D&D 5E The New D&D Book: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything!

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The new D&D book has been revealed, and it is Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, "a magical mixture of rules options for the world's greatest roleplaying game." The 192-page book is due out November 17th, with standard and alternate covers, and contains more subclasses, spells, character options, group patrons, and rules. Oh, and psionics!

Cover art is by Magali Villeneuve

WHAT WONDERFUL WITCHERY IS THIS?

A magical mixture of rules options for the world's greatest roleplaying game.

The wizard Tasha, whose great works include the spell Tasha’s hideous laughter, has gathered bits and bobs of precious lore during her illustrious career as an adventurer. Her enemies wouldn’t want these treasured secrets scattered across the multiverse, so in defiance, she has collected and codified these tidbits for the enrichment of all.

• EXPANDED SUBCLASSES. Try out subclass options for every Dungeons & Dragons class, including the artificer, which appears in the book.
• MORE CHARACTER OPTIONS. Delve into a collection of new class features and new feats, and customize your character’s origin using straightforward rules for modifying a character’s racial traits.
• INTRODUCING GROUP PATRONS. Whether you're part of the same criminal syndicate or working for an ancient dragon, each group patron option comes with its own perks and types of assignments.
• SPELLS, ARTIFACTS & MAGIC TATTOOS. Discover more spells, as well as magic tattoos, artifacts, and other magic items for your campaign.
• EXPANDED RULES OPTIONS. Try out rules for sidekicks, supernatural environments, natural hazards, and parleying with monsters, and gain guidance on running a session zero.
• A PLETHORA OF PUZZLES. Ready to be dropped into any D&D adventure, puzzles of varied difficulty await your adventurers, complete with traps and guidance on using the puzzles in a campaign.

Full of expanded content for players and Dungeon Masters alike, this book is a great addition to the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Baked in you'll find more rule options for all the character classes in the Player's Handbook, including more subclass options. Thrown in for good measure is the artificer class, a master of magical invention. And this witch's brew wouldn't be complete without a dash of added artifacts, spellbook options, spells for both player characters and monsters, magical tattoos, group patrons, and other tasty goodies.

Here's the alternate cover:

UPDATE! An online event called D&D Celebration from September 18th-20th will be hosted by Elle Osili-Wood, which is "an epic live event with panels, gameplay, & previews of the book!" See the video in the Tweet below!

Gather your party and join the adventure at  D&D Celebration 2020, an online gaming event open to fans all over the world!

Celebrate the release of  Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden  with a weekend of Icewind Dale–themed virtual play sessions and help us create the biggest virtual tabletop roleplaying game event ever! Fans will also get the chance to preview some content from  Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the forthcoming book featuring massive rules options, subclasses, and more for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Watch featured play sessions with D&D luminaries and learn something new with a slate of panels led by the D&D design team and community.


UPDATE! Check out the Nerdarchy site for some previews.

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Has, Well… Everything for 5E D&D

The follow up to 2017’s Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, on Nov. 17, 2020 fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons upcoming Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything must indeed possess powerful …

nerdarchy.com

UPDATE! Other news items around the web about this book:

With D&D's Next Rulebook, Character Creation Will Never Be the Same

Although Dungeons & Dragons’ fifth edition has added as many classes, races, and rules as it has since it first began, for the most part, the way players create characters has stayed the same. You pick a race, that race defines certain things about you, and so on. But the game’s next sourcebook...

io9.gizmodo.com

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything coming in November, brings new ways to personalize your characters

Wizards of the Coast has announced its next D&D book! Entitled Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, this rules expansion follows up Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and will be available on November 17th. Providing both players and DMs with the tools to level up their games, the 192 page tome will be...

gamingtrend.com

Dungeons & Dragons Announces New Book and Fall Event - IGN

The D&D team reveals an online community event in September and a new sourcebook soon to follow.

www.ign.com

D&D's next expansion, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, adds new subclasses and racial customization

Dungeons & Dragons is getting its biggest rules expansion in three years, courtesy of one powerful witch. In November, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything will hit shelves, offering D&D players several new subclasses, some exciting new spells, and a new way to create characters that’s fully...

www.syfy.com

 

[ersatzphil]

It didn't. WOTC, for some unknown reason, doesn't seem to want to work with Margaret and Tracey. They tried to get some other author to reboot Dragonlance for 4th edition and he walked away when he found out they were doing it without Margaret and Tracy's blessing.

Wait, really? I mean, they specifically worked with Tracy for 'Curse of Strahd' - this is the first I've heard about all the stuff with Dragonlance.

 

[DnD Warlord]

I can understand wishing that one's favorite thing had been more popular (Koogle, how I yearn for thee) but given how D&D has exploded since 5e, I'm curious how you square that with your preference. Do you think that an improved 4e would have succeeded as well, or better? Or is your preference for 4e independent of concerns about market size?

No judgment either way; I'm genuinely just curious. I think the numbers show that WotC did the right thing, but it's also true that "popular" does not equate to "better".

I think that useing more 4e would have been better. I believe that 5e is a major improvement of 3.5 but a step back from 4e... adding more 4e would make 5e better

 

[Tsuga C]

From the SYFY article:

Additionally, upcoming reprints of earlier books like Volo’s Guide to Monsters will remove negative racial penalties, like orcs having minus two intelligence. “We have learned our lesson,” Crawford said, explaining that orcs and other “monstrous” races were supposed to be special cases, but the implications and player backlash prompted Wizards to make the change.

Player backlash? To quote the original Incredibles movie, "When everyone's super, no one will be." Races (species) without penalties implies a level of "snowflake" that must have difficulty dealing with the real world. I suppose every race (species) will have standard stats with a few bonuses for differentiation and flavor, but dagnabbit, there'll be none of those hurtful penalties. We have now arrived in Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are handsome, and all children are above average.

Edit: evidently making honest observations now constitutes "insulting other members". I picked up a point for this one and have no regrets.

Mod Note: And, commenting on moderation in-thread is against the board rules. If you'd had an issue, you should have discussed it with one of the moderation staff in private. ~Umbran

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Despite the fact that I hate witchy hats, I'm looking forward to this book.

Think of it as a Gandalf or Unseen University chancellor's hat, if you prefer.

 

[Maxperson]

Depending on how psionics are handled in this book, I suspect that this could be something a make or break moment for me with 5e D&D.

I think the Psionic Die subclasses will be what we see.

 

[DnD Warlord]

I think it’s a mistake to attribute 5e’s explosive growth to its design alone. There were a great many factors that contributed to 5e’s success, and while I do think it’s design is among them, I don’t think it’s nearly as impactful as some of the others. The playtest period some are calling an “interregnum?” It was functionally a multi-year long 5e marketing campaign. Everyone wanted to see what WotC was going to do with the new edition of D&D.

Then of course you have the advent of live streaming D&D both advertising the game and finally breaking D&D out of the “older cousin” model of intake. Before, if you wanted to learn to play D&D, you either had to figure it out yourself, or learn from an already-enfranchised player. Since 4e alienated a lot of the enfranchised player base and Pathfinder gave them an alternative that still “felt like” the D&D they were used to, which significantly limited the game’s growth. Now that streaming games are a thing, Matt Mercer can fill the role of the “older cousin” for anyone who wants to learn. And considering 4e actually did sell well, but struggled to grow the brand, I think it would have done incredibly if it had had its own Critical Role.

Then of course there were factors that held 4e back, like the tragic circumstances surrounding the planned tie-in VTT.

It’s obviously impossible to know how well 4e would have done in different circumstances. But it is hard to deny that it would have done much better if it had enjoyed the same beneficial circumstances 5e did instead of the detrimental ones it actually faced. How well either game has sold is therefore not a strong indication of the quality of their design.

I do think 5e would be doing even better now if it had embraced more of 4e’s good design choices.

Wow said it much better then I could. Thanks

 

[Gradine]

It's entirely possible we don't see a stand alone psionic class, even if we do eventually get Dark Sun. I think I've made my peace with that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Player backlash? To quote the original Incredibles movie, "When everyone's super, no one will be." Races (species) without penalties implies a level of "snowflake" that must have difficulty dealing with the real world. I suppose every race (species) will have standard stats with a few bonuses for differentiation and flavor, but dagnabbit, there'll be none of those hurtful penalties. We have now arrived in Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are handsome, and all children are above average.

No one's stopping you from rolling 3d6 and writing the stats down in order. I assure you, you'll have plenty of stats below average.

 

[Undrave]

It’s obviously impossible to know how well 4e would have done in different circumstances. But it is hard to deny that it would have done much better if it had enjoyed the same beneficial circumstances 5e did instead of the detrimental ones it actually faced. How well either game has sold is therefore not a strong indication of the quality of their design.

I do think 5e would be doing even better now if it had embraced more of 4e’s good design choices.

And the frantic publishing pace was pretty insane. 4e would probably have kept going longer if they hadn't released basically one new book a month for so long... It overwhelmed the market and probably over extended their ressources... it's why the Seeker and Runepriest felt so half-baked.

I think that useing more 4e would have been better. I believe that 5e is a major improvement of 3.5 but a step back from 4e... adding more 4e would make 5e better

Just keeping the 'Bloodied' condition would have opened SO much design space...

 

[DnD Warlord]

From the SYFY article:

Additionally, upcoming reprints of earlier books like Volo’s Guide to Monsters will remove negative racial penalties, like orcs having minus two intelligence. “We have learned our lesson,” Crawford said, explaining that orcs and other “monstrous” races were supposed to be special cases, but the implications and player backlash prompted Wizards to make the change.

Player backlash? To quote the original Incredibles movie, "When everyone's super, no one will be." Races (species) without penalties implies a level of "snowflake" that must have difficulty dealing with the real world. I suppose every race (species) will have standard stats with a few bonuses for differentiation and flavor, but dagnabbit, there'll be none of those hurtful penalties. We have now arrived in Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are handsome, and all children are above average.

Were I can see some worry about it... balancing over races to not have penalties seems a strange place to make this stand