ENNIE Awards 2023: ‘Journey Through The Radiant Citadel’ Nominated For Best Adventure

Welcome to the table,

It’s that time of year again. The 2023 ENNIE Awards are upon us, and I for one am delighted. For those who may not be familiar, the ENNIE Awards are an annual fan-based celebration of excellence in tabletop roleplaying gaming. What I love most about the Ennies is that they give game designers, creators, artists, and writers recognition for the tireless hours and creative genius that they put into their work.

Created in 2001 the awards have grown and expanded from online award recognition to an annual ceremony in Indianapolis Indiana at Gen Con. As the ENNIES have stated, “With award categories recognizing the components that make a game great to the types of products fans have come to love, categories for fan-based websites and much more, the ENNIES are the best way for fans to acknowledge outstanding effort from and to say “thank you” to the creators, publishers, designers and artists who make this hobby great.”

To be awarded an ENNIE or even get a nomination is a huge honor for someone who creates in the TTRPG space, and easily one of our highest honors in the industry.

I’m going to do my best to provide you with insight into all the projects who have been nominated starting with the Best Adventure category.

The second nomination in the 2023 ENNIE Best Adventure category is Dungeons & Dragons: Journey through the Radiant Citadel, published by Wizards of the Coast, with Ajit A. George and F. Wesley Schneider serving as Project Leads, Kate Irwin and Emi Tanji serving as Art Directors, Justice Ramin Arman, Dominique Dickey, Ajit A. George, Basheer Ghouse, Alastor Guzman, D. Fox Harrell, T.K. Johnson, Felice Tzehuei Kuan, Surena Marie, Mimi Mondal, Mario Ortegón, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Pam Punzalan, Erin Roberts, Terry H. Romero, and Stephanie Yoon writing content and Jeremy Crawford, Makenzie De Armas, Ben Petrisor, and Taymoor Rehman serving as the rules developers for this project.

It’s a large and diverse crew of creators who put a ton of love into this, and I have not even mentioned the phenomenal art staff, consisting of cartographers, graphic designers, and illustrators who add the visual aspects to this offering. The WoTC books normally have huge teams on them compared to the teams at smaller publishers but the book is sizable and packed full of tons of opportunities for adventure using the 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons gaming system.

What I love most about this book is the feel of the stories. The normally Euro-centric fantasy settings that we tend to get from the Dungeons & Dragons space are totally disrupted in the best possible way by stories that feel way more aligned to a much wider worldview with roots in world lore and culture and not just the limited offerings that can be found in a setting that is rooted in an Arthurian mythos.

I have had the 200+ page book on my shelf since it launched and have yet to read through all the adventures held within its covers. That does not in any way speak ill of the project, there are just a ton of TTRPGs that come out and it’s a lot to keep up with everything.

The book centers on its namesake, the Radiant Citadel, an extraplanar city carved out of a single massive fossil that wraps around a titanic gemstone shard known as the Auroral Dimond. The Auroral Dimond is then surrounded by fifteen floating gemstone structures that allow those who call this magical place home to travel back to their cultural ancestral homes. All of this exists in this pocket space where equitability and common decency reign.

The whole setting has a really cool, harmonious vibe and from the various access points across the citadel serve as launchpads for the pre-planned adventures found in the book and a slew of other self-directed options that storytellers can use to lead to endless game sessions for their players.

I’ve not read the whole book. It’s been on my shelf since the day it came out and I love what I have read, but I find that the fun of these larger D&D books comes when you buy them, learn the setup, figure out all the cool new monsters, spells, and abilities, and then venture back and forth from time to time to new adventures, keeping the whole book fresh. If I sit down and read the whole thing in one go I end up losing the threads and mashing them all together and I feel like that does not give each adventure justice.

What I can tell you is that the adventure titled Trail of Destruction (one of the ones I have gone through) is cool as hell. The Twin Gods Observatory has a really nicely presented earthquake mechanic that adds some urgency to the exploration and the Tlexolotl, this brilliantly huge elemental creature has a fun combat surprise that delighted me to no end.

Dungeons & Dragons: Journey through the Radiant Citadel is a worthy addition to anyone’s D&D library and is a great nomination for the ENNIES this year. If you want to go vote you can do so at this link.

Until next time, seek out folklore that is not what you grew up with. Learn myths from other cultures. Never stop learning.