D&D 5E A Closer Look At January's D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set

WotC earlier announced a D&D Rules Expansion Gift Set for January, which includes three books - Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and the new Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. These were intended for the holidays, but the global production issues mean they'll be out in January. Here's a closer look at them!

"The Future of D&D" (New Core Books in 2024!)

The online D&D Celebration event, which has been running all weekend, comes to a close with The Future of D&D, a panel featuring WotC's Ray Winninger, Liz Schuh, Chris Perkins, and Jeremy Crawford, hosted by Elle Osili-Wood. D&D is exploring the multiverse Revisiting classic settings. 1st of...

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[Mercurius]

One monster book may be replacing the others.

Yes, this. My sense is this replaces Volo and the first Mordenkainen, with a "best of" the previous two, plus some new stuff.

 

[Malmuria]

Oh, don’t get me wrong. It‘s a bad choice for the game and the fans, and it is frustrating as hell, but it’s a good business decision (i.e. the only thing that matters is making as much money as possible). I’m just tired of people pretending WotC isn’t a business first and a game publisher second. If the new hotness was pogs, we’d have D&D content released as pogs. For any adult or child over 12 who’s paid any attention at all to act surprised about business decisions being profits first is rather gauche.

There's just an increasing gap between what you need to play a fun game of dnd and all of the stuff available for purchase--beadle and grimm deluxe sets, pre-painted wiz kid minis, alternate covers, themed dice, etc. At its best, this is a diy hobby, not a lifestyle brand; you can't blame wotc for trying (and succeeding) into making it into the latter, but the former gets somewhat lost. I'm even ambivalent about the role that kickstarter is playing in the hobby, even with indie or osr products.

 

[Scribe]

How much of the Monster book is actually new?

As I continue my daily struggle to come to accept what they are going to do to all the races (and I called it with the Ravenloft UA) I'm curious on just how much I will be buying again as a reprint.

I have XGtE (as it has my Paladin Subclass) but I skipped on Tasha's.

Will all the races be in the new Monster book?

Is this actually written up somewhere?

Is MToF then going to be overwritten?

 

[Toriel]

The only issue I have are the white covers. How long will they stay that way when you're eating Cheetos while playing?

 

[J.Quondam]

There's just an increasing gap between what you need to play a fun game of dnd and all of the stuff available for purchase--beadle and grimm deluxe sets, pre-painted wiz kid minis, alternate covers, themed dice, etc. At its best, this is a diy hobby, not a lifestyle brand; you can't blame wotc for trying (and succeeding) into making it into the latter, but the former gets somewhat lost. I'm even ambivalent about the role that kickstarter is playing in the hobby, even with indie or osr products.

Yeah... It can definitely feel a little overwhelming. Sometimes I kinda miss D&D as a weird niche hobby that prompted awkward-- but relieved-- admissions when two co-workers figured out the other was a gamer.

 

[teitan]

Just because its par for the course doesnt mean it isn't disappointing and frustrating. I'm pretty unhappy that I can't just get the new material.

You can, later on.

 

[overgeeked]

There's just an increasing gap between what you need to play a fun game of dnd and all of the stuff available for purchase--beadle and grimm deluxe sets, pre-painted wiz kid minis, alternate covers, themed dice, etc. At its best, this is a diy hobby, not a lifestyle brand; you can't blame wotc for trying (and succeeding) into making it into the latter, but the former gets somewhat lost. I'm even ambivalent about the role that kickstarter is playing in the hobby, even with indie or osr products.

I absolutely agree. D&D is a nostalgia boutique lifestyle brand at this point. The game is secondary. The former (DIY mentality) is almost exclusively in the OSR or the 3PP these days.

Yeah... It can definitely feel a little overwhelming. Sometimes I kinda miss D&D as a weird niche hobby that prompted awkward-- but relieved-- admissions when two co-workers figured out the other was a gamer.

I dunno. I'm glad that people sneer less. D&D is certainly having a moment. But it's a moment. It'll pass. I wonder how radically different the game will be after the moment has passed.

 

[Superchunk77]

What a yawn-fest this stream was. An hour of talking about stat block formats, new covers, and a "revised edition" which is just errata and already published material.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

What a yawn-fest this stream was. An hour of talking about stat block formats, new covers, and a "revised edition" which is just errata and already published material.

It's basically a new edition.

 

[Scribe]

It's basically a new edition.

??

I'll have to disagree.