The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons Review

As if to continue the rivalry between giants and dragons, just one week after the release of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants Wizards of the Coast has released a new book on dragons. The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons is not a replacement for Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. In fact, it's a bit of a puzzlement as to where it fits among other Wizards of the Coast D&D books.

Continuing the trend from other D&D 5E lore and reference books, TPCGtD is supposedly written by someone in universe. In this case that's Sindri Suncatcher, “the greatest Kender wizard who ever lived.” The cover art by Clint Cearley shows Sindri having tea with a silver dragon, and the book has a distinct Kender perspective. The actual writers are project lead James Wyatt, who also spearheaded FToD, Susan J. Morris, and Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer.

What's Inside?​

The most notable thing is what isn't inside TPCGtD – stat blocks. While yes, classic dragons such as blue dragons, gold dragons, etc. each get their own entries, any information on their specific powers and abilities are specifically omitted. By contrast, FToD had full stat blocks.

And despite the “practically complete” in the title, it's far from it. While it includes a few related dracon kin and draconic subspecies like shadow dragons and dracoliches, it completely omits the gem dragons, among others. Instead, it primarily focuses on metallic and chromatic dragons along with dragonborn, kobolds, etc.

TPCGtD seems to fall somewhere between FToD and the Dragons & Treasure book from Jim Zub's excellent Young Adventurers series. It focuses on dragon life cycle, anatomy, lairs, hoards, etc. The draconic language gets a full-page table translating various words. Draconic script gets another page as does another on polite phrases in draconic.

When it switches to entries on specific dragons, it includes facts like favorite food, habitat, favorite treasure, and natural enemies in addition to maximum wingspan, breath weapon, height, and weight. Lair and combat information round it out.

The art is good with some magnificent images of adult dragons. I also liked the vaguely taxonomic drawings of dragons that accompanies the start of the Types of Dragons chapter. The image of kobolds dragging treasure to their dragon overlord also amuses me, and I agree with Sindri's note that the one wearing a skull seems to having a great deal of fun.

However, I can't credit any of those specific artists because unlike other Wizards of the Coasts books, individual art credits are missing entirely. I've complained about how hard Wizards makes them hard to read in the usual D&D books, but omitting them entirely seems really unfair.

The cartographer's credit is easy – Todd Gamble. His lair maps have a certain minimalist charm and look like something Sindri might have sketched out. Still, I prefer Dyson Logos' maps from FToD.

Summing It Up​

TPCGtD is a fun book to read. If you're a dragon lover like I am, it's probably of interest. That doesn't mean it's one you need to rush to buy it, though. If you want stat blocks and more hardcore information for campaigns instead of inspiration for how to run dragons in your campaign, you might want to skip this one.

Wizards has previously published A Practical Guide to Dragons in 2008 and 2010, written by Susan J. Morris and Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer. I don't have those for comparison but suspect at least some copy may have carried over from those, based on the writing credits.

I'm just really puzzled as to where/how Wizards feels this book fits into its releases. The Young Adventurer Guides are geared to younger readers, making D&D concepts and lore easy to understand and inspire them to try playing the game. Those books also have some useful material for new D&D players of any age.

If TPCGtD is intended to entice fans of fantasy in general and dragons in particular so they try D&D, that could work. It just seems like a book that is betwixt and between.

If you're a sucker for dragon lore like I am, The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons is a B-. For anyone else, it might be a C+, not because it's a bad book. It just seems redundant and lacking the inspiration and adventure hooks both FToD and BPGotG had.

 

[Echohawk]

same, but hey, Im okay with a book that draws in younger players and I think that is the audience for books like these.

the Young Adventurers stuff, which I think is aimed at a similar age range to that, looks it would have annoyed the hell out of me

Wizards seems to be deliberately targeting a wide range of ages for D&D products. The 123s of D&D and The ABCs of D&D are obviously for new readers (and anyone whose life is missing an illustration of an almiraj pair with babies). The Young Adventurer's Guide series is aimed at slightly older kids, and has evidently sold well enough for an eighth title to be out next month. The Dungeon Academy illustrated novels are marketed at "middle grade" kids. The original Practical Guide books, as well as (presumably) The Practically Complete Guide wouldn't look entirely out of place in an adult's collection, but are clearly aimed at younger D&D enthusiasts. I have no idea what age range things like the Adventures Outlined coloring book, Behold! A Search and Find Adventure, or The Ultimate Pop-Up Book are aimed at, but if you are a parent the chances are currently high that there is some sort of D&D book out there you could buy for your kids, whatever their age. (Mum, if you are reading this, I'm not too old for that Pop-Up Book and I have a birthday coming up.)

 

[Dire Bare]

I have not, nor will I buy this book; nor have I read it.

Okay?

I'm kinda blown away by the angry and confused responses to this book, both here and elsewhere on the interwebs . . . how dare WotC put out a book that doesn't meet MY needs!!!

This is a compilation of a YA book series from a decade ago. If you are not a Young Adult anymore, or even if you are, it's okay for WotC to put out a D&D book that isn't for you.

 

[Dire Bare]

As if to continue the rivalry between giants and dragons, just one week after the release of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants Wizards of the Coast has released a new book on dragons. The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons is not a replacement for Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. In fact, it's a bit of a puzzlement as to where it fits among other Wizards of the Coast D&D books.

Continuing the trend from other D&D 5E lore and reference books, TPCGtD is supposedly written by someone in universe. In this case that's Sindri Suncatcher, “the greatest Kender wizard who ever lived.” The cover art by Clint Cearley shows Sindri having tea with a silver dragon, and the book has a distinct Kender perspective. The actual writers are project lead James Wyatt, who also spearheaded FToD, Susan J. Morris, and Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer.

View attachment 293067​

What's Inside?​

The most notable thing is what isn't inside TPCGtD – stat blocks. While yes, classic dragons such as blue dragons, gold dragons, etc. each get their own entries, any information on their specific powers and abilities are specifically omitted. By contrast, FToD had full stat blocks.

And despite the “practically complete” in the title, it's far from it. While it includes a few related dracon kin and draconic subspecies like shadow dragons and dracoliches, it completely omits the gem dragons, among others. Instead, it primarily focuses on metallic and chromatic dragons along with dragonborn, kobolds, etc.

TPCGtD seems to fall somewhere between FToD and the Dragons & Treasure book from Jim Zub's excellent Young Adventurers series. It focuses on dragon life cycle, anatomy, lairs, hoards, etc. The draconic language gets a full-page table translating various words. Draconic script gets another page as does another on polite phrases in draconic.

When it switches to entries on specific dragons, it includes facts like favorite food, habitat, favorite treasure, and natural enemies in addition to maximum wingspan, breath weapon, height, and weight. Lair and combat information round it out.

The art is good with some magnificent images of adult dragons. I also liked the vaguely taxonomic drawings of dragons that accompanies the start of the Types of Dragons chapter. The image of kobolds dragging treasure to their dragon overlord also amuses me, and I agree with Sindri's note that the one wearing a skull seems to having a great deal of fun.

However, I can't credit any of those specific artists because unlike other Wizards of the Coasts books, individual art credits are missing entirely. I've complained about how hard Wizards makes them hard to read in the usual D&D books, but omitting them entirely seems really unfair.

The cartographer's credit is easy – Todd Gamble. His lair maps have a certain minimalist charm and look like something Sindri might have sketched out. Still, I prefer Dyson Logos' maps from FToD.

View attachment 293069​

Summing It Up​

TPCGtD is a fun book to read. If you're a dragon lover like I am, it's probably of interest. That doesn't mean it's one you need to rush to buy it, though. If you want stat blocks and more hardcore information for campaigns instead of inspiration for how to run dragons in your campaign, you might want to skip this one.

Wizards has previously published A Practical Guide to Dragons in 2008 and 2010, written by Susan J. Morris and Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer. I don't have those for comparison but suspect at least some copy may have carried over from those, based on the writing credits.

I'm just really puzzled as to where/how Wizards feels this book fits into its releases. The Young Adventurer Guides are geared to younger readers, making D&D concepts and lore easy to understand and inspire them to try playing the game. Those books also have some useful material for new D&D players of any age.

If TPCGtD is intended to entice fans of fantasy in general and dragons in particular so they try D&D, that could work. It just seems like a book that is betwixt and between.

If you're a sucker for dragon lore like I am, The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons is a B-. For anyone else, it might be a C+, not because it's a bad book. It just seems redundant and lacking the inspiration and adventure hooks both FToD and BPGotG had.

Thanks for the review @brimmels, as always!

@Echohawk, of course, filled in some of the blanks on this title excellently. I'll add that the (unreliable) narrator, Sindri Suncatcher, is a character from the "New Dragonlance Adventures" series of YA novels. The "Practical Guide" series of lore books was based on this series and they are loosely set in the Dragonlance campaign.

As an adult reader about a decade ago, I LOVED the "New Dragonlance Adventures" titles, even though they were aimed at a much younger audience. I never purchased any of the "Practical Guides", but friends did for their own kids or nephews/nieces, and they were reportedly well received! Sindri is a kender wizard, likely the only one in existence! Sindri managed to embody the classic kender archetype, while both taking it in new directions and not being super annoying as many kender characters in the novels became after Tasslehoff.

 

[Queer Venger]

Wizards seems to be deliberately targeting a wide range of ages for D&D products. The 123s of D&D and The ABCs of D&D are obviously for new readers (and anyone whose life is missing an illustration of an almiraj pair with babies). The Young Adventurer's Guide series is aimed at slightly older kids, and has evidently sold well enough for an eighth title to be out next month. The Dungeon Academy illustrated novels are marketed at "middle grade" kids. The original Practical Guide books, as well as (presumably) The Practically Complete Guide wouldn't look entirely out of place in an adult's collection, but are clearly aimed at younger D&D enthusiasts. I have no idea what age range things like the Adventures Outlined coloring book, Behold! A Search and Find Adventure, or The Ultimate Pop-Up Book are aimed at, but if you are a parent the chances are currently high that there is some sort of D&D book out there you could buy for your kids, whatever their age. (Mum, if you are reading this, I'm not too old for that Pop-Up Book and I have a birthday coming up.)

I got to thumb through the pop-up book at SDCC (it's huge!) and honestly it was really enjoyable for me as an adult; probably products that can appeal to young and old. Would I buy a huge pop up book? Probably not, but I can see this as a really cool x-mas gift or a really fun coffee table book.

 

[R_J_K75]

Okay?

I'm not sure what the question is here. When I said, "I have not, nor will I buy this book; nor have I read it." I said it to disclose that I was basing my statements on the review, not my personally having read it.

I'm kinda blown away by the angry and confused responses to this book, both here and elsewhere on the interwebs . . . how dare WotC put out a book that doesn't meet MY needs!!!

This is a compilation of a YA book series from a decade ago. If you are not a Young Adult anymore, or even if you are, it's okay for WotC to put out a D&D book that isn't for you.

Who's angry, not me. WotC can put out whatever products they want, that's their choice whether it suits me or not. Just as it's my choice whether or not I choose to buy them.

 

[Weiley31]

Nothing will ever beat these two books when it comes to dragon info for your Dungeons and Dragons games:

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wizards has previously published A Practical Guide to Dragons in 2008 and 2010, written by Susan J. Morris and Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer. I don't have those for comparison but suspect at least some copy may have carried over from those, based on the writing credits.

I had all of these books. (There were about nine Practical Guides, as I recall.) This book combines The Practical Guide to Dragons, The Practical Guide to Dragon Magic and The Practical Guide to Dragon Riding, as I recall.

It's very much in the same vein as the Young Adventurers Guides, but written in-character and full of kid-appropriate lore. (The Practical Guide to Vampires is an extremely G-rated vampire book, for instance.)

The dragon books are the easiest to reprint, since there were three of them, but I'm hoping The Practical Guide to Wizardry makes a reappearance in some fashion, as its discussions of how arcane magic work actually constitute new lore for D&D games.

 

[Echohawk]

I had all of these books. (There were about nine Practical Guides, as I recall.)

Wait, "had"?

There were seven books in the series, plus a Collector's Set which combined books 1 and 3 with a poster:

A Practical Guide to Dragons (September 2006)
A Practical Guide to Monsters (August 2007)
A Practical Guide to Dragon Riding (August 2008)
A Practical Guide to Wizardry (August 2008)
A Practical Guide to Dragons Collector's Set (September 2008)
A Practical Guide to Faeries (January 2009)
A Practical Guide to Vampires (August 2009)
A Practical Guide to Dragon Magic (September 2010)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I sold mine to Noble Knight last year. I'd rather they find active use on someone else's shelf than gather dust in my garage.

I was really torn over selling the Practical Guide to Wizardry, though -- combine that with all of the somatic gesture cards from Rock, Paper, Wizard and you've got a lore book even most of the grumps would appreciate. (That's right: There are official somatic gestures for many classic arcane spells, along with verbal components in Practical Guide to Wizardry.)

 

[Echohawk]

My copy of The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons arrived today, so I've had a chance to compare it to its ancestors. Some observations:

• This is primarily a reprint of The Practical Guide to Dragons. It has about a third of The Practical Guide to Dragon Magic and even less of The Practical Guide to Dragon Riding mixed in to fill out the page count. The content has been slotted together in a logical manner and you wouldn't know it was originally from three separate books.
• Even though many of the page spreads have the same illustrations as the original, there is also a lot of new art. I think all of the main, full-page pictures of each type of dragon are completely new.
• The pages of the new book are whiter and glossier than the original. The original Practical Guides used a yellow, fake parchment type of paper, with notes often presented as hand-written additions to the text. The new presentation is cleaner with neat post-it notes for comments on the main text.

I think I slightly prefer the original, messier style of presentation, but only when comparing the two books side-by-side. If I only had The Practically Complete Guide, I'd be quite happy with the style. Like the originals, this would make a great gift for a junior D&D player, or any child of the appropriate age with an interest in fantasy. It's also a decent coffee table book for adults.

If you already have the originals, you don't need this, but if you already have the originals, you're probably a D&D collector and then you'll want this anyway. (He says, patting copies of the Dungeons & Dragons Word Search and Coloring Book and the Official Dungeons & Dragons Tarot Deck which arrived in the same package...)