New SCAG Info: Someone Got The Book

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide hits preferred stores tomorrow (and everywhere else in a couple of weeks). However, some stores have jumped the gun - which only benefits us, as folks on social media are telling us all about it! Below is a compilation of that information. I'm sure come tomorrow, the amount of information on the book will increase dramatically.

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[h=4]Original Post[/h]
Thread is here, Gnunn and others are answering questions about it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/3pot39/call_your_local_stores_scag/

The info:

I'am trying to compile the answers here by those who have new information. The answers do not represent me in anyway I'am just passing on the information.

Q: Name all the subclasses (submitted by me)

A:

Not really interested in spoiling all of the specifics, but here's what I noticed to be new at first glance:
Races:
Gray Dwaves (Duergar)
Ghostwise Halflings
Deep Gnomes (Svirfneblin) -- also provides a new feat "Svirfneblin Magic" (same as EE)
Half-Elf Variants
Tiefling Variants


Classes (only new class options, not new classes):
Barbarian - Path of the Battlerager, new Totem Spirits
Bard - New musical instruments
Cleric - Arcana Domain
Fighter - Purple Dragon Knight
Monk - Way of the Long Death, Way of the Sun Soul
Paladin - Oath of the Crown
Ranger - Several paragraphs that amount to nothing
Rogue - Mastermind Swashbuckler
Sorcerer - Storm Sorcery
Warlock - The Undying
Wizard - Bladesinging


New cantrips for sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards
Booming blade, green-flame blade, lightning lure, sword burst.

Backgrounds:
City Watch
Clan Crafter
Cloistered Scholar
Courtier
Faction Agent
Far Traveler
Inheritor
Knight of the Order
Mercenary Veteran
Urban Bounty Hunter
Uthgardt Tribe Member
Waterdhavian Noble
This only covers about 50 pages of the almost 160 page book. There's a TON of info on the Sword Coast itself. I'm sure DMs who already have the book are salivating at the moment.



Q: No Bard, Ranger or Druid subclasses?

A: There are new bard colleges. I only listed non-flavor changes (in my opinion at least each one is paired with an existing class option so nothing new in terms of mechanics.

-Q2: Wait WHAT? So the Bard Colleges AND Druid Circles don't list fully new subclasses that offer new mechanics to that class? And no "spell-less" Ranger variant or anything?

-A2: Correct on all accounts.



Q: Monk Subclasses specifics

A: Sun Soul gives the monk methods of dealing radiant damage. Burning hands makes an appearance as well.It seems almost too obvious, but all of the Long Death abilities are triggered by death in some way - either yours or an enemy.



Q: Warlock the Undying

A: Hard to explain. It's Lich-like, but not undead it seems.



Q: Paladin Oath of the Crown

A: The new paladin oath is a straight up tank. They seem to have added a ton more detail for the paladin codes. Too much to go into here.



Q: Fighter Purple Dragon Knight

A:Party buffs/heals. Would be a good party leader out of combat as well.




Q: How do the Half elf and tiefling variants work?

A: Tiefling variants are pretty different. I'm not next to my book currently, but I believe there were three options. Half elf replaced the half elf skill dealy with a selection from the elf half. Like Drow magic replacing the skill selection for example.


Q: What does it say about Aasimar?

A: It basically just says, "See the DMG.

(I guess that makes Eldarin valid as well)

Edit 1: Did some cleaning, added cantrips and explanation that is not me giving the answers.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Do you think at this point that after all the spoilers and even pics from the reddit and forums that I have no idea of what's in it? There is no shocking revelation in the book that will radically change the things I don't like about it.

But I'm not unreasonable, I'll withdrew it, but when I see it and if I still don't like it, its going back up with greater details.

Unless it miracliously rewrites itself and grows hundreds of pages, I remain doubtful of that.

And Sharess has always been my favourite FR deity, I love her back story which is complex and rich, I love her fun, yet compassionate philosphy, I love cats they so cute and cuddly, even then they ambush your ankles in the middle of the night, I love all her aspects Sharess, Zandilar, Bast, Felidae, and her titles like Succubus of sensation, I love how she explored the dark side of herself and came back from that. I love that she had all these adventures in various forms over millenia.

So yes, that alone is worth the lost of a single star, maybe two.

Next to no Demigods are featured in the book.

 

[Morrus]

Do you think at this point that after all the spoilers and even pics from the reddit and forums that I have no idea of what's in it? There is no shocking revelation in the book that will radically change the things I don't like about it.

But I'm not unreasonable, I'll withdrew it, but when I see it and if I still don't like it, its going back up with greater details.

I've deleted your review since, as you say, you have not seen the book. Unfortunately, this now messes up the ratings, as deleting a review is a major PITA in that system. It'll need to be fixed in the database manually.

Please do not review items you have not seen.

 

[Irennan]

Sort of - it just says these are the gods. No mention of if they have ever been dead or not active. Several entries do mention the gods origin if important, so Cyric is listed as once being mortal.

Hm, I see. But does the list refer to the current era/post-Sundering, or is it just up in the air? And thanks for answering my questions.

 

[Sunseeker]

Picked up the book today, gotta say it feels a little light but there's a lot of good stuff in there.

 

[gyor]

I've deleted your review since, as you say, you have not seen the book. Unfortunately, this now messes up the ratings, as deleting a review is a major PITA in that system. It'll need to be fixed in the database manually.

Please do not review items you have not seen.

I apologize, it was an emotional reaction to disappointment, it will not happen again.

 

[gyor]

Next to no Demigods are featured in the book.

Oh so its not just Sharess, I didn't realize its most of the demigods left out. That's disappointing. Even a chart with domains and portifio would at least make them playable for clerics. Its ironic because even 4e had the list of demigods in the Pantheon of the World Chart.

This is an even bigger disappointment then I realized.

 

[steeldragons]

Hm, I see. But does the list refer to the current era/post-Sundering, or is it just up in the air? And thanks for answering my questions.

I don't have a copy but from reading the thread...thanks to @Prism's remarkable patience...I can confidently say the following with a fair degree of certitude of being correct:

1. The gods' stuff is in the gods' section.
2. There is no "timeline" stuff in the gods' section [see below, responding to your own question].
3. There is very little to no lore for any deities except the ones in the human pantheon.
4. Non-human gods (yes, that includes the drow...they have been listed for us) get a) a list of the gods, b) what they are the gods of, c) limited lore for a major deity or two but most have none, and d) at least some kind of short general intro to the pantheon.

That's all. That's what's in the gods' stuff.

Furthermore, we know [have already been told] this:

You get a reasonable amount of detail about the various ages such as The Crown Wars and Netheril. It then breaks down the period of the Sundering from 1482 (Murder in Balders Gate) through to 1489 when the Gods withdraw the power from most of their Chosen. This is the last date seemingly written in the past tense so it kind of suggests 1490+ as a place to start.

The source in this section relates to the Sundering novels and the playtest era adventures. No mention of any of the story lines since the 5e release, which brings us no closer to when these events supposedly happened.

AND, this... specifically in response to you...

In the timeline section it just says the Gods stop interfering through their chosen. Its referring to the chosen that appeared during the Sundering. So far I haven't seen any mention of the original type of chosen such as Elminster is. There is a small section explaining that some gods withdraw, other die and others go dormant. Mortals don't know anything except their prayers go unanswered (and therefore I doubt we will find out). The individual god descriptions have no mention of coming back. For example if you read the section on Mystra you would not know she had been gone for nearly 100 years.

Its probably better that way as it reads much better for people new to the realms or those that don't care so much about the storylines. They want to know what does it mean for their character now, not what's been happening with their god recently

I will concur that, yes, it is better written that way.

 

[Irennan]

Right, sorry for that irritating behaviour. I have an OCD, and sometimes it shows.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah, seems pretty good this way; fairly little detail is needed for new players, mainly just the crunch and a couple key details.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Undead patron.

- spare the dying cantrip
- undead must make will save or be unable to attack you
- regain hp on successful death saving throw or spare the dying
- no air, food, water, sleep required, slower aging
- bonus action heal also reattach body parts

How does the "regain HP on death saving throw" compare to the Necromancer's Grim Harvest or the Fiendlock's Blessing of the Dark One? How much healing, and at what level does it come online?

Is there anything to stop you from casting Spare the Dying, then knifing the now-stabilized creature to start it bleeding again, and then casting Spare the Dying all over again?

Maybe it's just me, but no air/food/water/sleep sounds frankly awesome. What level is that at?