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.
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| The standard cover for Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. |
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| 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 5th 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.
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