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

[gyor]

Was it Defenders of the Wild that was godawful, then? I don't think it's Tome and Blood.

Can we all agree that Complete Divine was a book full of terrible, terrible ideas?

Ah!

Tome of Magic. Tome of bloody Magic. I will never forgive that book for promising me not one, not two, but three REALLY AWESOME sets of character concepts then being designed in such a way that none of them, y'know, worked.

Hells no we can't agree that Complete Divine was bad.

It gave us Favoured Soul, Shujgenjas, Spirit Shamans, Divine Cruasaders, Geomancers, Holy Liberators, most of which I'd love to see reborn as subclasses in 5e. It was one of the best books of 3.5e.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=6670153]gyor[/MENTION]: Complete Divine was the only book in that series that I actually bought. I loved it at the time.


You know what I'd like to see? More products like the Sundering series. Legacy of the Crystal Shard and Murder in Baldur's Gate are both fantastic products. In addition to the adventures, they come with detailed regional campaign guides and a handy DM screen tailored to the region. I'd love to see more areas of the Realms given a similar treatment.

 

[IlluminatedSeraph]

I found SCAG to be a massive disappointment. I find what it presents to be quality stuff (mostly), it's just not enough. It's too scattershot and unsure of what it is (to me). It isn't particularly good at being anything. It's just...stuff. Like a series of Unearthed Arcana articles put together in a codex, then printed.

Awesome there are those getting some joy from it, and those who just like it for what it is...but this just disappoints for me. Definitely not worth dropping more than $20 on.

I thought it was pretty clearly a beginner's guide to the Realms with a few neat mechanical options attached, personally, and in doing that I think it succeeded quite well. I'm not sure how much use a lot of long-time players (i.e. the folks on here) would have for it, but I think it had a plan and executed it effectively.

 

[IlluminatedSeraph]

Building off what I said a moment ago and the thought I just had as I switched back over to the MMO I'm playing right now, I actually think the book got about the support and page count it ought to have. This is not, on reflection, a book for the hardcore Forgotten Realms fan. I think it's very specifically aimed at players new to the Realms, especially the possible potential player who was intrigued by Sword Coast Legends (the game, for anyone not following the blinking banners on WotC's site) and thinking "I want to run this game as an RPG - what do I buy?" To which a wise game store owner will reply "Here, why don't you buy a PHB, a Monster Manual and the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (which cleverly puts the region right in the title to make my selling job easier) and come back for the DMG in a few weeks when you need it?"

So, basically, because it's not the book you want it to be doesn't mean it isn't very successful at being the book it is.

 

[delericho]

As Mike said, year three is usually where they run out of ideas and start to produce a rehash.

Shouldn't be a problem this time out - we're nearly midway through Year Two and we've only just had the first non-adventure supplement. So I daresay they have at least a few ideas in the bank.

 

[pukunui]

As Mike said, year three is usually where they run out of ideas and start to produce a rehash.

Mike has also said that they've got stuff planned all the way out to 2018. (source)

 

[garnuk]

Mike has also said that they've got stuff planned all the way out to 2018.

Do we know whats next on the list? Or will they not publish that until January?

 

[pukunui]

Do we know whats next on the list? Or will they not publish that until January?

That's a whole other can o' worms.

 

[JohnLynch]

Mike has also said that they've got stuff planned all the way out to 2018. (source)

Mike said they had storylines planned up until 2018. As we saw in the non-cancellation (if only because it was never technically announced) of the Elemental Evil Adventurer's Guide their non-adventure plans can be quite a bit up in the air and change at a moment's notice.

 

[pukunui]

Mike said they had storylines planned up until 2018. As we saw in the non-cancellation (if only because it was never technically announced) of the Elemental Evil Adventurer's Guide their non-adventure plans can be quite a bit up in the air and change at a moment's notice.

Indeed. But that's beside the point. I was responding to [MENTION=94143]Shasarak[/MENTION]'s implication that WotC has already run out of ideas (or will be soon). The fact that they're thinking that far ahead suggests to me that they aren't going to run out of ideas next year.