D&D General What's The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons?

It wasn't in any previous announcements about 2023-2024's D&D release schedule, but now The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons has appeared on the slate!

​

It's a 128-page hardcover, coming out on August 15th for $39.95, and it details dragon anatomy, society, language, hoards, magic, lairs, and more. This is a full-on 'lore' book, with no game rules in it.

The Practical Guide to Dragons came out in 2006, and was followed by A Practical Guide to Dragon Riding and A Practical Guide to Dragon Magic. This book is a compilation of the best parts of those three books. The originals were illustrated guides designed for younger readers, and featured a wizard called Sindri Suncatcher, the fictional 'author' of the works.

 

[Nikosandros]

The real question I have about this book is whether it is practically perfect in every way

 

[LordEntrails]

"Order of the British Empire"???

Overcome By Events. Somehow I was not at the end of the discussion, and after posting realized my comment was so far behind the discussion it should be removed.

 

[Clint_L]

And the reason it'd be in DDB is the same reason any lore book would be: It's where some people keep their D&D book collections. If they're not collecting hard copy books and don't want a DMs Guild account (assuming this ever shows up there), DDB is pretty much it.

Strongly disagree. DDB is for game books, and if a new book is added there, I'm going to assume that's what it is - either a sourcebook or adventure. I would be POed if I bought this on DDB. Books like this would just add clutter and confusion. It's a kids book about dragons, almost entirely reprinted. I also don't want to see Drizzt novels there, or whatever. That's what Kindle is for.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Strongly disagree. DDB is for game books, and if a new book is added there, I'm going to assume that's what it is - either a sourcebook or adventure. I would be POed if I bought this on DDB. Books like this would just add clutter and confusion. It's a kids book about dragons, almost entirely reprinted. I also don't want to see Drizzt novels there, or whatever. That's what Kindle is for.

I use hard copy books, too, as well as Kindle, but whether you agree with them or not, DDB is where a chunk of the playerbase stores their collection. It would not be insane for WotC to make sure all D&D books are available there. I doubt they will -- they have enough trouble keeping up with the type of books they already do stock (notice how many of their charity books are missing, for instance).

 

[Mercador]

You use your Kindle for DnD books? You have better eyesight than me. I got a 10.3" eink Kobo and even then, I have to zoom to read any DnD book. I wish there were epub versions of books.

 

[EthanSental]

Same for me as far as dndbeyond on the net, i zoom in a little to take away eye strain if I don’t have my reading glasses on.

 

[Mercador]

Same for me as far as dndbeyond on the net, i zoom in a little to take away eye strain if I don’t have my reading glasses on.

Does dndbeyond offer content as webpages or only PDFs? Because if it's webpages, I could manage with the text size at display. But PDFs, it will take a 12" e-readers.

Edit: I just tried with the Gazeetter and it's a webpage so it should work, I'll try it tonight. Too bad we cannot download it as epub though but I can totally understand why they won't allow this.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Does dndbeyond offer content as webpages or only PDFs? Because if it's webpages, I could manage with the text size at display. But PDFs, it will take a 12" e-readers.

Edit: I just tried with the Gazeetter and it's a webpage so it should work, I'll try it tonight. Too bad we cannot download it as epub though but I can totally understand why they won't allow this.

DMs Guild only offers PDFs. Some people publishing on DriveThruRPG (which runs DMs Guild and counterpart sites for other game companies) do offer various ebook formats as well, but to my knowledge, WotC never has.

DDB is 100% dynamically generated web pages, so far as I know. I think they may have offered their first free monster collection as a PDF, too, but it's not a regular thing.

 

[JEB]

Wait, DDB is now offering products in PDF format? When did that happen? (Only PDFs I was aware of on there were the One D&D playtest docs.)

 

[Mercador]

Wait, DDB is now offering products in PDF format? When did that happen? (Only PDFs I was aware of on there were the One D&D playtest docs.)

No, that's my error, sorry.