Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

[evadgonzo]

Anyone know if the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide will be released for FG as a module. Sounds like they're going to have new archtypes, backgrounds, and cantrips.

[Moon Wizard]

We're planning to release a module as close to official release date as development allows.

Cheers,
JPG

[Dragontail]

is there a spot in forums where people share adventures they have made?

[kylania]

is there a spot in forums where people share adventures they have made?

The Armory (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?44-Armory-(campaigns-modules-rulesets-maps-and-tokens)) would probably be a good spot. Problem is you'd need to own the IP for absolutely everything in module in order to share it.

[Dragontail]

So, if I make a module and I have the monster manual, it wont transfer to new person unless they already own it as well?

[Dragontail]

As in the monsters I drop in for encounters , wandering monsters etc...

[kylania]

No, anything in the module stays in the module. The only case would be is if you dragged and NPC from say the Monster Manual directly into a Story Page, then you'd need the Monster Manual loaded to view the link. But if you copied it to the NPC list it would create an internal copy which would work.

The main problem is that if you didn't own the content that would be an issue.

[Dragontail]

So instead of using my monster manual - to make it legit?- I would have to type everything in myself, then it would be ok? Or could I post it and state X expansion (or whatever) required?

[Trenloe]

So, if I make a module and I have the monster manual, it wont transfer to new person unless they already own it as well?
If you dragged the NPC directly from the MM to an encounter entry, then this would just be a link to the MM and anyone using the module would need to own the MM. This is a good way of creating an adventure module yourself using MM monsters, and distributing it without issue - because you're just providing links to the MM module, not providing copies of the MM records.

[Trenloe]

Or could I post it and state X expansion (or whatever) required?
If you used just the links (as mentioned above) then you could state that the MM is needed and you'd be OK.

[Wazoodust]

Are there plans for the next adventure "Dead in Thay" to be released in the future, I looked this over and thinking I'd like to run it wen we finish up the current campaign, Not in any rush, would like to know if it's or planned to be in the works

[kylania]

Nope, no plans for "Dead in Thay" (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?25579-D-amp-D-Scourge-of-the-Sword-Coast-now-available&p=226193&viewfull=1#post226193) to be converted as it's not designed to play as a normal adventure.

[TASagent]

Regarding the convention-style adventure Dead in Thay:

Yeah, I'd feel really bad if I made that, tried to warn people what it was, and still got bombarded by people who were disappointed because they bought it and couldn't use it. It is available in pdf here (https://drivethrurpg.com/product/128515/Dreams-of-the-Red-Wizards-Dead-in-Thay-DD-Next?term=dead+in+thay), which is where I got it originally. If one wanted decent drop-in dungeons, they could probably get a fair amount of utility out of it. Mike Schley did the excellent maps, and you can see them here on his website (https://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p106210583). But that would still take a bit of work on the DM's part. I definitely feel it wouldn't be usable as-is, and I expect that attempts to convert it anyway would result in many people being disappointed.

[Wazoodust]

Was wondering, I did some reading up on things since I asked, I think I understand why. Thanks for the quick answers tho !!

[kane280484]

Bah, another double-expense then... That hurts my Polish wallet :D Any1 knows when paperback is released?

[kylania]

I'm getting my Amazon copy on Nov 3rd, so a few weeks before that in your FLGS I think?

[Szabtom]

Hi kane280484,
I live in Krakow. My pre-order on Amazon UK shows a delivery date of 26 Nov. 2015 - 28 Nov. 2015 which is an extra 3 weeks after release. :(
Edit: the books will probably ship from the US to UK. It is a shame that WotC does not deliver to European retailers before release.

[demonsbane]

another double-expense

That is a real shame, but oh well.

[epithet]

It might be "oh well" for now, but my willingness to buy every product twice ends somewhere well to this side of "indefinitely." If Wiz wants to keep selling me hardcovers, we're gonna need to see a reasonably priced bundle made available pretty soon. I understand that Wiz feels beholden to the local gaming stores, and maybe the sales bear that out, but the more Wiz tries to make me buy at a gaming store, the more committed I am to not doing that.

I would gladly pre-order the books for MSRP if it came with the Fantasy Grounds module, especially if I could do that through the Fantasy Grounds store. Otherwise, I might have to start buying the FG version only, and when someone shares a pdf version of the book, maybe I'll take a look at it.

Sasquatch and Kobold have figured out how to have Fantasy Grounds modules of their products as "add ons," seems like it's time for Wiz to get with the program, so to speak.

[TASagent]

epithet,

This isn't an excuse for anyone, but I've always struggled to imagine what a good system for multi-platform redeeming would look like, at least one that didn't hurt FLGS. I think early attempts (Circa late 90's) involved codes for redeeming the software in the books themselves, but that quickly falls prey to the worthless individuals (and, for the sake of argument, "children") who steal the codes out of books at bookstores. I think future iterations tried other strategies: Seal up the book so it can't be discreetly opened (both fails to prevent the theft and hurts legitimate customers who can't determine if they want to buy it), and have cashiers dispense the codes (fails hilariously all over the place). The next logical step is to try to have players redeem the software from the publisher using their receipt, but that puts so much extra work on the consumer, and still has potential issues, including generally impossible validation.

If the software bonus was limited to online, first-party retailer purchases then the solution becomes easy, but that fails to support FLGS, which is certainly one of Wizards' goals.

Do you have an idea of what a good discounting system might look like?

[ianmward]

There are a number of companies signed up to Bits & Mortar. With this, when you buy a book from one of these publishers in a FLGS, you give the shop your email address and they register you purchase with BitsAndMortar where you can download the PDF. I've used it and it works for me, though I'm not sure how the commercials work behind the scenes and I'm not sure that it's extensible to SmiteWorks as there is considerable extra work involved on their side to produce the FG port.

From their website: https://www.bits-and-mortar.com

"Bits and Mortar is a pro-retailer, pro-brick-and-mortar, pro-PDF, pro-ebook initiative backed by several tabletop game and fiction publishers (find out who). We love real, physical brick and mortar game and book stores, and we want to see them survive — and thrive — even as the digital content options for traditional publishing become more prevalent.
Plenty of customers out there want the best of both worlds. They want the easy portability of an ebook, and the lasting durability of one made out of paper, glue, and ink. They want to be able to support their favorite local stores, and they want to be able to support their favorite publishers. The Bits and Mortar initiative is all about making sure they don’t have to choose one or the other. We want them to choose both, every time."

[TASagent]

Yeah, looks like it could work, but the store opt-in nature makes it problematic. The classic "The Barnes and Noble that I bought this from didn't know anything about the program" problem still exists, and kind of undermines the system. That probably causes a lot of headache for everyone.

[ianmward]

That is true, but I think the scheme is aimed at saving those smaller gaming stores. People who want the free PDF will seek out such a store, instead of going to Amazon or B&N.

[ddavison]

The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide was just sent to Wotc for review. We need 10 business days and then it either gets approved or sent back for changes. We are pretty tight on hitting the Nov 3rd target date, but I'm hopeful.

[Szabtom]

Nice, thanks for letting us know!

[spite]

Do you know what price tag its going to have? Is it going to be in line with the MM and PHB or more/less?

[epithet]

epithet,

This isn't an excuse for anyone, but I've always struggled to imagine what a good system for multi-platform redeeming would look like, at least one that didn't hurt FLGS. I think early attempts (Circa late 90's) involved codes for redeeming the software in the books themselves, but that quickly falls prey to the worthless individuals (and, for the sake of argument, "children") who steal the codes out of books at bookstores. I think future iterations tried other strategies: Seal up the book so it can't be discreetly opened (both fails to prevent the theft and hurts legitimate customers who can't determine if they want to buy it), and have cashiers dispense the codes (fails hilariously all over the place). The next logical step is to try to have players redeem the software from the publisher using their receipt, but that puts so much extra work on the consumer, and still has potential issues, including generally impossible validation.

If the software bonus was limited to online, first-party retailer purchases then the solution becomes easy, but that fails to support FLGS, which is certainly one of Wizards' goals.

Do you have an idea of what a good discounting system might look like?

It's not easy to answer off-the-cuff simply because I have had less-than-great experiences with the "FLGS" and have no real interest in supporting them. I'm really into Amazon Prime.

My ideal scenario would be for SmiteWorks to offer a pre-order bundle in conjunction with WotC, so that I could pay up front and get the book when it's released (shipped from Wiz) and the FG Mod when it goes live. I know that leaves people out in the cold who don't pre-order, though. Another possibility would be for the purchase of the online product through the FG store to generate an email coupon from Wizards. You could take that coupon in to your FLGS (which would have to accept WotC coupons, or it wouldn't be very Friendly, would it?) and get the hardcover for the applicable discount, OR (important option) you could (e)mail the coupon off with a purchase receipt for the hardcover from any retailer and get a rebate from Wiz, perhaps in the form of a SmiteWorks gift card instead of cold hard cash.

So, I buy the new book's FG module through the FG store, and get an email with a coded coupon. I can either use that coupon to get a discount on the hardcover at my "friendly" local gaming store, or I can buy the hardcover through Amazon and email the receipt and coupon to Wizards. Because the coupon was generated through my FG store purchase, the code has my FG store account info associated with it, and I get a discount on my next FG store purchase.

The only downside is that someone at Wiz would have to go through all those emailed receipts, which would suck. If I come up with a better notion, I'll let you know.

[damned]

It's not easy to answer off-the-cuff simply because I have had less-than-great experiences with the "FLGS" and have no real interest in supporting them. I'm really into Amazon Prime.

Ive said it before and Ill say it again - in my opinion Amazon is a shitty business model. they can turn over $80+billion worth of stuff and still lose money because they sell stuff for stupid margin.
How can anyone compete with that?
Good for customer but its a stupid model.

[Griogre]

It is a classic first company in a market keeping the margins low so competition doesn't also enter the market economic behavior, though. I use to own some FLGS and there is no doubt Amazon has killed more of them than anyone. The old FLGS are traditionally low volume sales with decent mark ups if you sell at suggested retail and they simply can't compete with a volume discounter.

[ddavison]

Do you know what price tag its going to have? Is it going to be in line with the MM and PHB or more/less?

It looks like it will either be $34.99 or $39.99.

[StarDebut]

Nice. I might just forgo the physical copy for a digital product on Fantasy Grounds. :-) Does this feel ground-breaking to anyone else? Lol

[epithet]

...
How can anyone compete with that?
...

Personality.

I used to get all my PC games from a Gamestop near the grocery store I use most often. I would go in there sometimes even when I had nothing in mind to buy, just to see if there was a new pre-order available or something. I would buy stuff in that store as gifts for my friends' kids, like iTunes gift cards. Why did I frequent the store? Because the manager and assistant managers were all cool, funny, and personable. It was actually a place I could spend 10 minutes and improve my overall day. I didn't shop around to compare prices, because I wanted to buy from that shop.

Of course, Gamestop corporate decided the rent was too high in that retail center and closed the store. Other Gamestops aren't the same, so I buy my games through Steam or online now, instead of the physical Collector's Editions that I used to get.

My point is that a physical store has to focus on the people, not just the product. They need to be places that a customer wants to be, with people that a customer wants to interact with. That's the only way to compete with online warehouse retail.

[TASagent]

I expect some of you will be pleased to hear that I've tried to make the conversion of SCAG (yeah, that's what I've been calling it) as convenient as possible to use completely digitally.

I've split it into a Campaign Guide and a Player's Guide.

The Campaign Guide contains the complete text (including the Player's sections) in a Reference Manual format (which is searchable). It has all the images from the book in the campaign menu, and a big map of the Sword Coast filled with links to every location that is described.

The Player's Guide contains all the text from the Player-focused chapters in a Reference Manual, which makes for easier reading and browsing, as well as the customary Fantasy Grounds Class, Race, etc links for character creation. It also has tokens made from all the token-izeable art.

I feel the inclusion of the Reference Manual with redundant coverage of the class, race, and background section with be a nice QoL feature when you just want to browse, read through, or search the contents.

Hopefully we can get this into your hands soon, and this information will be useful in deciding what formats you want it in.

[Szabtom]

Sounds great! I have a pre-order for the hardcopy and will buy the FG version on day 1. The hc book will probably only reach me 3-4 weeks after release.

[StarDebut]

Well, its out at my comic shop. And Mike Schley has just released a new map on his website. https://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p150074822/h5ea715c3#h5ea715c3

So it cant be long no surely fantasy grounds? No pressure.

[ddavison]

We are not allowed to release until 11/3.

[Trenloe]

Well, its out at my comic shop.
Shops that are part of the Adventurers League network get the book 10 days early. Everyone else has to wait for the 3rd to release.

[epithet]

Never mind that Fantasy Grounds probably hosts more AL games than any handful of "FLGS" locations.

Of course, no one has ever accused Wiz of having an aggressive digital market strategy. Or of really understanding the market, actually. I think their deal with Smite is a great testament to DD's ability to explain and sell his product, because agreeing to it was an uncommonly good idea for those folks.

[Griogre]

Never underestimate the value of persistence either. Friendly persistent contact letting a company know you would like to work a deal can lay the groundwork for a deal when conditions change. Smiteworks has been working on getting a license since D&D 3.0 so they have been on WotC's radar for a long time for a number of reasons.

[Fenris4024]

We are not allowed to release until 11/3. Works for me... as I'll have my paycheck in and deposited by then :D

As for the Just buying it digitally via FG, that's my plan, since as far as I know we don't really HAVE a FLGS here in Lubbock. :( I'll ask for that and OotA in Hardcover for the holidays. Oh, and another 27" monitor.

[JohnD]

Anyone able to ballpark a cost on this?

[Zacchaeus]

Anyone able to ballpark a cost on this?

See post #30 above.

[JohnD]

See post #30 above.

Thanks. My wife was nagging me and it cut down my chance to read before asking the question.

[Zacchaeus]

Thanks. My wife was nagging me and it cut down my chance to read before asking the question.

You'd better hope she doesn't read these forums :)

[Danimal66]

Well, its out at my comic shop. And Mike Schley has just released a new map on his website. https://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p150074822/h5ea715c3#h5ea715c3

I was going to purchase that map to use in FG campaign on my own. Is that map going to be in the SCAG product?

[JohnD]

You'd better hope she doesn't read these forums :)
I am adept and dodging incoming rolling pins and her aerial maneuverability has taken a hit since she smashed her broom into the light post out side.

[Zacchaeus]

I was going to purchase that map to use in FG campaign on my own. Is that map going to be in the SCAG product?

Yes it is.

[Zacchaeus]

I am adept and dodging incoming rolling pins and her aerial maneuverability has taken a hit since she smashed her broom into the light post out side.

There speaks a brave man knowing full well that his wife will never read these forums :)

[TASagent]

I was going to purchase that map to use in FG campaign on my own. Is that map going to be in the SCAG product?

Yes. That's actually the map that I blinged up with links. Every named location on the map that is described in the book (and a couple in the underdark that aren't actually labeled on the map) is pinned with a link to the page of the Reference Manual where they are described.

The map is very large. It can be tricky to share and handle very large images because that's simply a lot of data. For this map in particular, even if we didn't care about preserving the awesome detail that Schley puts into his maps (we do), we couldn't just brazenly downrez or aggressively compress the map because the tiny place labels would quickly become unreadable. It's a really awesome map, but to retain utility it needed to be kept particularly high rez, and that can make sharing it with players (if you wish to do so) daunting. Luckily the book presents a number of cropped and edited subsections of that map for major locations, and those have been preserved and will likely prove easier to use for sharing and annotating purposes. But that may not really be a one-size-fits-all solution. For people really gung-ho about maps, it may prove useful to get Schley's map in order to prepare the exact slices of Faerûn you would like to use, but I expect that for most people, using what is already available in the module will be ideal.

[Fenris4024]

Excellent news TASagent, it will end up saving me the $10 for digital from Schley's site. (Though I might still buy it and have it printed at a printshop for the wall of our Nerd cave....)

[epithet]

I bought it in part to encourage all fantasy cartographers to publish high res-digital maps with untagged "player" versions.

I like maps.

[TASagent]

Excellent news TASagent, it will end up saving me the $10 for digital from Schley's site.

Shhh. Don't say that too loudly. I'm not trying to actively drive business away from Mike Schley. He makes great maps, and I myself have purchased some from his site on a few occasions.

Don't hate me Mike!

[Fenris4024]

Shhh. Don't say that too loudly. I'm not trying to actively drive business away from Mike Schley. He makes great maps, and I myself have purchased some from his site on a few occasions.

Don't hate me Mike!

No intent on that at all, as like I said, I'll prolly buy it anyhow, just that it will save me some scratch initially... can't go too wild, or the missus might start getting grumpy, and we all know what happens once that happens...

Happy wife, happy life!

I absolutely LOVE Mike's maps, some of the best I've seen, and I really enjoy his attention to detail. Some people's maps are good as just that, maps. Mike's are basically Nerd Art for me.

[Fugl]

I sure hope it Will be there 3/11 our DM just killed the party, and we play again freday. Sure like to know how bladesinger works, also winged tiefling

[JohnD]

There speaks a brave man knowing full well that his wife will never read these forums :)

Don't get me wrong... I absolutely wish she was a gamer... would make everything so much easier.

Is it the 3rd yet?

[spite]

It's the 3rd for me (has been for 15 hours now. :P ) Look forward to fiddling with this bad boy.

[damned]

Woot!
https://www.fg-con.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/dndbooks.jpg

[Jordan2261x]

Monster Manual II?! What sorcery is this?

[Nylanfs]

They needed a catalog of Australian creatures so they just called it the MM2 :)

[JohnD]

The kind that makes your money disappear.

[Trenloe]

Thar she blows!

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5ESCAG

[gandred]

Mine! Download started!!

[kane280484]

When does the sale end?

[Snoffo]

Just waiting for it to show up on steam.

[rob2e]

ErrorS!!! Where do I report? I couldn't find an error thread. Am I the first?

[JohnD]

ErrorS!!! Where do I report? I couldn't find an error thread. Am I the first?

Sticky right at the top of the 5e forum....

[rob2e]

Thx

[evadgonzo]

It's there but they don't have the races and new class archetypes under the Race/Class headings. They're all in the reference manual thus making it so you can't drag and drop them onto your character.

[TASagent]

You should have 2 modules. The DM module has everything in the reference manual. The Player's module has all of the player-relevant chapters in the reference module, as well as in the Character building/reference structures. Are you looking in the right spot?

[PinkRose]

Incoming thread hijack!
I want to know more about this Monster Manual II business.

[Zacchaeus]

There's a Monster Manual II?

[spite]

That's what the picture implied!

[JohnD]

Perhaps there will be one announced soon. Certainly it is hard to believe there won't be a MM II and a Fiend Folio down the road.

Strange that the UA stuff isn't available.

[Zacchaeus]

Perhaps there will be one announced soon. Certainly it is hard to believe there won't be a MM II and a Fiend Folio down the road.

Strange that the UA stuff isn't available.

See post #4 (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?26655-Unearthed-Arcana-Can-we-Share)

[TinCanKing]

It's a photoshopped image that popped up on Reddit about a week ago. Other than the text, the details of the book we can see match Rise of Tiamat exactly.

[TASagent]

I *thought* something looked off about that spine...

[PinkRose]

Ok, back on track.
How is this for reading and replacing the purchase of a physical book.
I'm not actively playing D&D now, so I just want to read about the Sword Coast.
BUT I don't really want to buy it again in the future on FG if it works well enough to just browse through.

[Zacchaeus]

Ok, back on track.
How is this for reading and replacing the purchase of a physical book.
I'm not actively playing D&D now, so I just want to read about the Sword Coast.
BUT I don't really want to buy it again in the future on FG if it works well enough to just browse through.

The material is exactly the same as it would be in the book; but with the advantage of indexes and linkages etc.

It kinda depends if you like reading things on screen or if you prefer a physical book, and only you know that for sure.

[PinkRose]

OK. Sold.

[damned]

It's a photoshopped image that popped up on Reddit about a week ago. Other than the text, the details of the book we can see match Rise of Tiamat exactly.

i hadnt seen it on reddit? i only posted it on g+ (where i got the original image from before reinserting RoT again) and here... :)
oh - and I use GiMP!
:)

[QuietDroid]

Where in the SCAG mod do I find that giant pinned map of the Sword Coast?

[TASagent]

Check out the images in the DM module - Sword Coast Map.

[ddavison]

You need to also hold down CTRL to see the pins or turn pins on for the map by right clicking on the map, choosing Layers and then Enable Pins.

[TinCanKing]

i hadnt seen it on reddit? i only posted it on g+ (where i got the original image from before reinserting RoT again) and here... :)
oh - and I use GiMP!
:)

Haha, you did a good job! I forget which subreddit it was, but I think it had a title along the lines of, "My friend just posted this." So maybe someone you know posted it without telling you?

[Trenloe]

You need to also hold down CTRL to see the pins or turn pins on for the map by right clicking on the map, choosing Layers and then Enable Pins.
Not in v3.1.3 you don't. :) The default is now to display the pins automatically.

[Seananigans]

That's actually an annoying default to not have an option for :(

Now I have to change it for every map I open, I don't want the pins always visible. Default off with an optional hotkey seemed like the way to go.

[Zacchaeus]

That's actually an annoying default to not have an option for :(

Now I have to change it for every map I open, I don't want the pins always visible. Default off with an optional hotkey seemed like the way to go.

And right there, you can't please everyone all of the time.

[Seananigans]

Well yeah. But it's like, why change the default when the hotkey is already designed around the current default? If you're going to swap stuff around, at least offer an option for toggling the default, right?

[Zacchaeus]

I believe that the map pins are now visible by default for a couple of reasons, the first being many people wanted the map pins visible by default because they are incredibly handy things and most people use them all of the time. Secondly there is now new functionality enabling you to share pins with players which opens up a whole new range of possibilities - and it would be no good if all the pins were hidden away.

[Szabtom]

Hi kane280484,
I live in Krakow. My pre-order on Amazon UK shows a delivery date of 26 Nov. 2015 - 28 Nov. 2015 which is an extra 3 weeks after release. :(
Edit: the books will probably ship from the US to UK. It is a shame that WotC does not deliver to European retailers before release.

For those interested in buying the hardcover in Europe, Amazon UK has confirmed dispatch of the book today. So we do not have to wait for the additional weeks as in the original delivery estimate.

[Mellock]

Most pre-orders of WotC books for me have been shipped on the release day to Belgium, not weeks afterwards. However, I noticed that for a while now, Amazon has been messing up the probable date of delivery by weeks. They used to be spot on for years, and then they just seemed to start making up arbitrary dates weeks in the future. I have no idea what changed, but that's what happened to me.

[Danimal66]

I have to say having a hard copy of this book I really don't feel it is worth the cost for the content it has. This is probably the first of the 5th edition stuff i felt was not worth the value. If this was prices at $20 this would be worthwhile, I believe the hard cover is already down to $23 new on Amazon but there is not $40 worth of content here especially if you have any of the previous Realms campaign supplements.

Just my opinion.

[JohnD]

I have to say having a hard copy of this book I really don't feel it is worth the cost for the content it has. This is probably the first of the 5th edition stuff i felt was not worth the value. If this was prices at $20 this would be worthwhile, I believe the hard cover is already down to $23 new on Amazon but there is not $40 worth of content here especially if you have any of the previous Realms campaign supplements.

Just my opinion.

I stopped in at a friend's store yesterday afternoon and had a look - I was a little surprised that the book wasn't the same size as the others on the shelf next to it.

[Szabtom]

Which dimension was different?

[Danimal66]

Yeah i have to say after out of the abyss this is certainly not what I was expecting. While I have not done this exercise personally, my gut tells me if I pull out what is really 5E specific content in this book it will total less than 20 pages.

[JohnD]

Which dimension was different?
Page count... its a thin book.

[TASagent]

Yeah i have to say after out of the abyss this is certainly not what I was expecting. While I have not done this exercise personally, my gut tells me if I pull out what is really 5E specific content in this book it will total less than 20 pages.

That kind of depends. On the face of it, what you've just said is "if you ignore a large part of the book, the book is very small". Though what you said is still relevant, as players are included in the group this is marketed towards, not just DMs, and they (in traditional games) won't get much use out of the setting portion of the book, barring being encouraged by their DM to read up on particular setting elements. Some players may be expecting this to be a Player's Handbook 2, or Tome of Battle, and they should definitely be made aware that only a third of the book is directed at players, and not all classes get new mechanical fiddly bits.

The realms stuff is new, so it's not like anyone interested in FR but who has any other sourcebook gets nothing out of it; it's not as if they just copied and pasted existing sourcebooks into the first 2/3 of the book. And even those not interested in FR can mine this part for ideas (especially given the narrative style).

As far as sections aimed specifically at players go, I'd say that extends from page 103 through 157, covering races, classes, backgrounds, and the appendix about adapting the classes to other settings (arguably the DM's purview, so you may wish to cull the last 3 pages from that assessment). Not all of that is about 5E mechanics, but that's never really been a great criteria for a book's value. Consider that a full background is typically mechanically 3 small tables, and 2-3 lines of mechanical bits, and over a page of story, setting, lore, and ideas. Only monster manuals typically have really high mechanics-to-fluff ratios, and ones that don't fill in enough descriptive information about the creatures tend to be much less valuable.

On the whole, the book is a bit lighter on crunch than I had expected, but I wouldn't say it is significantly so. Some classes got multiple new specializations, while one or two got none. It just seems a tad insufficient to discount the explicitly-stated main role of the book (as a book of source material for the Sword Coast) in assessing its value.

[Danimal66]

Your points are fair enough but as someone who has planned all his adventures in the Realms for years (I still have my original boxed campaign set) the realms material being new as you put it is not a great value to me as presented. I was hoping for a source book that specifically covered the Sword Coast in more detail. Just taking one example at random Longsaddle which gets a page and a half in the book, which is a lot for a Hamlet.

There is some good information here but there are no stats on any of the Harpells or other families and while I'm going off of memory at this moment I don't even recall if they named individual family members. I was hoping for content of that nature. As you said the book is also marketed at players and that information is good.

I'm not saying to book is bad but I just don't really see it as a $40 value for me to own it in FG at this point. I didn't mean to offend anyone at all.

[TASagent]

Btw, I can see how my comment could be read as defensive - but I promise it wasn't. I was going more for technical and pedantic. Certainly no offense was taken.

I agree that the biggest point of contention will (and should) be over the retail price tag. The main theoretical benefit of bundling the DM and Player stuff into one book is savings, as it means the book can be marketed to a wider audience, significantly increasing the potential sales volume over a traditional DM-focused sourcebook. But I don't see those savings in the retail price. That part is a little disappointing.

[Danimal66]

No worries.

BTW i just saw the picture you posted on twitter the overland map with the pins is very nice.

[TASagent]

That's all Doug. I just make the modules. :)

But thanks!

[brustmlj]

Thank you so much for pointing out there were 2 modules. That was not obvious at first to me. Duh!

[TASagent]

No problem.

This way, the DM can share player-related information with the players without having to also share all the campaign information.