Jen Kretchmer Teases Her Candlekeep Mysteries Adventure: THE CANOPIC BEING

In a private press panel earlier this week, D&D Principal Story Designer Chris Perkins sat down with Greg Tito and three authors on Candlekeep Mysteries, the first new D&D book of 2021, to talk about some of the cool new adventures we’ll see within its pages. For more information on Candlekeep Mysteries, see Candlekeep Mysteries Unveiled! Everything We Know About the New D&D Book.

Jen Kretchmer is one of the authors of the 17 new one-shot adventures in Candlekeep Mysteries. She’s known for her role on popular D&D livestreams such as Beyond Heroes, and for being an outspoken advocate for accessibility in gaming. Her adventure is titled “The Canopic Being.” Here’s everything we know about her thrilling adventure!

Short and Snappy

Like all of the adventures in Candlekeep Mysteries, “The Canopic Being” is a short adventure about 10 to 12 pages long, and designed to be played in just a single session. This one-shot format is great for throwing together a casual weeknight game session, for playing at conventions (whenever those return, once we’re all vaccinated against COVID), or for adapting into the ongoing story of your current campaign.

A Journey beyond the Sword Coast

Longtime fans of fifth edition D&D will be thrilled to learn that Kretchmer’s adventure, along with presumably several others, will take your characters beyond the well-trod shores of the Sword Coast. This adventure leads the characters far into Faerûn’s Shining South to the realm of Tashalar. This sunny land is sandwiched between the jungles of Chult to the west and the magocracy of Halruaa to the east, and is known across the Realms for its splendid vineyards.

This realm is a land of many mercantile city-states, the foremost of which, Tashluta, is the setting of this one-shot adventure. Tashluta is built into the caldera of a great volcano—presumably dormant, though you never know what could happen if you anger the wrong fire elemental!

It All Starts in Candlekeep

Also like other adventures in Candlekeep Mysteries, Kretchmer’s adventure starts in the hallowed halls of Candlekeep, the greatest library in the Sword Coast, or perhaps all of Faerûn. Knowledge of all sorts can be found here, and finding a book with a clue in it is the starting point of the mystery of “The Canopic Being.”

Down into the Dungeon!

Though Tashalar is known for its sun, its gorgeous sun-tanned people, and its shining blue waves, the mystery of “The Canopic Being” takes us where the sun holds no say: deep beneath the earth. The exact details of this dungeon are unknown, but Kretchmer was clear that she went to great lengths to imagine a functioning, 3-D version of her dungeon so everything fit together properly. Why go to so much detail?

As an ambulatory wheelchair user, Kretchmer says that is was important to her that her dungeon was a place that she could explore. As such, it’s filled with fantasy elevators (whether they functioned by pulley or by magic, she didn’t say), and ledges are accessible by ramps rather than by stairs. If you have a player in your gaming group who wants to play a wheelchair-using character, this is a great adventure to borrow dungeon design ideas from. After all, it is a fantasy world. If it’s a player’s fantasy to kick ass in a wheelchair, why not? And think about it—if we didn’t mention that the dungeon was fully accessible here, would you have even noticed that there were ramps instead of stairs?

You can preorder Candlekeep Mysteries on the D&D Beyond Marketplace today! You’ll get special goodies for preording, and instantly get access to the book when it releases on March 16th, 2021.


  

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James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon HeistBaldur's Gate: Descent into Avernusand the Critical Role Explorer's Guide to Wildemounta member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.

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