Xanathar's Guide Shows Up In The Wild!

Xanathar's Guide to Everything comes out this week (November 10th) for some stores (and a couple of weeks later, on November 21st, elsewhere - check with your local game store!) The book has been showing up in the wild - several bloggers and live streamers have received copies and are posting initial thoughts and reviews, and it has shown up at GameHole Con. Photos courtesy of Dave Rosser.

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You can also pre-order it at Fantasy Grounds for it's November 10th release. They've posted some awesome previews/screenshots. Here's one, but click through for the rest! Also, FG is offering a free copy to a lucky winner in this giveaway.

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Mike Adkins on Twitter has his copy, signed by some of WotC's employees.

Mike Adkins
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As has the similarly named Michael Atkins!

Michael Atkins
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It looks like Melvin Smif has the first review up. He says that "this is the first book I would claim as a “must have” for everyone who enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition".

Melvin Smif
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And NewbieDM on Twitter has a review copy and his sharing his general thoughts, although not answering specific questions about the contents.

Purple Pawn has a couple of copies and is giving one away for free. Leave a comment on his blog post, and you might get picked at random.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Let's not be unreasonable in our requests, folks. Keep it to one simple, clear request.

Can you take pictures of every single page and post them?

Just kidding - I'd love to hear about the spell Catnap. It has me intrigued.

Catnap is a third level sorcerer/wizard spell that allows creatures (number scalable by level) to take the equivalent of a short rest as they sleep for 10 minutes, but they need to take a long rest before it is usable on them again.

 

[Parmandur]

What is Appendix A about?

How are the random name tables in Appendix B?

 

[Morrus]

Did you get a review copy, Morrus?

You have a real popular website & all, and it is always advertising newer products coming out for a wide berth of games.

I'm buying a copy for our new reviewer, Beth Rimmels, who you'll hear from in a few days. I can't wait to hear her thoughts.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

What is Appendix A about?

How are the random name tables in Appendix B?

Appendix A regards running a shared campaign, with AL being given as an example. It is assumed that single sessions comprise a total adventure since DM & player continuity is not assumed. Suggestions on design, character creation/advancement, treasure and the like are provided.

I thought I was going to be rolling my eyes at the random names but since "Having a list of names for on-the-fly NPC creation" is a hot top DM tip I think what they've provided is an excellent resource. There are fantasy racial names and human Earth cultural name lists. As a DM I can definitely dip into this to fill in an index card of names in a very short time.

 

[Connorsrpg]

C'mon Wizards - surely ENWorld deserves a copy. This is the one site, for me anyway, where I have kept on top of all things D&D! Since 3E this has been the place to be. (Just no trendy YouTube channels might be the hold over).

 

[gyor]

Divine Magic ... Can take spells from the cleric spell list and get a clerical 'domain' spell in addition to normal known spells.
Favored by the Gods ... Special aid if you miss an attack or save.
Empowered Healing ... Can use a sorcery point to reroll healing spell dice.
Otherworldly Wings ... Manifest wings.
Unearthly Recovery ... Heal back up to half your HP.

I feel stupid, how did I miss you mentioning the 'domain' spell thing. I also notice they changed the name of the wings to Otherworldly Wings from Angelic Wings.

I'm shocked that they didn't change Empowered Healing, not only was it the weakest feature, although flavorful, but it was kind of tied to the Divine Soul getting the cure wounds spell automatically.

Not a huge deal, it just makes it the weak point in an unwise strong subclass.

Thank you, I'll share this with those redditors who we're also asking about it.

One last question, I know Temple of the Gods creates a Temple 120' unoccupied area dedicated to your God (I know this because someone on reddit got the first couple of lines exposed thanks to a D&D Beyond bug that has since been fixed), but I was wondering what special advantages does the Temple have compared to say Mighty Fortress or Mordiekeins Magnificent Mansion? And can it be made permanent with repeat castings over a year like Mighty Fortress can?

 

[Osgood]

How would you rate the presentation of traps? I thought complex traps were tough to follow in the UA, so I’m hoping they improved on the layout.

Along those lines, about how many simple and complex traps are in the book?

 

[Vanakoji]

A couple basic ones.

- Healing Spirit Spell: Is there a limit on how much the spirit can heal per round, like once per round or something?

- Does zealot still get free revives?

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Double

 

[Mendon]

Thanks so much for all the info!

I'm really curious if Kiss of Mephistopheles made it as a warlock invocation (cast a fireball as a bonus action on hit of eldritch blast)? Was planning on it for a warlock I'm about to start playing.