Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (Dungeons & Dragons)

To start: this is not a full setting book like in editions past. Even with the most successful launch in DnD history, 5E's development team is down to around eight people, meaning they have to contract out - to Green Ronin Publishing in this case - and it shows: this is a strangely placed product, not a full setting book, not a low-priced addendum. The writing is great (and mostly in-character as a variety of people from the Realms), the art is okay. It's laid out well and the book quality overall is fine.Who is this for?: DMs. Players who love to roleplay in the Realms will want to pick this up as well, but the main thrust is for DMs.How are the new Subclasses?: Great and balanced (except for min/max fanatics who will inevitably complain). All the options are full of flavor and RP potential, and the permissive notes regarding the racially locked options - Battlerager and Bladesinger - give new DMs license to apply these subclasses however they want and not fall into the newbie trap of "only RAW." There are a few pages in the back about how to apply the new rules to different DnD settings (Greyhawk, Eberron, Dragonlance) and your own settings. There is no new content for Druids, Rangers, and Bards, although they, along with the rest of the classes, are given a write-up regarding how they work in the Realms.Races?: Yep! A few new races and new variants for existing ones. I was hoping for a more in-depth treatment of Aasimar, but alas. The only note here is the Winged Tiefling variant is probably too good. Each race is given a thorough review and discussion of its place in the Realms.New Spells?: Four new melee cantrips for Wizards, Warlocks, and Sorcerers. Eldritch Knights and Bladelocks rejoice!Setting Information?: Plenty of it (and most of the book). Deities and nations are given a good overview. Events have moved on since 4E's often-odd developments, which will probably enrage Realms purists regardless of what it says. For someone starting out in 5E or coming into the 5E Realms with an open mind, it's perfectly fine. As a note, all maps in the book are "setting-realistic" maps, meaning they are drawn as though someone in the Realms created them.Overall, it's a solid Realms book until WoTC can release a full campaign setting book in the future. If you're a player that loves to RP or a DM to a Realms game (or loves to use official rules in homebrew), this is a great buy.

This is a great supplemental book for both players and DM's. A DM will get much more use out of it, but players can also enjoy the additional options that make up about 1/3rd of the book. These options are racial options, new subclasses, new backgrounds, a couple spells, and a bit more. They are also all pretty good choices, feel balanced, and make great additions to the game. The other 2/3rds of the book are lore. It is a ton of information on the Sword Coast, including cities, areas, maps, etc. This is good for players looking to have some details in their background relate to real places in the world, but is more useful for DMs as a reference guide. I have personally used it as a source when writing some homebrew adventures, as I am not super creative, so instead of making my own world/universe I just put players into the Forgotten Realms. This allows me to draw from the SCAG as a guide when players want to travel to a new location, or I need information on a setting I am using. Even if the town or area only has a few paragraphs of information, this has helped me as a starting point to expand the town and fill in details. Maps also help keep a sense of direction and continuity for travel times and locations of the players. The other great use of this book is as an addition to some of the pre-written official adventure books. I personally have run both the Lost Mines of Phandelver adventure, as well as Hoard of the Dragon Queen, both of which are set in Faerun/Sword Coast. This book has been great as a second source of information on locations that are mentioned or a part of these adventures. When the adventure books dont give any details or enough information on a place the players might encounter, I have used the SCAG to help me stick to continuity and fill in the details.Overall this is a great supplemental book for DMs and some players.

As a Forgotten Realms fan, I give it an overall A+. The book gave a much craved update on the Post-Spellplague Realms, but did so in a very minimalist fashion. I'll always crave more details, naturally, because I love the Realms, I'll readily admit that. And while the book met every promised expectation I had from the promotional campaign and preview, some areas were met in a cool but "I'm trying to wow my teacher and barely meet the assignment's requirements at the same time," manner.On the other hand, that minimalist approach leaves the world open for me as a DM to create whatever material I want to fill in those gaps.As for the crunch, I love the options. The Backgrounds are great, and I love the Classes, especially the Bladesinger. The Battlerager Armor is a nice addition, as well.Overall, the book is a must have for anyone wanting to play in the current Realms. If you're playing your own game, the book can provide some nice options, and great lore to inspire you in your own world building efforts, but you're just not going to get the full sticker price value out of it if you don't care about the Realms-specific content.For those reasons, as I said, I give it an A-. Not because anything within its covers is bad, but because it is really only worth full price to a Realms fan, IMO.