D&D 5E The Minsc and Book product

[MonsterEnvy]

It's out it's a DMs Guild thing supporting Extralife.

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D 5th Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - All proceeds from this journal benefit Extra Life. Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games

www.dmsguild.com

From the Journal of the Legendary Ranger and his Pet Hamster

A century has passed since the Bhaalspawn fought over the legacy of their father — Bhaal, the Lord of Murder. Two heroes witnessed the epic struggle firsthand — the ranger Minsc and his faithful companion, Boo.

Minsc and Boo were able to track down old friends and hated enemies and find out what they’ve been up to over the past century. They’ve compiled everything into this journal, edited by the traveler extraordinaire, Volo Geddarm.

Included in this journal are four cities, including Athkatla and Baldur’s Gate; ten group patrons led by some of Minsc and Boo’s old friends; a dozen new monsters; six arch villains and eleven dastardly henchmen.

 

[Steampunkette]

100 years have passed and Minsc only got ... younger.

 

[Demetrios1453]

This won't be the only one though - the one they gave a sneak peek at is going to be a regular release, as it will have a special edition cover.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

100 years have passed and Minsc only got ... younger.

He was a statue.

 

[Bolares]

It's out it's a DMs Guild thing supporting Extralife.

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D 5th Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - All proceeds from this journal benefit Extra Life. Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games

www.dmsguild.com

Is this THE Boo book, or A Boo book?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Is this THE Boo book, or A Boo book?

I don't know. But it's by WotC.

 

[Steampunkette]

He was a statue.

I know about that bit of lore... but -look-.

This is a man in his mid to late 30s, possibly early 40s.

This man has only recently vanquished Puberty.

 

[Ibrandul]

It's sort of by WotC.

It's published by WotC via DMsGuild (like for example any of the much shorter products they've put out to benefit the Extra Life charity, or like the Wayfinder's Guide). But it doesn't look like anyone on the WotC RPG team worked on it. Instead, its lead designer was James Ohlen, who was one of the folks responsible for the original Baldur's Gate I & II games. He released a setting guide / adventure based on those games through DMs Guild a while back ("Heroes of Baldur's Gate")—then got hired by WotC in their video games division. I wonder whether perhaps this new book, seemingly a follow-up to "Heroes," was already under independent development by Ohlen and then the decision was made to release it "by" WotC since Ohlen was now a WotC employee.

Still, this is interesting—to my knowledge it's the first ever new book-length product (albeit half the length of a regular WotC 5e book) that WotC themselves have released on DMsGuild with a print-on-demand option. I wonder if a door is opening...

 

[MarkB]

I know about that bit of lore... but -look-.

This is a man in his mid to late 30s, possibly early 40s.

This man has only recently vanquished Puberty.

I guess the sculptor took some artistic license.

 

[Ibrandul]

I know about that bit of lore... but -look-.

This is a man in his mid to late 30s, possibly early 40s.

This man has only recently vanquished Puberty.

I suspect that may be deliberate—Minsc doesn't have his scars in the cover illo, either, and the conceit of the book is that it's a journal detailing his adventures. I'm guessing that's an image of an adventure he had in his youth, prior to the events of BG1.

 

[Zaukrie]

It's sort of by WotC.

It's published by WotC via DMsGuild (like for example any of the much shorter products they've put out to benefit the Extra Life charity, or like the Wayfinder's Guide). But it doesn't look like anyone on the WotC RPG team worked on it. Instead, its lead designer was James Ohlen, who was one of the folks responsible for the original Baldur's Gate I & II games. He released a DMs Guild setting guide / adventure based on those games through DMs Guild a while back ("Heroes of Baldur's Gate")—then got hired by WotC in their video games division. I wonder whether perhaps this new book, seemingly a follow-up to "Heroes," was already under independent development by Ohlen and then the decision was made to release it "by" WotC since Ohlen was now a WotC employee.

Still, this is interesting—to my knowledge it's the first ever new book-length product (albeit half the length of a regular WotC 5e book) that WotC themselves has released on DMsGuild with a print-on-demand option. I wonder if a door is opening...

His Heroes PDF is great. Very great. I even recommend it in the product I published about the area.

 

[Weiley31]

Oh snap Aribeth, from Neverwinter Nights 1, is flipping in this!

 

[Urriak Uruk]

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Fairly large book for charity (155 pages), but not a full sized book either.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Also... stats for Baalzebul and Mephistopheles?!? Hell yeah!

 

[darjr]

Is the art from that sketch in it? If not I'll bet this is a 'related' product. Maybe.

 

[Demetrios1453]

So, it looks like something if a follow up to the previous BG DM's Guild product, although this one would be just fine to use on it's own, especially if you're adventuring in the Baldur's Gate or Amn areas. But even if you're not, there's still a lot in there that can be useful for any campaign, especially lots monster and NPC stats (still in the old format, but that's no huge deal. I wonder if they'll update the PDF with the new style as it's official).

The most notable thing are all the stat blocks. Lots of BG game characters with stats (many carried over from the previous product), including Jon Irenicus and Bodhi, both of whom are suitably high-CR foes.

The monster section has a lot of monsters, both general and FR-specific, that haven't been updated to 5e yet. There's a nice selection, although the phaerimm seem to be a bit weaker than in earlier editions (I'll have to take a closer a look at that later). Gibberlings, tasloi, sirenes, bebeliths, and demodands are all here, among others. Again, many, but not all, were in the previous product, but this makes them more "official".

But the Campaign Foes section - wow! Several big-name D&D creatures now statted up, including Baalzabul, Mephistopheles, Pazuzu, and more. There's even two forms of Bhaal!

 

[Demetrios1453]

Is the art from that sketch in it? If not I'll bet this is a 'related' product. Maybe.

No.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Is the art from that sketch in it? If not I'll bet this is a 'related' product. Maybe.

Just bought it myself (hey, it's charity).

It does not use the Boo sketch, so theoretically this book uses that cover for an eventual release for LGS (you can already order hardcovers now). But I suspect that cover is not for this, and instead they are just fun cross-promotion.

The book is also made by the folks who made the previous Baldur's Gate DMs Guide book (forgetting it's name now), and this book actually reuses some art from there. Still, they made this under WotC's umbrella, and there is a lot of entirely new material here.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

One thing I don't like while reading this; it doesn't just reuse art from Heroes of Baldur's Gate (which I don't really mind)... it also reuses art from Odyssey of the Dragonlords. There are a couple of NPCs that use art from that book, and although it is great art, they're dressed as Greek heroes. It clashes with the rest of the book, and although someone who hasn't seen Dragonlords may not notice (or just be confused) it really doesn't fit well.