye on our events page for all of our upcoming events including The Wild Beyond the Witchlight!
‘Til Next Time
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
