Greetings, patrons! Today’s post is all about “those big 5e books.” I’m talking about third party settings, sourcebooks, and bestiaries that usually come in around 1-1.5 inches thick at the spine and around 200-400 pages in total. Some good examples are things like Dungeons of Drakkenheim or Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts.
These kinds of books are fairly popular and are doing well in the RPG market at the time of this writing. So, what would the design for one of these books look like?
Setting Book
Setting books provide a whole new world in which to adventure. Settings usually offer something other than “generic fantasy,” or at least, the ones that are successful do this. Sometimes, the setting merely presents fantasy through a different lens, such as Pugmire, which presents fairly standard fantasy, but all the denizens of the world (including the player characters) are, in fact, cute dogs and cats.
The Hook
When it comes to a setting book (and to a lesser degree, this also applies to the other categories), you can’t beat a really good hook to get a gamer interested. Here’s a not-at-all-complete list of some ways a third-party 5e book can grab your attention:
- Genre: Any spin or variation on “generic fantasy” can be intriguing, especially if it is presented well. Grim Hollow presents a “dark fantasy” style setting, while Dungeons of Drakkenheim adds some cosmic horror and grittiness. This can extend to the type of adventuring you’re going to be doing in the setting, from something like a Heist Movie (Dragon Heist) to something more like being students at Hogwarts (Strixhaven).
- Just Vibes: It’s not hard to look at something like Mörk Borg and see a game with completely different “vibes” than standard D&D. Zweihander is WFRP with the serial numbers filed off. There’s tons of examples, including Humblewood, which is a cozy “cute animals” D&D setting.
- Visuals, Presentation, and Artwork: Sometimes, the sheer “look” of a setting can make it a bestseller. Shadows of Esteren is a good example of this, and one of my favorite 3rd-party settings is the Scarred Lands, which also has a strong aesthetic. For a more modern example, check out Symbaroum.
- Novelty: Sometimes, just being different and new is enough. This may include a connection with a celebrity or famous person (such as Tal’dorei being the Critical Role setting). Sometimes, it is simply the next thing before we knew it was coming (Vampire the Masquerade was this in the 90’s). Combining two genres that shouldn’t work together but somehow DOES is in this category as well (examples being Starfinder, Shadowrun, or Esper Genesis).
- New/modified Mechanics: This can include anything from specific player options to specific rules or systems that are not present anywhere else. A setting that has a system for players to explore other people’s dreams would be a pretty interesting mechanic, while MCDM’s Strongholds & Followers is basically what it says on the tin as new mechanics to add into your D&D game.
Example: Grim Hollow
Sourcebook
I like to divide this category into two sub-groups, one for players, and one for DMs.
Player Resources
Player-focused sourcebooks are usually books full of “player stuff,” meaning things that a typical player is going to want to try out or examine if they’ll fit with a character they want to play. Here’s a list of what you’ll usually find in a player resource sourcebook:
- New Lineages
- New Classes
- New Subclasses
- New Feats
- New Gear
- New Spells
- New Magic Items
Example: Valda’s Spire of Secrets
DM Resources
Books aimed at DMs have a wider variety of styles. Some are basically just a big book full of fun NPCs. Others are books about how to bring NPCs to life, encounters that introduce the players to these NPCs, and random charts of what the NPC might look like or carry with them.
Personally, I love DM resource books. I love seeing fresh and fun ideas for things to bring to the table to delight my players. Encounter books are always enjoyable, and while I don’t use all the random charts I have, I like having the option to use them.
Here’s some examples of things you’d find in a “big book” DM resource sourcebook:
- Advice
- Encounters
- Random Resource Charts
- NPCs
- Modified or additional systems
Example: The Game Master’s Book of Non-Player Characters
Bestiary
This category is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a book, usually chock-full of monsters. Some are full of monsters and/or monster lairs. Some are full of friendly and not-so-friendly NPCs. All of them have a lot of stat blocks.
I’d recommend that a bestiary have a floor of around 200 monsters if you want a “big book” bestiary. Again, sometimes these books benefit greatly from novelty, genre, artwork, presentation, or some other factor besides the base content.
How Big is “Big?”
Let’s take a look at some of the standout products currently in the 3rd-party 5e marketplace:
- Flee, Mortals! a DM resource from MCDM, clocks in at a meaty 394 pages.
- Valda’s Spire of Secrets, a player resource from Mage Hand Press, holds 382 pages.
- Tal’Dorei Reborn, a setting book by Darrington Press, has 280 pages.
- The Game Master’s Book of Non-Player Characters by Jeff Ashworth comes in at 272 pages.
Looking at this list, big books are not at all a problem for consumers. I personally would say you could get away with something small, say 32 pages, if you wanted to cover a particular niche topic. But if you want to go big and go broad, I’d recommend putting your floor at about 96 pages and aim for at least 244 pages. If you’ve got a lot to say, you can clearly go up to around 400 pages and sell well.
In Closing
I’ll be honest… I love all these kinds of books. They always excite my imagination, either through the art, the writing, the ideas, or the tweaking of the game system’s mechanics. And who knows? I might get a chance to bring in a “big book” of my own for 5e sometime!