Dungeons & Dragons 5E’s first one-shot collection Candlekeep Mysteries spotlights diverse writers

Keep roleplaying short and sweet with Candlekeep Mysteries, an upcoming RPG book for Dungeons & Dragons 5E containing a collection of one-shot stories written by a diverse group of writers.

Named after a library fortress located in the Forgotten Realms setting, Candlekeep Mysteries is an anthology of one-shots - roleplaying stories designed to be played in a single session - created for D&D 5E. The 17 stories featured in the collection are all themed around intrigue and the unknown, with the contents of Candlekeep Mysteries serving as references to various books that can be found within the library, alongside some background insight into the fortress itself.

The adventures included in the anthology can serve as introductions into a greater campaign, smaller stories to break up on-going narratives or as one-off D&D experiences to get people interested in playing the fantasy roleplaying game. Each of the seventeen one-shots contain a variety of non-player characters, story hooks, magical items and enemies for players to encounter “without tons of prep” required from the dungeon master.

The adventures in Candlekeep Mysteries were created by a team of writers, some of whom are regular contributors to Dungeons & Dragons books - such as Christopher Perkins and Chris Lindsey - whilst others provide the RPG with some fresh voices. One of the authors of the upcoming book is the creator of POCGamer, Graeme Barber, who has spoken out about the problem of racism in D&D in the past, commenting on how publisher Wizards of the Coast had failed to properly address those problems with the release of last year’s Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

Other Candlekeep Mysteries contributors include Kelly Lynne D’Angelo, a musical lyricist and native Haudenosaunee, who has contributed to the book along with Alison Haung - an award-winning creator of queer roleplaying content - High Rollers DM Mark Hulmes, Jennifer Kretchmer - a curator of resources for accessibility in RPGs - co-host of the Asians Represent podcast Daniel Kwan and Kienna Shaw, co-curator of the TTRPG Safety Toolbook.

Candlekeep Mysteries is set to be released on March 16th, with a retail price yet to be confirmed.