D&D 5E (2014) Companion thread to 5E Survivor - Sourcebooks & Campaign Settings

[MockingBird]

I have never considered reading Wildemount, I don’t even really know what it is. Before I go look it up my self, tell me what you like about it?

This isn't going to help you out. I can't really put my finger on why I like it other than it's a new setting. It's a setting I feel like I was able to get in on at ground level before it is over developed if that makes sense.

 

[OB1]

This isn't going to help you out. I can't really put my finger on why I like it other than it's a new setting. It's a setting I feel like I was able to get in on at ground level before it is over developed if that makes sense.

I think this hits on a big part of it for me as well. It just feels modern and fresh, the way that any good artist takes things from the past and reimagines them for the current time.

Also, the way it's structured really lends itself to a sandbox campaign. Back at the start of the pandemic, I ran one of the starter adventures as a way to learn Roll20 (it was free) and my group had such a blast that I bought the full guide and we just kept going. They'd pick a place on a map and go, and the book has just enough info and adventure hooks for each location that I could come up with something pretty quick.

I think the setting also hit's a sweet spot for adventuring, being about 800 years after an apocalypse, in a world that is just at the start of a Renaissance from that time. There is still danger in the wilderness (much of it the direct result of the previous apocalypse), but civilization is also starting to become a danger and repeat some of the problems that led to the last collapse.

On top of all of that, it has one of if not the best fighter subclasses in 5e, and one that is richly tied to the world it appears in. I had a player take an Echo Knight for the campaign, he loved it, and I loved DMing for him. It also has a great system (again, tied to the world lore) for having fated destinies be a part of the story (if you choose), where in session 0 you work out details with the PCs to allow for their stories to interweave and lead them forward.

One final note, I'd only listened to a few episodes of Critical Role before getting this guide, so knowledge of the show isn't necessary for picking it up. I did become a big fan of the show after (with no commute, I had the time during the pandemic to watch it), but it was EGtW that led me there, not the other way around.

 

[RealAlHazred]

So what's the next poll

The next poll is Adventures, which is up.

 

[Divine2021]

I think this hits on a big part of it for me as well. It just feels modern and fresh, the way that any good artist takes things from the past and reimagines them for the current time.

Also, the way it's structured really lends itself to a sandbox campaign. Back at the start of the pandemic, I ran one of the starter adventures as a way to learn Roll20 (it was free) and my group had such a blast that I bought the full guide and we just kept going. They'd pick a place on a map and go, and the book has just enough info and adventure hooks for each location that I could come up with something pretty quick.

I think the setting also hit's a sweet spot for adventuring, being about 800 years after an apocalypse, in a world that is just at the start of a Renaissance from that time. There is still danger in the wilderness (much of it the direct result of the previous apocalypse), but civilization is also starting to become a danger and repeat some of the problems that led to the last collapse.

On top of all of that, it has one of if not the best fighter subclasses in 5e, and one that is richly tied to the world it appears in. I had a player take an Echo Knight for the campaign, he loved it, and I loved DMing for him. It also has a great system (again, tied to the world lore) for having fated destinies be a part of the story (if you choose), where in session 0 you work out details with the PCs to allow for their stories to interweave and lead them forward.

One final note, I'd only listened to a few episodes of Critical Role before getting this guide, so knowledge of the show isn't necessary for picking it up. I did become a big fan of the show after (with no commute, I had the time during the pandemic to watch it), but it was EGtW that led me there, not the other way around.

Interesting, I didn’t realize it was connected to Critical Roll, of which I am not a fan. That doesn’t matter though, if the material contained in the book is good. I’m a huge fan of Kobold Press’ Midgard, so maybe I’d like this too for similar reasons.

 

[Maxperson]

In hindsight, it's really clear to me how much The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide was WotC putting their foot in the water. This is a supplement that would have sold very well in the 2E era, but standards for utility have gone up. People aren't happy anymore buying a sourcebook and getting just one Feat they'll use, or a single spell. They want to find the whole book useful in some fashion.

If you look at the 3e book, there were a number of feats, spells, etc. in there, but it also covered much more of the realms. My main issue wasn't that the Sword Coast only had a few mechanical things in it. My issue was that it only covered a sliver of the Realms. If they were going to give us just the Sword Coast, then they needed to release the Heartlands the next year, the South the year after that, etc. All with a few mechanical extras in them that in total would have given us a good setting with a good number of mechanical things.

 

[Maxperson]

Unpopular Opinion mash up - Spelljammer wasnt that bad lol.

Depends on what you were looking for. If all you wanted were ships and monsters, then it was pretty good. If you wanted a setting it stunk to high heaven.

 

[RealAlHazred]

If you look at the 3e book, there were a number of feats, spells, etc. in there, but it also covered much more of the realms. My main issue wasn't that the Sword Coast only had a few mechanical things in it. My issue was that it only covered a sliver of the Realms. If they were going to give us just the Sword Coast, then they needed to release the Heartlands the next year, the South the year after that, etc. All with a few mechanical extras in them that in total would have given us a good setting with a good number of mechanical things.

I think they may have been expecting to, but sales told them to put their product-development dollars elsewhere! It did not sell well at my FLGS!

New Companion thread to the 5E Survivor - Adventures thread is here.

 

[Maxperson]

Indeed, Tashas is the root of a lot of 5e issues.

I recommend we all down vote it.

Well, that aged well.

 

[CleverNickName]

I have never considered reading Wildemount, I don’t even really know what it is. Before I go look it up my self, tell me what you like about it?

Well, first you need to understand something about me: I own a lot of different campaign settings. Way too many, actually. I own Forgotten Realms in three different D&D editions (AD&D, 3E, and 5E), and I own Eberron in two (3E and 5E). I also own the old Ghostwalk campaign setting, the even-older Mystara, Hollow World, and Red Steel campaign settings, and I'm a contributing author for the Nyambe campain setting. I've got non-D&D campaign settings (Pathfinder, Esper Genesis) also. Heck, just a couple of days ago I got the Venture Maidens campaign setting in the mail, and I put it on the shelf with my other Kickstarter-backed campaign settings (Lost Lights, Seas of Vodari, Old Gods of Appalachia, Humblewood...I backed so many Kickstarters...)

A reasonable person might ask, "Why do you own so many campaign settings?" The best answer I've got is: I really like seeing what other people are doing with the D&D rules set.

It's a lot like watching a cooking show, where a lot of different cooks and chefs are all cooking different things from the same ingredients. Or maybe it's like installing mods for video games: it's really fun to see the changes that people are making for Skyrim or Stardew Valley, and how it changes the experience of the game. The big-budget, high-production campaign settings like Forgotten Realms and Eberron were created to sell books, and so they have lots of added content and fan-created lore--but they largely feel the same to me. The smaller, lesser-known campaign settings are my favorites, because they are often the most original, and what they lack in massive production value they make up for in creativity--and they give the most insight into what someone else's game table is like.

Sorry, that was a lot of lead-up. On to your question: what do I like about Wildemount?

Well, Wildemount gives me the best of both worlds. It enjoys a larger budget and fan base than most campaign settings out there, but still manages to keep a lot of that rustic, homebrew feel that Matt Mercer and his friends put into it. It's big, but it's not SO big that everything bleeds together into a gray mess. It's small, but you can tell that it's a labor of love: everything that made it into the book is there because someone at the table thought it was cool, not because they thought it would sell. And it's a fun read, too! It borrows from a lot of familiar sources--Pathfinder, 4th Edition/Nenitr Vale, Ravenloft--so there are lots of "Easter eggs" for you and your players to discover. I like what they did with the ingredients.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling answer to your straightforward question.

 

[Maxperson]

I think they may have been expecting to, but sales told them to put their product-development dollars elsewhere! It did not sell well at my FLGS!

New Companion thread to the 5E Survivor - Adventures thread is here.

Yeah. I think, though, that it didn't do well because people wanted the Forgotten Realms, not just one slice of it. Had they told everyone that this was just the first book it might have gotten a much better reception. It's not a bad book. It's just too limited to be the Forgotten Realms.