D&D General Dungeons & Dragons Encyclopedia - new product

Remathilis · 2026-03-15T21:44:23+0000

Parmandur said:
Looks fun, great gift idea for kids and teens who like to read.

Might not be a bad option for newer players who want a brief overview of elements of setting lore.

Starmaster · 2026-03-15T21:53:05+0000

Alzrius said:
Seems okay, though I'm going to wait for it to be discounted before picking it up (which seems like it happens fairly regularly for these kinds of D&D books; Worlds & Realms is currently sitting at an oddly-specific 57% off for a new copy at Amazon, Lore & Legends is 58% off, etc.).

In years past, Amazon used to sell most of their books at a very nice pre-order discount of 20-30% off retail. Now they've flipped the script. You usually have to pay full price (or maybe get a modest discount of 3-10% if you're lucky) until demand dies down a few months after release. Typical behavior for a company that's taken over the marketplace. If you don't mind waiting until that long after the item's release date, that's when their heavy book discounts kick in. I use CamelCamelCamel to alert me when the price of something I'm interested in drops below my willingness-to-pay threshold.

I don't do this with D&D rulebooks. I get them at FLGS on their release date (2 weeks before regular street date) for several reasons. First is to support FLGS. Second is to get alternate covers when available. Third is that I'm too anxious to wait on these. Fourth is that books I receive from Amazon these days range from moderate damage to smashed to hell. I started ordering books from them in the 1990s and back then they would arrive stacked from largest on bottom to smallest on top. The whole stack would then be shrink-wrapped to an oversized sheet of thick cardboard on the bottom, and then put in a box. The result was that very rarely would anything arrive damaged. Again, what I see now is typical behavior for a company that's taken over the marketplace.

Dire Bare · 2026-03-15T22:16:05+0000

Azzy said:
So, about the actual book?

The marketing blurb being wrong, perhaps even deliberately deceitful, is much, much more important.

But to the actual thread topic . . . I'm excited for the book. I've always been a fan of the Marvel and DC encyclopedias that DK puts out, so I'm hoping this one will be equally fun.

Alzrius · 2026-03-15T22:17:24+0000

Dire Bare said:
The marketing blurb being wrong, perhaps even deliberately deceitful, is much, much more important.

Leonardo Dicaprio Yes GIF by Golden Globes

M.L. Martin · 2026-03-15T23:38:40+0000

Looks like the headers are color-coded by setting: Purple for Eberron, Green for Forgotten Realms, Red for Dragonlance, Blue for Spelljammer, Black for Ravenloft, and Gray for 'generic' D&D. There's a Yellow header on the Moonstone Dragon, but I'm not familiar enough with those to know with which setting they might be associated.

Mecheon · 2026-03-15T23:50:37+0000

sevenbastard said:
"Almiraj" lets give parents a word that is easy to pronounce....

Technically the name should just be "Mi'raj". Al means 'the'. But, well, this is a long standing issue.

Its the actual name of the mythical critter in question regardless, and miraj isn't exactly a tricky name.

GreyLord · 2026-03-16T01:35:17+0000

Just a thought.

You guys realize this does not appear to be published by WotC or Hasbro.

It looks to be published by DK...publishers of such books such as

Healing Foods

The Ocean Book

The Minecraft Ideas Book

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Ultimate Guide

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual Guide to Prehistoric Animals

and other such books. This "Encyclopedia" looks to be just the type of book they like to publish which then goes on your tea table for people to browse while they wait in your sitting room.

Not that this makes a whole lot of difference in the conversations going on, but I thought I'd point this out.

Parmandur · 2026-03-16T01:38:40+0000

GreyLord said:
Just a thought.

You guys realize this does not appear to be published by WotC or Hasbro.

It looks to be published by DK...publishers of such books such as

Healing Foods

The Ocean Book

The Minecraft Ideas Book

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Ultimate Guide

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual Guide to Prehistoric Animals

and other such books. This "Encyclopedia" looks to be just the type of book they like to publish which then goes on your tea table for people to browse while they wait in your sitting room.

Not that this makes a whole lot of difference in the conversations going on, but I thought I'd point this out.

No, clearly it is important to dissect their ad copy and parse it for any sign we might be gaslit...won't someone please think of the children????

Alzrius · 2026-03-16T01:43:26+0000

Parmandur said:
No, clearly it is important to dissect their ad copy and parse it for any sign we might be gaslit...won't someone please think of the children????

mamba · 2026-03-16T01:51:26+0000

Parmandur said:
Having reviewed the preview pages, confirmed to include at minimum Dragonlance, Eberron, and the Forgotten Realms. Probably Grehhawk, considering how much thst is in the DMG this is co-marketing with.

all of those and Ravenloft were named in the product description, but that is not enough for ‘more than half a dozen’. I assume Planescape and probably Spelljammer, at which point they just eeked into that range