The A*B*Cs of D&D and The 1*2*3s of D&D
A*B*Cs Hardcover | 1*2*3s Hardcover
Written by Ivan Van Norman
Illustrated by Caleb Cleveland
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Release Date: November 13, 2018

When I found out that Wizards of the Coast was releasing some awesome little storybook style Dungeons and Dragons primers for kids, I had to reach out to them and have some sent so I could review them. For you see, I just became a grandparent!

My little grandson, Braxton, absolutely had to help me with The A*B*Cs of D&D and The 1*2*3s of D&D. I mean, I have to start him off on the right path, right?

Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana: A Visual History
Hardcover | Kindle
By Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer
Foreword by Joe Manganiello
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Release Date: October 23, 2018

This book made me cry. No, I am not exaggerating, I literally shed tears while I read this. Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana: A Visual History is filled with so much gaming history and nostalgia that I found myself wishing I was a teenager again and could structure my weekends around role playing games and close friends. If nothing else, I sat back and enjoyed the flood of great memories that came as I flipped from page to page. It was both a sad and a happy time spent with this massive tome.

Mordenkainen’s Tome Of Foes
Hardcover
D&D Accessory
Wizards Of The Coast
Release Date: May 29, 2018

As almost any tabletop gamer will tell you, game changes and additions will please some and anger others. This is true of technical expansions as well. Knowing this, I took to the shops and chatted with friends regarding the newest Dungeons & Dragons source book Mordenkainen’s Tome Of Foes. I had already heard from a couple of buddies that impressions were polarized after the exclusive release at hobby and game shops on May 18th, with the rest of the merchants shelving it on May 29th. With that in mind, I wanted to take a more critical look at it from the eyes and mouths of other gamers, but of course I will add my own impressions to the review.

Dungeons & Dragons: Evil At Baldur’s Gate #1
Print Edition | Digital
Written by Jim Zub
Art by Dean Kotz
Colors by Stefani Rennee
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Covers by Max Dunbar and Joanna Lafuente, Dean Kotz and Joanna Lafuente, Dean Kotz, Max Dunbar
IDW Publishing
Release Date: April 25, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99

Straight from the hip, there is nothing serious about Dungeons & Dragons: Evil At Baldur’s Gate #1 except that it is seriously fun. Imagine, if you will, that we had a mashup of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon with Teen Titans Go! and it was presented in comic book form. That is essentially what we have here. It’s certainly entertaining, but also, just as certainly, not deep in plot or characters.

Dungeons & Dragons: Xanathar’s Guide To Everything
Hardcover
D&D Accessory
Wizards of the Coast
Release Date: November 21, 2017

Creating magic as they always do, the creative team at Wizards of the Coast has deemed the world worthy of a new guide book. Xanathar’s Guide To Everything is an essential addition to the world’s greatest roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons! And better yet, at least for me, these great folks sent me not just an advance copy but they, in fact, sent me two! One of each cover. But enough of my shameless bragging, let me tell you about this newest release!

This tome is comprised of almost 200 pages of lore, ranging from arcane spells and items to specialization and options within character classes. This is in addition to the additional material presented for Dungeon Masters. In fact, the supplemental book is broken into three primary parts with two additional appendices. So much is packed within these pages that I will probably not even begin to do it justice. Nevertheless, I will do my best.