Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Screen 2024

 Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• It’s a 4 panel screen with summaries of the main specific rules.

• Full colour art on the outside.

Could Go Either Way

• The art on the outside is not one of my favourites. I’ve preferred the art style of the previously released screens. This one is more cartoon-y.

Cons

• It’s another screen, and the rule changes are quite small. The old screen with a sticky or additional cheat-sheet would do just as well.

• No PDF*

* Denotes nitpicking.

Introduction

Well, a new edition, and we have a new Dungeon Master’s Screen. It’s always nice to have a screen to refer to when in the thick of being a Dungeon Master. And it makes sense a new one would be released with the new set of core books. What’s it like? Well, let’s dive in.

 

The Contents

The screen covers many rules. Conditions, improvised damage, damage level and severity, actions, jumping, concentration, skills, death saving throws, object armor class, object hit points, food/drink, lodging, difficulty classes, light sources, obscuring, travel pace, travel terrain, cover, audible distances, visibility outdoors, and weather.

Partially, that’s the problem. When we compare it to the previous screen, not much has changed. In general these new books don’t have tons of changes, but many of the big ones are on the player character rules themselves. The ones that are on the Dungeon Master’s side of things, like exhaustion, are first of all simple, and second of all not so numerous. That means a simple cheat sheet, or some sticky notes will do the job. That makes it not a necessary buy this screen for those of you with this edition for a while, unless you really want to, or just want to save time and not bother. Come to think of it, it’s easy enough to make your own screen, so it’s probably more than I made it sound. That said, it is a good screen. It requires less work and effort. I have a player soon trying to run their first session as a one-shot, and I’ll be lending them this screen.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The art is fine. It’s personally not my favourite, and I’ve seen many previously in this edition that I liked more from an artistic perspective. It should come as no surprise I like that realistic action art with interesting but realistically styled lighting. So the outer illustration isn't my favourite, but it's fine.

As for the build quality? Well, it’s very solid. The screen itself looks good with no issues. Everything is printed well and clearly. Even the box it came in unfolds well and easily. It may be a bit too tight for permanent storage, but typically people don’t wrap up Dungeon Master’s Screens anyway. The card stock it's made out of feels nice. 

Summary

All in all, it’s a fine screen. The art isn’t my favourite, but it’s well made and has the rules. It can be a perfectly fine implement if you’re new to D&D. The issue is if you aren’t. It’s not that different than the ones made for the edition from 10 years ago. To the point just a cheat sheet of changes will keep you going just fine. If you rather spend money and save time, it’s great at what it does.

Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide 2024

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• Lots of full colour art (as we have come to expect of this edition)

• Lots of rules to help you run your D&D games.

• Out of the books since 5^th Edition D&D, this is probably the best at helping new Dungeon Masters do their job.

Could Go Either Way

• Some things were missing compared to the older Dungeon Master’s Guide. The mass combat rules are gone. Those rules...weren’t great. However, it was a good chance to give us something better instead of avoiding the topic all together.

Cons

• There’s not a lot of new here. Some rules slightly changed, but there’s not as many changes here as the Player’s Handbook. If you played since 5th edition release, there's a good chance you'll be fine without it, and house ruled what was missing.

• No PDF*

* Denotes nitpicking.

 

Front and back of the new book.

Introduction

Here we are. The Dungeon Master’s Guide of this rules refresh. I’m going to do things a bit differently here. Instead of reviewing this like a new product, I’m going to go over what’s changed, what I’d like to see, and who this book is for. What makes this book different is that it’s a lot more similar to the previous book,

A page about bastions.

What’s Changed?

In terms of content, it’s very similar to what you remember in the previous Dungeon Master’s Guide. There are some minor changes, like the mass combat rules being missing. There’s also some new trackers for things like overland travel, and a section for the player’s base, castle, or wherever else they hang out (called a bastion). I really do like this. I have fond memories of this feature from Baldur’s gate 2, and playing old D&D and our party getting a castle. So I’m happy to see it. But overall, it’s very similar.

The catch is that the presentation is different. It is FAR better organized. If you are new and want to run a game, this book will make it much easier for you to do so. The previous book was difficult if you didn’t know what you were doing. From the flow of the book, to just how easy it is to reference rules, it’s way ahead of what we had before. It was a common complain by many people, on the internet or those I discussed with in real life, that some things were just squirrelled away deep in the book and not really referenced. Is it enough to make it a good book for new players? I’m not sure, but it’s better than the previous book. I do wish they had a section of their websites with some scenarios for new players. That way they can run through a fake combat round, see some common mistakes at the table, etc. Don’t charge for this, but have it available.

As for new stuff...well, there’s “Enspelled Items,” which are magic items that allow you to cast a spell for 6 charges, and recharge 1d6 every dawn. These are...interesting? On one hand, they’re a nice option for a party lacking a particular role, or for smaller groups like 1-2 players. It could also be a potential way to give the non-spell casting classes a helping hand if they need it to remain balanced. But it could also cause balance issues, and isn’t the most creative way to handle items. I wish there was a little more here. Some kind of modifications to make it worse if desired. Options of fewer charges, maybe only having a range of touch, 2 turns to cast, etc. These all being ways to make them unique, worse than the spells, and possibly utility items rather than combat. I don’t mean to replace them with my worse options. But just spend the time going over various different changes we could do to customize particular items for our group. What is interesting is that this now replaces the old wands and staffs of fireball, for example under a simple system. This...I like. From that perspective, I’ll replace such staffs in my games going forward with these rules. And ultimately, I’m in charge of what items end up at my table.

I do wish there was some explicit guidance on non-magic contagions. You know, some sort of natural plagues. Almost everything from before seems to have made it. Almost. The mass combat rules are missing. While they weren’t great before, and I don’t remember anyone actually using them, the chance should’ve been taken to make better ones. Big battles do happen, and it’d be nice to have support for this right in the box, especially for newer players.

The way it lays out challenge rating, challenges, combat, and how to adjust it, is really rather nice. It’s clear, and gives several options like height differences and adding enemies in part way through an encounter. It could’ve gone further too, with establishing goals like getting an item or killing a particular enemy, but it’s not bad.

All in all though? It’s clearly an improvement to the book that came before. In many ways, it’s the book I wish came out back then.

Some New Commendation

The laying out of adventures in the Creating Adventures section is particularly well done. It’s nicely organized and shows players a good way to plan out a game. I’d usually go further and have a few maps or tiles and a basic battle plan to have combat be more interesting. But the organization is good, and I’m curious to see if new Dungeon Masters make use of it.

The sort of art I like from this book. I do wish there was more, since a lot of it is more vibrant and stylized. Maybe I just like dingy aesthetics. 

The Art and Book Build Quality

In terms of the book itself, I’m happy. It looks nice. The binding is good. I didn’t see some of the really big issues I saw in earlier books. The art is also what we’ve come to expect in previous books, and generally high quality. None of those ones 3D images I really didn’t like in some newer adventures. It’s hard to describe, especially given how much of it we’ve seen. I do wish it had more environmental and scenery images. Beautiful views of strange planes, or even vast cities are the sort of things that make me inspired. It’s also nice to have images I can show my players to demonstrate an area. Sometimes I wish they’d release just an art book of various places within a setting for that reason, and that they’d have 20 pages at the end of an adventure so I can show important scenes to my players. Though this is a small preference of mine, and not something new I’ve complained about.

The maps section. Oh the maps. I’m always happy to see many included in a book, and this section in particular makes me happy. I would love just a book of D&D maps. And then another. Many of them are simpler though. More like the grid paper maps of old. I would prefer more colour, but a map is better than none, and these are good regardless. Please, do this more often.

I do have to say, I prefer the older cover. They are both beholders, and I like that callback. But something about the lighting in the original spoke to me. In fact, I’d have preferred if they amped it up. The Rise of Tiamat cover is still my favourite of 5^th edition for that reason.

Price

Same as usual.

What I felt was Missing

I wish morale rules were modified too to be more flexible. High wisdom doesn’t necessarily mean brave. This is something I complained about last time. The thing is, it’s something easy to fix. Just say “use wisdom. However, this is a guideline and you can adjust it however you wish. If the character is cowardly, it might be this instead.” Same complaint as last time, and the same fix.

Free Stuff

Nothing here.

Summary

The book is good. It’s like the previous Dungeon Master’s Guide, but cleaned up. Unfortunately, not everything made it here. I’d love to see more of an attempt to bring everything that was there before, and start from scratch for the things that really didn’t work. I mentioned it above, I’ll mention it here too: mass combat rules. Instead of getting rid of it completely, I would’ve liked a brand new attempt at it here. However, nearly everything made the transition as far as I can see. I hope this book will make it easier to bring new people into the hobby. It can’t do worse than the older one. And if you’re thinking about it, now isn’t a bad time. There’s some new stuff as well, like bastions and trackers for things like travelling. However, what we have here isn’t a massive difference in substance. The changes aren’t dramatic, and you know what you’re doing already. I kind of wish they had just released a few pages summarizing the changes for those with the previous book. However, the organization is vastly better. I cannot stress this enough. It’s much better, more specific, better organized, For some, that alone could be worth it. As much as I’ve played D&D and 5^th edition specifically, I also need a refresher and to reference things every now and then when I’m coming back after a break with a different system.

Journeys through the Radiant Citadel Review

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• Lots more full colour art.

• Lots of maps, even for the same adventure. So basically every important part of the adventure is mapped. I really like it.

• A wide level range.

• The adventures are more than just dungeon delves, and maps are provided for the other parts. There’s a chase or two, with tables provided. All of this combines to make really quite enjoyable adventures.

Could Go Either Way

• Not related to an existing property or area. Though the adventures can be set anywhere with suggestions for alternate locations.

• Compared to some other adventures, the framing device doesn’t really apply much. What this results in is that the adventures are easy to run as one-shots, or as side quests. But they don’t combine well into a story based campaign with what’s in the book. A little bit of work is needed to link them together. Without it, it’s more of an episodic TV show as opposed to an overarching season. Both are fine, but you need to know what you’re getting into.

• I kind of wish more effort was made to adjust the adventures for lower levels, and also for different sized parties. I’ve run one of the adventures twice, once as written, and once adjusted down for a party of new level 1 players. Clearly I liked the adventure to run it twice, and once to use it as an introduction for new players.

Cons

• No PDF*

* Denotes nitpicking.

Introduction

In my opinion, there can never be too many adventures. Whether we run them as written, steal parts, steal maps, steal combat encounters, or are simply inspired by some part of them, it never hurts to have more options. So here we have another. Journeys through the Radiant Citadel is a new such adventure book for this edition of D&D. It follows the previous simplified spell rules, and like many previous adventure books it’s made up of multiple small adventures that are held together by the framing device of The Radiant Citadel, a hub with portals leading to its founding peoples. In general, I quite liked it. There were some adventures that I really enjoyed. So with that, let’s jump into the specifics.

The Adventure

New Player Options

There is not much here. Most of the new options simply deal with role-play options due to being born in the location the adventure takes place, or on the citadel itself. I think some effort to allow players to tie backgrounds to areas is important. In completely home brew campaigns we can easily add characters from the same lands, or even visit them. But when running pre-made content, often the opposite approach is needed. Describing the location and cultures, and watching as players willingly and happily add details about the world into their backstory. So such efforts are appreciated.

New Monsters

There’s a few here. Not an incredibly large amount, but what’s here is interesting. My favourite is the Soul Shaker from an early adventure. Of course it’s undead, but it’s perfect for a low level horror centred game, like for Halloween. So in general, it’s a good addition. Too many new creatures that are the same as we already have is a bad thing in my mind.

That said, they’ve continued their simplified stat cards in this book. Instead of providing spell slots and known spells, they just give 3 times a day or 1 time per day in the stat block. I’ve made my opinions known that I find this inferior, particularly where spellcasters are concerned. This is made worse by having way too low level spells provided for some challenge ratings, leading to an easy counterspell. However, the creatures in this book tend to be more monstrous. For a wizard, such simple rules are a problem. But for a ghost, or some special necrotically infused undead, it works just fine. And in fact, some previous monsters did have abilities they could only use once a day. So in summary, though I dislike the simplification this book manages to mostly avoid my main issues with it.

What You Need to Play

The Monster Manual, Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide are referenced at the start of the adventure. With the SRD, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide, it should be enough to run the adventure. But your players will be more limited. This is pretty standard these days.

 

The Adventure Itself

As previously mentioned, this book is composed of multiple largely disconnected adventures. They go up in level the further you read, and they are loosely held together by The Radiant Citadel, which lends its name to the title. It’s a sanctuary that links to the homes of the founding peoples through portals. It was once lost, and then rediscovered and resettled. However, some of the original founding groups remain missing. And generally, each portal links to an adventure of a given level. The need to do so, short of being part of a Star Gate like group on the Citadel, isn’t that well defined and would require some fleshing out by the Dungeon Master if run as a campaign. It is particularly sparse even when compared to some recent adventures. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to be more episodic. Some people like that setup, and it can be easier to have players miss sessions when there’s self contained chunks. Of course, some can be run as one-shots, mini-campaigns, or side quests. However, be aware going into it that this book is like that. And combining it into a campaign will require a bit of Dungeon Master work to create an overarching narrative and reason to visit each place.

Each adventure takes place in it’s own location. These are separated by portals, and allows for vastly different settings and even cultures to populate each place. As a result, each has its own flavour, and the locations themselves tend to have their own character. That makes each a breath of fresh air. What makes this book particularly good when it comes to maps, is that there are often adventures that occur in multiple places. In addition, these adventures are often more than a single location dungeon delve. There is role-play, mystery, exploration, chase rules being used, and even multiple locations. What this book does particularly well, and I’ll go into more depth below when discussing the art, is that it provides maps for multiple locations that feature in an adventure. Anywhere that combat occurs I think benefits from even a simple map. It allows tactics and locations to be used, and having these considered by professions can be a great help to new players. It’s also often important to keeping an adventure from feeling stale. 

 

My favourite adventure is probably the second one. It fits all of my usual hallmarks. Undead creature bad guy called a Soul Shaker. One of the reasons I like this guy so much, is because it has some abilities that make it perfect for manipulating people and helping in setting up the adventure. Small amount of mystery, kick started by strange behaviour in the opening. It's really well done. The main antagonist is creepy in the way that undead should be. There are side characters, and each one adds to the adventure and builds towards a satisfying ending. They are helpful, and the adventure also can get them out of the scene before the finale. This both helps to build the suspense, but also to make it the job of the party alone. And there is a great bitter sweet feeling throughout. It really feels like a good complete adventure. I ran it for a new group this Halloween, and it was a blast. I do wish there was a lower level variant. I guess I'll do that myself later. But really, I was surprised and really enjoyed it.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The art continues to maintain it’s quality in this book as well. From the cover, to the internals, the style remains consistent and there’s quite a bit of art. This extends to maps as well. What makes this adventure particularly good when it comes to maps, is that there are often adventures that occur in multiple places. For both places, maps are provided. I think in general pre-made adventures should strive to give as many maps as possible, particularly where combat encounters are concerned. Simply having a list of enemies isn’t nearly as interesting as also have interesting tactics for them to use, and this tends to demand a good location. I do wish there were more realistic style landscape art though. Many of the locations, and the Radiant Citadel itself are just begging for it.

Price

Same as always.

What I felt was Missing

The main thing I felt was missing was more effort on the connective tissue to turn these adventures into a campaign. Maybe not the best campaign, but at least something. It also feels like a missed Planescape opportunity. It’s a better known location, and I can’t help but feel that it could serve as the setting for these adventures. Though I’d still appreciate effort to tie them in together into a campaign even in this case.

I also hope they can come up with a standard language to describe quest rewards. Sometimes they mention reward amounts of currency at the end which are bigger, or smaller than what was promised. Did the party get ripped off? Did they add a bonus? Is the bonus on top of the previous amount? It shouldn’t be so hard, and some consistent language would go a long way.

When preparing notes, I often write a few lines that may come up during play. They help describe each character, and also some plot points I may want to tie together during play. And having them ready to consult helps me more naturally bring them up during play, and also not forget them. I wouldn’t mind 3-5 quotes for important characters that can be dropped right in, or used to get a good impression of the character. It’s a little different than traits, bonds, and flaws. But for me, those often serve a similar purpose.

Free Stuff

Nothing to see here.

Summary

So here we are. Another book of adventures. Each one handles a level range, and is connected together through a hub world of sorts. In general, I think the adventures are solid, and they do a good job of providing lots of maps, and lots of opportunity for role-playing. Not much effort is put into combining them into a campaign, so it’s more of an episodic TV show of old. Part of me also wonders if they missed a chance for this to take place in Sigil from the Planescape setting. Though in general, if you need these sorts of adventures I think it’s a good choice. They are varied, they cover a wide level range, and the new casting rules don’t get in the way.

Dungeons & Dragons: Candlekeep Mysteries Review

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• The layout of this book is really solid. It starts with background knowledge for the setting of Candlekeep itself, and then branches into many short adventures. The tips and organization is also well done, making it easier to understand than many other adventure books in this edition.

• There’s a total of 17 adventures between level 1 and 16.

• More full cover art. It’s a highlight of this edition, and keep it coming. And with more realistic pictures please.

• The adventure provides advice on certain elements of the adventure that can be changed, as well as alternate locations if you don’t play in Candlekeep or the Forgotten Realms.

• More maps, and these have colour. As the book says itself, “a good map is all a Dungeon Master needs”. Well, roughly.

• It has that balance between a little bit of setting building for Candlekeep, but also the main meat is the adventures. I’ve felt for a while that these books are strongest when it can act as part setting book, part adventure, part spare parts to steal from, and inspiration.

• Tear away map of Candlekeep is also provided. I loved when this started with Curse of Strahd, and I hope they continue with it going forward.

Could Go Either Way

• The adventures themselves are on the short side at 10-15 pages long. From my experience this translates to around 2.5 hours on the low end, and 5 hours on the high end. This is influenced by play style, since it's been my experience that treating the adventure as a dungeon delve shortens the time. This estimate is also for the content in the book. There are situations where rooms can be avoided, and many adventures leave hooks for adding more adventure of your own making. However, this shorter length also makes it easy to drop into your own campaigns as the occasional side quest.

• The adventures don’t really fit together, except for the central framing device of being discovered from the books of Candlekeep (or other library).

• It’s still a little on the short side, but longer than some others.

Cons

• The vast majority of the maps are not coloured. For an expensive book like this, I’d want colour. That said, you might find some of these easier to use and modify on the fly as thet don't have interiors detailed. However, most do have them detailed. You might also prefer the art style.
  

• Keep an eye on the book quality. My standard copy had the last 6 pages with torn corners.

• A few issues with wording. The second adventure has this, where one section says a character is willing to give books as reparations, but a later section makes it sound like they’ll only do so if they get something in return. Meenlocks already have some interesting quirks due to their descriptions. Since they paralyze for up to a minute, they probably need to beat their target unconscious (for adventurers, probably this one), steal them in their sleep, or sneak up while they sleep. This means that after an hour, the affected character is turned? An example of such a scenario would go a long way to making it more clear. Of course, this issue exists from the book meenlocks were first included.

• No PDF*

   

* Denotes nitpicking.

Cover for Candlekeep Mysteries.

Introduction

We’ve had a lot of big adventures in this edition of D&D. We’ve also had a few smaller ones, but they usually came as an optional starting point to a bigger adventure, or from magazine material. Here we have multiple smaller adventures that are connected through the framing of Candlekeep, the legendary library in the Forgotten Realms. However, if you have your own settings it can also work in those. All you need is a library in your world, so the books can lead the adventure! And since they are bite sized adventures, you can use as many or little as you want. Or change them to suit your taste. At the time of writing I have run the first 4 adventures, and the first 2 adventures for two separate groups. I've also read the book from beginning to end.

 

What do I think of it? Well, the organization is probably among my favourites. And I really actually like this concept. I hope they do more of these anthologies for different locations and settings. Why not a Ravenloft one? Or Spelljammer? Or Planescape? The adventures themselves are solid. I just wish they were more variety in length. Maybe some double length features with that noted? That way there’s more variety of complexity. So with that, let’s jump into the specifics.

The alternate cover for Candlekeep Mysteries. I really like this one.

The Adventure

New Player Options

Nothing here. It’s all about the adventure.

New Monsters

Almost nothing here. The majority of monsters from the Monster Manual or standard rules such as the Monster Manual and basic rules/SRD. There are a few extras though. The Lichen Lich is a good example. These are all included in the adventure itself. The previously named example is a favourite of mine. It should be easy to tell that undead are my favourite type of enemy, so a new type that also combined the fungus of one of my favourite Demon Lords is something I’m happy to see. A swam of books is also here, challenging or annoying low level characters. There are also others. So in general there’s not much, but there’s more than I expected. Also be aware that some of the new monsters are from other books, but are included since they’re not in the Monster Manual.

What You Need to Play

The Monster Manual, Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide are referenced at the start of the adventure. As usual, the SRD will get you most of the way, but having all the books really helps out a lot.

The Adventures Themselves

The adventures in this book are all short adventures that can be dropped into a campaign as side quests. They’re about 10-15 pages long, and cover the level range from Level 1 to Level 15. The book jumps right into them after introducing us to Candlekeep, and doesn’t let up until the end. Each adventure is also standalone. There are sometimes suggestions about things that can be done in order to tie the adventure into your overarching story. However, they don’t reference each other. It’s best to think of this as a D&D anthology, all tied together through the setting of Candlekeep. They all don’t take place in Candlekeep, but they all do start from there and involve a book. 

 

They often include new dungeons and locations to visit, which also means new maps. I have a critique in the next section of the maps themselves, but they’re appreciated to help run the adventures. These dungeons touch on combat as well as exploration, which are signs of good quest design. There are often little puzzles or twists to keep it from simply being a dungeon delve. Getting from Candlekeep or the book in question is also addressed in the adventures, and can easily be adapted to other settings. In fact, the book itself suggests some alternate settings. The other thing this means, is that not all of the adventures could actually be set in Candlekeep itself. If that’s what you expected, this isn’t it. Instead, it serves as the starting point of the adventure.

 

The adventures are not a matter of using combat prowess to have players slaughter their way through a dungeon. Well, there’s some of that too. But there’s also conversation and friendly characters to interact with. So they generally cater to the different pillars of D&D and thought out. As they should in my opinion, since the clever character interactions and role-play are a big reason I enjoy these sorts of games.

 

The first adventure is particularly nice. It hits my sensibilities, and it’s something I would run for my players if my campaign was set in the Forgotten Realms. Not for every group, but if the opportunity showed itself. And I did run it for some new players. There’s a little combat, there’s a good hook, and there’s a puzzle and interaction. This sort of structure continues in the other adventures. Some can be finished without as much combat as you might expect, and role-play opportunities and creativity show. And there is some good variety. The amount of combat, the nature of the dungeon, and even the outcomes and rewards can vary widely both depending on the adventure, and the approach taken. 

 

Sometimes there are wording issues though. The second adventure has one pretty major one. One section says a character is willing to give books as reparations, but a later section makes it sound like they’ll only do so if they get something in return. I’m quite sure the intent was to make players provide some form of trade or help for the books in question, but it really should’ve been clear in both sections. I’d also mention this as general advice. Make sure different sections don’t say different things. Even similar but different things can be confusing, and take more time to try to decode the intent than should be required. Another issue is due to an existing monster, the meenlock. In this case this is a pre-existing confusion, but the adventure doesn’t make things as clear as it could. They have an ability to turn people into one of them by psychic torturing them. Hit 0 HP with torture? We got another meenlock. However, their paralysis lasts for a minute maximum, so the meenlock needs to beat them unconscious. Does a player get turned right after the first amount of damage? I think so as written, but an example would go a long way to clearing this up, especially for new players. How would it work otherwise? Sneaking to a character’s bedroom and torturing them as they slept, or stealing them as they slept. Still, these pale in comparison to some of the things Dungeon Masters need to untangled in the longer adventures.

 

These adventures due to their size, and the formatting, are probably some of the easiest to run in this edition outside of the starter sets. That said, they will still require some thought and planning. There are multiple ways some adventures can go, and some provide multiple options for the Dungeon Master to customize the adventure. Though these options are often clearly laid out with examples the Dungeon Master can quickly choose from. This makes the process far smoother than many others, though there will still be situations out of the box. The previously mentioned example of trading help for books? The kind of help that’ll be accepted isn’t specified. So you’ll need to use your Dungeon Master muscles. And due to their smaller size, it also makes them easy to change without unintended consequences 100 pages in. This is probably among the more versatile and easiest to re-use books in a long while, and I hope to see more in this style.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The art is what we’ve come to expect. I’ve said this many times, but it’s a good thing. Since it means these books are consistent in their presentation, and quality. In particular, this book has great environmental art in multiple places. The art with the ghostly dragon trapped in the lower area of Candlekeep is a particular highlight. The framing devise of these adventures all involve a book, and the books that kick off the adventures are all illustrated in colour. I really liked this too. The tear-away map is also like we’ve come to expect. It’s in the same art style, large, and full colour. The standard cover is solid, but not my favourite of this edition, or even the last few books. Rime of the Frostmaiden looked far better to me. The other cover though? I really like it. They keep the stylized design with high contrast, which gives it that old book appearance. 

 

So what didn’t I like? Well, the maps. Many of them are not coloured. They’re the simple style maps you’d be used to seeing in older adventures, where it’s just line colour. It’s functional, and you can still have fun with it. But with the price of these books, I want to see them all coloured. Not all of the maps are like this though. It’s usually the dungeon maps. The overland maps are beautifully coloured like I’d expect.

 

My standard copy also had torn corners for the last 6 pages. It was barely noticeable at first, but less than ideal. The better the initial condition, the better the books last. So as previously recommended, if you can take a look at the book for quality issues. That said, with the current global pandemic, you probably won’t have that luxury.

Price

It’s the standard $49.99 USD MSRP we’ve come to expect. Check here for more info.

What I felt was Missing

As previously mentioned, the maps aren’t in colour. That really would’ve went a long way to helping the presentation. And I think it leaves a bigger impression with players. Otherwise, more variety would’ve been nice. All of the adventures here are about 10-14 pages long. As an anthology, I’d have liked to see some longer ones, and shorter ones. 

 

I’d have also liked to see another 2-3 adventures, so that the book was around the 250 page mark. Around there is where I think the books should aim for at their given price point. Though with sales, they’re often still worth a buy.

 

I mentioned this before, but for creatures such as meenlocks some examples of play would go a long way to help. So that way they can see the mechanics as intended, since the abilities and how it interacts with combat can be tricky. Is it intended to turn a player into a meenlock in an hour because they’re already at 0 hit points? I’d say yes as written, but an example would make it undisputedly clear.

Free Stuff

Nothing to see here.

Summary

I really like this book. And I like this concept of D&D anthology collection. We’ve had many adventures in the Forgotten Realms, and it remains a popular setting. So having small side quests that can be dropped into existing games while using Candlekeep as a starting point is extremely useful. Though if that’s not your setting, they can be placed into a different library fairly easily. The quests themselves are also interesting, having new maps, locations, combat, and also character interactions. They’re all 10-15 pages long, which is on the short side. This is a strength, as it makes for easy side quests. But it’s also a weakness, as I’d liked to have seen more variety in length and complexity. Most maps not being colour is also a disappointment for me. I’d also liked to have seen a couple more adventures included, to increase the page count. If this description sounds interesting to you, I think you’ll enjoy it. And I hope to see more settings and locations in the future. Maybe even coinciding with new large adventures as they’re released.

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything Review

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• Lots of full colour art (as we have come to expect of this edition). Really, keep this coming.

• The puzzle section is well done. Actually, can we get an addition Dungeon Master’s Guide with extra traps, maps, items, and puzzles like this?

• The patron section is also well done. What this does is provide more information for making quest givers and patrons for the party. This is particularly useful for new players, since more experienced ones would come up with this naturally.

• The idea of the sidekicks section is also nice. It’s a form of non player character that can join a party, and is specifically made to be easier to play than normal. I like this idea, and it provides some mechanics out of the box for giving your fighter that squire they always wanted. And how to level them up. It’s easy enough getting them a guard, but harder to find a balanced way to have them level up with the party. There is one caveat I’d add. See the cons section.

Could Go Either Way

• Class options in might not be well liked, by Dungeon Masters in particular. Some seem to make previous options look more useless, and don’t provide fixes to existing ones. Rangers in particular get the worst of this treatment.

• This book is rather short. At 192 pages long, I wish it was longer.

Cons

• The sidekicks made using the rules provided seem to be significantly weaker than a normal player class. This is in theory fine, since you might not want them to outshine the main characters. Well, except it also mentions some players could prefer playing the simplified character. In this case, the player could feel significantly weaker later in the campaign and may need to swap to a full character class later. Regardless, they are treated like a character for calculating encounter difficulty... which doesn’t seem right especially at higher levels. It’d probably be fine if there’s not many in the party, but if every player has one I imagine it’d throw off the calculation heavily.

• No PDF*

* Denotes nitpicking.

The standard cover for Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

The alternative cover for Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

Introduction

So, I’ve got a bit behind with these. To catch up I’m going to try to do a shorter format for some books. I may also bring this format back for books that I have less to say about. That said, I do expect to go back to normal some time in the future. The way I’d describe Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is as part a Players Handbook Addition, and as part a Dungeon Master’s Guide addition. The new class options play to the players side of the screen along with the new spells, and the new items, sidekicks rules, help on social contracts and session 0, negotiating with creatures, magical phenomenon, natural hazards, and puzzles all play to the Dungeon Master’s side. So what do I think?

New Player Options

Just over 1/3rd of the book is dedicated to new sub classes for existing player classes and new player class (artificer). I generally think this is the weakest part of the book. Part of it is I don’t think they’ve balanced new options and even some of the old ones as well as they could have, or should have. Also for my own sanity I typically make players consult with me for any options outside the Player’s Handbook. However, there’s also another 12 pages of new spells, which I’m more happy to see. This is because they’re easily limited, and also give the Dungeon Master more options to play with. After all, our enemies don’t have to be perfectly balanced one on one to be part of an engaging encounter.

New Dungeon Master Options

This is where the book really excels. As previously mentioned it includes new items, sidekicks rules, help on social contracts and session 0, negotiating with creatures, magical phenomenon, natural hazards, and puzzles. Just over half the book is dedicated to these.

Of particular note is the sidekick rules. I love the idea, and I think we’ve all at one point or another given the players an NPC that will travel with them. I also like that it allows a new Dungeon Master to quickly have stats at the ready for a new ally. It also allows each player to have two characters, one less complex than the other as not to outshine their main character. What I don’t like is how this ties into encounter design. They’re treated as full player characters, but in terms of pure combat prowess they really don’t match up past level 1. This is seen most obviously at level 20, where they have a 5^th level spell at most. Yes, some classes follow a similar progression, but they get other abilities in return. That doesn’t really happen here. The more such characters are in an encounter, the worse the problem becomes. One probably won’t affect the balance too much unless the encounter is already balanced on a knife’s edge. However, if half the party is? I think they’d feel it.

The puzzles are also a nice touch. I also like how they take the time to mention ways to customize the puzzles. This helps with both fitting into the theme, and even though it may seem obvious such options can be easily missed. The ways to customize the puzzle also sometimes mention ways to increase the difficulty of the puzzle, which again is very helpful. Handouts are also provided to make them easier to run. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if they had a book in the future that is just half full of puzzles.

The magic items are well illustrated, and interesting ones are included. Again I wish there were more. However, I also wish they stopped adding items that increases a spell’s DC. Spells can already target a creature’s weak stats, and there aren’t as many ways to raise DC resistance as armour class. Previously, very early in the edition, magic items would increase the to hit of spell attack rolls, but raising DC was not done.

The other options tend to be on the smaller side, but they’re also welcome. They also don’t overstay their welcome, but are interest reads and the sort of inspiration I hope to find in books targeting Dungeon Masters. The exception is that the social contracts and session 0 sections probably won’t have much for more experienced Dungeon Masters. Really, I do wish there was more.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The high quality and quantity of art remains. My complains about maps being black and white are also not present, as no maps are included. I still wish more of the art was in my preferred realistic style, but that’s also consistent from other books. The covers are still great, and the quality of my books was good as well. The quantity also there, with many of the items having their own illustration. However, as always, if you’re in the store make sure to check for damage and to ensure the book has a good binding. If you’re ordering online, you won’t have the same chance.

Price

As usual the price is $49.95 in the States. You can check the MRSP here, or your local game store. They could have a deal. I do think this one is on the short side unfortunately. I wish they went back to the length of the core books.

What I felt was Missing

Some sort of new maps would’ve been nice. I always appreciate them as a Dungeon Master. The part about customizing spells should really be added to the basic rules, and/or new editions of the Player’s Handbook. It’s short enough to fit, but powerful enough that I think new players and Dungeon Masters could benefit.

Free Stuff

Nothing to see here.

Summary

In general what’s here for the Dungeon Master’s side of the screen is solid. I like what there is. And even if I won’t use the tables for natural hazards, I can still use the rules provided for events such as avalanches. Really, I just wish there were more events, more puzzles, more magical phenomenon, and more in general. That probably speaks to how much I liked that section. It’s almost like a light addition to the Dungeon Master’s Guide. I say light as that was a 300+ page tome. That said, I’m less wowed by the new class options. Though this remains consistent with my previous opinion of new class and subclass options in other books. If you liked additional options provided in previous books, you might like this too. It's a bit more extreme in the power department than some of the earlier ones in my opinion. Other than that, it’ll come down to the price vs. the page count and content.

Dungeon Master's Screen Wilderness Kit Review

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• The art on the outside of the screen is really gorgeous.

• Having rules within a screen like this is extremely useful during play. Many people build their own screens for this reason.

• Some of the cards are exceptionally useful. They cover things such as conditions, and even some healing potions.

Could Go Either Way

• The interior of the screen is basically the same as the ones previously released, including the art on it for conditions, which are also found in the Player’s Handbook.

• The cards provided come in perforated pages you need to break. This isn’t the same kind of cards some of the previous card packs provided. The addition is nice, but you may want a better material.

• The normal price could be a bit steep, especially since many people made their own custom screens by now.

• It’s a Wilderness set. I’d have liked a large map for forest battles, and maybe another environment on the other side (maybe snow). This sort of thing is more useful to me than pages from the rule book, and infinitely re-usable. This is especially true if the map is big enough so you can start in a different area.

Cons

• The box to keep the extras inside seems really flimsy. I wish they’d be some better way to keep them together provided.

Contents of package. Not a bad package at all.

Introduction

And so we have another screen product for this edition of D&D. There is value in a good D&D screen when playing in person (remember what that was like?), and I personally like to see more experimentation. Here, we see this in the form of additional goodies thrown in like status cards, item cards, and a hex page for overland travel. As the name suggests, wilderness and travel are aims of this product. It’s hoped all of this combined helps out in these areas of play. Does it? Yeah, it’s better in this regard than the previous one I looked at. However, it’s not without it’s problems. So let’s jump into the specifics.

The Screen Itself

I’ll go into this more, but the art here is a real standout. The outside of the screen looks very impressive. The inside of the screen has tables and rules ready to be referenced. It contains conditions like the screen from the core rules gift set, but the actions in combat have been removed. In their place are rules for travel, foraging, tracking, prices for services including travelling and lodging, weather, tables for damage by level range and DCs, object DCs and hitpoints, skills and associated abilities, extreme weather (cold, heat, wind), exhaustion, spell concentration, suffocating, jumping, light by light source, visibility depending on time of day, obscuring rules, cover, and encounter distances based on terrain. In general, I think this is a far better collection of rules for more experienced Dungeon Masters. These rules often come up once or twice a campaign, or once or twice in an arc of 5 sessions plus. Combat on the other hand usually happens at least once per session and much more often if dungeon crawling, and as a result is ingrained into the minds of the Dungeon Master. If something is forgotten, it’s something that wasn’t included in the table anyway like improvised weapons, or how bonus action spells force the action to only use a cantrip spell at most. That said, the original screen on its own would be more useful to a new Dungeon Master that hasn’t had those combat rules memorized. However, what they did this time is provide separate handout pages. And this takes us to our next section.

Additional Resources

They almost feel laminated, and contain some other helpful things such as condition cards, some additional wilderness rules and a table for random encounters (meant to be on the Dungeon Master’s side of the screen I think), and a sheet with the actions in combat. I like this since players would often need to see the actions in combat as well. And we Dungeon Masters often don’t want players to see the inside of our screen, filled with our rules, which we might change at a moment’s notice, and notes. As a result of these considerations, I think this a big improvement over the earlier screen. There are some other sheets for rules such as chases would players would also want to see. If anything, I’d have liked to see even more pages for different important aspects of the game. The way the packaging doubles as a folder for these pages is also a nice touch. In general, it’s well designed, though it’s flimsy paper and wouldn’t be able to take pressure very well unless everything is loaded inside.

There’s a sheet to track resources like food and water. Included is also sheets with cards that are used for conditions. They’re in perforated sheets, and need to be broken apart. These generally feel much cheaper than decks they sold before that were a similar idea. However, I think it’s good that they included it. They also included a hex map for travel which has numbers for easy navigation. I don’t think I’d trust to write on it with dry erase markers, but using tokens and putting them on the map would work well, and if you note the location of things on the map you can rebuild it before the game starts rather easily. It’s a nice addition. There is also a fold up container thing for the cards which is probably the cheapest part of the set. It feels flimsy, and I wish they came up with a better way. Though in honestly I’m not sure what that better way would be.

The outside cover of the screen is beautiful. I wish the books had more art like this.

The Art and Book Build Quality

To start off, the art on the outside of the screen is truly amazing. I wish all of the books used this style. It’s simply jaw droppingly beautiful. The inside of the screen has a bit of art for conditions and temperature, but they’re black and white simpler drawings. For reasons of being usable and not distracting I don’t mind this. However, it’s a definite step down from the outside. And finally the additional resources/pages included have no art on them at all. They’re quite packed so more art probably wouldn’t fit, and it’s a nice bonus.

As mentioned before, the fold up card holder thing is a bit disappointing and feels flimsy. I don’t think it’d last for very long in use. The pages themselves feel treated with something glossy on the outside, almost giving them a laminated feel. I’m glad they put the effort in there. The outside and inside of the screen feels like other Dungeon Master screens we’ve previously had. They aren’t glossy in the same way, and feel more like the hard cover of a book. That said, the card is sturdy and it stands well. One of the bends was strange in my screen though compared to the other two, which were very neat. The paper popped out a bit, but it seems to work well in use. Unfortunately, these packs are sealed in plastic so you’ll be at the mercy of luck. You can’t look for a better copy like you can with the books. 

Price

For the suggested retail price of this product, you can check here. It’s $24.99 at normal price, which can seem a bit steep, especially if you didn’t need a screen.

What I felt was Missing

It would’ve been nice to have a few more sheets of additional resources. Perhaps with the maps from the early core books? Tactical maps have largely been ignored in this addition unfortunately, though many players and Dungeon Masters I’ve talked to like using them.

Free Stuff

Nothing to see here.

 

The set from another angle.

Summary

In general, this is a good screen and additional resources. The art that’s here, and particularly on the screen, is amazing. The additional resources are a good addition, and the organization within the screen is an improvement the earlier screen. However, if you didn’t need a screen this won’t be the thing that converts you to using one. I’ve played with a Dungeon Master before who liked to walk around the room, especially with new players so he could help them out. I played with another you didn’t like to take up the space. If you wanted a screen though, this is a good choice. I think it’d really come down to if you think the price is worth it.

D&D 5e Critical Hit and Fumble Charts Review

Pros

• Collection of fumbles and critical hit options for D&D 5^th edition

• Outcomes are well varied

• Fits on one page for easy reference

• Free!

Cons

• Bleeding effect ending not specified in the description (this could have still fit on the page)

• Too many options to remember (will need to use the one page reference mentioned above)

• If you've been playing a while, you've most likely developed your own table if you like the idea

Introduction

Fumbles and critical hits are a classic part of D&D. I remember the very first game I played had one. The idea of players expecting something awesome after they roll a natural 20 is an iconic part of the game. However, sometimes the fumble and critical tables we are used to don't exactly translate over well to a new edition. For those of us who need a new set of tables, there is the 5e Critical Hit and Fumble Chart.

The Details

The chart is quite nice and straight forward. Not every option is equally likely and instead ranges on a D100 are given. As you can imagine, some criticals are better than others so such a setup makes sense. If you like most of the table but take issue with a couple of areas, this table makes a great starting point. You can just cross out the one that is there and add your own at the now freed slot. I also like how the last page has the entire contents of the file fit on one page. This makes it work as a great reference.

There are a couple of nice options as well in order to make criticals or fumbles less common as well as provide advantages to some classes. I like having extra options provided and considered, as anyone who has read my item descriptions would know.

Issues

Some of the effects mention bleeding but the description itself does not mention how to stop the bleeding. A clever Dungeon Master can use rules similar to alchemist fire or to other bleeding effects. However, be aware that the Dungeon Master will need to figure out the specifics (maybe you want a certain DC to be met before it ends). For some people, it's best that way. If you are newer and wanted it all written, you'll consider it incomplete.

The table isn't the kind of thing you memorize. Since there are many options and uneven number ranges, you will need to use the last page as a reference. However, since the author had the foresight to provide such a reference page, it's really only a minor issue at most. If, however, you are the kind of person who prefers to do as little looking up as possible, you might prefer to use the default critical hit and critical failure rules.

Conclusion

If you need a critical hit and fumble table for the current edition of Dungeons & Dragons, this is a good place to start. It's easy enough to modify but is generally fine as is. Be aware that you might need to come up with your own way to end the bleeding effects specified in the document. The last page is also easy to print and use as a reference. If you want to make your own, you may also want to look at this one for inspiration.

Eberron: Rising from the Last War Review

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• Lots of full cover art.
• On the longer side for these books at 320 pages long. These setting books should be 300-400 pages at least in my opinion, not the 200 or so of your typical adventures.
• The descriptions of the houses, backgrounds, and the world is very nicely done. The Group Patrons are a particularly nice section, which I hope to see a return in the future for different settings.
• This was probably in my top 3 of next settings to do for this edition (other two being Planescape and Dark Sun). Now let’s get some adventures for it.
• Some new NPCs/monsters for us Dungeon Masters (37 pages). Honestly, I’d have liked to see more.
• The alternate cover looks amazing in my opinion. Much better than the normal one.

Could Go Either Way

• I’m not a fan of the new races. Where before human was uninspired but workable, here we have outright extra damage for some of these. These shouldn’t be why you buy the book. I think I’m feeling some power creep.
• I’m not a fan of the new classes either. There are elements, such as magic item creation, that sort of step on the toes of the magic item creation rules that exist. It also takes away some power from the Dungeon Master which I think is usually best to let the group figure out. And I’ve never been a fan of a class that has a companion as part of the way it operates. That said they don’t seem overpowered to me. I haven’t had a chance to run a player as one though.
• Besides the map, there wasn’t as much art that wowed me compared to previous books. Except the alternate cover. That one looks absolutely outstanding.

Cons

• No PDF*

* Denotes nitpicking.

Both versions of the cover. I personally love the one on the right.

Introduction

D&D has a long tradition of many interesting settings. From the Forgotten Realms, to Greyhawk, to Planescape and Eberron. Oh yeah there’s also Dragon Lance, and Ravenloft. And Dark Sun. I’ll stop there. And now we have Eberron making its return. I’ve never run Eberron before, but have played in some mini-campaigns and one shots, and liked what I see. I hope that we’ll eventually get all of the classic settings brought back. However, how’s this one? Well, let’s jump right into it.

New Player Options

There’s a fair amount of player options here. There are 4 new classes (artificer, alchemist, artillerist, and battle smith), 13 dragon marks, and 8 races for a total of 11 sub races (I think, globinoids get 3 different, non-overlapping stats). There’s also about 6 pages worth of magic items that the Dungeon Master gives out, but they decide how to use. So all in all, not a bad amount for a player.

However, I’m not a big fan of these new options. Artificer takes control from the Dungeon Master regarding magic items, and now we have magic item creation rules along with this. The battle smith has an iron pet as part of their class. I’ve never been a fan of including creatures as part of a class because let’s say I give the fighter a couple of soldiers they order around. Well, aren’t I sort of stepping on the toes of a class that has a creature companion baked into its class? It becomes even more of a problem if a party member get a wolf companion or something.

The kind of art that you throughout the book. Pictured here are elves.

New Monsters

Oh yeah, here we go. There’s 37 pages of these guys for a total of 38 different creature stat blocks. Some of these share a main type, but still, not bad at all. If anything, I wish there’d be more. Standouts include the Overlords (ancient extremely powerful beings trapped for now), and the Quori (creatures from the dreaming dark, possessing hosts to act upon the world).

What You Need to Play

Well, you’ll need the basic rules and the Monster Manual to fill out more of the creatures not given here, as well as rules. What else? Oh yeah, you’ll need to come up with your own adventure as this is just a settings guide.

The Contents Itself

The rest of the book is dealing with the tone of the settings, locations, characters, and events that occurred and shaped the current state of the setting. I’ve already gone over the monsters and classes so I won’t repeat what I said. That said, there's quite a few interesting monsters here that could be used for mini or complete campaigns.

When it comes to Eberron, my experience before this was planning in a mini-campaign. That makes me not as well versed as some others, but that playing experience has stayed with me. And the reason behind that is the setting itself is fascinating, and warforged were so well tied into the setting.

What this book does very well is set up opportunities for players and parties. Factions are well outlined, as well as occupations and patrons for player parties. This hasn’t featured in other published material before, but the basic idea is someone is working, financing, or somehow otherwise involved with what the players are doing. They could be running a news paper, running a security agency, working for a government, and much more. It’s expanded on very well, and having players invested in the world is often good for player engagement.

Locations are described as well as we can expect, and in line with previously published books. The nations, factions, rulers, and important cultural aspects are explained first. After this, the nations, kingdoms, and other areas are detailed. The differences and details of each area are covered in broad strokes. Sharn gets its own little section as well. Just under 50 pages are devoted to all of the areas of Eberron except Sharn, though part of this count is devoted to the faiths of the areas. This translates to a couple of pages per area, with many different areas detailed. The 5 nations that resulted from the fall of the Kingdom of Galifar are detailed, but there are many other areas and parties at play as well. An additional 30 are devoted to Sharn alone. The aftermath sections are particularly interesting, and help set the world as having scars that have yet to heal from the recent conflict, as well as the current state being fragile. Combine that with the maps, and it becomes a very interesting package. I’d have liked to see more art of the ruins though, given the emphasis on the scars left after the last war.

The section on villains is also interesting, and combined with some of the new creatures included are begging to be used. There’s even tables to roll story development and ideas. Now, I wouldn’t recommend doing your gaming session purely by dice rolls ... though that does sound like an interesting challenge. Instead it gives you ideas inline with what intended in the settings. The themes, the tone, those important elements that help provide a starting off point. Combine that with the examples of possible antagonists and villains in the setting, as well as things to keep in mind while making an Eberron adventure, and you get something that makes me want to run a session in that world. I want to see more for future settings, and actually more in this one too. Examples go a long way and while I feel adventures are the best examples you can make, what we have here is pretty good.

One of my favourite pieces of art from this book.

The Art and Book Build Quality

What you’re used to is what you get. The build quality is the same hard bound book. The binding is done in the same manner. Both of mine were perfect, but I’d suggest opening to the middle of the book and checking the binding there. However, I’ve seen previous books with issues, and if you’ve already got the book in your hands, I’d suggest checking it.

The large scale maps in particular are beautiful, as is the alternate cover. Large regions, such as Islands, continents and cities, are beautifully detailed with full colour art. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wowed by the art as much as usual. There were fewer pieces done in that pseudo realistic style I so love seeing in these books. That style makes for particularly stunning art for locations, and I feel it was a wasted opportunity not to include it in this book. The exception here are the maps I mentioned. They are stunning like usual. Interior locations are unfortunately mostly done in black and white. I would have loved to see them with more detail and colour, but at the least they get the impression across. Don’t get me wrong, the art is good, as are those interior maps. They get what they need across and it’s better than no art at all. There are also some really impressive pieces. The picture of the Cathedral of the Silver Flame is a standout, as are the illustrations of all of the dragon marks. But it isn’t as awe inspiring as some other books in this edition.

Price

The price is the standard MSRP of $49.99 USD. Nothing new here.

What I felt was Missing

Up until now books functioned as settings and also as adventures. Curse of Strahd is one such example. This one is basically begging for a published adventure, but it’s not here. Even a short one on the website or in a magazine would do wonders. When we got the Forgotten Realms book, we had already had quite a few adventures set there already. This does wonders for expanding characters and giving the setting its character.

Please Do Planescape Already

I’m happy to see another setting in this edition. In fact, I want to see more. In particular Planescape would be a great next choice. I wouldn’t mind Dark Sun either.

Free Stuff

Nothing to see here.

Summary

And here we are: another campaign setting. Eberron has stuck with me ever since I my first campaign. It was one of the settings I really hoped to see covered sooner or later. The war forged, constructs made for the last war that are playable, elves dabbling in necromancy, and sleeping beings of great power all combine together to make a setting you’d never want to leave in the right Dungeon Master’s hands. Overall, it’s a solid campaign setting book. The art is what we’ve come to expect, though I didn’t find as many standout pieces as some other books in this edition. The maps are gorgeous, I just wish the interior maps of building had more colour. The ones detailing kingdoms and continents are what you’d expect to see in an in world atlas. The emphasis on in world business and occupation is very nice to see, as is the section detailing villains and conflicts you can cook up for your players. All of this begs for an adventure. One thing books like Curse of Strahd had going for them is their dual nature as a setting and adventure in one. However, here you have just the setting. I hope we get it soon, and I guess that’s a good sign.