D&D 5E Volo's Other Book(s) / Future Spoilers?

So Volo's Guide to Monsters releases in Wizard's Play stores tomorrow (Nov 4, 2016) and today (Nov. 3) Amazon delivered my copy of Dungeonology. It's "written by" Volo with forward by Elminster (tucked into an envelope inside the front cover. Overall the book looks pretty fun. It purports to be a beginner's guide to dungeon delving giving a precursory discussion on basic classes, races, equipment, party order, treasure, monsters, villains etc... It also has a large fold-out map of the Sword Coast in the middle.

To me, it very much seems like a book to share with family and friends to pique their interest in D&D. So far I like it!

Now for the possible spoilers of D&D future...

Tucked into the back of the book is another book(let) titled Volo's Guide to the Forgotten Realms. It covers basic descriptions of various locales in the Realms and lands beyond. It has discussions on the Cult of the Dragon (Tyranny of Dragons), the cults of Elemental Evil, and Demons of the Underdark (Rage of Demons).

It then discusses various cities of the Sword Coast. Next, blurbs on Gauntlgrym, Luskan, Thay, The Tomb of Horrors (I'll come back to this) and Undermountain. Then a section on the Underdark; a few of its cities and monsters. The next section is "Realms Beyond" and discusses Evermeet, Chult, Kara-Tur and Zakhara. The final section, "Worlds Beyond", discusses Cosmology, Greyhawk, Barovia (mentioning you can be transported there via mists on any world) and Sigil.

I haven't read every word of the booklet but a tidbit under the Tomb of Horrors caught my eye. Volo claims to have heard rumors that Acererak and the Tomb have appeared on Faerûn. Then later in the section on Greyhawk it ends explaining that Acererak and the Tomb of Horrors are originally from Greyhawk but that Acererak is "well known" in Faerûn, suggesting that "the boundries between the two worlds may somehow be breaking down." There is even a section on Acererak in Dungeonology.

I'll be the first to admit that I am rather new to the lore of D&D's various settings, but this is new, right? Does this mean that Wizards is planning a Tomb of Horrors revisit for an upcoming adventure? Or are they just trolling us? It seems like they are going out of their way to place the tomb into the Forgotten Realms. My feeling is they wouldn't do this without a purpose.

Thoughts? Please feel free to educate me!

Edit: There are some photos of the book in post #4 below.

I think Labrynth is a combination of Keep on the Borderlands, Tome of Horrors, and White Plume Mountain. This certainly helps my theory.

TheBlueKnight said:

today (Nov. 3) Amazon delivered my copy of Dungeonology. [...] It also has a large fold-out map of the Sword Coast in the middle.

Click to expand...

Whoa, whoa, whoa. How large is the map? Is it the one by Mike Schley from the SCAG or the one from SKT? Does it have the same town- and road-markers on it? If it's a good size, I might actually have to buy Dungeonology...

Prakriti said:

Whoa, whoa, whoa. How large is the map? Is it the one by Mike Schley from the SCAG or the one from SKT? Does it have the same town- and road-markers on it? If it's a good size, I might actually have to buy Dungeonology...

Click to expand...

It looks like a Mike Schley map to me... Here are some photos:


Dungeonology next to the DMG


Dungeonology Title Page


Map folded out. The edge of the book you can see at the bottom is the long edge, in otherwords it's about the size of 4 pages.

It doesn't seem to cover the full area of the giant map, just the upper center bit.

Hope that helps!

TheBlueKnight said:

So Volo's Guide to Monsters releases in Wizard's Play stores tomorrow (Nov 4, 2016) and today (Nov. 3) Amazon delivered my copy of Dungeonology. It's "written by" Volo with forward by Elminster (tucked into an envelope inside the front cover. Overall the book looks pretty fun. It purports to be a beginner's guide to dungeon delving giving a precursory discussion on basic classes, races, equipment, party order, treasure, monsters, villains etc... It also has a large fold-out map of the Sword Coast in the middle.

To me, it very much seems like a book to share with family and friends to pique their interest in D&D. So far I like it!

Now for the possible spoilers of D&D future...

Tucked into the back of the book is another book(let) titled Volo's Guide to the Forgotten Realms. It covers basic descriptions of various locales in the Realms and lands beyond. It has discussions on the Cult of the Dragon (Tyranny of Dragons), the cults of Elemental Evil, and Demons of the Underdark (Rage of Demons).

It then discusses various cities of the Sword Coast. Next, blurbs on Gauntlgrym, Luskan, Thay, The Tomb of Horrors (I'll come back to this) and Undermountain. Then a section on the Underdark; a few of its cities and monsters. The next section is "Realms Beyond" and discusses Evermeet, Chult, Kara-Tur and Zakhara. The final section, "Worlds Beyond", discusses Cosmology, Greyhawk, Barovia (mentioning you can be transported there via mists on any world) and Sigil.

I haven't read every word of the booklet but a tidbit under the Tomb of Horrors caught my eye. Volo claims to have heard rumors that Acererak and the Tomb have appeared on Faerûn. Then later in the section on Greyhawk it ends explaining that Acererak and the Tomb of Horrors are originally from Greyhawk but that Acererak is "well known" in Faerûn, suggesting that "the boundries between the two worlds may somehow be breaking down." There is even a section on Acererak in Dungeonology.

I'll be the first to admit that I am rather new to the lore of D&D's various settings, but this is new, right? Does this mean that Wizards is planning a Tomb of Horrors revisit for an upcoming adventure? Or are they just trolling us? It seems like they are going out of their way to place the tomb into the Forgotten Realms. My feeling is they wouldn't do this without a purpose.

Thoughts? Please feel free to educate me!

Click to expand...

Hmm, I may have to take a look at this, that FR lore is something I definitely didn't expect to see in Dungeonology!

TheBlueKnight said:

It looks like a Mike Schley map to me... Here are some photos:

Click to expand...

Excellent, thank you! That is indeed Schley's Sword Coast map. Looks like the SKT version, since it has Ironslag and Everlund on it (the SCAG version doesn't).

One more question: Is the map glued or otherwise attached to the book, or is it a separate handout?

It's attached. The book has very thick pages with parts that fold out or pop up. The map folds out on its own like a popup book. I don't think you could remove it easily without damaging the surrounding pages.

Edit: On closer inspection, it does appear glued to the pages it is on. You might be able to remove it very carefully, but you'd still risk damaging the opposing pages.

Wow. Just checked Amazon, and for anyone in the US, the current price is only $14.19, off a normal retail of $24.99, and qualifies for the free normal shipping if you get your book purchase to the minimum of $25. This is definitely worth it at that price. Good thing I put off pre-ordering Volo's til now. Now I can order both together.

Edit: and now they are ordered.

While the book is cool, it doesn't have any crunch, and it is rather short. It is only 30 pages (according to amazon). I didn't count

The little book in the end adds a few more pages.

It really seems like a book for kids (book specifies Ages 10+, but I'm 42 and I am enjoying it.) It would make a fun coffee table book/book for kids (of all ages) interested in the game.

Re-reading what you wrote, I do think you are correct in that WotC appears to be seeding an upcoming Acererak adventure path (not that this is a surprise given his prominence in both the DMG and MM). I'm thinking, with that whole "boundaries breaking down" thing and the fact they mention Greyhawk specifically, that they are setting it up to be at least partially set in Greyhawk, so as to give us something of an update for that world, and to somewhat quell criticisms that 5e is too FR-centric. I'm thinking the Sigil mention is serving a similar purpose for a future planar adventure (Great Modron March perhaps?)