D&D 5E Escapist article on SCAG is Brutal.

[JohnLynch]

That's largely true of any splat. It's pretty rare that a single player or even the DM uses more than a sliver of any splat. An FRCS type book doesn't change anything. The group might use a chunk of the book, but a single player won't.

I'm not disagreeing when it comes to 5e, however I have used significant portions of Pathfinder's various splatbooks (including hardcovers) on a single character. Same deal with 4th edition. This is why this seems to be a uniquely 5e problem that didn't exist pre-5e. I do think DMs can use a significant more of any book though that's not filled with player-oriented crunch. I'm using a significant portion of the 2e Volo's Guides to Cormyr for example.

 

[JohnLynch]

I you had one player who made one character and then that was it, then yeah sure, you'd be right.

I'm not saying the gaming table shouldn't but this book. I'm saying players shouldn't buy this book. Because no matter how many players are in the game, they'll never use more than 3.75 pages (and some would likely use a lot less).

I suppose this half elf never leaves Evereska?

Why would that player need detailed information about a place his character has never been? Wouldn't it be better to learn that during gameplay rather than in reading a book?

 

[pukunui]

Its has too little crunch and player options to be a great player's guide either.

I disagree.

Its because your wrong about it being only a player guide, it had too much focus on fluff.

When player content is a small fraction of the material, its not a player's guide.

Hardly. The focus doesn't have to be on crunch in order for it to qualify as a player's guide. The focus needs to be on introducing players to the setting, which I think it does just fine. People are fixated on the crunch. How about we look at the fluff. How does the SCAG's setting info compare to that provided in the FRPG? Or the PGtF?

I'd be happy with just a really well done FRCG for 5e, and more good FR novels, I'm not greedy, I don't expect dozens of FR RPG books.

May I ask why you want a "really well done FRCG for 5e"? Why do you feel unable to take what's in the SCAG and expand on it yourself? Would it help you at all if you stopped thinking of the SCAG as not having enough details and instead thought of it as the SCAG giving you lots of space to add your own details? I recall Chris Perkins emphasizing on more than one occasion about how they really want people to make the Realms their own. If they've crossed every "T" and dotted every "I" for you already, how are you supposed to make it your own?

Yeah, I agree. Many folks seem to say that the SCAG only has a small amount of player material. Basically just the crunch.

I don't think that player material is limited to crunch.

My sentiments exactly! The fluff is all for players too. It's all written from a player-friendly perspective. It's all there to help players ground their characters in the setting.

If someone creates a half-sun elven bladesinger from Evereska who worships Azuth (using the most amount of material possible from the book, although I don't know if half-elves are allowed to take the bladesinger subclass) then they will use exactly 3.75 pages of the book ... This is why I don't consider this to be a worthwhile investment for a player. Especially if you're not actually playing in the Sword Coast.

That's assuming that this half-elf bladesinger never leaves Evereska, never encounters anyone who worships a different deity, and so on. That's also assuming that this someone never makes another character - which, admittedly, is quite likely if their first one never does anything.

 

[Shasarak]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Onyx Path just lose the Vampire IP? Not exactly the model I'd follow for DND.

And good grief but do I not want to see 5E turned into Mathfinder.

Yes, because everyone knows that by producing a Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide it will make you have to do more maths.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I'm not saying the gaming table shouldn't but this book. I'm saying players shouldn't buy this book. Because no matter how many players are in the game, they'll never use more than 3.75 pages (and some would likely use a lot less).

Why would that player need detailed information about a place his character has never been? Wouldn't it be better to learn that during gameplay rather than in reading a book?

The characters would know some basics about the world they live in. The amount would vary of course, but a certain amount of general knowledge should be assumed. most Faerunians know of Waterdeep and the Dalelands and Zhentil Keep and the Church of Bane and so on.

It's not bad for players to have some of that knowledge as well. Although I agree that the bulk of the details should ideally come out in play.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

If the past six years have taught us nothing, it is that FR fans are remarkably patient with the treatment that FR has received… (snip)

Not that I’ve seen.

From the announcement of the Spellplague at GenCon 2007 through to today (that’s eight years, mind), hardly a day has gone by where some self-professed fan of the Realms didn’t find a forum space to complain in.

$40 for 3.75 pages hardly seems like a worthwhile investment. I can write up a player's guide that incorporates all that (which incidentally I already have) and let them borrow the book if they're desperate to play a bladesinger.

If all of the above were include in a 5E FRCG, then by your logic the FRCG would not be a worthwhile investment.

I think a better line of argument would be to question whether or not the SCAG provides a suitable quantity of character and class options to justify the purchase price.

 

[gyor]

If you make it a Far Walker Mulhorandi Winged Tiefling Undying Warlock with a pact with Gilgeam The God King of Unther, and use the Cantrips Greenfire Blade and Booming Blade, who then converts to worship Torm in his new home in Waterdeep, and becomes an Oath of the Crown Paladin (multiclass) in service to Waterdeep you'll use more content.

You'd use the sections on Mulhorand, Unther, Far Walker background, Waterdeep, Tieflings, Torm, the Mulhorand Gods side bar, Warlock Patrons, The Undying Patron Section, the Oath of the Paladin eventually, cantrips, and possibly any nations that this Tiefling walked thru to get from Mulhorand to Waterdeep, like Unther obviously, but Chessenta, Turmish, Westgate, ect...

But this is pretty out there and an exception to the rule.

 

[pukunui]

I think a better line of argument would be to question whether or not the SCAG provides a suitable quantity of character and class options to justify the purchase price.

I think an even better line of argument would be to question whether or not the *quality* of the options - as well as the fluff - presented in the book is enough to justify the purchase price.

 

[Shasarak]

From the announcement of the Spellplague at GenCon 2007 through to today (that’s eight years, mind), hardly a day has gone by where some self-professed fan of the Realms didn’t find a forum space to complain in.

Exactly - remarkably patient.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

I'm not saying the gaming table shouldn't but this book. I'm saying players shouldn't buy this book. Because no matter how many players are in the game, they'll never use more than 3.75 pages (and some would likely use a lot less).

How can you possibly know this? Where have you shown anywhere in this thread that your claim is true?

Yes, because everyone knows that by producing a Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide it will make you have to do more maths.

You've never read the 3E FRCG, have you?