A Look at the Duerger: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes Preview

Alas, the party completed the Duergar section of the dungeon 2 sessions ago! :O

 

[SuperTD]

I'm seeing MToF as being more of a preview of what direction the next WotC AP is going to go. That said, more random charts makes it hard for me to suppress a yawn.

I mean, you don't have to pick on these tables randomly. It's possible to disregard the numbers at the side, and use the ideas as inspiration or just choose from the list.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I mean, you don't have to pick on these tables randomly. It's possible to disregard the numbers at the side, and use the ideas as inspiration or just choose from the list.

I understand that. They have some interesting ideas, even. But there are more interesting ways to present such concepts, in my experience. Look at Games Workshop, for example. They put lots of flavor fiction in their books to give a fuller concept of how their world looks and behaves.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm really scratching my head on how something not very exciting is actually worse than nothing at all. That makes no sense whatsoever.

With UA only once a month and DDB now supporting UA, I was really hoping for something more and preferably player-centric. But also in the OotA game I DM, they are just arriving at Gracklstugh, so it's perfect timing even if it isn't very much.

Anticipation is better than disappointment.

 

[JRedmond]

I'm really scratching my head on how something not very exciting is actually worse than nothing at all. That makes no sense whatsoever.

With UA only once a month and DDB now supporting UA, I was really hoping for something more and preferably player-centric. But also in the OotA game I DM, they are just arriving at Gracklstugh, so it's perfect timing even if it isn't very much.

UA is meant to be playtest material. This is a preview from an upcoming book, it does not fit at all and is insulting that they are trying to release this as UA.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

UA is meant to be playtest material. This is a preview from an upcoming book, it does not fit at all and is insulting that they are trying to release this as UA.

That seems like a bit of hyperbole. It was explained that they had a lot on their plate this month and why play test info wasn't in the cards. A sample of an upcoming book that includes new races and likely rules seems within the wheelhouse of what UA provides in lieu of other materials. After all, UA is not something that Wizards owes us.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I'm not even sure which way they're going with the Duergar yet, was it the fully embracing psionics or going fully infernal.

And I can't remember if Derro were still Dwarves or not in this edition.

 

[Shroomy]

I for one love the duergar and welcome our new gray dwarf overlords (seriously, I do really like them, probably more so than the drow). The page is a nice teaser for MToF, but nothing more.

As for no UA, it's disappointing, but it's not like Mike Mearls isn't publicly designing brand new 5e content for an hour each week or something.

 

[kenmarable]

That seems like a bit of hyperbole. It was explained that they had a lot on their plate this month and why play test info wasn't in the cards. A sample of an upcoming book that includes new races and likely rules seems within the wheelhouse of what UA provides in lieu of other materials. After all, UA is not something that Wizards owes us.

Agreed. Calling a book preview "insulting" is an example of the weird sort of negativity (especially in regards to anything WotC does) that I noticed on EN World a few years ago when I returned after being away for a while. Used to be people would just post a "Meh" and move on, but it seems to have shifted into hostility and anger in pretty much every post about WotC's latest. Seems like a weird thing to be insulted by. *shrug* [-]Ah well, guess communities change, not always for the better.[/-]

 

[Morrus]

Agreed. Calling a book preview "insulting" is an example of the weird sort of negativity (especially in regards to anything WotC does) that I noticed on EN World a few years ago when I returned after being away for a while. Used to be people would just post a "Meh" and move on, but it seems to have shifted into hostility and anger in pretty much every post about WotC's latest. Seems like a weird thing to be insulted by. *shrug* Ah well, guess communities change, not always for the better.

I think that's kinda the internet now, pretty much everywhere. To our credit, I think we manage to maintain a pretty civil community here. There's some scary places out there!

 

[JRedmond]

Agreed. Calling a book preview "insulting" is an example of the weird sort of negativity (especially in regards to anything WotC does) that I noticed on EN World a few years ago when I returned after being away for a while. Used to be people would just post a "Meh" and move on, but it seems to have shifted into hostility and anger in pretty much every post about WotC's latest. Seems like a weird thing to be insulted by. *shrug* Ah well, guess communities change, not always for the better.

It's just my opinion, it's okay if it differs from yours. I love everything they've done, I just think this one didn't make sense. My comment doesn't herald the end of the golden age of ENWorld I promise.