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

 

[Charlaquin]

@Charlaquin @FrozenNorth @doctorbadwolf

Spoiler

I don't think I can separate out Episode I from Luke's story - it's too important to show the parallels between innocent Anakin on Tatooine and innocent Luke on Tatooine, and with Episode I as the pivotal moment that defined Anakin's journey, it provides necessary context for Luke's temptation and risk of fall. The saga is about these parents and their children and their (dysfunctional) relationships, and Vader saving Luke from Palpatine is letting him become the father he never got to have because Qui-Gon died. There's a really good discussion of the important of Episode I by Dave Filoni on the Making of the Mandalorian series on D+, if you're interested.

Spoiler

It isn’t that I don’t think I adds interesting context to Luke’s story, it’s that it isn’t necessary to tell Luke’s story. Again, good editing cuts everything you don’t absolutely need to tell the story you’re trying to tell, and I is not necessary to tell Luke’s story. Neither were II and III until Lucas replaced Sebastian Shaw’s force ghost with Hayden Christensen at the end of VI. And if I could cut II from the machete order I would, but unfortunately III is incoherent if you haven’t seen II.

Now, there’s plenty that I adds to the saga. I’d even say there’s plenty it adds to Luke’s story specifically. But Luke’s story works without it, so it gets cut. Assuming, again, that your goal is to tell Luke’s story. If you want the complete story of the Star Wars, or the story of the rise, fall, and return of the Jedi order, or as you say, the story of the Skywalker (And Palpatine, I guess ) family and their relationships, you’ll have different priorities in terms of what needs to be kept in and what needs to be cut. But if you’re telling Luke’s story, you just don’t need Phantom Menace to do it.

If you really feel you must include I, I think placing it with the rest of the prequel trilogy as a flashback between V and VI is the best place for it from a narrative pacing perspective. And if your goal is to tell the story of the Skywalker family rather than the story of Luke Skywalker, maybe that’s the better way to go. But I think the story of Luke Skywalker is a much tighter, better-told one than the story of the Skywalker family, and I isn’t needed to tell it.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I just didn't know if the magic weapon thing was strong enough on its own, since it's not super relevant until maybe the point where the Monk can just get magic fists.

What you could do is make a new Shillelagh that works on any weapon, setting the damage to d8, and just have the style give that along side either Prestidigitation, Mending, Dancing Light and maybe one other thing?

It wouldn't give you as much offence and would start you off as a gish?

That could work I suppose.

I'd say mending or dancing lights though. Prestidigitation has too many niche uses, I feel like it would be too powerful.

 

[Undrave]

That could work I suppose.

I'd say mending or dancing lights though. Prestidigitation has too many niche uses, I feel like it would be too powerful.

What about the elemental manipulation cantrips?

 

[Marandahir]

Spoiler

It isn’t that I don’t think I adds interesting context to Luke’s story, it’s that it isn’t necessary to tell Luke’s story. Again, good editing cuts everything you don’t absolutely need to tell the story you’re trying to tell, and I is not necessary to tell Luke’s story. Neither were II and III until Lucas replaced Sebastian Shaw’s force ghost with Hayden Christensen at the end of VI. And if I could cut II from the machete order I would, but unfortunately III is incoherent if you haven’t seen II.

Now, there’s plenty that I adds to the saga. I’d even say there’s plenty it adds to Luke’s story specifically. But Luke’s story works without it, so it gets cut. Assuming, again, that your goal is to tell Luke’s story. If you want the complete story of the Star Wars, or the story of the rise, fall, and return of the Jedi order, or as you say, the story of the Skywalker (And Palpatine, I guess ) family and their relationships, you’ll have different priorities in terms of what needs to be kept in and what needs to be cut. But if you’re telling Luke’s story, you just don’t need Phantom Menace to do it.

If you really feel you must include I, I think placing it with the rest of the prequel trilogy as a flashback between V and VI is the best place for it from a narrative pacing perspective. And if your goal is to tell the story of the Skywalker family rather than the story of Luke Skywalker, maybe that’s the better way to go. But I think the story of Luke Skywalker is a much tighter, better-told one than the story of the Skywalker family, and I isn’t needed to tell it.

Spoiler

At that point, I'd consider cutting the prequels entirely and watching Harmy's Despecialized. Which is great, and highly recommended, though only if you also own modern copies of the legit movies. I also think the OT works on its own and it's okay to be left to guess that Hayden Christensen is Anakin in his prime. I prefer Sebastian Shaw as the ghost, though, and I prefer the '97 special edition cut for VI - in terms of the Victory Celebration replacing Yub Nub while retaining Sebastian Shaw ghost.

 

[OB1]

Spoiler

It isn’t that I don’t think I adds interesting context to Luke’s story, it’s that it isn’t necessary to tell Luke’s story. Again, good editing cuts everything you don’t absolutely need to tell the story you’re trying to tell, and I is not necessary to tell Luke’s story. Neither were II and III until Lucas replaced Sebastian Shaw’s force ghost with Hayden Christensen at the end of VI. And if I could cut II from the machete order I would, but unfortunately III is incoherent if you haven’t seen II.

Now, there’s plenty that I adds to the saga. I’d even say there’s plenty it adds to Luke’s story specifically. But Luke’s story works without it, so it gets cut. Assuming, again, that your goal is to tell Luke’s story. If you want the complete story of the Star Wars, or the story of the rise, fall, and return of the Jedi order, or as you say, the story of the Skywalker (And Palpatine, I guess ) family and their relationships, you’ll have different priorities in terms of what needs to be kept in and what needs to be cut. But if you’re telling Luke’s story, you just don’t need Phantom Menace to do it.

If you really feel you must include I, I think placing it with the rest of the prequel trilogy as a flashback between V and VI is the best place for it from a narrative pacing perspective. And if your goal is to tell the story of the Skywalker family rather than the story of Luke Skywalker, maybe that’s the better way to go. But I think the story of Luke Skywalker is a much tighter, better-told one than the story of the Skywalker family, and I isn’t needed to tell it.

Spoiler

We should probably get our own thread for this

Agree that Luke's story is the strongest. You really only need IV-VIII to tell that perfectly. I'm not sure HC showing up at the end of VI is a big enough deal to warrant going back to II and III for it.
But there are several overlapping arcs throughout the saga that work to create a pretty strong whole (even if IX botched the landing)

Anakin's story I-VI
Obi-Wan's story I-IV
Sidious's story I-IX
Luke's story IV-VIII
Leia's story IV-IX
Han's story IV-VII
Kylo and Rey's story VII-IX

I just wish that rather than resurrecting Palpatine, Kylo had been possessed by Sidious on the Death Star, and that he went to Exegol to rise the fleet, allowing him to have a showdown with Rey where he finally understood 'the power of the dark side' and that he (Kylo) was no longer in control and sacrifices himself to truly destroy Sidious.

 

[Charlaquin]

Spoiler

At that point, I'd consider cutting the prequels entirely and watching Harmy's Despecialized. Which is great, and highly recommended, though only if you also own modern copies of the legit movies. I also think the OT works on its own and it's okay to be left to guess that Hayden Christensen is Anakin in his prime. I prefer Sebastian Shaw as the ghost, though, and I prefer the '97 special edition cut for VI - in terms of the Victory Celebration replacing Yub Nub while retaining Sebastian Shaw ghost.

Spoiler

Oh, I agree. The despecialized edition works even better for telling Luke’s story than machete order is, if you have access to it. I do think machete order works better if you plan to follow it up with VII and VIII, (And I guess IX if you must) because Luke‘s outlook in VIII is very much informed by the events of the prequels and wouldn’t make a lot of sense without it.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

If the Melee Attack cantrips are coming back from SCAG, I wonder if they're going to nerf Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade, since a few have found those to be slightly overpowered (I generally disagree).

 

[Charlaquin]

If the Melee Attack cantrips are coming back from SCAG, I wonder if they're going to nerf Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade, since a few have found those to be slightly overpowered (I generally disagree).

I doubt it. There has only been one spell they’ve actually nerfed this edition, and it took them a very long time to do so.

 

[ChaosOS]

Way more likely they don't include the scagtrips than they change them

 

[Kurotowa]

If the Melee Attack cantrips are coming back from SCAG, I wonder if they're going to nerf Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade, since a few have found those to be slightly overpowered (I generally disagree).

What I'd love to see is for them to be simultaneously buffed and somehow made more Bladesinger exclusive. We may not get that, but if they're going to do anything in that vein this is the chance.