The Actual Table of Contents for Xanathar's Guide to Everything

A lot of good stuff there.

Of course, on the DM side, a lot of stuff is not there, but I like what I see.

Actually, one of the most useful things will be the appendix of sample names.

 

[EthanSental]

Not much more.

ill have to respectfully disagree, unless the rest of the pages don't hold enough valve to cover for the 11 pages of names. To me they do.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Just the other 175 pages of rules.

Which for $50 MSRP is entirely inadequate.

17 pages out of 192 is names. That's almost 10% of a $50 book. That's unacceptable to any consumer who understands the value of a dollar.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Maybe [MENTION=26355]yarael[/MENTION] 's prayers (to a non-descript philosophy or Force) have been heard and answered?

I was thinking the exact same thing myself when I saw that. I'm pretty sure that is what that is going cover, and it's about time, as its been part of the game since 2e at least (presumably 1e, but I can't definitively remember any text on it since its been so long since I read the books).

 

[Winterthorn]

I was initially disappointed by those 11 pages of human names. I agree that other material could be more useful to more people, but maybe WotC isn't ready to offer more, who knows?

I am wondering if the human names are modern, or perhaps more interesting medieval/Renaissance names or names and naming conventions of the past? So I am curious if the presentation of the material was cleverly done? Maybe there is advice on how to use the names from non-Western cultures?

 

[Demetrios1453]

WTF, are you for real.

I'm assuming he is, as he's repeatedly stated he likes the name list after all!

And I see his point, it is missing some important cultures, like options for Mesopotamian (Assyrian/Babylonian presumably, although Sumerian wouldn't be out of place), Persian, Turkic, Mongolian (for all your steppe nomad needs!), and other Native American outside of Mesomerican (such as Algonquin or Iroquoian for North America, or Quechuan or Tupian for South America). Honestly, it would be nice to have had a few extra pages of names to include those groups...

 

[TwoSix]

Was there this loud of a public outcry (maybe just a vocal minority) when Troll Lord Games published their 200+ book of names - Gygax' extraordinary book of names in 2004? Or since Gary was involved it got a pass?

People still buy dictionaries, I don't complain about that, either. I'm not offended by people selling a list of names for money; I just don't feel an RPG supplement in 2017 is the appropriate place for a reference list. In 1987, or even in 1997, it made sense. It doesn't anymore.

 

[Parmandur]

Feats are a direct mechanical benefit to your character. They are useful by definition.

Names are ... of no benefit whatsoever. Hence, useless.

I don't allow feats as a DM, nor use them when I build a PC: hence, for me, they are useless, though some people might like that sort of thing. I will allow that you might not get much use out of a name tables, but some people like them and use them: hence not useless.

 

[Morrus]

Was there this loud of a public outcry (maybe just a vocal minority) when Troll Lord Games published their 200+ book of names - Gygax' extraordinary book of names in 2004? Or since Gary was involved it got a pass?

and Xanathars is more than a book of names for $50...jeez

I think you may be confused. It’s not a “public outcry”. It’s not a moral judgement. It’s a conversation between people about whether they want a particular product. This is a perfectly normal, healthy thing.

Don’t get upset because some people don’t want an item as much as you do.

 

[pkt77242]

You already have a computer or smartphone (hence you being able to post that), so you'd rather pay $50 dollars for a book of names instead of conducting a Google search for no extra cost?

OK, whatever.

Do you own a smartphone and computer? Or a tablet and computer? or a Tablet and smartphone?
Don't they all do the same things? Why spend the extra money on one if you have another? The names are helpful to some, and some people don't like phones at the table as people pay attention to them instead of what is going on. Yes there is overlap, but in many areas of our lives we have overlap. That is fine.

Which for $50 MSRP is entirely inadequate.

17 pages out of 192 is names. That's almost 10% of a $50 book. That's unacceptable to any consumer who understands the value of a dollar.

No consumer understands the value of the $ for another consumer. Each consumer sets their own value of the $ and the product. To pretend that you know the value and other's don't is laughable. You might think an item is worth $20 to you and I might think that it is $40 or vice versa.

You don't like the table for names. Great. Don't buy it then. Some people will see the table of names as Gravy and buy the book because they like the other stuff and some will like the table of names and consider it a key feature. To each their own, just because you don't get value out of it doesn't mean that you need to be condescending to those who do see value from it.

 

[DEFCON 1]

17 pages out of 192 is names. That's almost 10% of a $50 book. That's unacceptable to any consumer who understands the value of a dollar.

If any of us understood the so-called value of a dollar, we wouldn't be spending it on ANY Dungeons & Dragons products.