Unseasonal Festivities: Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024

The Christmas Annual is a traditional thing—and all manner of things can receive a Christmas Annual. Those of our childhoods would have been tie-ins to the comic books we read, such as the Dandy or the Beano, or the television series that we enjoyed, for example, Doctor Who. Typically, here in the United Kingdom, they take the form of slim hardback books, full of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games, but annuals are found elsewhere too. In the USA, ongoing comic book series, like Batman or The X-Men, receive their own annuals, though these are simply longer stories or collections of stories rather than the combination of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games. In gaming, TSR, Inc.’s Dragon magazine received its own equivalent, the Dragon Annual, beginning in 1996, which would go from being a thick magazine to being a hardcover book of its own with the advent of Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. For the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024—as with the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022, and the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023—the format is very much a British one. This means puzzles and games, and all themed with the fantasy and mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, along with content designed to get you into the world’s premier roleplaying game.

Despite what it says in the introduction, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 is not quite a book for everyone. This is because its content is really geared to towards players new to roleplaying and Dungeons & Dragons, with lots of advice on how to get started and what choices to make, and overviews of many different aspects of the roleplaying game, its settings, and history. This is not the only content in the book though and there is some of it that will be of interest to more experienced players, especially the community creators content. As usual the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 is replete with excellent artwork drawn from the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, a handful of puzzles, and spotlights thrown on some of the baddest villains in Dungeons & Dragons.

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 opens with a ‘Quick Start Guide’, a flow chart that takes the reader step-by-step how to get into the hobby and start playing. This begins with finding your people and deciding who will be the Dungeon Master before moving on through character creation, session zero, and all the way to the first session and afterwards. It is simple and it is clear, and it begins a guide that runs through the pages of this annual. It continues with ‘A History of D&D’, a fairly broad timeline that brings the roleplaying game up to today, when its future remains unknown as we await the arrival of a new edition later this year. ‘Finding a Game’ under ‘Roll for Inspiration’ suggests options for finding other players, such as playing by post, playing at a games store, or playing online, again giving each option a thumbnail description, a starting point rather than full advice. ‘Roll for Inspiration’ also suggests ‘Playing in Alternative Settings’, including Science Fiction, Steampunk, Noir, and more. Some of these suggestions point to actual Dungeons & Dragons books such as Curse of Strahd for a Gothic setting. Other entries under ‘Roll for Inspiration’ give a guide to combat, creating your own campaign settings, and more.

The guide to playing and getting ready to play, really begins with ‘Character Creation’, which breaks down the character sheet for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and details the very basics of the process, whilst the ‘Classified’ feature examines the various Classes in the roleplaying game, explaining what they do, their skills, why they are so good, and so on. Thus ‘Casters’ does this for Arcane spellcasters, ‘Tanks’ for fighting types, and ‘Utility’ does it for the Bard, the Rogue, the Ranger, and the Cleric. The descriptions are basic, but their aim is to sell what playing a member of each Class is like and in that it succeeds.

The ‘Heroes & Villains’ section begins big with ‘Vecna and Kas’, the first look at some the signature figures in Dungeons & Dragons. The descriptions are short, but to the point, and richly illustrated, but each comes with his or her own story, a fact file, pertinent points, and so on. In the case of ‘Vecna and Kas’, this includes both the Eye of Vecna and the Hand of Vecna, and his cult. What is really great about the description of Vecna is that it includes a sidebar about the ‘Head of Vecna’, a non-magical item that would lend itself to a great gaming story and gaming legend. It is a great story, but it is not necessarily a familiar one. So, what it shows about Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 is that its author knows or understands the world of Dungeons & Dragons—or at least, has done his homework. Of course, ‘Vecna and Kas’ is also looking forward to the now recently released Vecna – Eve of Ruin. ‘Tasha’ does the same for the Witch Queen, famed for her spells like Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, as does ‘The Raven Queen’ for the divine interloper from the Shadowfell.

‘Mapping the Multiverse’ explores some of the major locations and settings for Dungeons & Dragons. The first location is ‘Candlekeep’ in the Forgotten Realms, presented in rich colour and nicely annotated. It does seem an odd place to start, just a single location, as none of the other entries copy this. Thus, ‘Eberon’ includes a full map of the continent, again nicely marked up, whilst ‘The Sword Coast’ returns to the Forgotten Realms in similar fashion. The world of ‘Krynn’ is treated in similar fashion. ‘Anthologies’ looks back at the last decade of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition by highlighting some of the scenario collections that Wizards of the Coast has published, such as Keys from the Golden Vault or Tales from the Yawning Portal, whilst ‘Shadow of the Dragon Queen’ in ‘Campaign Spotlight’ looks at the return of Dungeons & Dragons to the world of Krynn and Dragonlance. The other entry in the ‘Campaign Spotlight’ sort of brings the numerous settings together with ‘Spelljammer: Adventures in Space’ which takes Dungeons & Dragons into deep space, and potentially to anyone of the settings presented in Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024.

The ‘Bestiary’ feature looks at numerous types of monsters in Dungeons & Dragons. Every entry tells the reader how dangerous the monster is, where it is found, what to watch out for, and their battle plan. The monsters covered include the undead, Illithids—Mind Flayers and the like, giants, and what it terms ‘The Classics’. These consist of the signature creatures of the Dungeons & Dragons game, the Gelatinous Cube, the Mimic, and the like.

The biggest features in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 are ‘Meet the Creators’. These profile and interview players and creators who have taken their hobby and brought into the public sphere with a podcast. They include Shamini Bundell of RPGeeks, a podcast which combines Dungeons & Dragons with science and Science Fiction; Daniel Kwan from The Asians Represent Podcast is interviewed about Asian creators, representation, and what an Asian perspective brings to Dungeons & Dragons games that he runs; and Connie Chang, of the all-transgender, Person-of-Colour-led podcast, Transplanar, talks about running a campaign about love, yet set in a dark, apocalyptic world. All three of these podcasts have lasted more than the one season and the interviewees have a chance to reflect on how they started, the Player Characters, games played, and their opinions on Dungeons & Dragons. At four pages each, these interviews are the longest features in the annual—and easily its highlight, providing a different and far from unwelcome aspect on playing and creating for Dungeons & Dragons.

Elsewhere, ‘Beyond the Tabletop’ does what it says and look at the hobby away from the table. So ‘Conventions’ gives a very quick guide to the hobby’s big events like Pax and Gen Con, and though it is nice to see Dragonmeet, a convention in the UK, it seems curious not to include UK Games Expo, and ‘More Than a Game’ looks at aspects of the hobby in a similar fashion—cosplay, listening to actual play, miniatures, and more. Perhaps one of the most entertaining entries is ‘D&D in a Castle’, which looks at the event which takes places three times a year at Lumley Castle, a fourteenth century, hosting a long weekend of playing Dungeons & Dragons. It looks a lot of fun and perhaps the apogee of the progress made by the reader of Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 from his reading the first few pages, starting with ‘Quick Start Guide’. ‘Level Up Your Table’ suggests ways to enhance play, such as including ‘The Deck of Many Things’, though it does come with a warning about the derailing effect of its cards. It also ties into The Deck of Many Things release from Wizards of the Coast.

Like all British annuals, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 has puzzles. In previous editions, such puzzles—or ‘Activities’ as they are titled here—have been the simplest of retheming of perennial standbys, such as having to move the minimum number of matchsticks around to solve a puzzle or a maze or… To be blunt, they did not look much different to the puzzles found in other annuals for other intellectual properties. The puzzles in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 are better and more strongly themed. They begin with ‘What Type of Player Are You?’, a classic quiz which determines what type of person you are, or this case what sort of roleplayer you are. It is a bit broad in its definitions, but that is the nature of such quizzes. There is also a maze, which is not easy, the wordsearch is done as a ‘Hex Crawl’ in which spell names have been hidden, the Sudoku-style puzzle substitutes symbols rather than numbers and comes in two levels, ‘Cryptograms’ provides a Dungeons & Dragons code-breaking task, and there is an ‘Intelligence Check’, a quiz about the roleplaying game’s lore, much of which is previously detailed in the book. In comparison to previous editions of the Dungeons & Dragons Annual, there are fewer puzzles and not only are they of higher quality, but they are also better themed. In the past the puzzles have always felt like a waste of space, but that is not the case here.

Physically, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 is solidly presented. There is plenty of full colour artwork drawn from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and the writing is clear and kept short, so is an easy read for its intended audience.

In past years, entries in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual series have proven to be decent enough introductions to Dungeons & Dragons, but did not always feel as if they were not written by authors who knew the world of Dungeons & Dragons very well. Fortunately, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 feels different. There is a strong focus on the worlds and worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, its settings and its villains, but coupled with a decent guide to getting started and taking the first steps. The interviews with the podcast creators really standout as showing how the hobby embraces and has the space for such a diverse range of creators, which means that players of different backgrounds can see themselves reflected in the hobby. Of course, for the veteran there is less in the pages of the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 that will be new and unless they are a collector of all things Dungeons & Dragons, this is not a book that they need on their bookshelves. As something to receive at Christmas (or not) in your Christmas stocking (or not), the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024 is the best yet to be published by Harper Collins Publishers. It is informative and it is engaging, providing more and more useful details about the world of Dungeons & Dragons before the reader takes his first steps into actual play. It will be very difficult for the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2025 to improve on the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2024.

Unseasonal Festivities: Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023

The Christmas Annual is a traditional thing—and all manner of things can receive a Christmas Annual. Those of our childhoods would have been tie-ins to the comic books we read, such as the Dandy or the Beano, or the television series that we enjoyed, for example, Doctor Who. Typically, here in the United Kingdom, they take the form of slim hardback books, full of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games, but annuals are found elsewhere too. In the USA, ongoing comic book series, like Batman or The X-Men, receive their own annuals, though these are simply longer stories or collections of stories rather than the combination of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games. In gaming, TSR, Inc.’s Dragon magazine received its own equivalent, the Dragon Annual, beginning in 1996, which would go from being a thick magazine to being a hardcover book of its own with the advent of Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. For the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023—as with the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 and the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022—the format is very much a British one. This means puzzles and games, and all themed with the fantasy and mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, along with content designed to get you into the world’s premier roleplaying game.

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 moves on from the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 in a surprising nod to recent events—it acknowledges the effects of COVID-19 and the Lockdown, and how that changed our gaming practices, many of us moving online to play Dungeons & Dragons and other RPG, for example, via Zoom. It suggests means of doing so and what those means offer in terms of play and interaction, making the point that it is still a viable option even though in-person play has returned. This is explored a little further in ‘Virtual Play Weekend’, which looks at events organised online by Wizards of the Coast.

However, where the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 starts with ‘Welcome to the Multiverse’, an overview of some of the settings explored in official releases for Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast. This itself begins with the Forgotten Realms—because it always does—but it includes some of the lesser know worlds such as Exandria of Critical Role and both Strixhaven and Ravnica from Magic: The Gathering. These are only thumbnail descriptions, so they are all too brief, leaving the reader wishing that any one them of had pages of their own in the book. Thankfully, several of them do, but not all. The three that do each receive this attention via a series of articles, sometimes paired, sometimes not. One is from the ‘Heroes & Villains’ series and the other is from ‘Mapping the Realms’. The first is Ravenloft, and its ‘Heroes & Villains’ entry is a description of Strahd, the Darklord of Barovia, one of the lands of Shadowfell. Included here too, are descriptions of his allies and enemies, such as the vampire hunter, Doctor Rudolph Van Richten, and Strahd’s rival, the Sun Elf vampire, Jander Sunstar. Van Richten receives more attention in the accompanying, paired ‘Mapping the Realms’ entry which also highlights Castle Ravenloft and its location on the map. Acerak, the villain of Tomb of Annihilation is given similar treatment, whilst the other ‘Mapping the Realms’ entries explore ‘The Feywild’ and its unpredictable, primal magic—later detailed in its own section in ‘Wild Magic’, ‘Gewhaawk’, the original campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons, and ‘Avernus’, the first level of hell explored in Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. The heroes described in the ‘Heroes & Villains’ series are Mordenkainen and Volothamp Geddarm.

Community is not ignored in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 as it highlights the generosity of players in playing and donating to good causes. Being British means that one of these covered in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is Comic Relief, a big event very other year in the United Kingdom. It is a sign of just how far Dungeons & Dragons has been accepted into the mainstream that it is part of such a big event. Other events highlighted are Extra Life and Playing D&D for Mermaids. The spotlight here is on the ‘Three Black Halflings’ podcast, ‘Girls Guts Glory’ streaming group, and even an interview with renowned Dungeon Master, B. Dave Walters in ‘Meet the DM’, which together showcases the appeal and diversity of the Dungeons & Dragons community.

Even if the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 has no stats or adventures or anything mechanical for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in its pages, it does talk about the basics of getting ready to run the game. ‘Planning a Dungeon Delve’ looks at all the elements of an adventure, whilst ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Homebrewing’ suggests ways in which Dungeons & Dragons can be modified, including characters and worlds. There is a guide too, to ‘Writing a Backstory’ as part of a character creation checklist, whilst ‘Session Zero’ examines how a pre-campaign session works and sets out eveyone’s expectations, and ‘One-shots’ suggests alternatives to longer multiple sessions of play and how they work. That said, describing a one-shot as a self-contained campaign is absurd. Lastly, ‘Level Up Your Table’ suggests ways to enhance play, such as using maps and miniatures and secret messages and even physical puzzles. Thus there is a mix of advice and suggestions for both player and Dungeon Master across the volume.

Beyond play, the ‘D&D Bookshelf’ suggests fiction to read, starting with the adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden, but also mentioning the Dragonlance and Ravenloft series. ‘Loot Table’ suggests gifts and collectible that a Dungeons & Dragons devotee might like beyond the core rulebooks and dice. This notable for the inclusion of ‘Crocs Jibbitiz’, official Dungeons & Dragons-themed adornments for your crocs. Thankfully, there are no official Dungeons & Dragons Crocs, but the Jibbitz are daft enough as it is.

The ‘Bestiary’ series covers otherworldly creatures. So, in ‘Fiends and Celestials’, it is Imps, Balor demons, Pegasi, and Solar Celestials. ‘Aberrations and Undead’ such as the Intellect Devourer, Aboleth, Ghoul, and Death Tyrant, and ‘Elementals and Fey’ like Mephits, Fire Elementals, Dryads, and Quicklings, are given quite detailed descriptions. Conversely, the ‘Gem Dragons’ only receive descriptions in comparison, so there is not really enough of an idea who they might be used in a scenario.

Of course, Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 being a British annual, it is not without its puzzles. So there are mazes, spot the difference, word searches, and more. In comparison to previous annuals, the theming is more generic Dungeons & Dragons than a specific campaign world or characters, so not as engaging as in past years.

Physically, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is snappily presented. There is plenty of full colour artwork drawn from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and the writing is clear and kept short, so is an easy read for its intended audience.

In past years, entries in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual series have proven to be decent introductions to Dungeons & Dragons, but the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is beginning to push against the limits of what it can explain and showcase without actually showing what Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition actually looks like. It has moved on since the earlier introductory annuals to look at more advanced aspects of character creation with character backstory and play with a discussion of Session Zero, but it constantly feels as if it is preparing the reader and potential player for something that it can never show. Which is any actual element of the doing of Dungeons & Dragons, so consequently, it is all description, all tell, and no show. Of course, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is intended to showcase the numerous aspects of the roleplaying game and its setting, and this it does, but it constantly leaves the reader wanting to take the next step and not quite sure what that is. Taking that step is big one and perhaps a solo adventure would give the reader a better idea of what play is like?

To be fair, this is not a book or supplement that a dedicated player or Dungeon Master is going to need, or even want, to read. After all, much of this will be familiar to either. For the casual reader, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is reasonable starting point, but the casual reader will quickly want more. For the collector, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is an attraction addition to his bookshelves. Still as something to receive at Christmas (or not) in your Christmas stocking (or not), the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2023 is an attractive product, informative about Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and whilst its own limitations can only help the reader so far, a stepping stone from they can look for further starting points from which to play.

Unseasonal Festivities: Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022

The Christmas Annual is a traditional thing—and all manner of things can receive a Christmas Annual. Those of our childhoods would have been tie-ins to the comic books we read, such as the Dandy or the Beano, or the television series that we enjoyed, for example, Doctor Who. Typically, here in the United Kingdom, they take the form of slim hardback books, full of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games, but annuals are found elsewhere too. In the USA, ongoing comic book series, like Batman or The X-Men, receive their own annuals, though these are simply longer stories or collections of stories rather than the combination of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games. In gaming, TSR, Inc.’s Dragon magazine received its own equivalent, the Dragon Annual, beginning in 1996, which would go from being a thick magazine to being a hardcover book of its own with the advent of Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. For the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022, the format is very much a British one—puzzles and games, yes, and all themed with the fantasy and mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, along with content designed to get you into the world’s premier roleplaying game.

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 moves on from the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021. It is not so much an introduction to Dungeons & Dragons itself, but rather an introduction to Faerûn and the Forgotten Realms, the principal setting for the current iteration of the roleplaying game. The slim volume begins with the first of several entries in the ‘Peoples of the Realm’ series. This is ‘Exploring Elves’, which highlights the various different types of Elves to be found in the Forgotten Realms, noting their special skills and key Classes, as well as some background and some trivia. Included here are the Drow and the Eladrin as well as the High Elves and the Wood Elves. Also mentioned here are the various types of Gnomes, Dwarves, and Halflings, the latter with the comment, “Overlook these diminutive folk at your own risk!”, which the entry and the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 promptly does by consigning all three peoples to a sidebar rather than their own entry in the ‘Peoples of the Realm’ series. It is continued with ‘Think Big’ which suggests with Goliaths, Firbolgs, Orcs, and more as other character options, refencing Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. ‘Plane-Touched’ does a similar thing with races such as the Tritons, Genasi, Tabaxi, and more.

The first of the two ‘Campaign Spotlight’ entries in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 is on Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, the 2020 campaign published by Wizards of the Coast. This covers the campaign’s key features—its entry points, secrets, new rules, locations, and of course, stats for ‘Three Kobolds in a Trenchcoat’. None of it in any detail, but enough to intrigue the reader. Further, this ‘Campaign Spotlight’ is supported by other articles in the annual. The first of the ‘Across Faerûn’ entries looks at Icewind Dale, which of course is the setting for the campaign, and provides more details such as typical monsters—snowy owlbears and frost giants being the most obvious, along with a gorgeous map of the region. The theme of Faerûn and Icewind Dale even continues in ‘Beyond the Tabletop’, the series which looks at Dungeons & Dragons beyond it being just a roleplaying game. The first of these gives attention to Dark Alliance, the Dungeons & Dragons computer in which the Drow Ranger, Drizzt Do’Urden leads his companions into Icewind Dale in search of the magical shard, the Crenshinibon. Drizzt Do’Urden himself is given the spotlight in the next two articles. First in ‘Heroes & Villains’ which introduces him, his companions, and enemies, and second, in ‘Talking D&D: R.A. Salvatore’, an interview with the author of The Crystal Shard and its many sequels which feature Drizzt Do’Urden. Of course, much of this will already be familiar to fans of Dungeons & Dragons—as is the case for the whole of the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022—but from the ‘Across Faerûn’ entry on Icewind Dale through the spotlight on Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden to the spotlight on Drizzt Do’Urden and interview with his creator, there is a lovely sense of a theme or thread running through the initial handful of articles in Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 and it feels much more thought out.

Whilst ‘Explaining the Planes’ takes the reader beyond the Forgotten Realms to look at the Elemental Planes and the Outer Planes, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 quickly returns to ‘Across Faerûn’ and ‘The Feywild’ in particular. There is a connection between the two in that the Feywild is a reflection of the Prime Material Plane and also back to the ‘Exploring Elves’ article for Eladrin who come from the Feywild. However, ‘Beyond the Tabletop’ continues the journey away from the Elemental Planes and the Outer Planes by looking at the computer game, Baldur’s Gate III, which mentions Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. The other connection to Baldur’s Gate is a two-page spread dedicated to Minsc (and Boo) in ‘Heroes & Villains’ (his counterpart in the annual, is the villain ‘Xanathar’, whilst if not the Forgotten Realms, but still in the annual, is ‘Vecna’), but the connected ‘Campaign Spotlight’ is Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. This does as good a job as that devoted to Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.

The ‘Bestiary’ first highlights ‘Common Foes’, so the lowly Kobold at Challenge Rating of 1/8 up to the Manitcore at Challenge Rating of 3, and then ‘Boss Fights’, which includes the Lich, the Tarrasque, and the Kraken, all with a Challenge Rating of twenty or more. ‘Oddities’ add a mix of the different and the weird, like the Gelatinous Cube, the Flumph, and the Modron. Dragons’, the last of these is devoted to iconic monsters and their minions.

There is very little about the play or rules of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022, especially in comparison to the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021. ‘Roll for Inspiration’ though focuses on advice and help. First with ‘Combat 101’, which explains the basics of that aspect of the game, whilst ‘Where To Start?’ looks at ways of starting a campaign for the Dungeon Master and ‘Learn From The Dungeon Masters’ gives advice from several Dungeon Masters on how to run Dungeons & Dragons. It is solid, if basic advice. The last entry in ‘Roll for Inspiration’ is ‘Creating NPCs’, which like the others contains solid, if basic advice.

‘Podcasts’ gives space to just the two long running series—How We Roll and Adventure Zone. The former again has a nice callback to Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, but both are given good introductions here. Again, just the two are covered, High Rollers and Acquisitions Incorporated, but ‘Live Streams’ reflects the move from the podcast as a means of presenting actual play to Twitch streams, from audio to visual. The look at the hobby comes up to date with ‘Find Your People’, which give two community groups—No More Damsels and Three Black Halflings—which work to build communities which are more inclusive and welcome greater representation in the hobby.

Elsewhere in Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022, ‘Where It Began: First Edition’ looks back at Dungeons & Dragons from 1974. It is a very basic examination, with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons given only a paragraph. ‘Classic Campaigns’ similarly looks at older scenarios, again in thumbnail fashion, but the tie into Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition is definitely highlighted here. ‘Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything’ looks at everything from character options, magic items, and spells, whilst ‘It Spells Trouble’ examines a variety of spells, from Magic Missile to Wish. Rounding out Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 is a quiz and a glossary.

Of course, Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 being a British annual, it is not without its puzzles. So there are mazes, word searches, spot the difference, and more. All themed around Dungeons & Dragons. The maze for example, has you attempt to escape from Count Strahd von Zarovich’s clutches, whilst ‘Volo’s (Scrambled) Guide to Monsters’ is an anagram puzzle.

Physically, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 is snappily presented. There is plenty of full colour artwork drawn from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and the writing is clear and kept short, so is an easy read for its intended audience. It would have been nice to seen a little more artwork from the earlier versions of the roleplaying where they are mentioned.

Over the years, there have been plenty of introductions to Dungeons & Dragons, some of them decent, some them of utterly pointless and useless, such as the Dungeon Survival Guide and the ‘What exactly were you thinking, Wizards of the Coast?!’ Wizards Presents: Races and Classes and Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters books that heralded the arrival of the Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. Fortunately, like the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021, its predecessor, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 is far superior to any of those.

The Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 is not so much an introduction to Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, as Faerûn and the Forgotten Realms. There is much less of a focus on the rules and mechanics in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022, but in terms of background and setting is genuinely an interesting and informative read. To be fair, this is not a book or supplement that a dedicated player or Dungeon Master is going to need, or even want, to read. After all, much of this will be familiar to either. The Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 is very much a step on from Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021, and that does mean that some of the introductory elements of the roleplaying game as it is played have been lost, but still as something to receive at Christmas (or not) in your Christmas stocking (or not), Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2022 is a good introduction into Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and especially, Faerûn and the Forgotten Realms.

Unseasonal Festivities: Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021

The Christmas Annual is a traditional thing—and all manner of things can receive a Christmas Annual. Those of our childhoods would have been tie-ins to the comic books we read, such as the Dandy or the Beano, or the television series that we enjoyed, for example, Doctor Who. Typically, here in the United Kingdom, they take the form of slim hardback books, full of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games, but annuals are found elsewhere too. In the USA, ongoing comic book series, like Batman or The X-Men, receive their own annuals, though these are simply longer stories or collections of stories rather than the combination of extra stories and comic strips and puzzles and games. In gaming, TSR, Inc.’s Dragon magazine received its own equivalent, the Dragon Annual, beginning in 1996, which would go from being a thick magazine to being a hardcover book of its own with the advent of Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. For the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021, the format is very much a British one—puzzles and games, yes, and all themed with the fantasy and mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, along with content designed to get you into the world’s premier roleplaying game.

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 opens with a history, done as a timeline, which runs from the Dungeons & Dragons of 1974 to the recent release of the Baldur’s Gate III and Dark Alliance computer games. It includes each of the roleplaying game’s various editions, and highlights their best features, plus notable highlights such as the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon and the estimated number of players. The ‘D&D Quick-Start Guide’ suggests the first steps that a prospective player take to get into the game, from choosing the party and deciding who would be Dungeon Master to grabbing pencil and paper and selecting a campaign. Then it is onto ‘Creating a Character’, which actually serves as an easier to grasp guide to the process, and actually better than that given in the Player’s Handbook. As you would expect, it neatly breaks the character sheet down and takes the reader through the process step-by-step—though of course, the reader will still need to refer to the full rules.

The would-be Dungeon Master receives a similar treatment, beginning with ‘Master Dungeon-Mastering’, looking at a possible next step the player might want to take after playing a few games of Dungeons & Dragons. This takes her from ‘Choosing your Campaign’ and ‘Setting the Scene’ through to ‘Planning Encounters’ and ‘Roleplaying’, and includes a quick guide to running combat. The one issue with this article is really the choice of illustration for when choosing the beginning campaign—Dungeons & Dragons Essentials rather than the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set. There is nothing wrong with including the illustration of Dungeons & Dragons Essentials, but the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set is the more obvious entry point. The next step for the Dungeon Master is ‘Tips for World-Building’ which poses her several questions should she want to begin creating her own setting, her own campaign world. Unsurprisingly, it is fairly basic, but it serves as a set of beginning pointers.

One of the best features about any new roleplaying game is an example of play since it showcases how the game is intended to be played and be played. ‘A Tale of a First Encounter’ is a lengthy, three-part example of play which is set in an inn where several adventurers come together to form a party before an unexpected showdown with a bunch of bandits. It weaves in and out of game play and table talk and ultimately shows how dangerous combat can be as well as giving some idea of how Dungeons & Dragons can be played. Unfortunately not set in a dungeon, it does however show it is very much a social game, a game played by a diversity of players. If ‘A Tale of a First Encounter’ shows how the game is played, two other articles showcase how Dungeons & Dragons can also be consumed. The first is ‘Spectator Mode’ which features the seven most well-known real-play live streams, with Critical Role at the top of course. The second is ‘Audiophile’, which does the same for podcasts. Although there are no links, but they point to another way in which a prospective player can learn how the game can be played and enjoyed if he cannot immediately begin playing, and so ease himself into Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition vicariously. ‘Beyond the Tabletop’ does a similar thing, but points towards some of the card games, computer games, and comics currently available for Dungeons & Dragons.

Once a player begins play, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 suggests options to improve both his gaming experience and that of his fellow players. ‘Level Up Your Table’ gives a host of accessories that he can add, such as DM Screens, maps, miniatures, apps, and more. Similarly, ‘Adventurers League’ and ‘Extra Life’ point to how a player can take his Dungeons & Dragons away from home and into the gaming community itself. The former with regular events at his local games shop (and ‘Your Friendly Neighbourhood Game Store’ points to just a very few of the very many available, as well as giving a player an idea of what they look like), whilst the latter tells the player how the gaming he normally does for fun can mean a bit more by raising money for charity through playing Dungeons & Dragons, and is a worthy inclusion in the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021.

Much of the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 can be divided into four strands, including ‘A Tale of a First Encounter’, that run throughout its pages. The first of these is ‘Xanathar’s Classes 101’, which provides an overview of each of the twelve Classes from the Player’s Handbook. Each profile states what a Class is good for, what Proficiencies and Special Skills it has, and why a player should select that particular Class and why he should avoid it. Thus a Bard is described as a jack-of-all-trades, has boosts to his Performance-based skills, and his special skill is Inspiration, used to boost the attacks and saving throws of his allies. Lastly, the descriptions suggest that a player chose the Bard if he wants a character who can perform, persuade, and strategise, but avoid if he instead wants to inflict lots of damage. The counterpart to this is ‘Folk of the Realms’ which does the same for the Player Character Races in the Forgotten Realms and thus the Player’s Handbook. ‘Adventures Across the Multiverse’ guides the reader round some of the most notable worlds and locations in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Thus for ‘Adventures Across the Multiverse: Forgotten Realms’ it identifies Icewind Dale, Neverwinter, and the Lost Mine of Phandelver, whilst Waterdeep is linked to the campaign, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur’s Gate to Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, and Chult to Tomb of Annihilation. The series does the same for Ravenloft and Eberron, although there are very few actual campaigns and supplements associated with them for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in comparison to the Forgotten Realms. Later on though, the ‘Adventure Collection’ highlights all of the releases and campaigns for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition to date.

If ‘Xanathar’s Classes 101’ showcases the Classes of Dungeons & Dragons, then ‘Volo’s [Abridged] Guide to…’ does the same for its monsters. It covers the classics, including Rakshasa, Mimics, Wights, Liches, Beholder, and Duergar, telling the reader what they look like, what their favoured attacks are, how to defeat them, and other pertinent facts. This is a decent enough strand, but perhaps the choice of monsters is not as interesting as it could have been, but with so many to choose from…

Scattered throughout the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 is a handful of puzzles and games. This includes ‘Scrambled Spells’, anagrams of spells taken from Player’s Handbook, Sudukos for both spells and Player Character details, a treasure hunt set on the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms; a wordsearch of Dungeons & Dragons monsters, a spot the difference puzzle, a maze, and more. They are clearly designed for a younger audience—as is the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021—but do show whatever theme you apply to them, the puzzles themselves have hardly changed, if at all, in decades.

Physically, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 is snappily presented. There is plenty of full colour artwork drawn from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, and the writing is clear and kept short, so is an easy read for its intended audience. One nice touch is the inclusion of photographs of game shops and people playing, showing that the game has a broader appeal than just at the potential player’s table and that they are having fun at the table. In comparison to the annuals past, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 is slim, but still packs a lot into its pages.

Unfortunately, the two elements that are missing from the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 are those of the very title of the roleplaying game itself—no dungeons and no dragons. As inclusive and as well written and as well presented as the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 actually is, that really is a major omission.

Over the years, there have been plenty of introductions to Dungeons & Dragons, some of them decent, some them of utterly pointless and useless, such as the Dungeon Survival Guide and the ‘What exactly were you thinking, Wizards of the Coast?!’ Wizards Presents: Races and Classes and Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters books that heralded the arrival of the Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. Fortunately, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 is far superior to any of those.

The Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 is genuinely an interesting and informative read. To be fair, this is not a book or supplement that a dedicated player or Dungeon Master is going to need, or even want, to read. After all, much of this will be familiar to him or her. However, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 provides a good introduction to the roleplaying game, especially as a next step after reading the Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides series and playing the Endless Quest series. It provides a broader overview than either of those two series and better showcases the next steps that a player and a Dungeon Master take should he or she want to start playing. And like all Christmas annuals, the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021 is a good gift to the younger reader, especially one with an interest in fantasy and games, but better than those Christmas annuals of old, for there is much, much more fun to be had beyond the pages of the Dungeons & Dragons Annual 2021.

Boardgame Bonanza

Published by Clyde & Cart Press following a successful Kickstarter campaign, The Board Game Book: The essential guide to the best new games is a new publication dedicated to showcasing the best that the tabletop gaming has to offer, primarily in terms of board games and card games, but also with a nod to roleplaying games and miniatures wargames. Every entry gets a page of its very own—if not three or four—containing a write-up, an interview (though not all), and lots of gorgeous photographs. There are almost one-hundred-and-forty entries in this book, covering the years 2017 and 2018, and all penned by a professional team of writers.  

The Board Game Book opens with two sections designed for those new to the hobby. The first is a potted history of tabletop gaming, somewhat slight in comparison to other treatments and in need of a slight reorganisation. That said, if you are new to the hobby, it is informative and it does lay the groundwork for the rest of the book. The second section, actually the first chapter, is titled ‘Get Into Gaming’ and describes almost thirty games, from Ticket to Ride and Machi Koro to Santorini and Takenoko, many of them considered classics, but all considered to be good first games to play. Then, it delves deep into the board games of the last two years, first with ‘Family, Casual and Party Games’, and then chapters dedicated to games of increasingly complex strategy. 

Every entry follows the same format which informs the reader of the game’s designers and artists, its category, the number of players it supports, playing time, suggested playing age, and price in both pounds sterling and US dollars. This is followed by a review and then an interview with the designers, both half a page in length. The reviews are quite light and positive, but give a good idea what playing each game is like and what their good and bad points are, but again mostly good. The interviews are also quite light, but are in a way more informative because in general many of the interviewees in the pages of The Board Game Book are not interviewed all that often. What is clear from these interviews is that some designers are prolific and have multiple entries and thus interviews, for example Matt Leacock with the entries from the Pandemic family and Matt Wallace with games such as Brass Birmingham and Wildlands, and that the designers come from around the world, though many are from Germany and Italy, and that being a game designer is not solely a male preserve. Of course they dominate the hobby, but there is still diversity on show here, whether it is the husband and team of Inka and Markus Brand behind Word Slam and EXIT: The Game or Nikki Valens, the queer and non-binary designer of Legacy of Dragonholt. Hopefully this is only a start and a greater diversity will be reflected in subsequent issues of The Board Game Book.

Not every entry in The Board Game Book benefits from an interview, but as the book progresses through its chapters, the entries grow in size to match the complexities of the games being described, both in terms of both the review and the interview. This is not always successful, as some entries do feel padded out in comparison to their content—the review of Crystal Clans is a noted offender here—but for the most part, the longer, more complex games deserve the greater page count.

The chapter on Storytelling Games such as Fog of Love and Stuffed Fables nicely dovetails into the chapter on Roleplaying Games. Sadly though, both roleplaying games and miniature wargames in the next chapter only receive a slight treatment in The Board Game Book in comparison, just a titles for each in comparison to the number of boardgames covered in the book. Now, obviously this is The Board Game Book and so board games are its focus, but really in covering just Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Forbidden Lands – Raiders & Rogues in a Cursed World, Star Trek Adventures: The Roleplaying Game, and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Fourth Edition, it all feels rather obvious, with the exception of the interesting inclusion of Star Crossed, the roleplaying game of unlikely romances from Bully Pulpit Games. Worse, the coverage of Indy style roleplaying games is more photographs than content and feels like an afterthought.

It is possible that titles like the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, Art & Arcana: A Visual History , RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, Masks of Nyarlathotep: Dark Schemes Herald the End of the World, and Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game were all released after the deadline for inclusion in The Board Game Book, but the renaissance of Chaosium, Inc. would have been worthy of inclusion as would the best horror roleplaying game supplement of the last two years, Harlem Unbound: A Sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu and Gumshoe Roleplaying Games. Another issue is that roleplaying games are not treated in the same way as the board games in the book. They do not get the same listing of information at the start of their entries as do board games. The chapter on wargames is likewise brief and suffers from the same lack of information as well as being dominated by entries from Games Workshop.

Rounding out The Board Game Book is a listing of some twenty or board games which have been adapted to apps. This is useful because it provides another easy way into the hobby, enabling players to pick and choose games at home, trying them before investing in physical copies. That and a decent glossary nicely bookend the ‘Get Into Gaming’ chapter at the start of the book, helping prospective players get a start in the hobby.

Physically, the presentation of The Board Game Book is crisp, clean, and highly professional. There is almost a foodie cookbook-like quality to The Board Game Book in its efforts to present each and every game in lovely detail, to make each and every game look intriguing and eye-catching. This book is simply pretty. The presentation extends to the text too, with nice use of colour for the interviews. The book could do with an edit here and there, but is otherwise very readable.

The Board Game Book does several things. First, as an ‘annual’—a once-a-year publication—it serves as a snapshot of the tabletop gaming hobby in 2019. Second, as a showcase, it shows off the best of the games which have been released in the last year in a bright, easily accessible form. Third, it serves as a coffee table book that you, a friend, or a member of your family can browse to get some idea of what the games look like and just a little of what the hobby is like rather than a collection of boxes. Fourth, it serves as a reference guide, though one given more to breadth rather than depth, and fifth, it works as a catalogue of games to try, no matter whether you are new to the hobby or are a veteran.

At its best when focusing on board games and thus living up to its title, The Board Game Book: The essential guide to the best new games is an attractive introduction to the tabletop gaming hobby, one that illustrates the best of hobby in 2019 for those new to it and those who are old hands. It deserves to sit alongside your games collection whether you are just starting out or already have shelves full of games.