D&D 5E Escapist article on SCAG is Brutal.

[Corpsetaker]

The thing I don't get is why you introduce a player's guide first instead of an overall campaign guide that will allow a future to read and then develop a campaign to run?

Don't forget, not everyone is familiar with the Realms or D&D for that fact. What they continue to do doesn't make sense when you take player's and DM's together as a whole.

 

[Celtavian]

I miss the 2E and 3E Forgotten Realms books. Those are to this day beautiful books worth owning. I didn't feel that way for any 4E FR books and the 5E books don't look like must own books. The FR books from 2E and 3E were so well done that the money felt well spent. I enjoyed reading those books almost like a novel.

 

[Shasarak]

Bugger, I had hopes for this book as well.

 

[pukunui]

The thing I don't get is why you introduce a player's guide first instead of an overall campaign guide that will allow a future to read and then develop a campaign to run?

Didn't the 4e FR player's guide come out before the DM campaign guide? I could be misremembering but I think that's how they did it.

To be honest, I don't think we will see a DM-oriented campaign guide. We might get another book or two covering other parts of the Realms, but I have a feeling we won't get one that comprehensively details the whole of Faerûn like we have in the past.

 

[Uchawi]

I miss the 2E and 3E Forgotten Realms books. Those are to this day beautiful books worth owning. I didn't feel that way for any 4E FR books and the 5E books don't look like must own books. The FR books from 2E and 3E were so well done that the money felt well spent. I enjoyed reading those books almost like a novel.

I agree. Both 4E and 5E books are both watered down versions of their former glory when considering the days of 2E for fluff/story or 3E for crunch. So what you end up with is very little to please either crowd, especially if you have any previous D&D experience. A new player will probably buy it, but I hope they understand they may be better off buying older campaign setting PDFs through RPG DriveThruRPG. Since I have the old settings, I am more crunch oriented. But there is little to look forward to in regards to martial classes (my favorite), like a player with caster can look forward to with new cantrips or spells.

 

[wedgeski]

Seems that's just what the Escapist does these days. Seen their piece on Star Citizen? They've pretty much descended from honest reporting to pretty much just trolling.

Yeah, that piece of crap was what finally made me remove their bookmark.

 

[Hussar]

OTOH, I'd hardly call this review brutal. Let's see - the PDK isn't a warlord, well, that's being discussed right here right now, so, that's pretty on the head. The map lacks a scale - yup, that one's being discussed right here right now. The art falls in the gutters - yup, seen that one before. Seems like he's hit pretty much all the same criticisms you see on these boards.

 

[Talmek]

So it's totally on me that I didn't research the page count prior to pre-ordering SCAG on Amazon, but if I did I would have removed it simply on that alone. $40 for 120 pages, regardless of quality (IMO) is not worthwhile for purchase. I was really looking forward to this release as I wanted to learn more about the post-Sundering Realms but it seems that I may have spent my money on the wrong book.

 

[DEFCON 1]

How is it that people have been clamoring for a player's option book for over a year, with no real additional products to spend their money on... and yet now that it's available, they're claiming they can't afford it? Why didn't any of you actually save 5 bucks a month over the last year so you could buy the book when it came out?

I have no sympathy for anyone who is upset that the book is "too expensive". You had more than enough time to gather the funds to buy it.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I said earlier in the thread that I don't have my copy yet, so keep that in mind....

I've been playing and DMing for years. I don't need the SCAG. I still have some old FR sourcebooks, including the 3rd Edition Campaign Setting, which is a great book.

When it comes to fluff, I have more than enough material to work with.

Having said that, I'm curious to see what updates they've made to the setting. I'm sure there will be some ideas in the SCAG that I will be able to use. My Realms differ pretty significantly from official canon. I pick and choose what I want from whatever era I feel like. Again, I don't need it...without the SCAG, my game would continue on.

So for those of us who've been playing long, the book is not a necessity.

For those who haven't been playing for years, though, I can see how the book everyone is describing would be pretty great.

There are two audiences that they have to write these books for. I think this one is probably more essential for newer players.