The Introduction: Into the Feywild chapter of the sourcebook is foundation setting. It is not jam-packed with details like the Ghost of Saltmarsh Chapter 1: Saltmarsh is, but then again, the carnival is not as central to the story as the town of Saltmarsh is to its campaign setting. Plus, the carnival gets its own chapter which is the first adventure in the book. This chapter lacks a good overview of the campaign, which the creators have sprinkled throughout the book for the DM to discover as they read through it for the first time. I had fun as I read through the book not knowing the complete backstory, which I got to discover as I progressed along similar to how the players will discover the truth. The big reveal was not earth-shattering or a major plot twist, but it is a good story to hang the adventure on.

Let’s take a look at what this chapter has to offer to both players and DMs.

For the Players

Introduction: Into the Feywild is the only chapter that contains material for the players. As I mentioned in my Wild Beyond the Witchlight: Session Zero article, I made copies of the pages the players could use and handed them out to them. The two new races are a nice addition to the playable races, but the two new backgrounds have one that is a bit too niche to translate to other campaigns.

The Two Races

At the beginning of this section, the update to ability score bonuses that was introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is reinforced. No longer are races restricted in what ability score improvements that the characters get. I like this rule so that you can create characters that run against type. No longer does your half-orc have to be a muscle bond brute, but could be sly and subtle. The two new races that are introduced in this book are the fairy and the harengon.

I liked the harengon right from when they were introduced in the Unearthed Arcana article, Folk of the Feywild. I made a rabbitfolk (as they were originally known) and he is my character in the Tales from the Yawning Portal campaign that I am in (you can read about his adventures here). The update to the race in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight from the original article is excellent and makes for a very fun and playable race. I believe that their natural abilities make them best suited to be rogues, but any class will be benefited from what the harengon has to offer.

I think the fairy suffers from the given name. The name seems to indicate a tiny creature better measured in inches, but fairies are considered small (2 to 4 feet tall). They have some nice abilities which include some innate spells and flying. I don’t believe that flying is too overpowered, but at low levels it can get characters into deadly situations without backup as they fly ahead or above the rest of the party.

Both races are very playable beyond this campaign and will find places in parties that adventure beyond the Feywild. The problem is that they live in a sourcebook that is for DMs and might be forgotten by players. Future editions of the Player’s Handbook may include both races, which will help, but they are available on D&D Beyond if you have a subscription.

The Two Backgrounds

Fey Lost is the first of the two backgrounds and can translate into other campaigns without much issue. It can inspire a build of an eccentric character which would dovetail nicely with the Fey Touched feat in Tash’s Cauldron of Everything. I can see players creating characters with this background that are not playing in Withclight.

On the other hand, the Witchlight Hand background is very specific to this campaign. The biggest problem is that both of the special abilities are tied to the carnival with the Witchlight companion and Carnival Fixture. These limitations will have players selecting different backgrounds instead of the Witchlight Hand in campaigns beyond Witchlight.

The Feywild Trinkets table is a nice collection of items to give characters a bit of color. Many of them are tied directly to the campaign in either subtle or not-so-subtle ways. A character with a bit of the fey in their background could use this table in other campaigns as long as the DM agrees.

For the DM

There are some tips for new DMs which can be skipped by the more experienced. It is nice that they provide guidance to newer DMs, but it seems like this should be found in the DMs guide and not at the beginning of a campaign book that not everyone will necessarily read.

There are suggested milestones for advancing characters in the campaign. Milestones are my favorite way of advancing characters (it uses less math). Experience points made sense in older additions of D&D when characters advanced at different point totals. The milestones are explained succinctly and are nicely set up. Characters starting at 1st level will be 8th by the time the campaign is done.

A double-sided poster map is provided at the back of the book. The map of the carnival is exquisite and a great tool to use with Chapter 1 Witchlight Carnival. There are two trackers on the map for keeping track of the time and the mood of the carnival, both of which are important story elements. The opposite side of the map shows Prismeer in its current state and although interesting does not become relevant to players until late in the campaign.

The Two Hooks

There are two story hooks in Witchlight, they are Lost Things and the Warlock’s Quest. Of the two, Lost Things is the more interesting story hook. My only issue with it is that there is only a list of eight things that can be lost. I would not roll for the lost thing, but instead, print them out on slips of paper and have players draw them from a cup. This would give each player a unique lost thing. If you have a large party then you will want to add additional lost things. Additional lost things could be the ability to hold liquor, color blindness, or similar things.

The Warlock’s Quest is more of a standard start to an adventure or campaign. Having the party hired to find what happened to Zybilna does lay the groundwork for the campaign, but is not as interesting as the Lost Things hook. It is easy to re-skin this to work within your campaign world and use an NPC that your players have had dealings with before. I did end up using both story hooks in my own campaign because the party started out as two distinct groups.

Story Tracker

Many things that the players have their characters do at the carnival can have ramifications later in the campaign. In the back of the book are copies of the story tracker that you can use to keep records of what has happened. I keep my notes on my computer and just created a less artistic version of the Story Tracker to keep in my notes. There are two copies of the Story Tracker at the back of the book for those that are more paper-based in their approach to D&D. There is a place to record the lost thing for each character if you are using the Lost Things adventure hook. The guides that the characters can meet along the way are also given a place on the Story Tracker along with places for keeping notes as the campaign progresses.

Also recorded on the Story Tracker is the placement of the unicorn horn. I like the randomness of this placement, but you might want to just decide where to place it based on the temperament of your party. I could see having it turn up later in the adventure for a more frivolous group that would lose track of this very important item. Having the party find it early in the adventure does offer more opportunities for decision-making and role-playing. Or you could do what I did and simply roll for it and let chance decide.

Miscellaneous

Finally, there is a Pronunciation Guide that is very helpful for saying those tricky names just right. A word to the wise, practice saying them out loud before you say them at the table.

This introductory chapter gets your feet wet and gives you the tools to start the adventure. Make sure to read the whole book before your first session at the Witchlight Carnival. This adventure is about character and role-playing. There are some combat opportunities and some interesting plot twists, but this adventure lives and dies by the NPCs that the players meet. Spend your time getting to know the big players in the campaign and give them life to keep your players invested and engaged.