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: Tomb of Annihilation
Hardcover
D&D Accessory
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Release Date: September 19, 2017

Man, I love Wizards of the Coast. This past weekend I came back from a conference in Orlando to find a package waiting on my desk. I dropped everything and tore the box open to find not just the hardcover Dungeons & Dragons: Tomb of Annihilation but also the companion dice set and a load of stickers and literature for this amazing new adventure! I am including a photo below but hang on for the review as this is one wild ride of a story line!

Dungeons & Dragons: Tales From The Yawning Portal
Hardcover
D&D Accessory
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Release Date: April 4, 2017

It’s always a fine day when I get to review a D&D book. I’m especially excited about Dungeons & Dragons: Tales From The Yawning Portal, as it incorporates classic adventures that have been updated for use with the Fifth Edition rules and guidebooks.

There are a total of seven full-sized adventures and I must admit a couple of them are favorites of mine. Some small adjustments have been made to allow the seven modules to be run consecutively. Imagine having a first-level character and being able to run a campaign that sees them traverse a variety of iconic story lines. It’s enough to make a nerd cry with joy (or at least this one might).

Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeonology
Hardcover
Written by Matt Forbeck
Illustrations by Matt Forbeck
Candlewick Press
Release Date: October 21, 2016
Cover Price: $24.99

Once upon a time, I was the manager of a Waldenbooks. It was a magical time that spanned nearly a decade and included some of the greatest moments of my life. I loved discussing books with my patrons and always made time to introduce people to new authors and genres. But far surpassing all of that was watching children discover a love of reading. Some were encouraged by family while others found it on their own. Towards the end of that era, a new type of book was finding its way onto bookshelves across the land: the ‘Ology series. It started simply enough, appealing to the general public with enough interactive items within its pages that it created a niche with readers. Unabated, this trend has diversified enough that we have been given something I never thought I would see: Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeonology, a Forgotten Realms ‘Ology. If I wasn’t forty-six, I would probably squee with delight.

Nevermind, it happened anyway.

D&D: Volo’s Guide To Monsters
Dungeons & Dragons
Hardcover
Wizards Of the Coast
Release Date: November 15, 2016
Cover Price: $49.95

There are two schools of thought when it comes to expansion books. The first sees extra non-core books as a waste of money or even as a ploy to get them to part with their hard-earned wages, whereas the second is more open-minded and is happy to utilize these extra tomes to enhance and elaborate on their adventures. I have forever been part of this second group, happy to have more text and knowledge to increase the entertainment value of my role-playing games. I presume if you are reading this then you also have an interest in expansion books, since that’s what Volo’s Guide to Monsters perfectly represents. Still curious? Good, I’ve got quite a bit to say about it!

Dungeons & Dragons: Out Of The Abyss
Hardcover
D&D Accessory
Wizards Of The Coast
Release Date: September 15, 2015

Awww, hell. This one’s a doozy! Dungeons & Dragons: Out Of The Abyss is the newest hardbound adventure from Wizards Of The Coast, enabling dungeon masters (DMs) the world over to entrench their players in the Rage Of Demons storyline. But unlike modules in the past (and for past editions), this one can be a true starting point for fledgling characters. In fact, with this campaign setting being in the Underdark, I can almost guarantee it to entice folks to get back into the game and draw in newbies, too. Not familiar with the Underdark? Then let me explain.

I recently was afforded the opportunity to ask a few questions of the folks at Cryptic Studios who are behind the Neverwinter: Strongholds expansion set. But I didn’t get just anyone, I got my answers from Randy “Arkayne” Mosiondz, Senior Content Designer and Loremaster on Neverwinter! Not too shabby, if you ask me. In case you are unaware, Neverwinter: Strongholds is the seventh expansion for the Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms MMORPG published by Perfect World Entertainment. It was released on August 11, 2015 and is all about group participation. Rather than me explaining it, let’s get right down to brass tacks and take a look at the interview, shall we? There’s also a gallery of screenshots below the interview, so peruse those when you’re done!

I don’t know whether to be excited or frightened, but there is a new Dungeons & Dragons movie coming to the silver screen in the near future. I mean, after all, each of the previous films have been lackluster to say the least. Other than that Wrath Of The Dragon God one, which was only kind of myeh.

Now the big deal here is budget, because it looks like Warner Bros. and Hasbro have decided to take this one a bit more seriously than the last ones. There is an entire army of fans out there that are more than willing to shell out some hard-earned cash to see the movie they (we) have all been dreaming about.