D&D 5E Xanathar’s Guide to Everything is the fastest-selling Dungeons & Dragons book of all time

Parmandur · Dec 8, 2017

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything is the fastest-selling Dungeons & Dragons book of all time

So, the Xanathar train continues to rumble along quite well, apparently:

"The first major update for Dungeons & Dragons’ fifth edition has become the fastest-selling release in the almost half-century history of the roleplaying game."

https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/bo...thing-is-the-fastest-selling-dungeons-dragons

pukunui · Dec 8, 2017

I have to admit I am somewhat bemused by this, but my perception is clearly colored by my own bias towards this book. (I find it somewhat disappointing and "unfinished" and is thus the first 5e book that I am not rushing out to buy.)

I guess many players were feeling starved of new options.

Schmoe · Dec 8, 2017

The Article said:
Anecdotally, we’ve heard it’s been hard to track down in person in shops...

My FLGS had like 5 copies when I got mine. If you need a copy, just let me know!

Bacon Bits · Dec 8, 2017

pukunui said:
I have to admit I am somewhat bemused by this, but my perception is clearly colored by my own bias towards this book. (I find it somewhat disappointing and "unfinished" and is thus the first 5e book that I am not rushing out to buy.)

I guess many players were feeling starved of new options.

Yeah, it definitely feels as uneven as the Sword Coast Adventurer Guide does. With all the stuff that came out from UA in the months leading up to release, they kind of have an unusual mix of things, and the power level seems all over.

pukunui · Dec 8, 2017

Bacon Bits said:
Yeah, it definitely feels as uneven as the Sword Coast Adventurer Guide does. With all the stuff that came out from UA in the months leading up to release, they kind of have an unusual mix of things, and the power level seems all over.

I actually quite like the SCAG. To me, that book feels unfinished only insofar as it could have had so much more in it. Xanathar's feels unfinished because much of its content comes across as half-baked.

For all their talk about quality over quantity, I'm just not seeing it here. Xanathar's feels like a random assortment of stuff they felt was "good enough". Much like the monstrous races in Volo's. It felt like the designers just couldn't be bothered spending enough time getting them right, so they just slapped on a warning about them possibly being unbalanced and called it a day. A lot of what's in Xanathar's feels the same way to me.

I'd probably give the SCAG a B+, whereas I'd be inclined to give Xanathar's a B-.

Edwin Suijkerbuijk · Dec 8, 2017

I could sugest a few things why it might be selling well.
It is a player focussed book, and there are more players then dungeon masters, for many on the player side the last book they bought was the PHB or maybe SCAG.

Also the timing of the release is good for the hollyday season.
Coming uo with gifts can always be hard, but if you know sombody who plays DnD and you know he diden't buy Xanatars themselve it makes a easy christmas gift.

doctorbadwolf · Dec 8, 2017

Edwin Suijkerbuijk said:
I could sugest a few things why it might be selling well.
It is a player focussed book, and there are more players then dungeon masters, for many on the player side the last book they bought was the PHB or maybe SCAG.

Also the timing of the release is good for the hollyday season.
Coming uo with gifts can always be hard, but if you know sombody who plays DnD and you know he diden't buy Xanatars themselve it makes a easy christmas gift.

It’s got more player than DM stuff, but it’s oretty strongly a player *and* DM book, which IMO helps sales a lot.

And it’s just really good. I think what wotc knows that doesn’t show up on forums is that most players care more about how interesting stuff is than how mechanically we’ll built it is.

Stuff like “this is your life”, and the tables and ideas at the start of each class section just matter more than how balanced a given subclass is.

Parmandur · Dec 8, 2017

Schmoe said:
My FLGS had like 5 copies when I got mine. If you need a copy, just let me know!

Doubt the article author is reading, but he is speaking about the UK specifically, I believe.

pukunui · Dec 8, 2017

Despite my bemusement, I'm not actually surprised that it's selling so well. It's been out of stock at the Book Depository almost since release day. (I am hoping that when it eventually comes back into stock, it'll be a later printing with the early errata corrections in it.)

Parmandur · Dec 8, 2017

pukunui said:
I have to admit I am somewhat bemused by this, but my perception is clearly colored by my own bias towards this book. (I find it somewhat disappointing and "unfinished" and is thus the first 5e book that I am not rushing out to buy.)

I guess many players were feeling starved of new options.

My wife is my personal "normal nerd" barometer for these sorts of things (she loves D&D, but while playing a Warlock avoids Eldritch Blast because she doesn't like it): she quite likes the book, because of the fun archetypes and random tables. She particularly was amused by the Xanathar's fourth wall breaking metahumor. I think WorC focused on two main things, making a book that would be useful to anybody who plays or DMs (basically, everybody), and making sure the options matched what archetypes people wanted to see rather than just throwing options in.

At any rate, the sales will likely be interpreted as a vindication of their strategy up to this point.

D&D 5E Xanathar’s Guide to Everything is the fastest-selling Dungeons & Dragons book of all time

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