Domains of Delight confirmed.

[alhoon]

And I'm rapidly losing faith in the "men behind the curtain" to do this effectively.

Ahhh... there is the issue. I have lost faith in these men behind the curtain when I bought 4e. I don't even remember in which corner of my parent's basement are the books.

But as far as "Domains connected" I start to see your issue. I hope there are no direct connections. There's a mirror of Barovia in Ravenloft and a mirror in the Feywild and I hope those two don't even realize that each other exist. Well, with the exception of Gydeon that is probably caught between the two domains. Also with the exception of the fey of former Arak. Those should know about each other. And new-Isolde too.
But honestly, Tepest fits on the other side too.

[onmyoji]

And I'm rapidly losing faith in the "men behind the curtain" to do this effectively.

Ahhh... there is the issue. I have lost faith in these men behind the curtain when I bought 4e. I don't even remember in which corner of my parent's basement are the books.

But as far as "Domains connected" I start to see your issue. I hope there are no direct connections. There's a mirror of Barovia in Ravenloft and a mirror in the Feywild and I hope those two don't even realize that each other exist. Well, with the exception of Gydeon that is probably caught between the two domains. Also with the exception of the fey of former Arak. Those should know about each other. And new-Isolde too.
But honestly, Tepest fits on the other side too.

Right. There are a lot of ways this could go south, and not many apparent ways it can be used for much benefit. Not to mention that pretty much any of the rules classifying how a "domain" works in Ravenloft are going to be irrelevant to the Feywild. Or else we'd have powerful arch-fey bound to an existence there because they performed what? Unspeakably good deeds?

And again, why even bother connect it to Strahd if not to sell more copies? If Strahd learns of the parallel domain, he can't manage to go there. Nor can the archfey presumably go to Barovia. If adventurers find out they're linked, they could *maybe* move from Ravenloft Barovia to the Feywild with some new domain mumbo-jumbo, but that's not likely to be super useful. Maybe there are some NPCs that can move from one to the other, but that's probably going to be less usable unless one party has been to both one domain and its parallel. And honestly, unless they're gearing up for some "the two must become one" shenanigans (cf. the Dark Crystal), then there's really no major reason I can see that this connection can really be utilized in any way for deeper narrative purposes. I still hold that Strahd's connection is primarily financially motivated, but I would be happy to be proven wrong on that.

— onmyoji

[alhoon]

I don't agree. Yes, there are many ways this could go south, but I expect it to be a very nice product. Again, I am pleased with VRGtR. It is not as good as the Gazeteers, but it does its job. I am looking forward to see how the domains of delight work.
I hope that WotC will be more diligent in the domains of delight and I don't expect them to be "the opposite of Ravenloft" with goodness etc. I expect malign entities being around, trapped by curses like in fairy tales OR I expect that these domains would simply be reflections of the Prime Material in the Feywild, controlled by Fey.
All these work for me.

Furthermore, I am not attached to any prior material about these domains in the Feywild so I will simply like or dislike the new material for what it is, not for what it changes.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Maybe the creatures at the core of these domains of delight aren't trapped, but willingly stay where they are so as to preserve the balance of the domain that grew around them and provide for their people.

Then again, it's the Feywild, so we're talking about the delight of the locals. And fey can be downright nasty.

[alhoon]

Maybe the creatures at the core of these domains of delight aren't trapped, but willingly stay where they are so as to preserve the balance of the domain that grew around them and provide for their people.

Then again, it's the Feywild, so we're talking about the delight of the locals. And fey can be downright nasty.

I think along those lines too. The central figure may not be "trapped" the way Strahd is, but they may be the core of the domain and if removed, the domain collapses.

[alhoon]

https://dnd.wizards.com/products/wild-beyond-witchlight

Doesn't seem too bad.

[brothersale]

I'll reserve my jugdement until after it comes out or until they reveal that they have buchered the returning classic characters mentioned in the blurb to fit a version of equity "diversity." I'm not hopeful that i will be proven wrong given the track record so far.

[alhoon]

I'll reserve my jugdement until after it comes out or until they reveal that they have buchered the returning classic characters mentioned in the blurb to fit a version of equity "diversity." I'm not hopeful that i will be proven wrong given the track record so far.

Those "returning classic" characters mean nothing to me. I don't know them.

And I will try to get it, if I can afford it cause I want a feywild adventure to base other adventures on. Also, if it's like Curse of Strahd, out of the Abyss, Elemental Evil or Against the giants it will be more like an assembly of close-related things that I can cherry-pick and use in my campaigns.

Out of the Abyss still ranks higher for me than curse of Strahd, but that doesn't mean that CoS was worse than OotA, just that CoS didn't work that feeling of amazement and wonder I had with OotA. Ravenloft was not new to me and some choices (Strahd being less tragic than I remembered) I was not 100% aboard on.
Both products captured the feel they were going for well, I think. But I preferred OotA.

But I digress: That Carnival in the Feywild adventure seems to be more "Alice in Wonderland" and fairy-tale than Curse of Strahd was.
I may be in the minority here, but I believe the new format of 1 adventure per 6-12 months works very well for WotC from what I have seen. I haven't got all of the adventures but the ones I did were excellent products.

[Resonant Curse]

@Alhoon What did you like about Out of the Abyss? I'm curious because I picked it up and thought it was an absolute mess. There is no summary at the beginning of the adventure, which is something every other adventure has at the start to help the dm. They don't even explain what is happening until somewhere like 3/4 of the way through. The entire adventure relied on pure chance of how many or which npcs made it through and god help you if they managed to keep all of them alive for controlling that mess. Since the regions can be done in any order the adventure does not scale with the heroes since each section has to be able to be completed by the lowest level heroes. Some of the locations were evocative and there was some cool stuff, but as an adventure that was a tortuous read and I would imagine it would be a nightmare to try and run.

I like the Forgotten Realms and would love to appreciate the book more than the disappointment I saw it as, so hopefully you can show some high points.

[Jester of the FoS]

I'm torn on this project. I love the basic idea of a Feywild adventure and starting in a creepy carnival. But it seems like they're trying too hard to make the Feywild and Domains of Delight the opposite of the Shadowfell and its Domains of Dread, while also ignoring the larger Feywild. Because there's also more to the Shadowfell than Domains.
And while I love the idea of a fey realm and a fey adventure, this feels distinctly more light and whimsical than I prefer my fey, who should be more amoral and aloof. This feels very much more like a Fairy Tale than a Faerie Tale. More Disney and less Grimm.

This product really seems designed at what they think the growing audience of newcomers wants from D&D.
Because the audience skews younger than ever, with half being under 25, we have this light, breezy juvenile adventure. Which feels incredibly condescending to assume that 25yo want this cheerful sort of adventure.
And every encounter can be solved without combat, so you can play the game without doing what 90% of class abilities are designed for.

But that's an opinion based on the previews. A friend is gifting me the book for my birthday, and I'll read it and make an informed review.

Another odd thing is the idea of shorter quests being a key part of this book, inspired by streamed games and to make those easier. Which seems like a very, very odd choice since 99.95% of gamers don't stream their games online. This feels like designing an adventure so it can be streamed and thus serve as an advertisement for the module and the game. Designing the product not for the needs of the majority of user but for a more visible minority.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I guess that's what happens when you have a large corporation having the rights of something you like. They destroy it.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

And every encounter can be solved without combat, so you can play the game without doing what 90% of class abilities are designed for.

Isn't that a good thing? Role playing should be more than hack and slash, right? (Maybe it's an indictment of the 5e system if the class abilities are all about combat. I don't know enough about the system to know.)

Another odd thing is the idea of shorter quests being a key part of this book, inspired by streamed games and to make those easier.

Streamers aren't the only ones who play short games, or at least in short bursts. I know my LGS has a D&D night where people come and play for 4 hours or so a week. For people like me who grew up on weekend-long D&D binges, that seems unbearably short, but people do it. (Not to mention cons with 4 and 8 hour RPG slots.)

[Mephisto of the FoS]

And every encounter can be solved without combat, so you can play the game without doing what 90% of class abilities are designed for.

Isn't that a good thing? Role playing should be more than hack and slash, right? (Maybe it's an indictment of the 5e system if the class abilities are all about combat. I don't know enough about the system to know.)

I have to say I agree with the no combat encounters.

[alhoon]

I agree that I was SOLD on the "most encounters can be solved non-combat!" and I am fine with a Disney adventure even if I prefer a Grimm adventure.

The shorter quests also seem very reasonable to me, since, simply put, most people won't devote a whole weekend to a game, but play 3-hour sessions in roll20 or some other platform, and games there are slower. In a 4 hour online session I would get as much done as in 2 1/2 hours of table session even with discord and all. Connection issues, not being able to see the others or them to discuss strategy waiting their turn etc.

Out of the Abyss: I didn't have any issues with the format and the sandbox feel. The encounters can easily be bumped and I think you're supposed to do that. More or less, I liked the feel of each place. The numbers and stats? I could do those with my eyes closed.
Sure, it is ridiculous to say that those two goblin acrobats in the big chasm with the spiders and webs are normal goblins with acrobatics. But giving them 9 more hp, +1 AC and sneak attack 1d6 while bumping up the spiders a bit too is ... nothing. I can do it in a moment.
The rules of how to have that 3D battle, sliding up and down the web and all, with a force of drow behind you like a doom's clock and the feeling it comes out of it is what D&D is for me.
Those weird teleporting underdark geologists/biologists are awesome too.
The bizarre Kuo toa, sleeping and moving at the same time, with their priests and the rules were refreshingly new, much better than the shrine of Kuo-Toa. Sure, I had to bump the Kuo-Toa from the AD&D Shrine of the Kuo-Toa to 5e and give monk abilities to Monitors etc, but that was 15 mins of work.
And a lot more...

You see, D&D for me is not just the session. It is what I will remember and talk about with friends (or you dear FoS brothers) in 5 years.
Nobody I talk with cares that the power disparity between the big drow cleric (CR8 I think) and her apprentice (drow, using the village cleric stats, lol) was huge. When I talk with my sis about it, we don't dwell on what the stats were. We are all "Remember when we were running like crazy in the underdark, hoping that the mushrooms we eat won't poison us for the drow behind us to catch us? What was the name of that Myconid kid? The one the DM played as being offended when asked about poisonous mushrooms? "

[Jester of the FoS]

And every encounter can be solved without combat, so you can play the game without doing what 90% of class abilities are designed for.

Isn't that a good thing? Role playing should be more than hack and slash, right? (Maybe it's an indictment of the 5e system if the class abilities are all about combat. I don't know enough about the system to know.)

It's what I call a feature-bug.
It's a neat idea and I like that nonviolent solutions were considered. But with this adventure already being so whimsical, it just implies it will be that much more toothless and, well, juvenile.

Another odd thing is the idea of shorter quests being a key part of this book, inspired by streamed games and to make those easier.

Streamers aren't the only ones who play short games, or at least in short bursts. I know my LGS has a D&D night where people come and play for 4 hours or so a week. For people like me who grew up on weekend-long D&D binges, that seems unbearably short, but people do it. (Not to mention cons with 4 and 8 hour RPG slots.)

Four hours isn't particularly short. I think they mean 1-2 hour mini quests.

If they were thinking game stores and shared play it'd be one thing. But they explicitly seemed to be designing for streaming. And I'm already rather jaded about the effects that is having on the hobby, and catering to a very small minority of famous online personalities. Putting them ahead of the average gamer and giving them special treatment.

"Oh, this super famous and rich movie star married to the highest paid actress in Hollywood. Let's put his character into the official book."