WizKids, the company behind Sushi Go and other popular games, has announced a Dungeons & Dragons map-building game called Edge of the Realms: Fields of Faerun. It is a deckbuilding game that will see players draft an?d play cards in a bid to build and connect their maps, go on adventures, and beat opponents.

The game is quick-paced, as everybody plays simultaneously, similar to Sushi Go!, and play finishes after 15 rounds. Edge of the Realms is slated for launch in June 2025 and will appeal to fans of card drafting, high fantasy, and D&D.

As any D&D player will attest to, any good adventure is built on a good map. WizKids has tasked players with creating their own maps in its upcoming title, Edge of the Realms: Fields of Faerun. The game looks to offer simple rul?es,?? fast-paced action, and plenty of scoring opportunities.

The primary game engine is that of card drafting. Initially, players draw map tiles until they have four tiles. Each player then plays a single map card face down. When all players have chosen, the map tiles are turned over simultaneously. This simultaneous play is similar to the way Sushi Go! works, as well as other popular drafting games like 7 Wonders, and it helps ensure? that the game moves quickly and smoothly. After map cards have been played, any completed quests are scored, and players pass their hand to the player on the left.

The game will include more than 100 cards, 50 exploration cubes, quest tokens, five pawns, and a scorepad. The retail price is set at $24.99 and the game is available for pre-order now.

Although it is loosely based on the premise of building a D&D map, players don’t need any knowledge of the D&D system or prior experience o??f the TTRPG game. It will help if participants enjoy the dungeon adventuring setting, but it likely won’t be a dealbreaker.

WizKids was formed in 2000 and is best known for its minis games. Mage Knight is a deck-building game that is heavy on combat an??d has proven especially popular as a solo board game. It is a meaty game with a lot of components, and it can take hundreds of hours to play. It is also slow-paced.

At the other end of the pacing scale, WizKids is also responsible for Sushi Go! In that game, players draft and lay down cards before playing them simultaneously and then passing the deck on to the next player. This conveyor belt system is very similar to the one used in Edge of the Realms, and it helps ensure that games keep up their fast pacing. Slow players are generally encouraged to pick their cards quicker and play sooner. But, where Sushi Go! tasks players with creating the most appealing dishes from a selection, Edge of the Realms has players building maps for adventuring.

Wizkids has a licensing partnership with Wizards of the Coast which enables them to create Dungeons & Dragons-themed games, and they have created themed minis, including new designs to celebrate this year’s 50th anniversary of the TTRPG’s creation. Other related products from the company include book tabs and a Baldur’s Gate-styled game.

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Ten years after the launch of the last version, Dungeons & Dragons will see the launch of the new Dungeon Master’s Guide 2024 on November 12. The creators have said that it will continue fewer stuff DMs don’t need. The 2014 version was considered difficult to understand, even for experienced DMs, but senior D&D game designer James Wyatt has said that this iteration is clearly set out and easier to follow. Even novice DMs, or those making their first move from player to DM, will be able to create adventures dire?ctly from the book itself.

New core rulebooks are usually launched when the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons releases. 2014’s launch coincided with the new 5^th edition. However, 2024’s set is more?? of an update to 5e and not an entirely updated ruleset.

The book is 384 pages long despite containing streamli??ned rules. It contains five ful?l adventures, set in Greyhawk, and tools to make game management and adventure tracking easier.

Although new s?ystems and rules are scant, one new mechanic to be introduced is the Bastion system. Previous versions have discussed the management of a personal keep or other adventurer’s homestead, but the??re have never been any hard and fast rules. The Bastion system changes that.

A Bastion is described as being a stronghold for players and other party members. As well as offering somewhere to rest, bastions also include facilities that can offer buffs and benefits,?? as well as hirelings. Bastions can be customized, and they can even be combined to create massive party headquarters.

The homesteads can be managed at the table, with a bastion turn occurrin??g every seven in-game days, or away from the table. As always, players should confirm this with their DM. Bastio??n events can also happen, which may have positive or negative effects.

??Another new addition to this year’s guide is magic item crafting. To successfully craft items, players must have proficiency in Arcana as well as with the types of tools ?they will use. They also need to know the spell that is relevant to the effect of the magic item.

Crafting does have a gold and material cost, and it ta?kes time. The Dungeon Master may prevent players from crafting certain types or levels of items if it would unnaturally tilt the game in or against the player’s favor. But magic items can be completely customized, including naming the item, and giving i?t a backstory.

Other than these quite significant changes, DMs will als?o find changes to classes, spells, species, and combat. The same updates can also be found in the player’s handbook. Existing adventures might need to have a few tweaks from the original 5e rules to run properly using the new updated version, but the changes shouldn’t be too complicated.  

The new rulebook officially launches on November 12 and is part of the 50^th anniversary celebrations, which have been taking place all year. As well as new core rulebooks, three brand new adventures have been unveiled �Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Vecna: Eve of Ruin, and Quests from the Infinite Staircase.

Wizards of the Coast has also announced a new book entitled The Making of Original Dungeons and Dragons: 1970-1976 which not onl?y includes a timeline of the early development of the TTRPG but also features original artwork.

A D&D Documentary has been produced by celebrity D&D lover Joe Manganiello, and a D&D-themed Lego set will also launch while WizKids is launching new miniatures. The US Postal Service is offering D&D stamps, and companies including Converse will l??aunch commemorative products.

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Wizards of the Coast recently debuted the newest version of Dungeons & Dragons, which has left a lot of players uncertain about their current characters. Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024 Revision (D&D2024) has been presented as an update to the D&D people have been playing since 2014, but the new rules and smaller chan?ges are significant enough to invalidate older content.

Even though we've received the new Player's Handbook, there are a lot of options from the last ten years of sourcebooks that weren't crossed over, with no indication of when, or if, it will be brought into line with the new vision for D&D. Most important in this question is which subclasses are going to be updated, and how long will it take. An intrepid squad of professional game designers, though, decided to take the question into their own hands and give us Subclasses Revivified.

Subclasses are the primary form of player-focused design for D&D. It's how every Bard, Paladin, Wizard, etc are made to be truly different from one another, in design and play style. D&D5e had ten years worth of subclasses divided across i?ts numerous classes, so it only?? makes sense that not all of them were going to be updated into the new book. The demand for people to see their subclass of choice updated would be immense.

Adam Hancock, the editor and project manager for Subclasses Revivified, explained the overwhelming response when putting out an open call for writers, “I think I got four times as many applicants as I had writer positions to fill.�In the end, it was fourteen designers spread across sixty-nine subclasses who were brought together to learn D&D2024's quirks and create something worth playing. Everyone on the project is an accomplished designer, all of whom have done a lot of work on DMsGuild, the Wizards of the Coast-sanctioned design space, including designing their own subclasses. Ashton Duncan, who designed the Paladins for the project, explained, "the team is full of bestsellers and ENNIE-winners."

The designers who spoke to me for this article shared a lot about their design processes. There are about 2,000 words worth of minute design principles I learned about from the team on this project, far more than I feel I could summarize here. Sebastian Yūe, who redesigned several of the Wizard subclasses (including those originally from the Critical Role sourcebook), detailed one objecti?ve for the project, “Adam encouraged us to innovate and to take the opportunity to address pain points with existing subclasses.�

At every turn, Subclasses Revivified announces how much of a labor of love it is, as well as a design challenge. Part of the editing process involved assembling a design document filled with all of the minor changes D&D2024 introduced, while making sure these subclasses matched up to the new subclass design ideals. "I think I read the classes section of the 2024 Player's Handbook dozens of times over the course of the project to learn all the new capitalizations, phrasings, and game terms," Adam explained, also describing, "I slowly assemble??d a?n unofficial style guide that became my 'bible' for all things [D&D]2024."

One universal constant from the team was the intention to continuously update the project. Most of this design work was done referencing the 2024 Player's Handbook, which is only one of three essential books Wizards of the Coast expects players to eventually own. Adam says that Subclasses Revivified is being treated as a "living document" and that "writers can and have made changes to their subclasses and probably will continue to do so in light of new information. And anyone who has already bought the PDF can simply download the latest file version to see those changes." Everyo??ne I spoke to explained their readiness to make changes, but sev??eral expressed their confidence that their subclasses would stand up to scrutiny when the rest of the books were released.

To me, the project is the kind of beacon most people expect out of the D&D tradition for homebrewing, grabbing the game, and making it give you want you really want to play. Homebrew like this feels somewhat essential while we wait to see what Wizards is going to revise or not. Every writer that reached out had varying levels of concern regarding what Wizards would be picking and choosing for updates. Bee, brought on to give us some Bards, expressed his worries, saying “My greater concern is length of time. I wonder how many books WOTC will ask of 2024 DMs to purchase before they catch up to the last decade of materials... In any case, the investment of money and time is infeasible for many, so hopefully, this book remedies that." There remains a lot of uncertainty about what will happen with D&D2024. This project, though, feels like exactly the kind of thing you'd want to see come from a game like this. A fresh, new example of people inventing their own fun in this little game of make-believe we play with shiny math rocks. Expressing a similar thought, Bee told me, “I feel like this is very much the kind of project the DM’s Guild was made for.�/p>

Subclasses Revivified is available on DMsGuild. The main page for the book has a 40-page preview in case you want to browse before you buy. Also, in case you were wondering, my favorit?e subclass is the Arcane Archer, and I'd absolutely use the version they've given me here.

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In the decade since the release of the 5th Edition (5e) of Dungeons & Dragons, the TTRPG landscape has changed, and a surge of new players have come into the hobby from actual plays, podcasts, and media like Stranger Things and Honour Among Thieves.

Accessibility has become a priority to bring new people in, and the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook 2024 is a great example of how a classic TTRPG can still appeal to players who may never have touched a Player's Handbook before.

10. Annotated character sheet

A D&D character sheet can be intimidating to a first-time player, so the Player's Handbook breaks down the sections step by step, with numbers that relate each section to the relevant part of the character creation process. The character sheet in the book al??so has details like whether a spell requires concentration ready to fill in from the class spell list, which simplifies bookkeeping and highlights key mechanics for new players.

9. Class summary page

Even D&D veter?ans might struggle to call to mind every single subclass of the game's history, so the single-page summary of all included classes and subclass??es is useful for everyone. It's particularly helpful for people who might have seen a class being played and want to try it for themselves or have no idea what they want to play and are looking for inspiration.

8. Detailed examples of play

The classic 'example of play' script? can be cringey to read, but it's also a great tool to teach people what to expect at the table. Each section of the script has an explanation of which rules the players are using and how they work, meaning that you can learn as you read. These days, most players are more likely to learn from an actual play, but those can be variable in terms of how complete their mechanical explanations are, so this example of play gets everyone on the same page.

7. Background ability scores

Species ability score modifiers have been optional for some time, but now it is official: no longer are particular species just more suited to specific classes. Instead, ability score modifiers are linked to your character's background, with three abi??lity scores to choose from. While this still provides some limits to spur creative solutions, it encourages player?s to think outside the traditional species + class combo and engage with their character's history.

6. Simplified subclasses

D&D 5e's wealth of subclasses started to become a bit unwieldy when spread across three major books and scattered across others, especially with the sheer number of Cleric domains presented in the original 5e Player's H??andbook and added to over time. The D&D 2024 Player's Handbook has opted to have 4 subclass?? options for every class, and most are simplified to take only half a page, with an inspiring piece of character art on the other half.

5. Visual presentation of concepts

Tabletop RPGs can be hard to wrap your head around for the uninitiated. Unless you've watched an actual play series or you know someone who tells you what the many different kinds of dice are, it can get confusing quickly. The D&D 2024 Player's Handbook uses neat visuals to illuminate some key concepts: one picture demonstrates creat?ure sizes on a grid by using the flagstones under the characters and monsters. Making these connections between mechanics and story early on is a vital step in making TTRPGs accessible to everyone.

4. Feats are for everyone

Feats provide fun ways to differentiate between characters and make great builds, but for the last decade, they ??have been an optional rule where a player can forgo valuable attribute score improvements for the sake of a really cool ability, often one that is more about flavor than mechanical optimization. Now, everyone gets a feat to start with based on their background, which replaces the highly variable background abilities from the original 5e Player's Handbook. While it isn't quite the free-pick paradise I wanted, having?? backgrounds linked to a central set of feats that can be accessed through leveling means that background feats can also be more effective, consistent, and evocative.

3. Rules glossary

This is a common practice in TTRPGs, but it's still extremely good to see such a thorough rules glossary in an easy-to-find place. This also gives us some insights into plans for the future Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual: the term 'Bloodied' originated in 4th Edition D&D to describe a monster having taken half its hit points in damage and is included in the D&D 2024 Player's Handbook,? suggesting we might see the reintroduction of this valuable mechan??ic.

2. Summoned creature stats

The stats for every creature that the players might need to know to play their characters are in the back of the Player's Handbook, from pseudo-dragon familiars to ponies. This quality of life change ??might be more of a concession to the staggered release schedule of the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual (planned for November 2024 and February 2024, respectively) than anythin?g else, but it also happens to be a really neat resource for players.

1. Nuanced class spell lists

It seems obvious, but the addition of schools of magic and a few codes to the class spell lists (representing specific material components, ritual casting, and whether a spell requires concentration) is wildly useful. The ability to scan down your class's spell list with that information ready to hand often makes complex spell management much faster. It will be interesting to see whether this is also true of spellcasters in the Monster Manual, as that would be a boon?? to overworked?? Dungeon Masters!

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Some of the best Dungeons & Dragons moments?? come out of solutions that nobody saw coming. Here's a list of the top te??n magic items that turn one problem into a different, bigger problem.

10. Gambler's Blade (Lost Laboratory of Kwalish)

Gamblers like to push their luck, and none more so than the adventurer wielding the Gambler's Blade. This sword gives a bonus between +1 and +3 to attack and damage rolls, which can be changed every dawn, but it also applies the same bonus to the wielder's death saving throws. On top of that, it has a curse on it that means a character won't want to part with it. The idea of throwing in an item that just sits there, quietly tempting a player without the GM ha?ving to say a word, is particularly delightful.

9. Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments (Dungeon Master's Guide)

This is low on the list because it's ??very controllable, but nobody can deny that being able to create objects of up to 10,000 cubic feet in size is a dangerous power to put in the hands of excitable adventurers. Even with the restriction that? the item cannot cost more than 25 gold pieces, that still leaves a lot of scope.

8. Bag of Devouring (Dungeon Master's Guide)

What if there was a Bag of Holding, but it was actually the maw of an extradimensional monstrosity that will try to eat you if you stick your hand in? The most intriguing part of the Bag of Devouring's description is that any item placed inside that is not animal or vegetable matter is spat out on a random plane of existence. Suddenly, the campaign becomes a jaunt across the planes to recover that vital magic item you accidentally put inside an extradimensional ??monster.

7. Alchemy Jug (Dungeon Master's Guide)

A staple of low-level treasure parcels for the chaotic GM, the Alchemy Jug produces a set amount of a liquid defined by the user. This might seem innocent enough, and acid or poison are doled out only in ounces, but the list of liquids is quite extensive and the amounts generous, including oil, vinegar, honey and beer. The orange and blue jugs from Candlekeep Mysteries add hot tea and soy sauce into the?? mix. Personally, I don't like to imagine what most of my adventuring parties would do with two gallons of mayonnaise.

6. Bag of Tricks (Dungeon Master's Guide)

This in?nocuous-looking bag has only one thing in it: a small fuzzy object. As soon as a character?? throws the fuzzy object, it transforms into a random animal from a selection of animals. This creature is friendly, as long as you command it to do things, but as soon as you stop, it reverts to its nature and while it might like you, you might also end up with up to three giant elks or dire wolves trampling through the environment and chasing down local wildlife until the next dawn.

5. Dodecahedron of Doom (Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage)

Anyone who starts throwing the Dodecahedron of Doom around is asking for trouble, but that's part of the fun! A great little item for those characters who like to chuck a magical grenade into a room and hope that everything will be fine, the Dodecahedron of Doom is a twelve-sided mechanical object that can heal, harm?, or just glow. The Dodecahedron does not discriminate between friend and foe. Like the die the player rolls for the effect, the magic item cares not.

4. Ring of Three Wishes/Luck Blade (Dungeon Master's Guide)

These items both give play??er characters access to the notoriously tricky spell, Wish. The Wish spell is a 9th level conjuration that gives very powerful options to player characters. They can negotiate for a larger Wish too, with greater negative consequences if it goes dramatically wrong. These items have the power to reshape reality? and propel people through time, and any adventuring party worth their salt is going to use them for all they are worth.

3. Bag of Beans (Dungeon Master's Guide)

This isn't your gran's Jack and the Beanstalk. This bag of 3d4 dried beans might look humble, but even one bean could reshape the entire landscape. Dumping the ent??ire bag on the ground makes everything in a 10 foot radius explode with fire. The d100 table of random effects from planting any one bean includes a beer geyser, a massive pyramid containing a mummy lor?d and, of course, the classic beanstalk to the clouds with a cloud giant's castle at the top. It begs the question: what happens if you eat them?

2. Eye and Hand of Vecna (Dungeon Master's Guide)

Artefacts of one of the most famous villains in all DnD, the Eye and Hand of the lich Vecna were all that were left after his climactic battle with his former ally Kas. Anyone who wishes to attune to these artefacts must replace their own hand and eye with Vecna's. Attuning to both body parts allows the bearer access to an impressive range of spells, plus fun extra benefit??s like access to the Wish spell every 30 days and the ability to turn people's skeletons to jelly. Such terrible power comes with a terrible price, however, as the hand and eye attempt to take control of the bearer every time they are used to cast a spell.

1. Deck of Many Things (Dungeon Master's Guide)

Infamous as one of the most chaotic items in DnD, the Deck of Many Things is a deck of magical cards with the power to completely change a campaign's direction. The majority of these decks only have 13 cards, but some very special decks have 22. The most common decks of 13 cards still hold the power to change a character's destiny, from tangible rewards like expe?rience points, unusual magic items and a single use of the Wish spell to terrible doom, like your soul being trapped in a soul jar in the possession of a powerful being. The storied 22-card decks can cause alignment shifts, additional levels, and even the ability to change?? one event in history so it never happened. The Deck of Many Things is a perfect way to shake things up in a stale campaign.

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Dungeons & Dragons is currently at the peak of its popularity and shows no signs of slowing down. The brand isn't mer?ely unstoppable on the plane of tabletop RPGs but als?o doing incredibly well on even the most unlikely of entertainment fronts.

Critical Role, a show composed of very long episodes where you watch a party play the classic board game while embodying their characters, is one of the biggest things ever on Twitch. The people behind Stranger Things, one of the most successful TV series ever, don't even bother hiding that they borrow more lore straight out of D&D than they create their own. Baldur's Gate 3 is basically a video game adaptation of the tabletop RPG �well, do I even need to talk about its success?

With all that, I think Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the movie adaptation of the popular brand, exists in an absolutely bizarre place. It sports this hugely popular brand name and was very well-liked �if not loved —by most people who saw it. And yet, it still failed to break even at the box office.

Over a year after its release, and in a time when even most great movies can perform awfully at the bo??x office, I'm having trouble handling all the hopeful headlines about sequels that we want but that n??o studio would want to make right now. So, let's look back on this should-be Blockbuster in the beaut??ifully delusional hopes of kickstarting the wave that will one day turn this tide.

Why Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is special

One of the things that might prevent you from engaging with a work of classic Fantasy is the innate fear of drowning in a sea of overly serious lore. Lord Of The Rings did a service to the world of fiction ?in general, but they aren't for?? everyone.

Dungeons & Dragons writers John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Michael Gilio knew that. They also knew that one of the best things about D&D is how it allows players to use their imagination, which will inevitably bring about hilarity. Despite not being a comedy, Honor Among Thieves is funnier than anything that ??came out that year.

Just as importantly, ??it also understands fantasy. Much of the film's effica?cy stems from stellar writing and directing but also from the magic of whatever wizard put this cast together.

Chris Pine's Edgin Darvis is one of the most interesting protagonists I've seen. He's the conventionally handsome protagonist, but he has to make up for his hilarious lack of combat skills with charm, wits, and pathos. Whi??le he's the movie's emotional core, none of the other cast members fall far behind.

You can tell the filmmakers were incredibly confident in their cast and writing. Midway through the movie, they introduce a character who's funnier (and, arguably, hotter) than anyone else in the movie, keep him around for a couple of scenes, and then let him go off?? on his own. Did they do that to flex on the audience? I don't know, but I'd believe it �and love them for it.

The action is also awesome, courtesy of some spectacular choreography and stunt work that a lesser movie would have ignored in favor of CGI. Honor Among Thieves could've quickly fallen into the fantasy pitfall of making everything CGI, but it avoids it. The final act felt especially satisfying in how it employs CGI, ?dividing its use between a few segments. It manages not to take your attention away from the characters and the journey at hand.

You can see a lot of love was put into this beautiful blend of CGI, neat and cozy sets, and impressive puppet and animatro?nic work. They used every trick in the book to make the movie work and keep moviegoers wondering how they achieved many of their special effects.

When all is said and done, the movie's winning formula is simple: equal parts heart and laughter, but we all know damn well just how hard that simple mix is to pull off. The ensemble antics of Honor Among Thieves might have learned some lessons from the original Guardians Of The Galaxy, but I'd argue that it's p?robably an even better movie than its teacher.

I've been careful not to spoil any plot element, but I assure you that the plot of both films plays nothing a?like. The influences here are all about the group'??s dynamic and have nothing to do with the progression of the plot. Even though it's not an entirely original film, it still provides a wildly original and spectacular take on a formula many feared cursed �and for a more or less understandable reason.

Honor Among Thieves isn't the first attempt at a Dungeons & Dragons film, and let me tell you, the original one was bad. Is the original D&D movie the reason why people of my age and above steered clear from Honor Among Thieves?

I'll admit it: that original film is the reason I resisted the clear allure of Honor Among Thieves. However, I didn't resist for long, especially not after I realized that Honor Among Thieves has absolutely nothing to do with whatever that thing was.

Perhaps the most significant sign of Honor Among Thieves' quality, though, is that you just read glowing praise about a Dungeons & Dragons movie from someone who's otherwise unable to stand Dungeons & Dragons. Yes, I concede that?? my predicament is? weird and for reasons well beyond the obvious.

I love board games in general. I'm fond of other tabletop RPGs like Vampire: The Masquerade, and I even adore many D&D-based video games, such as Knights Of The Old Republic. There's just something about having to fill out character sheets and come up with a backstory that kills any interest I might have, even before the first dice roll. You really don't want me to join your party unless you want the company of a Tortle Bard or s?omething even ?dumber than that.

You can watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on Netflix or Amazon, and you have my bles?sing to join me on my quest to promote this marvelous movie. You can even try to be more annoying than I just was when you bring it up in conversation with your friends today.

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If every school were magical, no child would ever complain about having to go. The idea of a school where aspiring mages can learn the ins and outs of magic is raw fuel for the imagination, and many fantasy series have taken a crack at it over the? years.

I’ve read many fantasy books and watch????ed a lot of fantasy shows that feature magical schools. From this experience, I’ve learned to judge a magic school by how well it incorporates its world’s magic system into its curriculum. There’s a magical school for every flavor of fantasy buff, but here are the ten that, in my opinion, stand above the rest.

10. Death Weapon Meister Academy (Soul Eater)

In Atsushi Ohkubo's Soul Eater, certain people can transform into sentient weapons, while others can channel the power of their souls into those weapons. Recognizing these parings' potential, the Grim Reaper stepped into the world of the living and built an academy to train so-called "Deat??h Weapons" and "Meisters" to become witch-hunting warriors.

Death Weapon Meister Academy embodies the unhinged wacki?ness that defines Soul Eater; the headm?aster is a cartoonish skeleton, the list of teachers includes a mad scientist and a zombie, and the students are all shades of crazy. Oh, and an ancient evil god is imprisoned in the basement.

9. The Little Palace (Shadow and Bone)

Unlike most other nations in?? the unnamed world that Leigh Bardugo's "Grishaverse" is set in, the kingdom of Ravka does not persecute the element-manipulating Grisha. Instead,?? it forces them to serve as magical soldiers in the kingdom's military, and their version of basic training goes down in a gothic castle known as the Little Palace.

Despite its name, the Little Palace is massive and lavish. The students live in luxurious dorms with round-the-clock access to an expansive library and an idyllic private lake. Of course, all of this luxury comes at the cost of becoming warriors expected to fight and die for the country that'?s going against the world's grain by tolerating their existence.

8. Beacon Academy (RWBY)

Nightmarish, emotion-s??melling b??easts known as "Grimm" have plagued the world of Remnant for most of its recorded history. Recognizing the danger that the Grimm pose to humanity, the world's nations have all founded "Huntsman Academies," which train young men and women to become Grimm-slaying Huntsman and Huntswomen.

Beacon Academy is the primary setting of RWBY's first three seasons, and it's an impressive establishment with an expansive campus, cozy dorms, and an arena where the students can practice their skills on captive Grimm. Unfortunately, its security is pretty shoddy, failing to stop a long string of infiltrations that pave the way for a Grimm invasion that reduces the school to rubble in the season three finale?.

7. Strixhaven School of Magic (Magic: The Gathering)

Nestled within the Plane of Arcavios, Strixhaven School for Magic is the focal point for the eighty-seventh expansion of ??Magic: The Gathering. The school also became a campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons after the Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos mod??ule book hit store selves.

Strixhaven splits its curriculum into five colleges dedicated to st?udying different magic types. The school’s faculty is composed of powerful mages, with the headmaster of each college being a mighty dragon. Student life doesn't slouch either, with the school hosting various magically enhanced extracurricular activities. Anyone who's played A Curriculum of Chaos might also know that the school's dating scene is equally robust.

6. The Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy, from Magicians

Like Harvard, Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy is older than the United States. The only officially accredited school for magic in Lev G?rossman's The Magicians, Brakesbill is one of the most grounded portrayals of a magical school you'll find, for better or worse.

Brakebills has many of the standard amenities that define a magic school, but what sets it apart from others is how it's plagued by many issues that impact secondary education in the real world. From unfair expulsions to tuition, Brakebills proves that not even magic can remove all of the humdrum of mode??rn education.

5. Strange Academy (Strange Academy)

The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters might be Marvel's most famous school, but Strange Academy has it beat in quite a few ways. Founded by Dr. Strange and situated in bea???utiful New Orleans, Strange Academy is where the Marvel universe's next generation of sorcerers and sorceresses learned the tricks of the arcane trade.

With many of the Marvel universe's greatest mages serving as teachers and classes about astral projection ?and inter-dimensional summoning, Strange Academy is anything but standardized. The school's student body is just as diverse as its curriculum, with humans, fairies, demons, and giants living in relative harmony in its dorms.

4. The Island of Roke (Earthsea)

Magic is a language in Earthsea that a lucky few are born with the ability to comprehend. But a basic understanding isn't enough to complete the "conversations" that allow one to cast a spell. One of the few places a wizard of Earthsea can le?arn to speak the tongue of magic is the Island of Roke.

Situated near the heart of the archipelago, the Island of Roke is home to Earthsea's only school for wizards. Archmages of ??every form of magic serve as the school's instructors, and it even has a mysterious final exam that every student must pass before becoming a fully-fledged wizard.

3. Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

In Percy Ja?ckson and the Olympians’s version of reality,  the Greek gods are real and love to have kids with mortals. Once these demi-gods come of age, they're whisked away to Camp Half-Blood, a secret training camp where the wise old centaur Chiron teaches them to fight monsters.

As its name implies, Camp Half-Blood is a summer camp, not a traditional school; the kids stay in cabins, do outdoor activities like archery, and roast marshmallows by campfire once the sun goes down. However, Camp Half-Blood is still an educational institution, and its magical, anti-monster barriers make it a fa??r safer place for demigods than a regular school could ever be.

2. The Unseen University (Discworld)

Terry Pratchett's Discworld is one of the funniest fantasy series ever written, and that inherent light-heartedness rings loudest in the halls of Uns??een University. Nestled in the heart of the great city of Anhk-Morpork, Unseen University is the living embodiment of arcane academia–or at least it would be if the professors weren't a bunch of inept, out-of-touch boomers.

The unhinged antics of the Unseen University's faculty and students are some of the Discworld saga's major overarching plot points, and?? seeing these accomplished and aspiring wizards flounder about never stops being funny. With that said, whenever a great evil threatens the people of Discworld, Unseen University ??is always one of the first forces to rise against it.

1. Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry (Harry Potter)

I have many issues with Harry Potter, most of which I had long before J.K. Rowling made comments about sections of the LGBTQ+ c??ommunity that I find appall??ing. However, I can't den??y that Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is a fa??ntastic magical school.

Hogwarts has just about everything a magical school needs: a staff of talented teachers overseeing classes on anything a?nd everything mystical, transformable architecture, and outdoor areas where magical creatures roam free. What else can I say? There’s a reas??on why this misty, ocean-locked castle is the first thing most people think of when they hear the words “magic�and “school�back-to-back.

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With the huge range of DnD domains available thes?e days, clerics are more than just the party healer. Unfortunately, not all domains are made equal. We'?ve ranked our top ten cleric domains so you can build your cleric with the confidence that your character is going to be the holy buddy your party needs!

10. Arcana (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide)

Arcana has some neat little benefits, like a flexible set of adventuring spells and the ??ability to turn creatures from other planes rather than just undead, but the tastiest bit of this subclass is ending spells on your allies when you heal them. Vital in certain circumstances, a bit underwhelming in ?others.

9. Tempest (Player's Handbook)

The Tempest domain has synergy built straight in with a strong damaging spell list, heavy armour and martial weapon ?proficiency, reactive damage, and buffs to the damage of your lightning and thunder attacks. The only disadvantage for a damage-dealing cleric build is that the Tempest Domain strikes just one (thunderous) note, which means that any time you fight something resistant or immune to thunder and lightning, you’re going to be left with very little to do.

8. Trickery (Player's Handbook)

The Trickery domain is...well, a tricky one. It has some incredibly useful abilities if you want to be a sneaky backstabbing assassin, such as creating a perfect illusion of yourself or turning invisible for a turn. Unfortunately, a lot of those struggle to keep up with other subclasses that build sneaky backstabbers better. That said, strong spell choices for a sneaky party and the ability t??o give other people an advantage on Stealth checks make the Trickery domain a fun addition to the cleric.

7. Light (Player's Handbook)

For sheer dama?ge dealing as well as a decent range of utility spells, the Light Domain cleric might spark your interest. With a spell list normally reserved for the most explosive of sorcerers and evocation wizards, a defensive flare that can eventually be used to protect other people, and a tasty 2d10 radiant damage in an area from their Channel Divinity power, the Light Domain cleric is a good fit for a more aggressive cleric bui??ld.

6. War (Player's Handbook)

The War domain is a strong choice for a one-cleric army, with the same heavy armor and martial weapon proficiency as the Twilight and Tempest Cleric, plus spells like shield of faith and spiritual weapon. Being able to attack as a bonus action is a stro??ng element of this domain, as well as providing a big bo??nus to attacks for you and your allies. With a pick of any martial weapon, Divine Favor, and an eventual +1d8 damage to weapon attacks at 8th level, the War cleric is versatile and makes the most of the action economy.

5. Life (Player's Handbook)

This is the pure healing build and it definitely delivers. The massively increased efficiency of healing makes the most of your spell slots and heavy armor proficiency adds survivability with its heavy armor proficiency. This is a cleric in its most archetypal form, with a spell selection that includes some buffing gems like beacon of hope and bless. Take this if you want a classic cleric build that the whole party will be grateful? for.

4. Order (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)

Order clerics play into some of the tropes embodied by the 4th Edition warlord, focused on giving allies opportunities and tactically negating enemies' agency to retaliate. Their Voice ?of Authority ability allows allies to make a weapon attack as a reaction after the cleric has cast a spell of 1st level or higher on them. On top of that, they can cast enchantment spells to control the minds of enemies as a bonus action rather than a full action, which gives them an unparalleled ability to control the battlefield.

3. Grave (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)

The domain of the Grave is a welcome change in the vibe for the Cleric, forcing them to walk the line between maximising their healing and risking a full party wipe. Sentinel at Death's Door is a really excellent way to manage the swingy nature of DnD when it comes to unexpected critical hits on player characters, and your p?arty will definitely thank you for it. Path to the Grave and Circle of Mortality help when things get dire, and the spell list is great fun for a slightly more necromantic tone.

2. Peace (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)

Peace Domain clerics focus on buffing and passively healing their friends with localised passive healing and small dice bonuses to their bonded companions that apply to attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. ?1d4 might seem like a small buff, but? with DnD's principle of Bounded Accuracy, it can make the difference between success or failure. At 6th level, you can even get your friends to intercept attacks with a teleport. They also have one of the strongest protective and healing spell loadouts on this list.

1. Twilight (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)

A domain so strong that it is banned in some games, the Twilight Domain cleric has a huge stack of be?nefits such as a huge Darkvision radius (which they can also grant to other people), the ability to grant advantage on initiative rolls, and an area of regeneration that makes the whole party vastly more powerful than most. It's a shame that th?is is such an obvious choice because it could easily be toned down while still keeping the unique flavour of this versatile subclass.

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One of the greatest villains of Dungeons & Dragons is Vecna, a lich god with dimension-spanning cults and body parts so evil they corrupt anyone who finds them. Originating in the Greyhawk setting, Vecna has proven to be such a popular villain that his influence has extended to the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft and even other media like Stranger Things. For DnD's 50th anniversary, it seems only fitting that this world-spanning campaign book, Vecna: Eve of Ruin, puts the Arch-Lich front and centre.

Eve of Ruin is a campaign that takes characters from levels 10 to 20 where the majority of published campaigns focus on lower-level characters. While starting at 10 might be less accessible, it does give Dungeon Masters a great opportunity to work with some of the higher-level monsters. For players, it is a chance to use those fabled level 17 abilities that seem like an unattainable dream for most groups. Eve of Ruin also contains advice for starting characters at 10 for the adventure or adapting existing characters, and there are optio??ns to scale the adventures up and down a little for d??ifferent levels.

Eve of Ruin is more than just a greatest hits collection of settings and cameos. It is packed with evocative adventures in different worlds where the characters face devious puzzles, shocking twists and even gain access to a unique mechanic unavailable in other games. To discuss it any further requires a certain degree of spoilers, and if you're planning to play Eve of Ruin, I'd recommend sto?pping here, as the twists are worth waiting for.

In Vecna: Eve of Ruin, a simple investigation into a group of missing nobles in the Forgotten Realms city of Neverwinter throws the player characters into a world-hopping adventure to stop Vecna from reshaping reality itself to make his perfect new world. At the centre of this campaign is the eternal struggle between Vecna and his former ally Kas, now a powerful vampire lord in his own right. Kas himself is a figure who looms large across the book and this campaign is a great opportunity to dramatise the conflict between these two legends. Along the way, Eve of Ruin brings in fan-favorite figures like Lolth, Mordenkainen, Tasha, Strahd and the Lord of Blades. It may not be a game for starting players, because of the added complexity of characters at 10th level and above and the amount of backstory this campaign evokes. Nevertheless, it is a fun way to play in every setting at once. I was very happy to see my personal favourites, Ravenloft, Eberron and Planescape, interacting with the core Forgotten Realms in a way tha??t I hope brings newer players into those fantastic worlds.

Eve of Ruin introduces a unique mechanic through the player characters' links to Vecna himself: secrets. Vecna is gathering all the secrets he can to empower his act of creation, and the characters can expend the secrets they learn along the way to give the whole party advantage on d20 rolls for 1 minute. It is a thematically-interesting way to explore the link with V?ecna, and encourages the characters to spend time with every NPC.

Each adventure takes place in a different setting, and this is where its limitations start to show. Adventures with rich and complex ongoing stories at their heart are highly rewarding for DMs and players, but they can quickly unravel as soon as the players start to express their agency. By dragging the characters from world to world, the adventure needs to be at least partly on rails. Some groups may balk at the fact that they are forcibly teleported right from the first adventure. The revelation about Mordenkainen in Chapter 2 is a highly dramatic moment, but trying to manage it in the face of player ingenuity could be tricky, especially for a less experienced DM. Despite these small objections, Eve of Ruin is clearly a labour of love. Each individual chapter is stuffed full of setting details, NPCs, and puzzles that make Eve of Ruin a meaty and satisfying campaig??n. A worthy celeb??ration of the greatest lich who ever liched.

[_{This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.}]

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The Warforged were introduced to Dungeons & Dragons as part of the Eberron setting, but players with cooperative DMs have pushed them i?nto just about every kind of campaign �probably because being a robot is awesom?e. 

The Warforged are living constructs, and in Eberron, they were originally created to be soldiers. Since they have a wide range of skills, Warforged have taken on other roles over time, and they can fit into just about any class. There’s almost no downside to making your ch??aracter a Warforged, and as long as you know what you’re getting into, you can become the heroic robot of your dreams. 

What traits do Warforged get?

Before coming to 5E in Eberron: Rising from the Last War, the Warforged were released as an Unearthed Arcana â€?essentially a beta for D&D. There are some differences between the UA version of the race and the one that’s now part of the official ruleset, but Warforged is still an incredibly? powerful canvas that players can use to create all kinds of different characters. Here are the base stats and traits for a Warforged? character: 

• Ability Score Increase: Warforged get +2 to Constitution and +1 to any other ability score.
• Age: Most Warforged are between two and thirty years old, but the creatures are immune to magical aging effects and are, in general, immortal.
• Alignment: Warforged usually default to a lawful neutral alignment, but their alignment is often dictated by their creator.â€?of the beings with which they served.
• Size: Medium 
• Speed: 30 
• Constructed Resilience: Warforged have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned and resistance against poison damage. They also are immune to disease and don’t need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. 
• Sentry's Rest: Instead of a typical long rest, Warforged must remain inactive for six hours. They can’t move, but they also don’t lose consciousness and retain the ability to hear and see. 
• Integrated Protection: Warforged get a +1 to Armor Class. They can only wear armor that they are proficient with, and to put on or remove armor, they must spend 1 hour incorporating it into their construct bodies. As a nice trade-off, no one can remove a living Warforged’s armor against their will.  Your body has built-in defensive layers, which can be enhanced with armor.
• Specialized Design: Warforged get one skill proficiency and one tool proficiency of your choice.  
• Languages: Warforged can speak common and one other language of your choice. 

What are the Warforged subraces? 

In D&D 5E there actually are no Warforged subraces in the official version of the race. Warforged are strong enough on their own that they don’t really need the support of a subrace, but there were some different subrace o?ptions when War??forged were still just an Unearthed Arcana. 

• Envoy - These were meant to be the multipurpose Warforged and got +1 to two different ability scores. 
• Juggernaut - These were the clear melee Warforged and got +2 to Strength.
• Skirmisher - These were the roguish Warforged and got +2 to Dexterity. 

If you have an extreme??ly cooperative DM, you might be able to convince them to let you play the Unearthed Arcana version of the Warforged. Don’t worry about it, though, because the official version is plenty? flexible enough to fit any type of character you might want to build.

What are the strongest classes for a Warforged? 

Warforged is one of the least restrictive races in all of D&D 5E. The stats and features that come with being a Warforged are broadly usefu??l, which means you can slot a robot into just about any class.

The +2 boost to Constitution means that Warforge??d make excellent melee characters, and you can’t go wrong with a Fighter or a Barbarian. At the same time, every character is going to benefit from more Constitution, so you can use that +1 to an ability score as a way of shaping your Warforged into a caster. 

D?o you want your Warforged to be a misguided wizard’s c?onstruct with high Intelligence? Or maybe a Warlock that found life thanks to a deal with a devil? My personal favorite build is Warforged Druid, which lets me live out my inner magical Transformer fantasies. In the game, as in the story, Warforged are meant to be shaped by their creators. 

The post A??ll DnD Warforged 5e subraces, classes, and stats, explained appeared first on Destructoid.

Friendship is magic!

Warlocks are one of the most customizable Dungeons & Dragons class??es, with a patron at level 1 and the actual subclass (the all-important Pact) at level 3. While patron choice has a huge impact on the flavor of your warlock, the mechanical meat of this layered and rewarding class lies in your choice of Pact.

I've been using this Pact of the Chain build in my own game, and I can thoroughly recommend it! The Pacts all have their own playstyles to recommend them, and the Pact of the Chain might seem underwhelming at first glanc??e, as wizards already get the find familiar spell. However, the warlock familiar is an entirely different animal?. Quite literally.

The Pact of the Chain allows the warlock to cast the find familiar spell as any run-of-the-mill wizard can, but while most find familiar spells can only summon a fairly ordinary creature, albeit a magical version, Pact of the Chain warlocks can choose their familiar from imps, pseudodragons, quasits, and sprites ins??tead. My personal favorite is the psuedodragon, for reasons I'll come to soon.

All familiars have their own in??itiative and can take a move and an action (such as the Help action to give the caster an advantage on their attacks against that target). Pact of the Chain familiars, unlike ?other familiars, can be commanded to attack by their pacted warlock, but the warlock must give up their own action to give their familiar an attack on the warlock's initiative. Luckily, the Investment of the Chain Master invocation from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, allows you to use your bonus action to attack with your familiar.

The other key part of this build is that the Investment of the Chain Master means that whenever your familiar forces an enemy to make a saving throw, it uses your spell save DC instead of its usual saving throw. This is where the pseudodragon shines compared to the other familiars: its sting attack has ver?y limited damage but forces its victim to make a Constitution saving throw using the warlock’s spell save DC for the saving throw. If the target fails the saving throw, they become ?poisoned for an hour, which imposes a disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks, and if they fail by 5 or more, they immediately fall unconscious.

What this means in practice is that the familiar ca?n move within 5 feet of an enemy on its turn and use the help action to give the warlock an advantage on their next attack against the target. The warlock can use their bonus action to command the pseudodragon to attack the target. The warlock then has their own standard action free to make an attack with an advantage on the target from the help action or cast another spell.

This has some potential weaknesses: if the pseudodragon gets taken out (which did happen to my warlock's familiar during an early adventure), your combat ability is somewhat ham?pered, though you still always have ?your spells. Luckily, Pact of the Chain warlocks can use their reaction to give their familiar resistance to the damage it just took. Look after your familiar and it will look after you!

You can also use any familiar to deliver touch-range spell attacks on your turn with your attack modifie??r rather than theirs, so you may wish to consider taking the Magic Initiate feat for the Sorcerer and gain the Shocking Grasp cantrip, as Sorcerers use Charisma for their ??spell attacks.

Warlock Pact of the Chain Build

Attributes: High Charisma (vital for?? any Warlock �put your highest attribute score in Charisma and ideally take a species bonus to Charism??a). Other attributes are very much up to you.

Patron: Patrons that provide access to spell attacks such as Scorching Ray from the Fiend or the Genie, or the Tentacle o??f the Deep from the Fathomless, or touch spells? such as Cure Wounds from the Celestial, have slightly better synergy with this build.

Invocations (level 2): Agonizing Blast and another invoc??ation that you will replace at level 3 with Investment of the Chain Mas?ter.

Pact (level 3): Pact of the Chain with the pseudodragon.

Spells: Eldritch Blast is the real favorite here, as it is a ranged spell attack that you can use in conjunction with your ?familiar's help action. For your othe??r cantrip, Mind Sliver subtracts 1d4 from the target's next saving throw, making them more vulnerable to your pseudodragon's poison.

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When people approach Dungeons and Dragons for the first time, there are usually a few characters that players look to try out. Some want to play a tricky rogue, stabbing both enemies and their own party members in the back. Some want to be Barbarians, swinging the largest weapon a DM can homebrew into as many goblin faces as possible. Still, the class that I would wager is the most?? popular beginner class is the Wizard.

Wizards call upon t??he elements to smite their foes, using hard-earned knowledge to speak to some power deep within the rules?? of the world. And then you get to take that power and turn it into a big ball of fire and chuck it at people. That's baller. 

For those new to DnD, don't fear. This guide will go over the basics of a Wizard's stats and subclasses so that you can be the exa?ct kind of Wizard you want to be. Further guides will go in-depth into each subclass, but for beginners, let this serve as a starting point. 

Basic Wizard Features

Hit Dice and Max HP

Wizards are the quintessential glass cannon class. Wizards have hit dice equal to 1d6 + Wizard level. This means ?that Wizards start the game with 6 + the character's Constitution modifier maximum HP at level 1, and gain 1d6 + Constitution modifier maximum HP every level after. This is tied with the Sorcerer class for lowest hit dice, comp??ared to a class like Barbarian that has a hit dice of 1d12.

General Stats

Wiza??rds use Intelligence as their primary spel?lcasting modifier, making it the most important stat. How this works is that Wizards use spells that use a Spell Attack Modifier or force enemies to beat their Spell Save DC, which grows stronger with your intelligence. The calculations for both are listed here: 

• Spell Save DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Intelligence modifier
• Spell Attack Modifier = proficiency bonus + Intelligence modifier

As such, Intelligence should always be the stat that y?ou should focus on making the highest. 

Constitution is also important, as it helps boost your max health, and helps Wizards maintain their concentration on spells when needed. Other stats are generally less important but may be more or less important based?? on the Wizard's subclass, discussed later. 

Proficiencies

Wizards have no armor proficiencies, reinforcing their role as glass cannons. They also have limited weapon proficiencies, only able to wield daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, and light crossbows with proficiency. This makes it so that Wizards must rely on their spells for damage. They are proficient in saving rolls against Wisdom and In?telligence and can choose to be proficient in two of these six skills: Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, and Religion.

Spellcasting and the Spellbook

The obvious draw of the Wizard is their wide array of spells. At level one, a Wizard knows three cantrips, cheap repeatable spells that can always be used, and six level-one Wizard spells, all of which are kept in the Wiz?ard's spellbook. As Wizards level up, they will continue to gain more spells of higher levels, all of which can be stored in the Wizard's spellbook.

However, a Wizard doesn't have ??access to all these spells at once. Wizards can prepare a spell list containing Intelligence modifier + Wizard level spells to cast. The list can be prepared every time you take a long rest, meaning that while you won't always have access to every one of your spells, you can take whichever ones you think will be the most useful for the next part of the campaign.

While Cantrips can be recast as often as a Wizard wants, spells with higher levels are limited by the Wizard's spell slots. Wizards st??art with two level-one spell slots, meaning you can cast two level-one spells until you take your next long rest, after which the spell slots are renewed. As the Wizard grows in level they will get more spell slots, and spell slots of higher level, allowing you to cast higher level spells or stronger version?s of lower leveled spells.

Subclasses

At level two, you unlock your Wizard subclass, arguably the most important of your choices. This guide will go over each Wizard subclass found in the bas??e 5e rulebook and its expansions, and what you can expect each subclass to play like. Further guides will explore specific spells and builds for each subclass, which are as follows:

• Abjuration
• Bladesinging
• Chronurgy
• Conjuration
• Divination
• Enchantment
• Evocation
• Graviturgy
• Illusion
• Necromancy
• Order of Scribes
• Transmutation
• War Magic

Abjuration

The Abju?ration subclass is for the Wizard that seeks to protect, rather than to harm. Abjuration is all about Wards and Counterspells, protecting friends from harm either through shielding effects or taking apart spells entirely. While they may not be the flashiest subclass, they are one of the most useful, as the amount of harm they can prevent is vast.

Bladesinging

Bladesinging means evoking an ancient Elvish technique known as the Bladesong, turning the caster into a dexterous and dangerous fighter. You gain proficiency with light armor and a one-handed melee weapon of your choosing, as well as a bonus to Armor Class equal to their Intelligence Modifier, meaning you become both more deadly and more durable in non-magical combat.? For a Wizard who wants to add some melee flair to t?heir combat, this is the go-to subclass.

Chronurgy

Chronurgy is the manipulation of time, another supportive Wizard subclass, but one with incredibly unique effects. Chronurgy Wizards can blink enemies out of space and time, or trap them in a box of frozen time. You can even prepare spells and save them as a spot in time, giving them to teammates to use later. The best Chronurgy Wizard builds are fun and quirky, playing with the rules of ??the game in a way that many classes never get to. 

Conjuration

Conjuration Wizards make some??thing from nothing, whether something is a fog bank to hide behind or a dangerous summon sent out to fight. The Conjuration Wizard has more utility than it does&nbs??p;combat strength, allowing for shenanigans by making easy copies of important items or switching places with a teammate at a moment's notice, like Aoi Todo from Jujutsu Kaisen. While you may not be a master of the battlefield, your ability to come up with creative solutions to other problems will be unending.

Divination

The school of Divination is an interesting one, allowing you to replace dice rolls, yours or opponents, with dice you had rolled previously. You can also cast higher-level spells to regain lower-level spell slots, meaning you have a lot more magical endur??ance than most other Wiza??rd subclasses. For those who know what the future will hold, or just never want to stop casting, this subclass is the choice.

Enchantment

Enchantment is all about the manipulation of the mind. Use magical charms to make allies, or to distract and confuse foes. Some enemies will even fail to attack you, realizing up close that the player is just too darn endearing to kill. Enchanters can even learn to rewrite memories so that after you convince an enemy to spill all of their darkest secrets, you can make them forget they eve?n told anyone. Incredibly diabolical, and incredibly fun.

Evocation

Evocation is Dad Magic. Cast Fireball. Do big damage. Classic. Evocation Wizards feel like the quintessential Wizard archetype, casting huge spells and laying waste to enemies with fire and ?brimstone, or maybe lightning if you're feeling spicy. Even&??nbsp;learn how to do it without burning up your allies as well. For something simple and damage-oriented for the new player, an Evocation Wizard is a perfect choice.

Graviturgy

Graviturgy, as it sounds, is the manipulation of gravity, and for the intelligent and tactical, this can be the perfect Wizard subclass. Use your spells to knock enemies around, into traps, or off cliffs by controlling movement. Maybe add a bit of oomph to an ally's swing by adding a bit of g-force behin?d it. Graviturgy Wizards can use their spells in multiple ways, some subtle, and some not, making it perfect for the player who prefers to have options in their approach.

Illusion

Illusion Wizards are all about duplicity and distraction. Create sounds out of thin air to distract guards, or confuse enemies by creating a double of?? yourself on the battlefield. Masters of Illusion warp reality itself, letting their illusions become real, if just for a brief moment. For a Wizard that also enjoys a bit of trickery and subterfuge, the Illusion subclass will do the job.

Necromancy

Necromancy is of course f??ocused on raising the dead, but more so focuses on the manipulation of life energy itself. Gain health back from fallen enemies, raise the dead to do your bidding, or suck the life out of everything around you on the battlefield. Necromancy is a more versatile subclass than man??y think and can be perfect for both the player wanting to command an army or the one who wants to wade into battle, keeping their health high and their enemies' low.

Order of Scribes

The Order of the Scribes Wizard is an odd one and not the usual choice for the first-time Wizard. This Wizard is so connected with their spellbook that it gains sentience, becoming an extension of the player. Summon the spirit of the spellbook, and cast spells on the battlefield from both of your positions. Copy spells from the book onto scrolls, giving them?? more power as your connection with the Spellbook brings greater clarity. This Wizard can be powerful in the right hands but requires greater understanding.

Transmutation

A Transmutation Wizard is much like an alchemist, seeking to change the nature of things from one t?o the other. These wizards can change iron to gold, stop poisons, and even extend a person's lifespan. In combat, Transmutation Wizards are about resistance to the elements, or turning something deadly into a much less dangerous beast. A weird and wild subclass.

War Magic

The War Mage is the master of the battlefield, unperturbed by a straw arrow or spells sent their way. War Mages have learned to use their magic more practically, deflecting blows and saving ?up power for explosive blows, using both the defensive and offensive capabilities of magic. There is no fluff here. For the player ready to br?awl, and maybe take a shot or two and still be ready to come back swinging, the War Mage will be the best choice.

The ways to play a Wizard are incredibly varied, so much so that it can be overwhelming at times. Still, at this point, you should have a good grasp on Wizarding's basics, as well as what future choices might bring. Keep rea?ding an?d keep learning. Knowledge is power, and none will know that better than the enemy staring right into a flying fireball.

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Gameloft Montreal, the studio behind Disney Dreamlight Valley and LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, has revealed that it's working on a new Dungeons and Dragons life-sim survival action RPG hybrid in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, who owns the D&D IP. 

The game is set to take place within the Forgotten Realms, the same D&D setting where the Baldur’s Gate series takes place, and also the backdrop for 2013’s Neverwinter along with a long list of other games. 

The Forgotten Realms were designed by game designer Ed Greenwood and are known to be filled with all manner of beasts and supernatural happenings, so there’s no telling what we’ll face once the as-yet unna?med game arrives.

There is no set release date or any more details currently available about the game but in their Instagram post, Gameloft states that: “Players can expect an adventure where the rich lore of this legendary franchise meets real-time survival in a unique campaign of resilience, camaraderie, and danger at nearly every turn. Stay tuned!�/p>

Lee Kaburis, Executive Producer at Gameloft Montreal has said “we are all big fans of D&D and are already hard at work bringing our concept to life, including growing our team, and we look forward to sharing more details in the future.�/p>

Eugene Evans, SVP of Digital Strategy and Licensing at Wizards of the Coast says about Gameloft: “Given their impressive record building incredible new experiences with major IPs combined with their passion for D&D and vision for this game, we are confident they will create an experience that will delight fans worldwide.�/p>

According to the Instagram post, Gameloft is also actively recruiting for the project.

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Baldur's Gate 3 is a popular game for many reasons, and one of the most notable is its cast. From the vampire heartthrob Astarion to the kind-hearted Karlach, many are smitten with the lovable characters. Well, fans are getting more of these characters, albeit in a different but still familiar manner from Baldur's Gate 3: Dungeons & Dragons.

Larian Studios announced on X (Twitter) that Baldur's Gate 3's core cast are reprising their roles for a Dungeons & Dragons adventure. D&D group High Rollers is hosting the one-shot, ??and it's airing on September 22 on the group's Twitch channel. Its advertised start time is 7 PM BST, meaning it will begin at 11 AM PST and 2 PM EST for American fans.

??A clip paired with the announcement showcases the voice actors introducing themselves and their characters. It's admittedly surreal hearing Neil Newborn slip so naturally into his Astarion v?oice and even copying his rather sassy mannerisms.

Despite only lasting a couple of minutes, the clip makes the stream seem like a fun time. It's nice seeing the cast reunite, even if it's so soon after Baldur's Gate 3's launch. Everyone bounces off each other well in the game, so seeing the dyna?mic play out live is a treat for f??ans.

Another thing clarified about this stream is that those who miss it can watch the Baldur's Gate 3 D&D session recorded as a VOD. I typically don't watch many livestreams, so having an easily accessible recording is a blessing. Even if I miss the live show, I need to see how much Jennifer English plays into a Shadowheart who introduce?s herself as "god's favorite princess," because that's amazing.

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The publisher is making changes to its long-term plans

Future digital plans seem to be shifting for Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. Several vide??o games in development have reportedly been shut down by Wizards of the Coast, as the company looks to make changes in its long-term?? plans.

A new report from Bloomberg claims at least five video games have been cancelled by Wizards of the Coast. A spokesperson told Bloomberg that Wizards is "committed" to digital games. But it has also made changes to its long-term portfolio to "focus on games which are strateg?ically aligned with developing [Wizards'] existing brands", or that show promise in ??expanding or engaging their audience in new ways.

There will be under 15 people losing their jobs due to the changes, though the Wizards spokesperson tells Bloomberg that they will eb given a chance to seek new roles within the company. Both Hidden Path Entertainment and OtherSide Entertainment are studios potentially affected by the development, according to IGN.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOWGnC3h9WQ

Forgotten realms

Wizards of the Coast has been in the digital realm for a while, but has been making a heavier push in over the last few years. Notably, the company turned to Divinity developer Larian to take up the Baldur's Gate series and work on Baldur's Gate 3. While currently in Early Access, the RPG is slated to go live with its 1.0 version later this year. It's been garnering some praise for its early efforts, too. Some other projects, like the Dark Alliance reboot, haven't been so warmly received.

Wizards had previously stated it has "seven or eight" games set for the near future. It's also been opening studios like Archetype Entertainment, to develop its own video game projects. Parent company Hasbro, however, has been facing a financial downturn, with shares falling 40% last year.

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Strike a chord with Baldur's Gate's newest class

Bards are officially rocking the stage in Baldur's Gate 3. Larian Studios is adding the Bard class to Baldur's Gate 3 today, alongside Gnomes as a playable race and more upda?tes in Patch 8??.

Shown off during the Panel From Hell, Bards can spur on the party and wreak havoc with their music. They can i?nspire teammates to greater heights, or just insult the enemy to bring them down. And crucially, they can rock a tune.

The Bard will get two subclasses, under the College of Valour and College of Lore. Valour Bards get Combat Inspiration, allowing them to stir something within their allies to a??dd a bit to their prowess. That something being an extra D6 bonus on their next Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw.

Lore Bards,? meanwhile, use their Cutting Words to distract and insult enemies. It's kind of the inverse of Inspiration, where the foe receives a 1d6 penalty to Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, and da?mage dealt until your next turn. But crucially, it also means insults. Larian says it has recorded 97 "bespoke" insults.

Bards can also perform music anywhere, and not only will certain N??PCs react or join in, but they mi??ght even reward players for a good performance.

Metrognome

Gnomes are also being added in Patch 8, as the first new playable race since Baldur's Gate 3 went into Early Access. Plus, a few neat?? features are on the way like Swarm AI for minor enemies, ranged critical hit killcams, impro??ved hair and hairstyles, and better stability for multiplayer.

Baldur's Gate 3 is still in Early Access, and will stay that way until at least the new year. But with every patch, it does get exciting see the groundwork being laid for the full RPG experience. Bards seem like a really fun option for a new character roll, and it gives me a little hope that we see the sonorous Tiefling Alfira join the party. Or at least join in with her song.

Patch 8 goes live in Baldur's Gate 3 today.

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