Thirteen observations about Xanathar’s Guide
Here are 13 observations I’ve made since getting my copy of Xanathar’s Guide. I make no claims to being the first to see these, but I have not included things I’ve seen discussed in other threads. This isn't meant to be a review. Thoughts, corrections, and opinions appreciated.
1. Samurai’s Fighting Spirit grants temporary hit points. You can also give yourself advantage “until the end of the current turn” (XG 31). Do the temporary hit points disappear then too? “Unless the feature has a duration, they last until they’re depleted or you finish a long rest” (PHB 198). Well, the feature does, so the temp HPs disappear at the end of the current turn – before the enemy attacks. This doesn’t seem right (and may need errata?).
2. Kensei weapons (XG 34). You can choose (edit)a sickle or a whip(/edit) and use it to perform your agile parry. I find this hilarious. Seriously, parrying with hand axes seems pretty cool.
3. Paladin’s Oath of Redemption (XG 38-39). No longer has the Armor of Peace or the Warrior of Reconciliation features. Does this mean Redemption paladins are still carrying greatswords and wearing heavy armor? Doesn’t this undercut the concept? (It certainly seems at odds with the illustration provided).
4. Scout Rogue’s Survivalist feature (XG 47) gives proficiency and expertise with Nature and Survival. It’s not called expertise here (for reasons that aren’t clear), but the effect is the same and it doesn’t stack (XG 5). Not stacking is explicit on the Prodigy feat (XG 75), but this isn’t an exception. Apparently there is no benefit if you have already chosen Expertise in either or both of these skills (unless you work something out with your DM).
5. Sleeping in Medium and Heavy armor now gives limited benefits from a long rest (XG 77-78). Many will just ignore this, but it’s a reasonable ruling.
6. Adamantine weapons (XG 78) help to break things. The first 500gp investment of any halforc.
7. Tying Knots (XG 78). While I would prefer proficiency in ropes as a tool, we now know that knot-tying and untying is formally part of Slight-of-hand, a skill I have hitherto not been interested in.
8. Interaction of skills and tools (XG 78). I’ve been troubled by the overlap before, and now we have rules that say when two overlap, it gives advantage. This makes obvious sense in a few cases (Herbalism with Medicine), but it feels a little bit like a tax – proficiency in Thieves’ Tools helping with Investigation or Perception to spot a trap, for example. It also means that a capella singing can’t ever gain the advantage available to accordion players (Musical instruments with Performance). I’m still thinking about this.
9. Tool descriptions (XG 78-85) and Common Magic Items (XG 136-40) are pretty cool.
10. Ceremony spell (XG 151): Ugh. I hated the UA version of this, and it’s still bad:
a. Atonement: how can one be willing about alignment change? Alignment isn’t fixed unless it’s a magical effect, and there are no restrictions on classes and alignment. If it’s to counteract a magical effect, the player may be willing, but the character by definition isn’t. Unless this is now the only way that a character can change alignment, in which case we can convert savages and CE goblins can be made NG. In which case it’s awesome.
b. Coming of Age and Dedication can only give their benefits to a creature once (ever). Who wants to track this nonsense? Do high-level characters save this until just before they bight the Ancient Red Dragon, and suddenly decide to get confirmed before the fight?
c. Wedding. That is, unless they get married to each other. In a world with Raise Dead spells, the “to death do us part” nonsense implicit in the now-undefined term of “widowed” (in addition to being completely out of step with the 20th century, let alone the 21st) suggests that divorces typically involve fights to the death, so that characters are free to re-marry. And the benefit is to help Armor Class? Yep, that’s why I got married. So my wife and I could do better on the tag-team gladiator pits for the first half of our honeymoon.
11. Find Greater Steed (XG 156) is now a top pick for Bard’s Magical Secrets at level 10. Who needs a familiar when you can ride a rhinoceros?
12. There’s a lot about Infestation (XG 158) that (edit)I initially misread. Oops!(/edit)
13. Finally, a point about what’s not there: the absence of Booming Blade and Greenflame blade from the spell lists seems deliberate. I know they are powerful (possibly over-powerful) and popular spells. For those who are concerned about the PHB+1 rule, this seems a good way to curb their use.
Here are 13 observations I’ve made since getting my copy of Xanathar’s Guide. I make no claims to being the first to see these, but I have not included things I’ve seen discussed in other threads. This isn't meant to be a review. Thoughts, corrections, and opinions appreciated.
1. Samurai’s Fighting Spirit grants temporary hit points. You can also give yourself advantage “until the end of the current turn” (XG 31). Do the temporary hit points disappear then too? “Unless the feature has a duration, they last until they’re depleted or you finish a long rest” (PHB 198). Well, the feature does, so the temp HPs disappear at the end of the current turn – before the enemy attacks. This doesn’t seem right (and may need errata?).
2. Kensei weapons (XG 34). You can choose (edit)a sickle or a whip(/edit) and use it to perform your agile parry. I find this hilarious. Seriously, parrying with hand axes seems pretty cool.
3. Paladin’s Oath of Redemption (XG 38-39). No longer has the Armor of Peace or the Warrior of Reconciliation features. Does this mean Redemption paladins are still carrying greatswords and wearing heavy armor? Doesn’t this undercut the concept? (It certainly seems at odds with the illustration provided).
4. Scout Rogue’s Survivalist feature (XG 47) gives proficiency and expertise with Nature and Survival. It’s not called expertise here (for reasons that aren’t clear), but the effect is the same and it doesn’t stack (XG 5). Not stacking is explicit on the Prodigy feat (XG 75), but this isn’t an exception. Apparently there is no benefit if you have already chosen Expertise in either or both of these skills (unless you work something out with your DM).
5. Sleeping in Medium and Heavy armor now gives limited benefits from a long rest (XG 77-78). Many will just ignore this, but it’s a reasonable ruling.
6. Adamantine weapons (XG 78) help to break things. The first 500gp investment of any halforc.
7. Tying Knots (XG 78). While I would prefer proficiency in ropes as a tool, we now know that knot-tying and untying is formally part of Slight-of-hand, a skill I have hitherto not been interested in.
8. Interaction of skills and tools (XG 78). I’ve been troubled by the overlap before, and now we have rules that say when two overlap, it gives advantage. This makes obvious sense in a few cases (Herbalism with Medicine), but it feels a little bit like a tax – proficiency in Thieves’ Tools helping with Investigation or Perception to spot a trap, for example. It also means that a capella singing can’t ever gain the advantage available to accordion players (Musical instruments with Performance). I’m still thinking about this.
9. Tool descriptions (XG 78-85) and Common Magic Items (XG 136-40) are pretty cool.
10. Ceremony spell (XG 151): Ugh. I hated the UA version of this, and it’s still bad:
a. Atonement: how can one be willing about alignment change? Alignment isn’t fixed unless it’s a magical effect, and there are no restrictions on classes and alignment. If it’s to counteract a magical effect, the player may be willing, but the character by definition isn’t. Unless this is now the only way that a character can change alignment, in which case we can convert savages and CE goblins can be made NG. In which case it’s awesome.
b. Coming of Age and Dedication can only give their benefits to a creature once (ever). Who wants to track this nonsense? Do high-level characters save this until just before they bight the Ancient Red Dragon, and suddenly decide to get confirmed before the fight?
c. Wedding. That is, unless they get married to each other. In a world with Raise Dead spells, the “to death do us part” nonsense implicit in the now-undefined term of “widowed” (in addition to being completely out of step with the 20th century, let alone the 21st) suggests that divorces typically involve fights to the death, so that characters are free to re-marry. And the benefit is to help Armor Class? Yep, that’s why I got married. So my wife and I could do better on the tag-team gladiator pits for the first half of our honeymoon.
11. Find Greater Steed (XG 156) is now a top pick for Bard’s Magical Secrets at level 10. Who needs a familiar when you can ride a rhinoceros?
12. There’s a lot about Infestation (XG 158) that (edit)I initially misread. Oops!(/edit)
13. Finally, a point about what’s not there: the absence of Booming Blade and Greenflame blade from the spell lists seems deliberate. I know they are powerful (possibly over-powerful) and popular spells. For those who are concerned about the PHB+1 rule, this seems a good way to curb their use.
Last edited: