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

 

[Chaosmancer]

Since she's gonna be primarily offering commentary in the margins, a la Xanathar, in terms of giving the book flavor, does anyone have any predictions for how they'll address her "other side" in the text?

Probably won't be obvious, but she might make a comment on how "dangerously clever" a woman like Iggwilv would have to be to create such a compelling tome and fill it with such knowledge.

I agree with a lot of this. While I hate the terminology choices around healing surges, the mechanic itself was rock-solid and well thought out, and I still cannot wrap my head around the decision to change short rests from 5 minutes (you reliably get one after each encounter) to 1 hour (maybe you get one, maybe you don't, maybe you get three, it depends on the adventure and the DM, who knows?). The bloodied condition was also super useful, and monster design was generally superior.

Yeah, I tend to shorten them to a half an hour. Long enough to be significant, but also easy enough to work in if you are trying.

An hour just seems to long to me.

I'm less a fan of the formalization of combat roles and power sources. I understand why they did it--before 4E, there was very little thought put into what a class's core function should be and whether it was capable of performing it, so you ended up with classes that just weren't good for much. 4E fixed that, but I thought they went too far in the other direction: Classes felt crammed into boxes.

I can take or leave the combat roles, but Power Sources were really something I wish that they had kept.

Having Primal as a power source just helps make the world so much neater, rather than trying to shove both Druid and Cleric into "divine". Heck, a lot of settings still have Druids worshipping nature gods, which is just stupid in my opinion.

Now, I don't think they would have needed to stick each class with a specific source, the Barbarian could easily be Primal, Martial, or Divine (Zealot) but keeping a handle on where magic comes from is just too useful to abandon.

 

[Mistwell]

Despite the fact that I hate witchy hats...

Who hurt you?

 

[Mistwell]

I think it’s a mistake to attribute 5e’s explosive growth to its design alone. There were a great many factors that contributed to 5e’s success, and while I do think it’s design is among them, I don’t think it’s nearly as impactful as some of the others. The playtest period some are calling an “interregnum?” It was functionally a multi-year long 5e marketing campaign. Everyone wanted to see what WotC was going to do with the new edition of D&D.

Then of course you have the advent of live streaming D&D both advertising the game and finally breaking D&D out of the “older cousin” model of intake. Before, if you wanted to learn to play D&D, you either had to figure it out yourself, or learn from an already-enfranchised player. Since 4e alienated a lot of the enfranchised player base and Pathfinder gave them an alternative that still “felt like” the D&D they were used to, which significantly limited the game’s growth. Now that streaming games are a thing, Matt Mercer can fill the role of the “older cousin” for anyone who wants to learn. And considering 4e actually did sell well, but struggled to grow the brand, I think it would have done incredibly if it had had its own Critical Role.

Then of course there were factors that held 4e back, like the tragic circumstances surrounding the planned tie-in VTT.

It’s obviously impossible to know how well 4e would have done in different circumstances. But it is hard to deny that it would have done much better if it had enjoyed the same beneficial circumstances 5e did instead of the detrimental ones it actually faced. How well either game has sold is therefore not a strong indication of the quality of their design.

I do think 5e would be doing even better now if it had embraced more of 4e’s good design choices.

You left out something I think was a critical element of the initial success of 5e, and that is "old school tone". WOTC intentionally went back to a much more descriptive tone and evocative formatting and organization for the core books. They took a step away from the more utilitarian and sparse look of 4e, and I think that went a long way with some existing players based on "look and feel". One major complaint about 4e was the "look and feel" wasn't close enough to the classic stuff they were used to in the game. 5e "feels" more like the classic editions in presentation, organization, descriptions.

 

[Zardnaar]

You left out something I think was a critical element of the initial success of 5e, and that is "old school tone". WOTC intentionally went back to a much more descriptive tone and evocative formatting and organization for the core books. They took a step away from the more utilitarian and sparse look of 4e, and I think that went a long way with some existing players based on "look and feel". One major complaint about 4e was the "look and feel" wasn't close enough to the classic stuff they were used to in the game. 5e "feels" more like the classic editions in presentation, organization, descriptions.

That plus simplicity.

 

[Reynard]

You left out something I think was a critical element of the initial success of 5e, and that is "old school tone". WOTC intentionally went back to a much more descriptive tone and evocative formatting and organization for the core books. They took a step away from the more utilitarian and sparse look of 4e, and I think that went a long way with some existing players based on "look and feel". One major complaint about 4e was the "look and feel" wasn't close enough to the classic stuff they were used to in the game. 5e "feels" more like the classic editions in presentation, organization, descriptions.

5e put the DM back in the driver's seat and I don't think that is just good for D&D but good for RPGs in general. Yes, there are RPGs that put a lot of narrative control in the players' hands but none have broken through the mainstream. RPGs are entertainment and most entertainment is effectively passive. RPGs are less so but there is a massive cohort of players -- I would guess most of them -- that want autonomy over their character's actions but NOT control over the story. For evidence just look at how easily real sandboxes fail in actual play. TV and (most) video games have trained players to want to experience a story. Hence high fate Adventure Path style games.

BUT, at the same time they want a dynamic world that responds to their whims. This is core to the tabletop RPG experience, and it is achieved primarily through an empowered, entrusted GM. Tightly designed rules system with precise challenge ratings and definitive quest mechanics hinder that kind of GMing and I think the return of the DM as Director and Referee had as much to do with 5e's success as anything. After all, would Mercer be as beloved shackled to a more precise system? I don't think so.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They also turned down Bruce Heard with Mystara.

Did they go to him or did he go to them?

I'm an old MML member, but I have a hard time picturing WotC wanting to reboot or reprint Mystara today. They might have licensed it in the 3E era, but it certainly seems like they feel letting White Wolf do Ravenloft was a mistake.

 

[Zardnaar]

Did they go to him or did he go to them?

I'm an old MML member, but I have a hard time picturing WotC wanting to reboot or reprint Mystara today. They might have licensed it in the 3E era, but it certainly seems like they feel letting White Wolf do Ravenloft was a mistake.

He went to them iirc

 

[Charlaquin]

You left out something I think was a critical element of the initial success of 5e, and that is "old school tone". WOTC intentionally went back to a much more descriptive tone and evocative formatting and organization for the core books. They took a step away from the more utilitarian and sparse look of 4e, and I think that went a long way with some existing players based on "look and feel". One major complaint about 4e was the "look and feel" wasn't close enough to the classic stuff they were used to in the game. 5e "feels" more like the classic editions in presentation, organization, descriptions.

I mean, maybe? At the time that certainly seemed like an important decision. However, with the enormous growth 5e went on to experience, people with attachment to an old-school D&D feel are now a tiny minority of players. Maybe it was an important move short-term, but long-term I’m not sure it mattered much.

 

[Charlaquin]

I agree with a lot of this. While I hate the terminology choices around healing surges, the mechanic itself was rock-solid and well thought out, and I still cannot wrap my head around the decision to change short rests from 5 minutes (you reliably get one after each encounter) to 1 hour (maybe you get one, maybe you don't, maybe you get three, it depends on the adventure and the DM, who knows?). The bloodied condition was also super useful, and monster design was generally superior.

I'm less a fan of the formalization of combat roles and power sources. I understand why they did it--before 4E, there was very little thought put into what a class's core function should be and whether it was capable of performing it, so you ended up with classes that just weren't good for much. 4E fixed that, but I thought they went too far in the other direction: Classes felt crammed into boxes. (The universal AEDU structure didn't help; I was happy when Essentials backed off that decision.) I feel 5E found the happy medium here. We continue to argue over which class is more powerful, of course, but the differences we're debating today are trivial compared to the yawning gulfs between classes in older editions.

If I had to pick three things to import into 5E from 4E, it would be 5-minute short rests, the monster design system, and the lazylord. (Very specifically the lazylord, not just the warlord class in general. Much of the warlord could fit into the fighter framework in 5E, but if you want to play a character who neither slings spells nor swings blades, 5E's got nothing for you.)

I’m not married to the combat roles as codified Things necessarily, but making a conscious decision about what a class’s job was in combat, and giving them tools to do it effectively are something I think 5e could have benefited greatly from. Tanks could tank because they had abilities that allowed them to punish opponents who attacked other party members. Controllers could control because they had powerful CC and battled manipulation abilities.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

He went to them iirc

Mystara is definitely a setting they should just let people work with on DMs Guild. Then he could do what Keith Baker and Ed Greenwood are doing and do quasi-official new stuff. Very few people who care about Mystara would view Heard's take as anything other than official.