D&D 5E The Minsc and Book product

[Leatherhead]

So, two questions:
Why was it taken down?
Anyone know what happens if you had purchased the Print Copy?

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Interesting... I went to check out the reviews and see if there might be any updates, and it's saying "This title is not available". It might just be temporarily down, but there's plenty of room for speculation until (if) it reappears!

(My guess is that they are going to go through and update the stat blocks, which might take a bit as there are a lot!)

Also, interestingly (as it showed up in "other products you may like" on the "product unavailable" page), there's a campaign guide to Rashemen I hasn't heard of before, with Ed Greenwood listed among the contributors...

So, two questions:
Why was it taken down?
Anyone know what happens if you had purchased the Print Copy?

If it was taken down, it's back up. I see it just fine, with the print copies too.

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D 5th Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy (5e) - All proceeds from this journal benefit Extra Life. Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games

www.dmsguild.com

 

[Maxperson]

I love how when you order the book, you can choose to have it delivered by next day air for $111, but it doesn't come for 11-16 working days. Perhaps they don't understand what next day means.

 

[Alzrius]

Apparently it's back up now (affiliate link):

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[cbwjm]

It is a great little product, I still need to really read through all of the lore in the book and have more of a read of the factions, but I did check put some of the stat blocks. I like how Mephistopheles stats are an homage to his 3e stats, he looks like he'd be a beast to fight. The art in the book is top quality, the wolfwere, a monster I'd completely forgotten about, has got to be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen.

 

[BlivetWidget]

Now that I'm actually getting to read through it, the group patron section has a lot of really good stuff if you are wanting to run a campaign with a patron. Instead of generic examples like in Tasha's, it gives some setting-specific (and more specifically, Baldur's Gate and Amn specific) patrons, with some really nice perks.

Probably my favorite part as well (and as you pointed out, easily made setting-agnostic). I feel like I'm having a brain fart though on Candlekeep perks (p34), Arcane Secrets. They have the recipes gated behind Arcana roll bonuses, which quite quickly climb to +12 and +15. Without optional rules (multiclassing or feats) isn't a +11 the best Arcana roll bonus a wizard can get? +5 INT and +6 proficiency? I know the library isn't exclusive to wizards, but it seems weird to have 60% of the list be off-limits to even the most powerful archmage.

(On a side note, I don't know how the Archmage in the MM has an Arcana skill of +13, but "monsters" don't have to follow character creation rules, so I figured they just gave it expertise because they wanted to.)

Let me know what I'm missing here!

 

[Weiley31]

(On a side note, I don't know how the Archmage in the MM has an Arcana skill of +13, but "monsters" don't have to follow character creation rules, so I figured they just gave it expertise because they wanted to.)

Well, it would make a ton of sense for an Archmage to have expertise in their chosen life's work.

 

[Maxperson]

Probably my favorite part as well (and as you pointed out, easily made setting-agnostic). I feel like I'm having a brain fart though on Candlekeep perks (p34), Arcane Secrets. They have the recipes gated behind Arcana roll bonuses, which quite quickly climb to +12 and +15. Without optional rules (multiclassing or feats) isn't a +11 the best Arcana roll bonus a wizard can get? +5 INT and +6 proficiency? I know the library isn't exclusive to wizards, but it seems weird to have 60% of the list be off-limits to even the most powerful archmage.

(On a side note, I don't know how the Archmage in the MM has an Arcana skill of +13, but "monsters" don't have to follow character creation rules, so I figured they just gave it expertise because they wanted to.)

Let me know what I'm missing here!

There's the Skill Expert feat in Tasha's, so they can hit +17 with that. It also doesn't say that Guidance isn't allowed. It just says that you have to have that bonus to find it, though I probably wouldn't allow that given the timeframes.

 

[BlivetWidget]

There's the Skill Expert feat in Tasha's, so they can hit +17 with that. It also doesn't say that Guidance isn't allowed. It just says that you have to have that bonus to find it, though I probably wouldn't allow that given the timeframes.

But like I said, that’s an optional rule, which seems like a strange requirement. I agree with you wrt Guidance, not just because I believe they are looking for a maintainable stat, but also because it’s not a skill check, it’s a stat gate.

Well, it would make a ton of sense for an Archmage to have expertise in their chosen life's work.

It would also make a ton of sense if PC wizards could get expertise in Arcana without optional rules, and yet here we are… I’m just trying to figure out if a PC wizard with base rules is limited to the first few items on the list, or if I’m missing something (seeing a number that high instinctively made me wonder if I'd been calculating stats wrong for years).

 

[Blue Orange]

Next we're going to see a travelogue from the clerk in Pool of Radiance.

(No, we're not.)