D&D 5E Best and Worst of 5e - every book rated

[HomegrownHydra]

One of the annoying things about the reviews of D&D products on Amazon is that every single 5e book is rated 4.9, 4.8, or 4.7 which doesn't really tell you their relative quality. A few weeks ago JEB very helpfully posted a list that included the reviews from Goodreads. I noticed that those ratings have a lot more variation and they seem to match up with the consensus views on Enworld. So I have reposted the info but sorted by Goodreads rating. The numbers in (parentheses) are the amount of reviews and the numbers in [brackets] are the ratings.

Wildemount (627) [4.64]

PHB (10,470) [4.58]
MM (4,065) [4.57]

DMG (5,583) [4.53]
Curse of Strahd (1,342) [4.52]
Xanathar's (2,484) [4.50]

Volo's (1,811) [4.47]
Eberron (530) [4.46]

Original Starter Set (2,219) [4.40]
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (1,163) [4.40]
Tasha's (899) [4.39]

Tomb of Annihilation (570) [4.36]
Essentials Kit (282) [4.36]
Rick and Morty starter set (97) [4.34]
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (318) [4.33]
Fizban's (222) [4.33]

Wild Beyond the Witchlight (163) [4.31]
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (647) [4.30]
Theros (264) [4.30]
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden (312) [4.29]
Ravnica (450) [4.28]
Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (314) [4.28]

Tales from the Yawning Portal (673) [4.22]
Out of the Abyss (528) [4.20]
Storm King's Thunder (553) [4.19]
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (279) [4.19]
Candlekeep Mysteries (208) [4.19]
Ghosts of Saltmarsh (543) [4.18]

Acquisitions Inc. (211) [4.14]
Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep (7) [4.14]

Princes of the Apocalypse (550) [4.05]
Tyranny of Dragons (43) [4.05]

SCAG (1,291) [4.00]

Rise of Tiamat (621) [3.96]
Stranger Things starter set (19) [3.95]


Hoard of the Dragon Queen (959) [3.76]
Strixhaven (67) [3.72]

 

[TerraDave]

Looks about right. Though I feel TftYP and Saltmarsh are misunderstood...just run some of the adventures...there good.

 

[Ancalagon]

I didn't realize Strixhaven was so poorly received!

 

[Gorecannon]

I didn't realize Strixhaven was so poorly received!

If it's anything like the reviews I've seen on it, the biggest complaints are about the inclusive elements. Though it doesn't cross over well with a standard D&D game, there is a definite disparity, it's okay as a pretence of the setting it so obviously wanted to be. Certainly not the worst 5e book.

 

[Alzrius]

I didn't realize Strixhaven was so poorly received!

I think the issue is that Strixhaven is perceived to be something that you can't use with a typical D&D campaign. WBtW is unlike your standard D&D fare, but you can have an ordinary party go through it, and they can even hack their way through its encounters if they want. Strixhaven, by contrast, requires everyone to buy into its premise, which is deliberately different from your average D&D campaign.

 

[Jer]

I think the issue is that Strixhaven is perceived to be something that you can't use with a typical D&D campaign. WBtW is unlike your standard D&D fare, but you can have an ordinary party go through it, and they can even hack their way through its encounters if they want. Strixhaven, by contrast, requires everyone to buy into its premise, which is deliberately different from your average D&D campaign.

Looking at the reviews on Goodreads the low scoring folks are either mad about it being a "Harry Potter ripoff" or that there's not as much detail in the setting as they'd like. One person lists 4 things they like, 1 thing they didn't, and then gave it 2 stars which feels like a harsh grade

 

[Stormonu]

I didn't realize Strixhaven was so poorly received!

Strixhaven doesn't know what it wants to be - it is neither truly an adventure or a campaign setting, just has aspects of both. It's an incomplete toolbox.

Also, I think a lot of people were expecting something with a stronger tie towards Hogwarts, and it didn't deliver on that.

(Personally, I also find the stats for "students" in the back to be gross power creep, and not what I was expecting)

 

[BookTenTiger]

(Personally, I also find the stats for "students" in the back to be gross power creep, and not what I was expecting)

To be fair, "gross power creep" does accurately represent some folks I knew at college, so at least it's appropriate to the setting!

 

[Weiley31]

I think the issue is that Strixhaven is perceived to be something that you can't use with a typical D&D campaign. WBtW is unlike your standard D&D fare, but you can have an ordinary party go through it, and they can even hack their way through its encounters if they want. Strixhaven, by contrast, requires everyone to buy into its premise, which is deliberately different from your average D&D campaign.

Looking at the reviews on Goodreads the low scoring folks are either mad about it being a "Harry Potter ripoff" or that there's not as much detail in the setting as they'd like. One person lists 4 things they like, 1 thing they didn't, and then gave it 2 stars which feels like a harsh grade

Strixhaven doesn't know what it wants to be - it is neither truly an adventure or a campaign setting, just has aspects of both. It's an incomplete toolbox.

Also, I think a lot of people were expecting something with a stronger tie towards Hogwarts, and it didn't deliver on that.

(Personally, I also find the stats for "students" in the back to be gross power creep, and not what I was expecting)

It also doesn't help that Strixhaven's setting, Arcavios, isn't really "fleshed out" that much even in its own series. It's the Colleges, a few terms, ruins and that's it.

 

[Gradine]

I rather enjoyed the Strixhaven book, though it is quite admittedly full of gaps