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Anyone get Candlekeep mysteries? Is this one worth buying? 17 or so short adventures that are supposed to be different from the normal dungeon crawling...

Most of the reviews I've read feel more like advertisements. 'Curious to hear any feedback from actual gamers not on WoTC's payroll...

I'm think of checking it out via D&D Beyond instead of as a book to reduce my bookshelf space...or do I pick up the lovely alternate cover hardcopy from the FLGS?

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So Justin's reviews convinced me there are enough good adventures to make Candlekeep Mysteries worthwhile, I picked up the alt cover from the FLGS and will try and post about it as I read through it.

Meanwhile I found this interesting 5e supplement on Drivethru, it is actually easily adaptable to any D&D or OSR system, it is a short hack of the game to create Witcher-like PCs, monsters and scenarios. It is pretty cool and could be used for one-on-one, solo or a low-level group.

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And in the category of, "Less useful and more disappointing April Fools posts":



Y'know, it wasn't until just this minute I noticed the publication date.

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The link is a Rickroll, by the way.
 
So Justin's reviews convinced me there are enough good adventures to make Candlekeep Mysteries worthwhile, I picked up the alt cover from the FLGS and will try and post about it as I read through it.

Meanwhile I found this interesting 5e supplement on Drivethru, it is actually easily adaptable to any D&D or OSR system, it is a short hack of the game to create Witcher-like PCs, monsters and scenarios. It is pretty cool and could be used for one-on-one, solo or a low-level group.

View attachment 29179

Love that artwork. I might buy it on the strength of that alone.
 
There's a 25% off sale on Beyond this month. What's worth picking up?
 
Look past the de rigueur OSR bitching about 5e that reveals that he in all likelihood hasn't even read the 5e books (e.g. his claims that the MM doesn't have descriptions of monster backgrounds and tactics or that 5e doesn't emphasize dungeons 'as much' is standard OSR nonsense) this QB video sees him struggling with the fact that he actually likes the Young Adventurer's Guides for kids.

He also has an odd notion of what is cartoony in art, also ignoring that the classic D&D books actually often had much more overtly cartoony art not to mention actual cartoons, lol.



Anyways, these books lool cool I'm glad they're out there.
 
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Look past the de rigueur OSR bitching about 5e that reveals that he in all likelihood haven't even read the 5e books (e.g. his claims that the MM doesn't have descriptions of monster backgrounds and tactics or that 5e doesn't emphasize dungeons 'as much' is standard OSR nonsense) this QB video sees him struggling with the fact that he actually likes the Young Adventurer's Guides for kids.

He also has an odd notion of what is cartoony in art, also ignoring that the classic D&D books actually often had much more overtly cartoony art not to mention actual cartoons, lol.



Anyways, these books lool cool I'm glad they're out there.

I think that overall the modern books have more consistency in their art; there's not much that's really awful, but there's not much that really stands out as brilliant. It's mostly "just" decent.

Whereas with the older books it's much more extreme; the best stuff was amazing but the worst was utterly dire, and there wasn't much that was just okay.
 
There's a 25% off sale on Beyond this month. What's worth picking up?

Sorry I missed this question and unfortunately the sale is now over but I grabbed Lost Mines of Phandelver as I think its quite good but didn't need the rest of the box taking up space.

For 5e skeptics or those with suppposedly 'old-school' tastes I'd say the best picks of the adventures are Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Curse of Strahd. Tales of the Yawning Portal are straight up 5e adaptations of several classic modules, my favourite of them being The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan.
 
You have disinclined me from even clicking the link.

Yeah it is unfortunate he spends so much time comparing 5e unfavourably to the Young Adventurer's Guides as it just obscures his point that they're good books.

Here is a better video that just discusses the books.

Notably by a Brit, who I find generally more congenial and less pretentious about their Playing Pretend than a lot of OSR yanks who seem under the mistaken impression that there is anything remotely 'cool' about their version of D&D.

 
Ziedeck does cool adventures/setting supplements in a South Asian fantasy setting and has released free 5e rules hack/PC sheets, etc. for it.

 
Spheres of Might and Spheres of Power for 5e appear to be out. (Conversions of well-regarded Pathfinder 3rd party supplements).

Basically it's a replacement of the core class and magic system over two supplements. Spheres of Might gives more options for martial characters while Spheres of Power is a replacement magic system which allows for the creation of more specialised, less generalist magic practioners.

The rules seem to be available here (I'm not entirely sure if this is a legal repository of SRD material or not.)

Spheres of Might's class options might appeal to those looking for a low magic version of 5e
 
I think that overall the modern books have more consistency in their art; there's not much that's really awful, but there's not much that really stands out as brilliant. It's mostly "just" decent.

Like modern Magic: The Gathering then.
 
I got my copy of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft yesterday and, while I haven't had time to read it through properly yet, I like the look of what I skimmed through. There's some requisite crunchy stuff (Undead-themed Bard and Warlock subclasses, some lineages for characters that have been through horrible events - Dhampirs, Hexbloods, and Reborn) and some particularly horror-themed monsters along with how to re-theme other monsters in horror-y ways- but most of the book is about running horror games in general. There's a big chapter on creating Domains of Dread, their Darklord, and various different genres of horror and the concepts and application of them, and then a huge section (The majority of the book) is on various domans, their darklords, and how to use them in adventures; 17 fully fleshed out settings, and another 22 more sketchy ones, along with some groups and notable characters from various realms. Finally there's a chapter on actually running horror games at the table, things to discuss in session zero, setting up out-of-game atmosphere, general concepts that apply to any sort of horror-themed game, and some GM tools for curses, haunted traps, a new fear system, and some basic characters for one-off survival horror themed games. There's also an adventure; I haven't read it.

It seems very much a GM-focussed book; I feel it's closest to something like the Fate Horror Toolkit, with the majority of it being non-mechanical support and advice rather than stuff.
 
Regarding the grappling rules: has anyone tried The Dragon Heresy? This remains the only 5e hack I'd be willing to try, and the grappling rules are pretty good IMO.
 
Regarding the grappling rules: has anyone tried The Dragon Heresy? This remains the only 5e hack I'd be willing to try, and the grappling rules are pretty good IMO.

I think the grappling rules for 5e are pretty good, simple which is my preference. I assume DH has crunchier rules, how do they work?
 
I got my copy of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft yesterday and, while I haven't had time to read it through properly yet, I like the look of what I skimmed through. There's some requisite crunchy stuff (Undead-themed Bard and Warlock subclasses, some lineages for characters that have been through horrible events - Dhampirs, Hexbloods, and Reborn) and some particularly horror-themed monsters along with how to re-theme other monsters in horror-y ways- but most of the book is about running horror games in general. There's a big chapter on creating Domains of Dread, their Darklord, and various different genres of horror and the concepts and application of them, and then a huge section (The majority of the book) is on various domans, their darklords, and how to use them in adventures; 17 fully fleshed out settings, and another 22 more sketchy ones, along with some groups and notable characters from various realms. Finally there's a chapter on actually running horror games at the table, things to discuss in session zero, setting up out-of-game atmosphere, general concepts that apply to any sort of horror-themed game, and some GM tools for curses, haunted traps, a new fear system, and some basic characters for one-off survival horror themed games. There's also an adventure; I haven't read it.

It seems very much a GM-focussed book; I feel it's closest to something like the Fate Horror Toolkit, with the majority of it being non-mechanical support and advice rather than stuff.

Ususally the alt covers are significantly better but in this case I'd say its solid but not a cut above. Someone noted on Twatter that on the official cover Strahd (or Vampire Dude) looks like he is slipping on a bar of soap and now I can't not see it.

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Alt cover:

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I'm not liking either of those covers, nope.
I do like the alt cover for Candlekeep... though our GM has been reading it and reports that it's a mixed bag and there's barely any 'mystery' in it.

I figure any antholgy is going to be a mixed bag by nature of the form.
 
For the hell of it I'm going to post my favourite of the WotC 5e covers, official and alternate.

My first pick, probably the best of the bunch.

Icewind-Dale-Rime-of-the-Frostmaiden-Alternate-Cover.jpg

Quite like both covers for Xanathar's Guide.

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Of the early books I liked CoS and Out of the Abyss (also the best of the early adventures).

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Ghosts of Saltmarsh, which is excellent btw, also has the best official cover of the later adventures.

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The alt cover of Tasha's has a slightly ornate 70s paperback cover style to it.

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Acquisitions Incorporated I liked both for its content and its different, cartoony style.

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And finally two more good alt covers.

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I figure any antholgy is going to be a mixed bag by nature of the form.
Well, 'mixed bag' in that he's not sure it was worth the purchase. He's a collector though, so had to have it.
 
Ususally the alt covers are significantly better but in this case I'd say its solid but not a cut above. Someone noted on Twatter that on the official cover Strahd (or Vampire Dude) looks like he is slipping on a bar of soap and now I can't not see it.

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Alt cover:

View attachment 31296
I like the Xanatahar and Tasha covers; but my feeling is that for the books hosted by a specific named character, that character should be represented prominently on the cover, which I think is a problem with both Van Richten covers.
 
Two new books announced, a Feywild adventure and another MtG-spinoff book. Not interested in MtG but the fey book could be good.

Dungeons-Dragons-The-Wild-Beyond-The-Witchlight-Main-Cover.jpg

Alt cover
Dungeons-Dragons-The-Wild-Beyond-The-Witchlight-Special-Cover.jpg


A bit more info in this Twitter thread.

 
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WotC D&D 5E books are so accessible these days, they are easy to find in shopping malls and such. Really shows their market dominance in the rpg industry.
I pulled the trigger on Candlekeep Mysteries while my kids were browsing console games in EB Games today
I figured it has some good Faerun setting content, and a large number of one-shot adventures, most of them with a heavy emphasis on investigation
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(This linked video is pretty good for those who haven't already seen a review of Candlekeep Mysteries)
 
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WotC D&D 5E books are so accessible these days, they are easy to find in shopping malls and such. Really shows their market dominance in the rpg industry.
I pulled the trigger on Candlekeep Mysteries while my kids were browsing console games in EB Games today
I figured it has some good Faerun setting content, and a large number of one-shot adventures, most of them with a heavy emphasis on investigation
View attachment 31840
(This linked video is pretty good for those who haven't already seen a review of Candlekeep Mysteries)

I've nearly bought a half dozen D&D books in the last two weeks just because I've been at a Barnes & Noble and they've been RIGHT there.
 
WotC D&D 5E books are so accessible these days, they are easy to find in shopping malls and such. Really shows their market dominance in the rpg industry.
I pulled the trigger on Candlekeep Mysteries while my kids were browsing console games in EB Games today
I figured it has some good Faerun setting content, and a large number of one-shot adventures, most of them with a heavy emphasis on investigation
View attachment 31840
(This linked video is pretty good for those who haven't already seen a review of Candlekeep Mysteries)

“Dad, can we go please go into EB to look at the console games??”

“Ohhhhhh, I suppose.”
 
Two new books announced, a Feywild adventure and another MtG-spinoff book. Not interested in MtG but the fey book could be good.

View attachment 31838

Alt cover
View attachment 31839


A bit more info in this Twitter thread.


The Feywild adventure could be pretty cool, I can see it working well with D&D 5E/Forgotten Realms
The idea of Fey brings an air of whimsy enchantment and unpredicatability to an otherwise standard high fantasy setting like Faerun
Besides, who doesn't want a chance to banter with folkloric folk like Titania, Oberon, or Baba Yaga? :thumbsup:
 
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