Product page for Volo's Guide to Monsters updated

Oh that is a nice preface.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

There's an npc that would like to visit it, but beyond that, you can probably cut it out of the game entirely.

That said, it's still an interesting locale, so I will put it into my own worlds at some point.

It's not confirmed that the Amber Temple Vistages are the Dark Powers. Just that they are theorized to be.

 

[gantzerteo]

So, having time to mull over this a bit, I still have two big unanswered questions concerning the book:


1. Are the stat blocks for variants of the creatures covered in Chapter 1 going to be in Chapter 1 or Chapter 3? While I can see them going in Chapter 3, I would rather see them in Chapter 1, as (a) it would be more convenient, dare I say logical, to have them right there where we're going in-depth for the creature in question, and (b) it would bring the stat block total up for the entire book.

2. Where will the NPC stat blocks that we know are going to be in the book actually be? They really aren't a good fit for any of the three chapters. I can't see them going into Chapter 1, and putting them in Chapter 3 as part of a bestiary when they are NPCs and not beasts seems wrong. Perhaps they will be in Chapter 2, as a sort of special case of character races? Or maybe they will be getting a special appendix?

Maybe "Appendix A - NPC" as in MM?

 

[Sword of Spirit]

It's not confirmed that the Amber Temple Vistages are the Dark Powers. Just that they are theorized to be.

Ah yes. That's actually fun. Then you throw another contradictory theory at them. The Dark Powers love that; unless they aren't actual beings. They aren't telling; if they could.

 

[delericho]

Yes, but I doubt a wiki is more accessible for new players than a organized campaign guide.

An ideal halfway house would probably be to have a fairly short primer for new players, that then point them to a full-blown online encyclopedia for when they want more information about a particular topic.

Of course, there's no great reason that online encyclopedia shouldn't incorporate the primer on a "getting started" page.

And again, just as with forums, or DM'sG material, WotC let the fanbase to do the work.

This, however, I find more problematic. For two reasons:

1) There's no real guarantee that the wiki is even remotely accurate. Unless it's done by WotC (or maybe Ed), there's no real authority behind that material - it could just as easily be the version as interpreted by some random guys on the internet.

2) At any time, WotC could of course decide that they don't like it, and order it be shut down. That may be unlikely for now, but how long until WotC change their direction and decide to bring everything in-house again?

 

[Parmandur]

No. We've pieced together a small list - Tabaxi, Tritons, Goblins, Firbolgs, Aasimar, Orcs, and Kenku off the top of my head - but we still don't know the full scale of what will and won't be playable. Beyond "gnolls won't be playable".

I don't think we "know" that last part; we know they don't get a detailed writeup per [MENTION=697]mearls[/MENTION] but I wouldn't be surprised if they are on the quick rules table (i.e., not AL legal), which would still fit with what we were told.

Also, Kobolds get stats, whether detailed or table is unknown.

 

[gyor]

Maybe "Appendix A - NPC" as in MM?

Exactly my thinking as well.

 

[gyor]

I don't think we "know" that last part; we know they don't get a detailed writeup per [MENTION=697]mearls[/MENTION] but I wouldn't be surprised if they are on the quick rules table (i.e., not AL legal), which would still fit with what we were told.

Also, Kobolds get stats, whether detailed or table is unknown.

Where does it say that the quick rules table is not AL legal?

 

[gyor]

I still think Flinds will take the place of Gnolls as the playable Hyena people race.

 

[gyor]

About Spelljammer: Crystal Spheres and Phlogiston can be a nice idea to introduce mobs and races from other settings but I think that races like Warforged and Kender are a bit far to be introduced as playable races in Faerun. For example there are no races or monsters typical of other settings in any 5e product published after the Monster Manual (with the exception of CoS I guess) nor in the campaigns nor in the source book(s). Even the catfolk now turn to be faerunian Tabaxi.

About CoS: they contradicted the timeline of Faerun too in OotA (Bruenor is dead since decades when the campaign presumably happen) and made a mess of the locations and maps in general. But this is more part of the brandnew/renovation plan new-players-friendly than a choice.

About the lack of publications: I don't know you guys but I'm pretty busy now and in the past and I couldn't stand publication rythm of the past. Too many splatbooks, too many unuseful tools, too many bs materials. They said they will publish 2 adventure + 1 handbook per year and they have a rules expansion product in mind. For me is enough but probably I'm not an hardcorer.

Its not just Faerunian races, its multiversal races, so it doesn't matter if they naturally occur on Toril. Like I said its likely throwing a bone to fans of other settings, to boost sales. Elminsters is know to visit other settings and have contacts with other major settings characters.

And I'm not asking for more splat books, I'm asking for 1 proper FRCG, 1 particular book. That's all.

 

[gyor]

I understand this was and intentional thing to fit the Hickman's original vision for him, so I'm just going to go with it.



I can work with the lack of mention. I didn't really expect them to mention much since this was intended as a stand alone for people who might not be interested in a full setting.



Okay, that is all silly and I'll pretty much just ignore it.



I sure hope this isn't relevant to the plot, because that isn't how we'll be playing it!



Yeah, that would have been nice.

As far as the timeline...it isn't personally a problem for me, since I've decided to just coordinate specific dates from the various world calendars that I like and go from there. I'm treating 735 BC as equivalent to 1371 DR, for example. And I interpret time in Ravenloft as more malleable, like the Feywild...so it can kind of be whenever I need it to be.

Hickman's original idea idea was mysandrist. I read what they said was the catalyst for him, which was basically being monsterous was a male trait, and they wanted to discourage women from aping this trait. I'm paraprasing it, but I lost all interest in the book when I read that.