The Actual Table of Contents for Xanathar's Guide to Everything

A lot of good stuff there.

Of course, on the DM side, a lot of stuff is not there, but I like what I see.

Actually, one of the most useful things will be the appendix of sample names.

 

[Phasestar]

Looks like a very good selection of new sub-classes, more than I expected honestly.

"This is Your Life" sounds like rules for more detailed background generation?

Within the DM Tools, I like the sound of most of it, especially more on Encounter Building, more on Tools, Downtime activities of all kinds including Crafting, and more info on Magic Items. As a DM, I will definitely be getting this. It seems like their goal was a PHB1.5 and DMG1.5 combined.

New spells is a good thing generally.

I don't have much interest in the name tables as I also tend to use online generators, though I will take a look at them to see if they are better than the alternative.

Would have preferred to see more added to the DM's section instead of the name tables.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I say "working" in two senses: primarily, their strategy is working for me, insofar as for the first time in my time playing D&D (over 16 years) I am buying and reading all the books. They keep delighting me, and that is what matters to me.

Secondarily, and important to me entirely because it helps with the primary consideration (my interests) in the long term, it is working for WotC sales numbers and growing the game.

Whether it works for any other given individual is unimportant to me (if I cared about that, I wouldn't be I to Do&D in the first place), as long as the commercial winds continue to blow my way. Hopefully the MCU style movie plans work by the time my children are old enough to get into them and the merchandising, that would be fantastic.

I'm with you. I also took a long hiatus from D&D...I would flip through the books and think, "I am clearly not the market for this." Now with 5e I love the books. Even the adventurers that I haven't ended up running (or playing in) I've enjoyed simply reading.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

I don’t really know anything about DDAL rules. I’m not keen on the fact that I’m being asked to buy reprinted content to subsidise a club I’m not part of. I’d rather they just changed their rules.

I'm not keen on reprinted either but I don't think the argument holds up that it's solely being done for AL. And even if it was, whether you play in AL or not, like it or not, it is a big part of expanding the hobby and keeping it relevant by bringing in new players and retaining old. It, therefore, by proxy, supports this site.

Yeah, that complaint I will agree with. Whether or not you're happy with the content, the price is too high. I suppose that just makes it hurt all the more if you're not happy with the content.

I think people are judging it by the last ten years of book pricing rather than the current costs of publishing. As Mouseferatu said, the books, by all rights, should cost significantly more than they do, and that it's gone up a bit over what SCAG was sold for (since it's being compared to that), isn't that surprising or really a bad thing. It had to happen eventually.

What a charming conversationalist you are.

That seems a bit hostile...

 

[Yaarel]

Y'know a list of human names is one of those cases where I trust a book over the internet.

The internet is a superior source for reallife names.

For example, here is an excellent source for Viking Norse names (etymology) and nicknames. Here is a nice overview of Norse names.

There is zero chance that the Norse names in Xanathar’s appendix will be as accurate.



I have to admit, the appendix inspires me to look up reallife names on the internet.

But then the D&D list of official reallife cultures comes across as a political choice that begs to be problematic. For example Greek (Christian) and Arabic (Muslim) names are fully supported, but Hebrew (Jewish) names are noticeably absent.

Other cultures are also relevant yet absent. Finnish (was in 1e and influences Tolkien), Tungusic/Altaic (reallife shamans), Persian (Zoroastrianism), Turkic (neolithic revolution, Troy, etcetera), North American Indigenous Peoples, and so on. I understand why Xanathar offers a sampling of reallife cultures, but time will tell if that was wise.

In any case, I like using reallife to inspire ‘esque-esque’ cultures.

 

[Morrus]

I mean, he wasn't wrong per se: a rising tide floats all boats.

Sure. I’m still a D&D fan; I’ve been one for 30 years. I disagree that that means I have to automatically approve of every design decision they make, and this particular thing, trivial as it is, is not one I’m in love with.

If I wasn’t allowed to dislike parts of D&D I would have stopped being a fan 29 years ago.

 

[Morrus]

I don't always agree with you, but I respect your integrity, and I find it weird that some people think sucking up to RPG companies will boost readership some how. People tend to prefer honest opinions, it's valuable when making purchasing decisions.

There’s a difference between reporting news (which is a factual practice) and having conversations with fellow community members. The latter is me chatting; it’s always going to be just that. I don’t tend to write editorials, but I do engage in free conversation.

 

[MechaPilot]

I'm pretty sure this factually useless argument is factually useless.

True.

Fiscally indefensible would be more accurate. There are so many free sources for names from other cultures that it's laughable to pay for a list of real world names when it's so easy to either directly look them up online or (for those who prefer no digital presence at the table) compile a short list as a word document and print it off before attending the session.

Besides, every supermarket I've been to has small baby name booklets in the impulse-buy section that sell for $3 or less and include thousands of names separated by culture of origin and gender.

Plus, if having a naming resource is really so important to people, why have they not already invested in one? They're literally less than the price of a cup of coffee, and they're in the register aisles at every Meijer and Wal-Mart I've ever been in.

 

[Parmandur]

Sure. I’m still a D&D fan; I’ve been one for 30 years. I disagree that that means I have to automatically approve of every design decision they make, and this particular thing, trivial as it is, is not one I’m in love with.

If I wasn’t allowed to dislike parts of D&D I would have stopped being a fan 29 years ago.

And that's fair; not everyone has to like everything. Doesn't take away from my liking it, and having a use for it.

 

[gyor]

No, I don't "know" this. In fact I find it improbable.

While a list of names isn't the most exciting and useful content I can imagine, let's look at your suggestions:



I would never use this.



I would never use this.



I would never use this.



I would definitely never use this.



I would find this about as useful as a list of names. Or maybe less. I'm not even remotely interested in "official" settings (FR is bad enough...I don't need more) so anything that is setting specific is wasted on me. But I might borrow some of the names in order to save time. In other words, a list of cool names can be useful. Oh, jeez, look...we've come full circle.



Your argument would be better served by less hyperbole.

As for the complaint about reprints from SCAG, I don't own SCAG (because it's mostly FR-specific stuff) so I'm actually pleased XGtE will have those sub-classes.

TL;DR: "One man's meat..." etc.

It wasn't hyperbole it's a 100% serious, I could literally do that in an hour. Maybe I do that tomorrow, set up a timer and see how many names I can find, editing for duplicates and so on.

 

[MechaPilot]

I find it ironic that some people find paying $50 once a year for mechanical options is a hardship when 10 years ago they would be paying $35 every month for mechanical options... in both cases having material they'd probably only use 15% of. Especially now that we've had three years of incessant complaints about WotC not releasing new game mechanic material and cries of "I want to give WotC my money but they won't take it!" Three years of complaints for more character options, and now that they can have them, more complaints of "I'm not going to spend my money on them."

Now admittedly, the people in this thread who are saying they aren't going to spend the $50 are most likely not the same people who've been shouting this entire time "Where are my character options!"... but I do find it amusing how quickly the narrative changes nonetheless. But on the bright side for everyone who doesn't want to buy the book... you probably can all use the UA articles themselves for your own home games as needed because the mechanics have all seemed relatively reasonable (with maybe an adjustment made only here or there in specific cases.)

I'm one of the posters who's bemoaned the lack of additional options, and this book looks like it isn't worth $50. There's no irony involved there. Every $50 book so far has been about 300+ pages. To be expected to pay the same price for a book roughly 33% smaller is irrational.

As to the percentage of use argument, it's true that I don't use everything out of every book. However, I tend to use far more than 15%. Typically, I'll use at least 25-40% in actual play. I'll also frequently use another 10-25% as inspiration, either story based inspiration, or inspiration for homebrew mechanics.