Review: Xanathar's Guide to Everything

In spite of not actively playing or running a lot of D&D 5th Edition, I have followed the game line and think that, over all, it's a damn fine outing by Wizards of the Coast. I've been very pleased with their model thus far of releasing only three or four books per year, with the majority of these being long term, large scale campaign adventures. With the exception of the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, there haven't been a whole lot of fiddly bits added on to the material found in the Player's Handbook.

Well, Xanathar's Guide to Everything changes that. Clocking in at 192 pages, it's an even split of player focused material, DM focused material, and new magical spells or items. When this book was announced, I was very, very nervous. Was the clean, easy to digest 5e I'd come to respect going away? Were we going to begin that slippery slope into countless and ever more ridiculous character paths ala 3.X's seemingly infinite spread of prestige classes? In a few more years was I going to need three, four, or even half a dozen different books to make a character that followed the seemingly unavoidable power creep that always seems to slither its way into D&D a few years into each edition?

Well... sorta.

The first 70-some pages of XGtE is new Paths for each class. Fifth Edition D&D already offers a dozen classes and each individual class has two or three paths within it, as presented in the Player's Handbook. The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide offers a handful of others, but their very specific to Forgotten Realms and number no more than half a dozen (as I recall at the moment). To my personal tastes, that's over three dozen options for focusing and defining your character. I don't need, or want more. But, XGtE has 'em because players like an infinite number of options, even if they know in their hearts that these options will never be explored.

That's not to say their all bad. College of the Sword (Bard), Drunken Master (Monk), Cavalier (Fighter), and Swashbuckler (Rogue) are all brimming with flavor. But several just feel... well.. thin on substance, but long on style. Hexblades (Warlocks), Horizon Walkers (Rangers), and Oath of Conquest (Paladin) all find their origins in third edition with the Hexblade class, Horizon Walker prestige class, and Blackguard prestige class. Sure they look cool, but I don't feel like their presence really explores these classes properly. They feel included for the sake of filling up the corners, as it were.

Second, we have a This is Your Life section which consists of a collection of charts where you can randomly generate your character's motivation, ideology, flaws, and background. While this is good for players looking to flesh out their backstory, it's also excellent for DMs looking to make NPCs on the fly. So, sure, it feels kinda standard to have this sort of thing in books of this type these days - but with good reason, I think.

Next, for players we have some new feats. Now, before you go running in terror like I was inclined to do, I have to remind you: Feats are entirely optional in 5e. This is repeated over and over and over again. Also, there's all of two pages of new feats, and all of them are tied to a character's race. They're solid, with both strong mechanical benefits and a flavorful flourish.

The book then moves behind the screen to the Dungeon Master section. It opens with some clarifications on things like simultanious actions, falling damage, sleeping in armor, and other areas of the game that are either ill defined or can easily bog down play if a group decides to debate such things. Having these clarifications helps keep the game moving, but goes against my general philosophy of "Rulings, not rules." Still, worth having if your group is more interested in the details or you're looking for guidance as a new DM.

Now we get into a long exploration of identifying magic items and spells, designing encounters (and by encounters, it seems implicit that they mean combat encounters), and trap design. I was pleasently surprised to see quite a few pages devoted to in-game down time. What exactly are the players doing on the days/weeks/months between adventures? How does this impact play? What if trouble arises because of their downtime activities. I was really pleased with this section and given the general nature of what's described here, it can easily be cannibalized to any d20-based fantasy game. Spend all your time between adventures simply lounging about drinking? Awesome, recover some lost ability score points. Want to hang out and help the local clergy? Fantastic, you get 50% off the next few spells cast to aid you by a cleric of that church, but watch out - you might get drawn into the politics of the faithful. Want to be a pit fighter? You go right ahead, you'll earn renown and glory -- but you might get your ear ripped off in the process.

Magic items get the full court press in XGtE. From crafting them, to rewarding them, to quite a few new ones - there's a lot to chew on. What I like most here is the fact most of the magic items in this book are very, very minor. The Hat of Wizardry, for example, lets you cast a wizard cantrip that you don't know. But if you fail your Arcana check, you can't try again until you rest. Useful, not terribly overpowering, and offering a nod to the old days of Saturday morning cartoons. A personal favorite is the Cloak of Billowing. As a free action, once per round, you can make the cloak billow out behind you so that you look cool. No real mechanical effect - you just look bitchin'.

New spells? Yep. They're there. You knew they were going to be there. I won't go into it, because it's your standard list of "filling in gaps from stuff we had to cut from the PHB" to "WTF? This is strange. Why'd they include that?"

My favorite part of the entire book is Appendix A: Shared Campaigns. It's basically a few pages on social etiquette at the table between players, suggestions for running a Shared Campaign like those found in the D&D Adventurer's League (or as some in the OSR call this style of play, a Westmarches campaign). It gives recommendations on character creation, gear, simplified rules for rewarding level advancement and magic items. It's very much the "Rulings not rules" section of the book and I thought they packed a lot into 3 pages. In particular, I love the "PHB + 1 Supplement" rule when making a new character. By this rule, for Shared Campaigns, you can only make your character using the PHB and optional material from a single other sourcebook. So if you take Bladesinger from Sword Coast, well then you can't take some Elven racial feat from XGtE. It may seem a little arbitrary, but the amount of book keeping that's eliminated by doing this is well worth it in my opinion.

Finally we get charts with metric boatload of NPC names. Useful, but it does feel like filler.

All in all Xanathar's Guide to Everything really does have a bit of everything. You're certain to find something useful in here, whether you're a player or a DM. It ain't cheap, though, and retails for $50, though online retailers often have it cheaper if you don't have an FLGS. Is it worth the price of admission? Well, I'm not really sure. I grabbed mine at a hefty discount from an online retailer, but seeing as I don't actively play a lot of 5e at the moment, had I paid MSRP I'd feel a bit slighted. That being said, if I was actively playing in or running a 5e campaign on a weekly basis, then I think Xanathar's Guide to Everything has enough meat on its eye stalks to make a worthy purchase.

Advanced Labyrinth Lord Cover Image Released

I have a special place in my heart for Labyrinth Lord. It was the game that introduced me to the OSR and it emulates the RPG I fell in love with as a young man. It was the game that turned my local group onto the OSR after years of D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder. I just can't express my affection for this cornerstone of our little community.

For years, Dan Proctor has hinted at one day combining Labyrinth Lord Revised and Advanced Edition Companion into a single glorious tome. Well, if you've been following the forums over on Goblinoid Games or their Facebook community, you know that this fated day is soon to arrive.

Dan Proctor released the cover for Advanced Labyrinth Lord with original art by Joshua Stewart. I'm sold already. The Orcus looming over a trio of adventures as they face off against the Demon Prince while surrounded by a host of undead warriors -- how awesome is that?

Mr. Proctor has already said that he'll be funding Advanced Labyrinth Lord via a Kickstarter which will launch in late November or early December of this year. It will feature some new art, as well as several pieces from the original LL and AEC. I'll be glad to plunk down a few dollars to get my grubby little mitts on what will undoubtedly become my favorite incarnation of Labyrinth Lord to date. So if you'll pardon me, I'll be in the corner fanboying.

Review: Lamentations of the Flame Princess

If you've been in the OSR for any length of time, you've undoubtedly heard of James Raggi IV's Weird Fantasy Roleplaying Game Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Love it or hate it, people talk about the game. It's one I've avoided for a long time, simply because it didn't seem like something that would appeal to me. I dismissed it as gore for the sake of gore, blood and boobs for the sake of gratuitousness. Basically, it seemed like the "Shock Jock of the OSR." After reading it, I'm not sure that's entirely incorrect - but neither is it a fair assessment of the game. Also, one thing I found kind of off-putting was that I always got the impression that the hardcore fans of Lamentations had the attitude of being "too metal for you."

Then I saw +Matt Finch fantastic YouTube interview with James Raggi. To my pleasant surprise Raggi came off as just a dude. He's no nonsense, honest about who he is, what his game is, and what his beliefs are. I really enjoyed complete lack of pretension. Raggi wrote a game that is his ideal version of D&D, nothing more and nothing less. I can really empathize with that, since that's exactly what The Hero's Journey Fantasy Roleplaying is to me.

Well, I by windfall, I got my hands on a copy of the "Rules & Magic" Core Rulebook for LofTP and gave it a read. I figured it was the opposite of what I generally wanted in my RPG, given my inclination for Tolkienesque fantasy and pulp sci-fi. But I do enjoy Lovecraft and Ravenloft, so I tried to dive in with an open mind.

As mentioned by so many other reviews of LotFP, the production values are fantastic. Bold line art, a clean layout and several full color plates create a book that's visually appealing to simply look through. For the most part, LotFP clings closely to it's B/X D&D roots when it comes to mechanics. That being said, it's not afraid to toss out what doesn't work. It uses an ascending Armor Class system and Attack Bonus mechanic for combat, which is my preferred method. (Sorry, guys, Thac0 is just counter intuitive.) Hit Points are pretty standard for most B/X era games, increasing by a certain die type as the character gains levels. The classes are, for the most part, what you'd expect: Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Fighter, and Magic-User. The Thief is replaced by the skill-driven Specialist.

It features a small skill set and a simple d6-based skill check system, which is highlighted in the Specialist class. This thief-replacement is not bound up in the tropes of being a "thief," but is instead exactly what it says: A specialist. The character receives more skills (even from 1st level) than all other classes. These aren't just your traditional "thief" skills either. You can use the specialist to build a ranger, a sniper, a pickpocket, or any other adventuring type of character. It's really well implemented.

Another simple, often mentioned, and major change from B/X to LotFP is that only Fighters increase their Attack Bonus beyond first level. This makes them really unique and gives them a tight role within a party. Also, on a more subtle level, it implies that LotFP is not a game focused on combat. By having one class that's exceptional at combat, it helps remind the group that fighting is not always the way to solve a problem. In fact, fighting is probably a bad idea. Just run!

Magic-Users pretty much run in a fashion similar to B/X, except for a few select spells to evoke that Weird Fantasy feel. Magic is something mankind is not meant to mess with, and those spells hint at that - none more so than the first-level spell Summon. The summoning rules for LotFP are a bit complex, but because the spell itself is meant to be a long ritual likely to be cast in combat, it's not a huge deal. It's complex because the Magic-User does not know what they're summoning, or whether they're going to be able to control it. Generally speaking, reaching into the nether to yank something through will not end well.

While LotFP has no concrete setting there is an implication that it's set designed to be set in an era between the late 15th century to the late 16th century. There are rules for Firearms, Maritime Travel and Combat, Land Ownership and Taxation, and other things not traditionally found in "medieval" fantasy. As a side note, given the game's heavily implied historic context, it feels like non-human classes were included simply as a nod to B/X. They don't quite feel like they fit in with the rest of the game and I think if I was going to run an LotFP game I'd reskin Halflings and Dwarves as something else - maybe Rangers and Tomb Robbers - and not allow Elf PCs. Another nice touch by an implied but not explicit setting is that you can make the game as horror-driven, or not, as is suitable to your individual group - though clearly Raggi wants drive home that things living in dungeons are truly horrible and inhuman and those who dare intrude are genuinely insane.

Then we get to the art. The art in this book is definitely not "family friend," but it does a perfect job of illustrating the style of weird fantasy that Raggi is going for. It's just beautiful to behold in its detail. My favorite piece among the art plates (shown below) is the perfect encapsulation of real-world bravery. The girl in the picture is standing protectively in front of (presumably) her family with her armored father already slain, clumsily holding a heavy sword while tears are streaming down her face. She's absolutely terrified, but she's terrified but still she's putting up a fight. That is bravery. It's just magnificent.

In the end, Lamentations of the Flame Princess is yet another OSR game that I wrote off as something I could just ignore. I did the same with Labyrinth Lord years ago, and avoided Swords & Wizardry for a long time due to my own preconceived notions. You'd think I learned my lesson - because once again, my own arrogance has caused me to ignore a jewel in the OSR that's been staring me in the face for a long, long time.

The final clincher for me was, oddly enough, my wife. She's not an OSR gamer, though she is an RPGer. I showed her LotFP and she was like "I'd play this. This has got a kind of twisted Puritan Fairy Tale vibe to it." My wife is seriously picky about the games she plays, and getting a non-OSR gamer's opinion without all the baggage associated with the controversy and politics surrounding Lamentations gave me an objective opinion from someone I respected.

So yeah, I think I'll be running LotFP some time in the future, much to my own horror and surprise. But then again, isn't that part of what Lamentations is all about?