Review: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is D&D for theater kids

Dungeons & Dragons historically originated in wargaming, but that’s not where its fan base exists today. The franchise’s new center of gravity is in the performative space, and its best ambassadors are a new generation of professional artists. Troops like Critical Role, The Adventure Zone, Dimension 20 and others have breathed new life into the franchise by modeling a different and more character-driven way of playing.

Nature beyond the light of the witches, Wizards of the Coast’s latest campaign book, delves into this new reality like never before. It is an adventure made for the theater child who lies dormant in each of us. The designers went above and beyond, creating a campaign that doesn’t require a fight to end. Instead, it requires careful and consistent collaboration between players and the Dungeon Master (DM). The end result is a dense 256-page book that helps expand the capabilities of each DM, while simultaneously boosting the capabilities of the players at the table. This is one of the best products released for the 5th edition of D&D.

[Warning: Our review contains spoilers for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.]

Image: Charlie Hall / Polygon

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight kicks off with an anything-but-mandatory ‘session zero’, which combines character generation and descriptions of the early beats of the story itself. While common in many modern tabletop RPGs – and recommended for D&D as well – it’s more widely adopted here than in previous campaigns. The normative nature of this first session represents Wizards’ newfound confidence in its expanding player base. People don’t come to D&D just to kill goblins. Even new players come forward expecting to experience a moving character arc, and doing the work up front helps that aspect pay off in the long run.

From there, the campaign begins in earnest at the Witchlight Carnival, a sort of role-playing estuary that contains all of the best parts of D&D – except the violence. Players can explore magical fairgrounds at their leisure, go snail races, or float through the air inside magical bubbles. But Carnival has several compelling mysteries to unravel, and breaking your nose or spilling blood will only make this job more difficult. The key to victory is to build a pool of allies who can help you achieve one last dramatic heist. There’s even a built-in timer, displayed right there on the lavish fold-out map, that helps keep the action moving.

It’s a wonderful premise, and perhaps the best tutorial for D&D that Wizards has yet released – even better than the lauded one. Dungeons & Dragons Essential Kit.

From there, the adventure unfolds through three different realms of the Feywild, named Hither, Thither and Yon. Each is more exotic and bizarre than the last. Players will fly through the air in a cloudy balloon, befriend a cruet of sensitive oil, discover their own dreams trapped in a crystal cave, and fight shoulder to shoulder with a cape and cape dandelion. Despite all its weird twists, the storyline remains laser-focused on the needs of the player characters. It wasn’t until these needs were met that they finally broke free to save the central non-player character (NPC), a powerful archfey named Zybilna.

What impressed me the most was the number of big swings Nature beyond the light of the witches takes, including standing still events which are the complete opposite of pitched battles. My favorite is a theatrical production that players can choose to perform in front of a live audience in-game. While one group randomly pulls their lines from a hat, another group explores behind the scenes. The structure of this encounter actually encourages players to divide the group, long a dangerous taboo in table games, and admirably supports the DM in helping manage the action.

Photo: Charlie Hall / Polygon

Best of all are the threads that start subtly in those first few sessions, little mysteries that just won’t pay off for dozens of hours down the road. Groups that can meet more regularly, that can play through the campaign in a few months or less, will get the most out of it.

Despite the many opportunities to be peaceful explorers, there are still dangers littered everywhere. Nature beyond the light of the witches. It’s not a children’s book, and danger lurks around every corner, including a fairly brutal incapacity of the character and even death. Make sure to prepare your group, especially younger or inexperienced players, for this eventuality.

Globally, Nature beyond the light of the witches is an advanced RPG storytelling class, made even more powerful by a few pages of extra notes for newbie DMs. Experienced DMs can also find value here, as the elements of the book can easily be separated and harvested for your own homebrew campaigns. If you’re looking for an excuse to form a new role-playing group – or a second, or a third – then this campaign is the place to start.

Nature beyond the light of the witches releases September 21 for $ 49.95 at your local game store, online, and for the D&D Beyond and Roll 20 digital platforms.

Nature beyond the light of the witches has been reviewed with a preview copy of the book provided by Wizards of the Coast. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find more information on Polygon’s ethics policy here.