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.

 

[John R Davis]

The name list is useful if it wards away people using smart phones etc at the table.
I will buy it for the class options

 

[Omega9999]

I would have liked more than the 17 pages of names a full reprint of the character options in the SCAG, since I do not own a copy of it. Most of the options are generic anyway. I'm pretty disappointed.

 

[Paraxis]

Is there a good summary of all the preview videos someplace just the facts we know about the different options, I can't stand watching these guys take 10 minutes to tell me the sentence that sort of matters, and I just find watching videos in general a horrible way to release information.

 

[Morrus]

Vote with your pocketbook. It's the only thing Hasbro will listen to. Complaining on the internet does not solve problems in an effective manner. (See my purposeless, overblown tirades against wilderness rogues and thieves cant for details.)

It’s called conversation. People can have conversations with each other about things, including conversations about products they may or may not be buying. They can *also* simultaneously choose or not choose to buy it. It’s not a binary state where they can only do one thing.

This is not entitlement. This is normal social interaction.

 

[Li Shenron]

I'm interested int he guidelines/rules for 'learning wildshapes'. An area that has caused a bit of discussion on here.

They were previewed in UA.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

The book looks good to me and I will be buying it. But I will buy it from Amazon, like I have bought all of my 5E books, as well as all other recent gaming book purchases. Paying the full retail for gaming books is simply beyond my budget and is something I would do only if no one was offering any kind of discount or sale price at all.

 

[Dualazi]

Y'know a list of human names is one of those cases where I trust a book over the internet. The cynical outcome would be they just copy and pasted some names from the internet, but I'd like to believe they did some actual research into naming conventions around the world. Also they'd presumably include lists of family names, which aren't as easy to find on the internet.

Also I'd rather have the filler be something marginally useful than functionally bad. They might have had 11 pages to spare and decided on something everyone could use than pushing some undercooked feats out the door.

Why would internet resources become more suspect on that issue? There are a multitude of sites that cater to names, I find it doubtful that all are malicious or misinformed. Even if you played at a table with no electronics whatsoever (which already makes you a minority of players I would guess) you could still print out a short list ahead of time. There's no good reason for it to be in the book, much less 17 pages of it. Seriously, to look at that number from another perspective, essentially 9% of Xanathar's is devoted to names alone. Even if it was undercooked content, I would take an expanded exploration section, alternate rules for skill use, or any number of other related options that might actually take work for me to make on my own. I don't need Wizards' help using google, thanks.

 

[Ath-kethin]

The book looks good to me and I will be buying it. But I will buy it from Amazon, like I have bought all of my 5E books, as well as all other recent gaming book purchases. Paying the full retail for gaming books is simply beyond my budget and is something I would do only if no one was offering any kind of discount or sale price at all.

I am pretty disappointed in what I see for this book so far. While I don't have a real problem with more player options I won't allow at my table, I really wish the DM section was heartier. I'm on the "17 pages of stuff you can find in seconds on the internet is an even bigger waste of space than the SCAG reprints" bandwagon as well.

But I will buy the hardcover at my local comic/game store. I am fortunate that I can do so and not starve as a result, but more importantly to my mind is the support of my local shop. I have a four year old, and part of our weekly routine is stopping by to see if his new My Little Pony comic is in, watching the slightly older kids play D&D, checking out the miniatures, etc.

I want that shop to be here for him (and for the slightly older kids playing D&D and everyone else) for as long as possible, and I can't push for that by buying stuff off Amazon.

I am not passing judgement here; I bought almost all of my 3.5 books from dealers on EBay back in the day because they were so much cheaper. I definitely understand where you are coming from. But it's worth $50 or $100 a year to me to help make sure my store stays around.

 

[gyor]

I am pretty disappointed in what I see for this book so far. While I don't have a real problem with more player options I won't allow at my table, I really wish the DM section was heartier. I'm on the "17 pages of stuff you can find in seconds on the internet is an even bigger waste of space than the SCAG reprints" bandwagon as well.

But I will buy the hardcover at my local comic/game store. I am fortunate that I can do so and not starve as a result, but more importantly to my mind is the support of my local shop. I have a four year old, and part of our weekly routine is stopping by to see if his new My Little Pony comic is in, watching the slightly older kids play D&D, checking out the miniatures, etc.

I want that shop to be here for him (and for the slightly older kids playing D&D and everyone else) for as long as possible, and I can't push for that by buying stuff off Amazon.

I am not passing judgement here; I bought almost all of my 3.5 books from dealers on EBay back in the day because they were so much cheaper. I definitely understand where you are coming from. But it's worth $50 or $100 a year to me to help make sure my store stays around.

The DM section really should have been a separate book, but they don't have the staff for that.

 

[dave2008]

I am pretty disappointed in what I see for this book so far. While I don't have a real problem with more player options I won't allow at my table, I really wish the DM section was heartier. I'm on the "17 pages of stuff you can find in seconds on the internet is an even bigger waste of space than the SCAG reprints" bandwagon as well.

But I will buy the hardcover at my local comic/game store. I am fortunate that I can do so and not starve as a result, but more importantly to my mind is the support of my local shop. I have a four year old, and part of our weekly routine is stopping by to see if his new My Little Pony comic is in, watching the slightly older kids play D&D, checking out the miniatures, etc.

I want that shop to be here for him (and for the slightly older kids playing D&D and everyone else) for as long as possible, and I can't push for that by buying stuff off Amazon.

I am not passing judgement here; I bought almost all of my 3.5 books from dealers on EBay back in the day because they were so much cheaper. I definitely understand where you are coming from. But it's worth $50 or $100 a year to me to help make sure my store stays around.

You have summed up my thoughts and feelings pretty well. I want to support my local shop, so I will probably by a copy, but I don't see a lot here that I want. I was hoping for more DM content, or a least more diversity of content. 77 pages of DM content I would have thought would be adequate, but it is just not a lot of subjects I am interested in. I was looking forward to more rule options / variants. From the TOC this looks more like rule clarifications than truly new content.