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.

​

[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.

 

[Demetrios1453]

So, after a few days of frustration, I've finally snagged myself a copy of the book. To answer a few things brought up in this thread (as well as other things):

The non-Sword Coast areas do get brief, but for their length, fairly detailed descriptions. I was honestly surprised in how much info was packed into just a few paragraphs for each entry.

1489 DR is heavily hinted, but not outright stated, to be the present year. One paragraph in the history section starts with "By 1489..." and the next begins with "The world today..." It's a bit murky with the tenses used in the paragraphs in question, but I'd say 1489 would be the most likely candidate, given that every year from 1482 through 1489 - excepting only 1483 - gets date-checked in the section. It would seem odd to go up to 1489 and stop there without it being the present year (and if, for some reason not, then 1490 is just about the only other viable candidate).

Amaunator and Lathander are distinct deities - both get in-depth descriptions, and both sections use the present tense, indicating that both are worshiped separately in the here and now.

The human deities all get fairly detailed descriptions - much more than expected given the length of the section in the pre-released table of contents. The only exception to this are the four elemental deities for some reason. Also, there are a few missing holy symbol illustrations at the bottom of the deity pages - Gwaeron Windstrom and Melil are the two I noticed as missing. But beyond that the artwork for the symbols is top-notch. Only some of the demigods did make it into the book however; like other posters, I'm surprised by the exclusion of Sharess when Jergal somehow made the cut (surely the former has far more worshipers than the latter!)

The non-human deities are less covered. At first it seems that they only get tables for each pantheon, but later in the book, under each race, all of them do get at least some brief coverage. The poor dragonborn, however, have to make due with the info on Bahamut and Tiamat in the Player's Handbook; even though the deities are mentioned repeatedly in the dragonborn section, neither they, nor any of the other draconic deities, merits even a table in this book. Conversely, all of the deities for playable races appear to be fully listed (other than Ghaunadaur, who seems to have been, not unreasonably, recast as a Great Old One patron for warlocks).

The actual main geographical areas covered in the book are surprisingly detailed. The Island Kingdoms section especially stood out for me - given its length and various hints I suspected the Moonshaes might be covered, and indeed they are, quite fully, but I certainly wasn't expecting anything on Lantan or Nimbral! Granted, much of what is said for them (and for Evermeet as well) comes in the form of hearsay from the narrator of the section (a gnome sailor - all the geographic regions covered has their own specific narrator talking about the cities and regions), but even then just the half page or so on Lantan compares favorably to the entirity of the coverage we've had in all previous editions combined...

The races and classes section are chock-full of good stuff - too much to go into in detail, other than the fact that after I got the book today, I now have a variant tiefling, an arcana domain cleric (of Mystra), and a swashbuckler suddenly in my party...

 

[JohnLynch]

....but if they don't need the power boost, there's no point in giving it to them. The people who like playing the class aren't really asking for it.

No, the people who like playing the 5th edition version of the class aren't asking for it. That is not the same as saying people who like sorcerers aren't asking for it. That said I certainly understand and respect the decision. But that's not the same to say bonus spells would make sorcerers overpowered.

One paragraph in the history section starts with "By 1489..." and the next begins with "The world today..." It's a bit murky with the tenses used in the paragraphs in question, but I'd say 1489 would be the most likely candidate, given that every year from 1482 through 1489 - excepting only 1483 - gets date-checked in the section. It would seem odd to go up to 1489 and stop there without it being the present year (and if, for some reason not, then 1490 is just about the only other viable candidate).

Nice find. That jives with the Adventurers League date as well.

The poor dragonborn, however, have to make due with the info on Bahamut and Tiamat in the Player's Handbook; even though the deities are mentioned repeatedly in the dragonborn section, neither they, nor any of the other draconic deities, merits even a table in this book. Conversely, all of the deities for playable races appear to be fully listed (other than Ghaunadaur, who seems to have been, not unreasonably, recast as a Great Old One patron for warlocks).

It would be unfortunate if the Dragonborn are said to worship the Draconic deities. In the 4e FRCG they were opposed to the Draconic pantheon (due to their battles with dragons in Abeir). Still, they could have been forced to convert. I was hoping to explore Dragonborn philosophy and their relationship with gods though.

 

[Serpine]

It would be unfortunate if the Dragonborn are said to worship the Draconic deities.

It devotes a paragraph describing how and why most of them are skeptical about religion in general and actual deities in particular, seeing the whole thing as slavery to potentially dead or uncaring powers. Then it has an equal amount of space indicating which gods get worshiped by those few that just feel a real need to have one (B&T are mentioned, as well as Torm, Tyr, Tempus, the Red Knight, and Kelemvor).

 

[JohnLynch]

It devotes a paragraph describing how and why most of them are skeptical about religion in general and actual deities in particular, seeing the whole thing as slavery to potentially dead or uncaring powers. Then it has an equal amount of space indicating which gods get worshiped by those few that just feel a real need to have one (B&T are mentioned, as well as Torm, Tyr, Tempus, the Red Knight, and Kelemvor).

Great stuff. That is exactly the state I hoped Dragonborn would be in. Good to hear they're respecting 4th edition lore where appropriate

 

[Demetrios1453]

It would be unfortunate if the Dragonborn are said to worship the Draconic deities. In the 4e FRCG they were opposed to the Draconic pantheon (due to their battles with dragons in Abeir). Still, they could have been forced to convert. I was hoping to explore Dragonborn philosophy and their relationship with gods though.

It actually does say that most don't worship deities for that exact reason. They do go into the dragonborn philosophy of honor and loyalty, and that most dragonborn believe that is all the religion they need. But for those few that do follow the path of worshiping deities, it does mention that they tend towards Bahamut and Tiamat, as well as human deities that dovetail with the dragonborn philosophy (such as Tyr and Torm, among others)

 

[Celtavian]

But if the PHB origins are "fine" as they are (which is what the feedback is showing them), adding bonus spells would've made 'em too potent. The only class with issues in the feedback is the Ranger. Sorcerer doesn't need a fix, judging by the feedback.

I'd like to see the feedback myself. I think people wanted bonus spells, not for power reasons, but to make them more interesting. They decided it wasn't enough of a problem to make modifications internally because the feedback wasn't negative enough to warrant it. That does not mean the sorcerer is a very attractive or often played class. I believe bonus spells would have made it a much more attractive class to play. Right now the wizard is the king of the arcane classes as far as what it brings to the table.

Even the warlock is a very strange class that is too easy to defeat and turn into a useless eldritch blasting one trick pony. An opposing caster can eliminate all of the warlock's spell slots with a minor expenditure of his own.

The sorcerer at higher lacks spell versatility. I imagine this won't get noticed until far more people reach the higher levels, meaning it may never be noticed. Which is unfortunate given bonus spells would have made them more attractive at higher level because they don't have to use their precious 15 slots on lower level spells and pick some higher level versatility.

 

[pukunui]

... but even then just the half page or so on Lantan compares favorably to the entirity of the coverage we've had in all previous editions combined...

That's cool. Does it say anything about Lantan's return from beneath the waves?

 

[Demetrios1453]

That's cool. Does it say anything about Lantan's return from beneath the waves?

The section on Lantan mainly describes (from the narrator's point of view) of what that island was generally like before it disappeared (i.e smokepowder and inventions), what happened when it disappeared (everything blew up and waves crashed over it), speculation on what it was like during its "exile" on Abeir (comparing mainly to Halruaa, where, due to divination magic, the populace had preparation, which wasn't the case in Lantan), and, now that it's back, how tight-lipped traders from Lantan are buying up huge amounts of raw materials such as wood and metals, and are selling such things as shield guardians by the bucketful.

 

[pukunui]

Interesting. Thanks!

 

[Prism]

Yes, I see. But the book does give some description of the gods themselves and what they do, so it is seems to be about both. In fact there's a religion section, plus a god section

The religion section is generic. It covers things like forms of worship, prayers, how devotees sometimes worship new gods and forget old ones, the afterlife.... that kind of stuff

The gods section itself covers the details or worship for specific gods. So for example if we take Lathander, we are told that he is the god of the dawn, that people often pray to him before embarking on a new endeavor, his colours are rose, gold and violet and that his followers despise undead. No mention of the god himself - no description, thoughts or background. No mention of Amaunator in his section. No allies nor enemies. In fact the only thing we know about the god himself is his alignment NG.

Wizards did say that they were going to make the gods more distant from now on and I see this as a good example of that. I'm not sure we will ever know what really happened during the Sundering (which is great since our group already made our own lore up) and if we will ever learn the same amount of detail about the gods that we did during the Time of Troubles. So are Lathander and Amaunator the same god? I'm not sure we will ever find out and I'm happy about that because a church with schisms, claims of heresy and disagreements is far more interesting. If the DM ever chooses to reveal to their group the truth behind such an issue then they can do so without worry about going against canon.

Authors have been featuring gods in their novels quite often as of recent, though. You get little updates, like Ed Greenwood does, or even full blown scenes directly involving gods (I'm told that RAS did it in his latest book).

Ed Greenwood pretty much always writes from the perspective of Elminster, who himself is an unreliable source. Elminster himself sometimes wonders if Mystra uses him to feed the information she wants him to know. Mortals (and us) know almost nothing about Mystra but rather we know what Elminster knows, which in turn is what Mystra wants him to know.

RAS did include a cut scene about Lloth in the latest book. It seemed to be there to give us some background about the reason behind the Rage of Demons storyline. In this case we are getting to learn something that no mortals would ever know (actually one might do) but I believe information like this will be pretty rare. There is certainly nothing like it, that I have seen, in SCAG.

I have to say that I really like the way that SCAG is done. Its a bit like an old Volo's Guide but from an unnamed persons perspective. Lots of open ended descriptions leaving plenty for the DM to fill in.