Free Dungeons & Dragons Supplement Offers Monsters And Spells

[Fanghawk]

Free Dungeons & Dragons Supplement Offers Monsters And Spells

Dungeons & Dragons players don't need to wait two weeks to find monsters and spells from Tyranny of Dragons.

Dungeons and Dragons' Fifth Edition is finally making its way to players, and by and large <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/tabletop/reviews/11897-Dungeons-Dragons-Starter-Set-Review-Dice-Dice-Baby>the response has been positive. The only real downside is that there's still a wait for additional content; <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134601-Dungeons-Dragons-Unveils-Full-Product-Line-Release-Dates-and-Details-Update>we've got another two weeks before the Player's Handbook and first adventure launches, and then another month for the latest Monster Manual. Thankfully, Wizards has released a Horde of the Dragon Queen supplement for the unbeatable price of free, unveiling monsters, items, and spells in advance of the usual release dates.

The supplement is broken down into three sections featuring content from upcoming books. The first contains magical items from the Dungeons Master's Guide like healing potions and the new Bag of Holding, each of which can easily be dropped into a game. Next up are are all the enemy NPCs referenced in Horde of the Dragon Queen, ranging from human assassins and bandits all the way to vampires, griffons, and (of course) dragons. The supplement closes with Horde of the Dragon Queen spells that weren't included <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/tabletop/columns/days-of-high-adventure/11823-Dungeons-Dragons-Basic-Rules-First-Impressions-The-Magic-Is-Back>in the Basic Rules, which should prove useful to players and DMs alike.

Not only does is this supplement a convenient reference for anyone running Tyranny of Dragons, it gives us a taste of rules from future books. Legendary Monster mechanics are listed for dragons and vampires, giving them bonus resistances and the ability to use special actions at the end of another creatures turn. Additional legendary monsters will likely be detailed in the upcoming Monster Manual.

What's most impressive to me however, is that when combined with the Basic Rules, there's more enough to run a full adventure without spending a penny. For a highly anticipated relaunch, I doubt many will complain about that.

Source: <a href=http://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/HoardDragonQueen_Supplement1.pdf>Wizards of the Coast

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[RaikuFA]

But can it help me make a single player experience? We need that.

 

[RainXTN]

They must have pushed up the release date, I went to my FLGS today to grab the starter set and they had both the Player's Handbook and the adventure for sale.

 

[RaikuFA]

They must have pushed up the release date, I went to my FLGS today to grab the starter set and they had both the Player's Handbook and the adventure for sale.

What's a FLGS?

 

[Azahul]

Friendly local game store, usually.

Hehe, I spy a Menofix.

 

[RaikuFA]

Friendly local game store, usually.

Hehe, I spy a Menofix.

Ah, ok. Closest thing to it is a comic shop near my area.

 

[ace_of_something]

But can it help me make a single player experience? We need that.

I don't even... how...

I guess if you read those old "choose your own adventure" books that would be pretty close.

They must have pushed up the release date, I went to my FLGS today to grab the starter set and they had both the Player's Handbook and the adventure for sale.

I have not seen anything saying the release date has been pushed up. http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_playershandbook

What your FLGS is doing is a big no-no. It is a breach of the licensing agreement if a shop sells products before the official release date and they can get fined for license breaches (civil, if the publishers decided to take legal action) but it depends on the circumstances. The town I grew up in had a small shop that got caught doing that and the companies that made the books (it was DC comics FYI) refused to sell to him anymore. So he had to go thru secondary channels which made his prices go way up and he owed them money for breach of contract. Went out of business about a year later after the incident after being open for 19 years.

This was like in 1999 though. I'm sure the licensing agreements have gotten WAY more lax since then... oh... wait...

 

[Sidmen]

I have not seen anything saying the release date has been pushed up. http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_playershandbook

What your FLGS is doing is a big no-no.

(Snip, of course)

There was a limited release on the 8th, I don't know the specifics myself, but it's possible that the shop owner either was allowed to sell (possibly a few) books, or was confused by something. The full release is on the 19th. I suspect the limited release was to get the books in the hands of a few people so that they could generate internet buzz.

Anyway. I just looked through the free PDF supplement in the article. There's a pretty hefty adversary list in there, though it doesn't include any easy way to tell level-appropriateness or encounter design.

What really caught my attention, though, was that two of the adversaries were: "Deer" and "Elk". And no, it really does just mean the animals. When I saw those... just... when would those creatures ever get into a fight with any PCs? I'm really interested in the adventure path just to see how those combat stat blocks come into play.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

I have not seen anything saying the release date has been pushed up. http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_playershandbook

What your FLGS is doing is a big no-no.

(Snip, of course)

There was a limited release on the 8th, I don't know the specifics myself, but it's possible that the shop owner either was allowed to sell (possibly a few) books, or was confused by something. The full release is on the 19th. I suspect the limited release was to get the books in the hands of a few people so that they could generate internet buzz.

Sidmen's right.
There are 'select retailers' authorized to begin selling this week, while others have to wait. I don't know if it's a marketing move or some sort of deal WotC cut with various FLGS, but there's one in my city that's openly selling them as well, and reports from all over the place that it's a coordinated campaign and not someone trying to make an underhanded dollar.

OT: I'm interested to see if the spells here are just copies of the ones from the PHB, or if they've already started introducing new spells.

 

[Sidmen]

OT: I'm interested to see if the spells here are just copies of the ones from the PHB, or if they've already started introducing new spells.

They're supposed to be the spells that aren't in the free Basic pdf, but which are used in the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure. I haven't checked them all, but Barkskin and Animal Friendship are front and center - so basic Druid spells that aren't in the Basic set (which only has Cleric and Wizard spells).

 

[RaikuFA]

But can it help me make a single player experience? We need that.

I don't even... how...

I guess if you read those old "choose your own adventure" books that would be pretty close.

They must have pushed up the release date, I went to my FLGS today to grab the starter set and they had both the Player's Handbook and the adventure for sale.

I have not seen anything saying the release date has been pushed up. http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_playershandbook

What your FLGS is doing is a big no-no. It is a breach of the licensing agreement if a shop sells products before the official release date and they can get fined for license breaches (civil, if the publishers decided to take legal action) but it depends on the circumstances. The town I grew up in had a small shop that got caught doing that and the companies that made the books (it was DC comics FYI) refused to sell to him anymore. So he had to go thru secondary channels which made his prices go way up and he owed them money for breach of contract. Went out of business about a year later after the incident after being open for 19 years.

This was like in 1999 though. I'm sure the licensing agreements have gotten WAY more lax since then... oh... wait...

No EXP in a CYOA book, right?

Plus, no asshole DM's.