D&D General More details on what to expect from the Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms from Polygon, Massive Amount of Spells & Feats

[Henadic Theologian]

D&D’s 2025 calendar hints at new books and new experiments

New-style campaign books pack in three outlines for DMs to flesh out on their own

www.polygon.com

I don't know how I missed this article given it came out at the same time the Subclass playtest did. It confirms the general Setting update for the whole setting, not just the Swordcoast in the FRPG and that there are far more spells and feats then I expected in it. Like I was expecting a small handful of each, not a massive amount. Plus they really emphasized how epic magic it's going to be, but with "safeguards" and ways to counteract them which sounds broken as hell, fun. This is clearly the Epic, MCU style gonzo Fantasy setting compared Gothic Horror Ravenloft or Pulpy Noir Eberron or Romantic War Dragonlance. I'm wondering how crazy the spells & feats are going to get now?

“In the [updated] Dungeon Master’s Guide, we showed that an adventure that you prepare for yourself can be as short as one page,” Crawford said. “And we, throughout this [Forgotten Realms] Adventure Guide, have very short adventures in each of these settings so that a DM can grab them and get DMing as quickly as possible. Or the DM can dig deep and create an elaborate campaign that perhaps delves into one of these micro-settings or spans across all of them.”
The Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide, meanwhile, is positioned to be a full guide to all of the Realms, reaching far beyond the scope of the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. It will be headlined by eight subclasses, including a Calimshan-derived, genie-flavored take on Paladins and a Moonshae-connected Bard — both available in an Unearthed Arcana playtest beginning Jan. 28. Meanwhile, spellcasters and feat users can expect a massive boost to their options. Crawford described the book as “a chance for [the team], via in-game mechanics, to create some of the epic elements that have often been in Forgotten Realms lore — with all the proper safeguards and ways for people to counteract these really intensely powerful forms of magic.”

The exact shape of each upcoming book remains unclear, a fact that Crawford was blunt about.
“We never share the table of contents for a book until the book is actually being printed,” Crawford added.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Meanwhile, spellcasters and feat users can expect a massive boost to their options. Crawford described the book as “a chance for [the team], via in-game mechanics, to create some of the epic elements that have often been in Forgotten Realms lore — with all the proper safeguards and ways for people to counteract these really intensely powerful forms of magic.”

... I always hope for the best.

But is it okay that I am a bit ... worried ... that we are being teased the possibility of such epic elements and powerful forms of magic and a massive boost to spellcasting and feat options .... this early in the 5e24 release cycle?

If 5e24 operated as a clean reset of 5e, then the last thing I'd want to toy with is so quickly bringing in a bunch of high-powered options.

Maybe it will be properly balanced and not broken. Maybe it will have the "proper safeguards." I will remain hopeful!

 

[TwoSix]

... I always hope for the best.

But is it okay that I am a bit ... worried ... that we are being teased the possibility of such epic elements and powerful forms of magic and a massive boost to spellcasting and feat options .... this early in the 5e24 release cycle?

If 5e24 operated as a clean reset of 5e, then the last thing I'd want to toy with is so quickly bringing in a bunch of high-powered options.

Maybe it will be properly balanced and not broken. Maybe it will have the "proper safeguards." I will remain hopeful!

As someone who views 2025 as Year 12 of the 5e era, I'm excited to see them get more wild and crazy with the options.

 

[mamba]

there are far more spells and feats then I expected in it. Like I was expecting a small handful of each, not a massive amount. Plus they really emphasized how epic magic it's going to be,

that is the last thing I am looking for, 2024 already went too far for me, I might have been interested in an updated and expanded FR setting (compared to SCAG), but this is a clear warning sign for me

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

As someone who views 2025 as Year 12 of the 5e era, I'm excited to see them get more wild and crazy with the options.

I would love wild & crazy options that explore the current power level before junking it up.

For those who are trying to stick to just 5e24 material, there really isn't a lot out there yet.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I'm looking forward to it since we are into the higher levels at our table, so this is in line with our long-term campaign and currently in FR. No one at my table purchased the 2024 core, and I do not have the 5e's Sword Coast Adventurers Guide so this could work for us.

 

[TwoSix]

I would love wild & crazy options that explore the current power level before junking it up.

For those who are trying to stick to just 5e24 material, there really isn't a lot out there yet.

Unfortunately, my sympathy for those who self-limit their games to an extremely limited subset of the copious amounts of 5e material is very muted.

If this is a book with a large amount of character-building material, I'm going to evaluate it as part of the lineage of Xanathar's, Tasha's, and Mordenkainen's, not as the first attempt at rules expansion of 5e Part 2.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Unfortunately, my sympathy for those who self-limit their games to an extremely limited subset of the copious amounts of 5e material is very muted.

I do not ask nor want sympathy. I have no problem using lore and APs.

But this is an expansion to, inter alia, feats (which is good!) and spells (which is good!) and subclasses (which is good!) and assumedly species (which is good!).

Having dealt with backwards-compatibility, the basics of character creation (the class/subclass, the race/species, and the feats) are the three things that are the hardest to mix-n-match. Which I assume you know. For the reasons that I thought were obvious.

You can modify an old race to a new species (I just did) with some work, but you can never use one out of the box.
You can sometimes use old subclasses, but with truly bizarre results since the rules have changed (go on, try some of the old monk subclasses).
And the feats? Now that we are using a completely different feat paradigm (level 1 feats and gated feats that come with ASIs) they can be used, but also can be difficult to know if they work correctly with the new rules.

So I don't think I am "self-limiting" or alone when it comes to wanting more base 5e24 material in those areas.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I do not ask nor want sympathy. I have no problem using lore and APs.

But this is an expansion to, inter alia, feats (which is good!) and spells (which is good!) and subclasses (which is good!) and assumedly species (which is good!).

Having dealt with backwards-compatibility, the basics of character creation (the class/subclass, the race/species, and the feats) are the three things that are the hardest to mix-n-match. Which I assume you know. For the reasons that I thought were obvious.

You can modify an old race to a new species (I just did) with some work, but you can never use one out of the box.
You can sometimes use old subclasses, but with truly bizarre results since the rules have changed (go on, try some of the old monk subclasses).
And the feats? Now that we are using a completely different feat paradigm (level 1 feats and gated feats that come with ASIs) they can be used, but also can be difficult to know if they work correctly with the new rules.

So I don't think I am "self-limiting" or alone when it comes to wanting more base 5e24 material in those areas.

I'm surprised we haven't had a what 2014 Subclasses/Feat/Spells/races break partly or fully when trying to use them with 2024 rules.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

that is the last thing I am looking for, 2024 already went too far for me, I might have been interested in an updated and expanded FR setting (compared to SCAG), but this is a clear warning sign for me

You can enjoy the lore and ignore the mechanics