As usual, this edition has a beautiful cover, this time with a slight foil effect that really pops when you pick it up. If you’re picking up the physical edition, I highly recommend visiting your Friendly Local Game Store for the alternate cover designed by Hydro74. A team of illustrators has brought the Feywild to life with the sort of whimsical variety the setting demands. Throughout, the book is beautifully laid out, as long term 5E players can expect from Wizards of the Coast by now. In another brilliant addition, the book includes an appendix for easy reference to all these characters’ role-playing notes. The unique NPCs are a varied cast which should be a lot of fun to play, from smaller roles like a legendary rabbit thief and a goblin Thespian, to more important figures like the three hags at the heart of the adventure, and the two mysterious figures who run the Witchlight Carnival. However, it does seem like this book’s campaign could be accomplished with less battle than usual, most of the time. I’d like to see it happen, but I think the chances of a group playing through something of this size without fighting are pretty slim, without some creative intervention by the DM. The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is advertised in its introduction as an adventure where characters can accomplish their goals without violence, using their wits instead. “If you’re the kind of DM who flies by the seat of their pants, you’ll still want to take some notes if you run The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.” There’s almost enough content here that a DM could run the adventure a couple of times and have a different experience each time. There is a lot for players to do here, from the full-fledged carnival at the start, to the diverse encounters in Prismeer, to dungeons and other places to explore. Ultimately, however, these variables and open progressions make for a pretty interesting adventure-if not an entire campaign. If you’re the kind of DM who flies by the seat of their pants, you’ll still want to take some notes if you run The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Beyond that, there are a plethora of other variables that arise throughout, from the locations of items and NPCs to those NPCs’ attitudes, and the bonus objectives asked of the party. On the included poster map of the carnival are several trackers for the time and the mood of the carnival-goers, which become important factors to progressing through the initial stage of the adventure. There is a lot to track here, however, even compared to the usual mental gymnastics DMs need to perform. These two hooks are referenced throughout in a more consistent way than other official adventures I’ve read. There are two background options suggested, as well as two story hooks DMs can use to kick things off, which provide an excellent way to invest players in the adventure’s stakes immediately.
From the Introduction chapter, it was clear that the team at Wizards of the Coast had put a lot of thought into the variables at play. That is where the omissions mostly end, however, as The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is a very comprehensive adventure book.
“… it was clear that the team at Wizards of the Coast had put a lot of thought into the variables at play.”
As various existing classes and subclasses already draw upon Feywild references, this was a great place to introduce new subclasses or features to really lean into the setting, especially since there isn’t a dedicated sourcebook to the realm’s present incarnation yet. This is the current edition’s first foray into the Feywild, the iconic sylvan plane where fairies, satyrs, druids, and other fairy tale beings dwell. That being said, it is a wasted opportunity that there aren’t some class features or spells in the mix as well.
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