D&D 5E The New D&D Book: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything!

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The new D&D book has been revealed, and it is Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, "a magical mixture of rules options for the world's greatest roleplaying game." The 192-page book is due out November 17th, with standard and alternate covers, and contains more subclasses, spells, character options, group patrons, and rules. Oh, and psionics!

Cover art is by Magali Villeneuve

WHAT WONDERFUL WITCHERY IS THIS?

A magical mixture of rules options for the world's greatest roleplaying game.

The wizard Tasha, whose great works include the spell Tasha’s hideous laughter, has gathered bits and bobs of precious lore during her illustrious career as an adventurer. Her enemies wouldn’t want these treasured secrets scattered across the multiverse, so in defiance, she has collected and codified these tidbits for the enrichment of all.

• EXPANDED SUBCLASSES. Try out subclass options for every Dungeons & Dragons class, including the artificer, which appears in the book.
• MORE CHARACTER OPTIONS. Delve into a collection of new class features and new feats, and customize your character’s origin using straightforward rules for modifying a character’s racial traits.
• INTRODUCING GROUP PATRONS. Whether you're part of the same criminal syndicate or working for an ancient dragon, each group patron option comes with its own perks and types of assignments.
• SPELLS, ARTIFACTS & MAGIC TATTOOS. Discover more spells, as well as magic tattoos, artifacts, and other magic items for your campaign.
• EXPANDED RULES OPTIONS. Try out rules for sidekicks, supernatural environments, natural hazards, and parleying with monsters, and gain guidance on running a session zero.
• A PLETHORA OF PUZZLES. Ready to be dropped into any D&D adventure, puzzles of varied difficulty await your adventurers, complete with traps and guidance on using the puzzles in a campaign.

Full of expanded content for players and Dungeon Masters alike, this book is a great addition to the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Baked in you'll find more rule options for all the character classes in the Player's Handbook, including more subclass options. Thrown in for good measure is the artificer class, a master of magical invention. And this witch's brew wouldn't be complete without a dash of added artifacts, spellbook options, spells for both player characters and monsters, magical tattoos, group patrons, and other tasty goodies.

Here's the alternate cover:

UPDATE! An online event called D&D Celebration from September 18th-20th will be hosted by Elle Osili-Wood, which is "an epic live event with panels, gameplay, & previews of the book!" See the video in the Tweet below!

Gather your party and join the adventure at  D&D Celebration 2020, an online gaming event open to fans all over the world!

Celebrate the release of  Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden  with a weekend of Icewind Dale–themed virtual play sessions and help us create the biggest virtual tabletop roleplaying game event ever! Fans will also get the chance to preview some content from  Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the forthcoming book featuring massive rules options, subclasses, and more for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Watch featured play sessions with D&D luminaries and learn something new with a slate of panels led by the D&D design team and community.


UPDATE! Check out the Nerdarchy site for some previews.

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Has, Well… Everything for 5E D&D

The follow up to 2017’s Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, on Nov. 17, 2020 fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons upcoming Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything must indeed possess powerful …

nerdarchy.com

UPDATE! Other news items around the web about this book:

With D&D's Next Rulebook, Character Creation Will Never Be the Same

Although Dungeons & Dragons’ fifth edition has added as many classes, races, and rules as it has since it first began, for the most part, the way players create characters has stayed the same. You pick a race, that race defines certain things about you, and so on. But the game’s next sourcebook...

io9.gizmodo.com

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything coming in November, brings new ways to personalize your characters

Wizards of the Coast has announced its next D&D book! Entitled Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, this rules expansion follows up Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and will be available on November 17th. Providing both players and DMs with the tools to level up their games, the 192 page tome will be...

gamingtrend.com

Dungeons & Dragons Announces New Book and Fall Event - IGN

The D&D team reveals an online community event in September and a new sourcebook soon to follow.

www.ign.com

D&D's next expansion, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, adds new subclasses and racial customization

Dungeons & Dragons is getting its biggest rules expansion in three years, courtesy of one powerful witch. In November, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything will hit shelves, offering D&D players several new subclasses, some exciting new spells, and a new way to create characters that’s fully...

www.syfy.com

 

[Urriak Uruk]

FYI, I did see in one of previews on another site that it does include some monsters?! Unfortunately is was one sentence fragment in a multi-paragraph article so I wasn't sure if I misunderstood or it was a mistake or if there really are monsters in there too.

I'd have to see it to believe you, everything I've seen doesn't mention it.

 

[Dire Bare]

The free (with Essentials) online only modules took it to 10.

Actually . . . . the Sidekick rules on DnDBeyond.com are split between several of the Essentials adventures, and go up to at least 12th-level if not higher. I was grumping late last week that the rules weren't posted in a single, easy-to-find location on the site . . . looks like we'll get that in November.

 

[dave2008]

Thank you for the information. Which review, if you recall and can share the source? No worries if you can't/too much trouble atm.

Unfortunately I don't, but it was one of the reviews linked to in this thread. If I get a chance I will see if I can find it again.

 

[Mistwell]

Nearly every setting is a post-Golden Age setting, except for Morningstar and Dawnforge -- neither of which WotC picked in their 3E new setting hunt, incidentally. Fallen empires and relics of past golden ages are more or less required for all the TSR/WotC settings, including Krynn and Toril.

I say this as someone who loved and used the gazeteer for years: Greyhawk doesn't have a hook other than "this is Gary's world (more or less)." If you want it to be something you can sell to fans whose parents may not have been alive when the gazetteer came out, you're going to have to do better than "it's sort of sword and sorcery, other than the fact that it's not."

If you really want to play a sword and sorcery game in 2020, you probably want Dungeon Crawl Classics, especially the Lankhmar books. Alternately, you'd want Thule or Hubris.


Calling Greyhawk "sword and sorcery" requires stretching the definition past the breaking point. It has chivalry -- the gazetteer is covered in heraldric symbols, after all -- all the iconic spellcasters in the 5E PHB and many more besides (we miss you, Sustarre!). It has a demigod ruling a kingdom and devils ruling another. It has one of the original two megadungeons you can commute to while still keeping an apartment in the city. The barbarian lands it has don't look much at all like Conan and are pushed to the edge of the map, over where they've got a version of Blackmoor held hostage.

Mike Mearls already said what the spin on Greyhawk would be: A more Grimm and Gritty setting.

 

[dave2008]

I'd have to see it to believe you, everything I've seen doesn't mention it.

I'll see if I can find it. However, a single comment on one review didn't convince me, so seeing it wasn't believing it for me. Not sure I have a lot of motivation to find it.

 

[Dire Bare]

Why? They told us we weren't getting a Monster Manual II (or any II for that matter) from the beginning.

Is that something they said?

I really don't think that is something they said. I think we're dealing with a case of the fan telephone game, where something tossed off by a staffer grows into, "We'll never do that style of book again! EVER!"

The reason why 4E was silly with the "Core Book X" format was because "Monster Manual II" (1st Edition AD&D) is a classic title and the numbered Monster Manuals from 3rd Edition did well (if perhaps not all the way through to, what MM5?). Also, the 3E PHB 2 and DMG 2 were popular titles. So, they went hardcore down that route with 4E, and it didn't turn out quite the way they expected. So, we aren't seeing that style of release for 5E.

But that's a far cry from "Never again!"

Still, even if we never get a 5E Monster Manual 2 . . . WotC could still do a Fiend Folio and a Creature Catalog (both classic titles) . . .

I think both the Monster Manual approach (mostly stat blocks) and the Volo's/Mordy's approach (expanded lore) are awesome and we need more of both!

 

[dave2008]

Thank you for the information. Which review, if you recall and can share the source? No worries if you can't/too much trouble atm.

Here is the source for the tweaks: Tasha Review, it is in the first paragraph after "A Delightful Conversation..."

 

[Dire Bare]

It's more just the description. She's a level 1 sidekick spellcaster-mage to fill out a party of newbies going through Lost Mines of Phandelver. But she's named Rhiannon and dresses and behaves like 1970s Stevie (minus the cocaine).

Without the cocaine, is she really channeling Stevie Nix?

 

[Marandahir]

Here is the source for the tweaks: Tasha Review, it is in the first paragraph after "A Delightful Conversation..."

Thank you!!!

Interesting that Nerdarchy.com calls the Sorcerer subclass "Aberrant Mind" while io9 calls it "Psionic Soul." I assume it's closer to Aberrant Mind in design, but I wonder if it's officially being called Psionic Soul?

 

[Dire Bare]

What is the beef with the Magic setting books? I've honestly lost track of why some people don't like them.

It's what anthropologists call the "Idea of Limited Good". That there is only so much good out there in the world, and if something sucks up some of that good, then you might not get your share.

There's this idea that if it weren't for the Ravnica and Theros books, we'd have our Dark Sun or Greyhawk by now . . . . and that simply isn't true. Those settings just don't have the numbers to justify WotC likely ever adapting them to 5th Edition. I'd like to be wrong, and hope I'm proven so someday . . . .

I like them fine, but I also feel they are taking the place in the production schedule of updated older settings (Dark Sun, Planescape, Spelljammer, Dragonlance) that I would like more.

There we go.

The only thing that chaps my hide is WotC not opening up these classic settings on the DM's Guild. I'd also love it if they were willing to license out again like they did with Dragonlance and Ravenloft during 3rd Edition.