Thanks to the magic of Public Domain, eldritch horror has become pervasive in fantasy, sci-fi, and supernatural horror, and Dungeons & Dragons is certainly no exception. In 5e it’s mostly regulated to a single subclass of the Warlock, The Great Old One. “Those Lost in Madness” adds four new Far Realm-themed subclasses for Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, and Rogue.
The 160+page Guidebook adapts creatures, items, spells, and an entirely new mana-based spell system from Magic: The Gathering into D&D.
A review copy of “Advanced Arcana – Alternative Mana-Based Spellcasting System” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Designed by: Ken Carcas, Justyn Johnston, Luke Monroe
I’ve never been a big fan of Dungeon & Dragons’ unintuitive spellcasting system, with leveled spell slots and having to memorize spells. Give me a universal mana system or simple limited number of uses per day or per encounter any day.
“Advanced Arcana” attempts to translate the mana system from popular collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. This is particular relevant with the still semi-recent release of the official Wizards of the Coast published supplement, Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica, which finally adapted at least some of Magic: the Gathering‘s content into Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition.
But there’s still a lot of room for M:TG content, including its actual magic system. Unfortunately Magic‘s system is also a bit of a pain for different reasons, and combining it with D&D results in needlessly fiddly spellcasting that’s already giving me nightmares of some of the worst gameplay aspects of the card game.
Thankfully the new spell system is only a fraction of the content available in this massive 150+ page guide book. With new magic items, creatures, and even adventures, “Advanced Arcana” is practically the Xanathar’s Guide to Everything: Ravnica Edition.
Venture through a gauntlet of poison and disease in this underground dungeon crawl for 8th level.
A review copy of “Adventure: The Dreaded Tunnels of Ruxabar” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
“The Dreaded Tunnels of Ruxabar” is a straight-forward dungeon crawl for five players around level eight. It’s a 20-page gauntlet through disease-infested caverns, with several modified monsters, tons of environmental hazards and traps, and a few new treasures. It also includes separate VTT-friendly player maps and tokens.
The adventure is very light on role-playing but I enjoyed the overall layout and interesting challenges within the dungeon.
The Waterdeep agents discover a surprise underground dungeon and crime ring during the third heist adventure.
A review copy of “One Shot: Autumn Blues – Waterdeep’s Shadow Heist No. 3” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
“Autumn Blues” is the third one-shot adventure in Christian Eichhorn’s Waterdeep Shadow Heist trilogy, and like the others it’s designed as a straightforward heist mission from the local thieves guild. Unlike the first two adventures, “Autumn Blues” features a surprise underground dungeon as the PCs get the chance to shake down an entire criminal enterprise.
Steal from a visiting noble who has everything to hide in this one-shot heist set in Waterdeep.
A review copy of “One Shot: The Bone Dancer – Waterdeep’s Shadow Heist No. 2” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Although it sounds like the name of a cheesy porno, “The Bone Dancer,” is the second one-shot adventure in Christian Eichhorn’s Waterdeep Shadow Heist series. The PCs are sent to recover incriminating letters from a traveling nobleman at an inn. The twist is that he’s much more than he seems.
Steal a prize ruby from a Waterdeep noble’s mansion during a lavish dinner party in this one-shot adventure.
A review copy of “One Shot: The Great Wyrm Theft – Waterdeep’s Shadow Heist No. 1” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
If you’ve read or watched my review of last year’s Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, you know that one of my complaints was there was no actual bloody heist in the campaign! DMs Guild veteran Christian Eichhorn has designed a series of heists that take place around Waterdeep to help fill this void.
The first in the Waterdeep Shadow Heist series is “The Great Wyrm Theft,” set at a noble’s mansion during a big dinner party. The PCs’ goal is to sneak in, grab a valuable gem and sneak out, before the gem is sold at the end of the evening. It’s a neat setup, though the mansion itself is disappointingly mundane.
Ah, fighters. Stalwart protectors. Can tank and dish out the damage and are BORING AS HELL. Sorry fighter fans. They even got shafted when it came to 5E subclasses, with Battle Master being the only real option (prove me wrong).
“Psyborg: Fighter Subclass” adds a crazy big new subclass for my poor fighter friends, one which instantly makes me sit up and take notice. You may be worried about adding cybernetic – sorry, “psybernetic” -enhancements to your player characters, but the designer smartly uses spells and spell-like abilities featured in other classes to make the Psyborg much more balanced, at the cost of making it a bit less original.
