D&D 5E Mordenkainens feedback.

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Wild! My players all have copies of several books, including a few adventures. Definitely into the lore and thinking about their character between sessions.

My players all have at least the PHB, one has a copy of Tasha's, and another also has the Monster Manual, DMG, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and Xanathar's Guide to Everything on top of the PHB. They don't buy adventure books and mostly don't get monster books, but they certainly ted to buy more player-oriented material.

also, the lore for gnomes was actually decent. They’re the only one, I think, but it’s something! (Okay, really it’s just elves and dwarves they messed up, and the Halfling stuff is...kinda meh and unnecessary)

Coming into 5e as my first edition, I had absolutely no problem with the lore connected to elves/dwarves that was changed in Mordenkainen's (well, besides the victim-blaming for the Duergar, that is). I quite liked the gnome lore, and I agree that the halfling lore was very forgettable (almost like they should be the ones called the "forgotten folk", instead of gnomes ). I also really liked the Shadar-Kai lore. I wish they had gone a bit more in-depth with lore for the Raven Queen and Vecna, but what they gave was really good, IMO.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

My players all have at least the PHB, one has a copy of Tasha's, and another also has the Monster Manual, DMG, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and Xanathar's Guide to Everything on top of the PHB. They don't buy adventure books and mostly don't get monster books, but they certainly ted to buy more player-oriented material.

Coming into 5e as my first edition, I had absolutely no problem with the lore connected to elves/dwarves that was changed in Mordenkainen's (well, besides the victim-blaming for the Duergar, that is). I quite liked the gnome lore, and I agree that the halfling lore was very forgettable (almost like they should be the ones called the "forgotten folk", instead of gnomes ). I also really liked the Shadar-Kai lore. I wish they had gone a bit more in-depth with lore for the Raven Queen and Vecna, but what they gave was really good, IMO.

The Raven Queen lore would just be, at worst, something I'd never bother using, if they hadn't completely changed her nature from a being who guarded against interference with the natural cycle of death into a capricious interloper in that very cycle. Downgrading her from a god was also weak, but at least if they'd translated her lore and identity a bit more faithfully, it wouldn't be a "why even use the name" situation.

The elves...it's mostly their gods that had annoying changes.

 

[Parmandur]

My players all have at least the PHB, one has a copy of Tasha's, and another also has the Monster Manual, DMG, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and Xanathar's Guide to Everything on top of the PHB. They don't buy adventure books and mostly don't get monster books, but they certainly ted to buy more player-oriented material.

Coming into 5e as my first edition, I had absolutely no problem with the lore connected to elves/dwarves that was changed in Mordenkainen's (well, besides the victim-blaming for the Duergar, that is). I quite liked the gnome lore, and I agree that the halfling lore was very forgettable (almost like they should be the ones called the "forgotten folk", instead of gnomes ). I also really liked the Shadar-Kai lore. I wish they had gone a bit more in-depth with lore for the Raven Queen and Vecna, but what they gave was really good, IMO.

I took the stuff like Duerager rejection by the other Dwarves as an intentional problematic element that was a hook to potentially build a campaign around, particularly with the genetic memory aspect introduced for Dwarves.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

The Raven Queen lore would just be, at worst, something I'd never bother using, if they hadn't completely changed her nature from a being who guarded against interference with the natural cycle of death into a capricious interloper in that very cycle. Downgrading her from a god was also weak, but at least if they'd translated her lore and identity a bit more faithfully, it wouldn't be a "why even use the name" situation.

The elves...it's mostly their gods that had annoying changes.

Did they downgrade her from a god? I just assumed they didn't include her in any of the deity tables because she didn't count as a member of the Seldarine or the Drow Pantheon.

And that didn't bug me, as 5e is my first edition in D&D. I understand lore-changes being annoying for old-school players who are familiar with the lore, but a lot of players are new, so the lore changes seems like a small/non-existent issue from my standpoint.

 

[Parmandur]

Did they downgrade her from a god? I just assumed they didn't include her in any of the deity tables because she didn't count as a member of the Seldarine or the Drow Pantheon.

And that didn't bug me, as 5e is my first edition in D&D. I understand lore-changes being annoying for old-school players who are familiar with the lore, but a lot of players are new, so the lore changes seems like a small/non-existent issue from my standpoint.

In MToF, she is not a god, but sort of a gothic fairy queen of the Shadowfell. In Wildemont, she is a god, and closer to the old lore (Exandria uses the 4E default pantheon as a base).

 

[Eltab]

Did they downgrade her from a god? I just assumed they didn't include her in any of the deity tables because she didn't count as a member of the Seldarine or the Drow Pantheon.

And that didn't bug me, as 5e is my first edition in D&D. I understand lore-changes being annoying for old-school players who are familiar with the lore, but a lot of players are new, so the lore changes seems like a small/non-existent issue from my standpoint.

The Raven Queen was created (or first brought into the foreground) with 4e and became quite popular when the Avenger class - roughly, prototype for Paladin of Vengeance - was introduced.

If you want to see a setting mess with a god through several edition changes, look at what kinds of hoops and cartwheels the FR version of Bane was put through. (I prefer the Dawn War Pantheon version of Bane.)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Did they downgrade her from a god? I just assumed they didn't include her in any of the deity tables because she didn't count as a member of the Seldarine or the Drow Pantheon.

She’s definitively not a god in Mordy’s.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

She’s definitively not a god in Mordy’s.

Okay. Well, I guess I've been doing that "incorrectly" at my tables (in a way that is much cooler and more fun, IMO). I had just assumed she was a god, like she was listed as in the DMG and in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount.

 

[Parmandur]

Okay. Well, I guess I've been doing that "incorrectly" at my tables (in a way that is much cooler and more fun, IMO). I had just assumed she was a god, like she was listed as in the PHB and in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount.

To be super pedantic, the Raven Queen isn't in the PHB, but in the DMG as part of the example DM built pantheon (which is the 4E and Exandria pantheon).

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

To be super pedantic, the Raven Queen isn't in the PHB, but in the DMG as part of the example DM built pantheon (which is the 4E and Exandria pantheon).

Yeah, that's what I meant. My brain wrote DMG, but my fingers had a disagreement with it and decided to type PHB instead.