I've been playing, or at least keeping up with the D&D game ever since Gary Gygax introduced it. All I can say about Wizards of the Coast's latest foray into the genre is that this project could have used some more adulting or at least some adult supervision.
When one is writing color and backstory for what is essentially a trading card game, the story can be piecemeal and ephemeral -- hints and suggestions which don't even have to have any internal consistency or hang together with any semblance of substance. This is not the case for an FRPG, where the entire point is story. A trading card game is, at the end of the day, a game. An FRPG is a kind of immersive literature. Details matter. Substance matters. Ravnica is 100 percent whimsical.
It is an incredible creative effort full of fantastical ideas, but there is no substance which really ties any of it together. It looks like the product of creative sheltered children who have essentially no real world experience in anything but game playing. It is astonishing to consider a creative team, funded by a relatively successful publisher of FRPG's could put together a group of "creatives" not one of whom seems to exhibit any familiarity with any knowledge of substance in any fields useful for designing a campaign milieu -- fields of study such as: Astronomy, Cosmology, Mythology, Geology, Evolution, Meteorology, Climatology, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Economics, Logistics, Botany, Zoology, Ecology, Politics, Linguistics, Religion, History, etc. Yes, we are talking a fantasy world here, but somewhere there has to be some sort of substance which ties the whimsical together in a way that sustains the suspension of disbelief, or at leas has something interesting to say that resonates with some kind of human experience, so that coherent dramatic stories may be erected on the framework. Ravnica is woefully lacking in this crucial category.
Ravnica is a hodge-podge of a dozen playable races, plus who knows how many non-player races, but at least dozens more are intimated. Where do they all live? Why so many different forms when Ravnica is essentially a mono-biome? Why did all of these cultures decide to essentially live cheek-by-jowl in a world-spanning megalopolis? What essential material reality drove such an outcome or sustains it? The creators of Ravnica offer the reader nothing along these lines.
Other essential questions, whose answers would have given Ravnica some sort of depth also remain puzzlingly unasked or even considered: Where do all of these different races and creature types live? From where did they come? How did their languages, religions, cultures, politics, etc. evolve?
Ravnica is astonishingly two-dimensional. What does their environment and history contribute to their physiology, culture, practices, beliefs, society etc.? Why do the guilds exist? The ideologies of these guilds are entirely abstract and disconnected from any material reality or cause and effect. It was mentioned that religion was once a factor on the planet but no longer. Why? Did the gods just give up?
Similarly economics and material reality are entirely neglected, or more accurately, remained unsuspected, by the writers. From Where do the raw materials come? Where do they grow chocolate, or wheat? Where do they brew beer or distil whiskey? Do oranges and sorghum grow in the same biome? Apparently, they do, right in the middle of world-spanning urban environs. Where do they mine iron, or molybdenum, or silver, or platinum or gold? Is it evenly distributed throughout the planet's crust? How does that happen? Does Ravnica have continents or plate-tectonics? If all of the oceans are subterranean, how does that affect ocean ecology? Where do the different kinds of trees grow? How can everything, the entire planet, be a uniform urban megalopolis when different resources are grounded in different essential characteristics? For example, you cannot seriously imagine a wine grape plantation growing on rooftop gardens. Similarly, it takes a certain climate and water resources and land to grow coffee beans. Ravnica gives zero consideration to this. It is entirely whimsy.
Commerce is mentioned but it has no substantial rooting in material production. Why do the Orzhov practice pseudo-capitalist syndicalism and the Selesnya embrace a simplisticly unrealistic agrarian socialism when there is essentially no material difference in outcomes, as presented? There is practically no reason to trade, as production and distribution are after-thoughts, at best. Everything is produced everywhere, in equal amounts, for all that the book says on the economy of Ravnica. Things just "happen"...because, reasons. For no reason other than that something needs to be going on in the background to provide color. This would also mean that all trade and exploration are essentially tourism. Of course, one would also have to question what the tourists would be travelling to see. What would be the point?
This is a Kardashev Type II Civilization but it's technology is a mix of whimsical high fantasy and quirky steampunk. How did this world civilization even evolve, much less be sustained? No thought was given to this. A globe-spanning megalopolis would severely impact the natural ecology of such a world. No effort is made to handle or explain this, or account for it. The text claims that there is very little in the way of natural wild spaces and yet the world is full to the gunwales with enormous herbivorous and carnivorous megafauna. What supports them? Apparently, they live on air. How does primitive technology handle the waste products build up that a city-world full of such beasts would produce? Nineteenth century New York city was careening toward a full-scale disaster due to only horse manure until the advent of the internal combustion engine. Even given "magic," such a clean up by the Golgari, a guild notably lacking in either magic or tech, would require at least a little explaining, if it is to have any substance or the story any coherence. The book offers the DM nothing in the way of help for extracting any kind of coherent story rooted some sort of consistent system.
All of the cultures are crammed together into a multiculturally diverse mix of ethnicities which extend from horizon to horizon and pole to pole. The effect of this is that the entire planet Is not "multi-cultural;" it is entirely uniform in its crazy-quilt distribution of everybody everywhere, such that, as Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, California, "There's no 'there,' there. That is to say, once one has seen one corner of Ravnica one has seen it all, as the setting's authors present it. The multiculture has been essentially stagnant, and its history, geography, and uniformly diverse (an oxymoron) cultural mix, practically featureless and unchanging for ten thousand years. How is this conducive to any kind of drama? Clue: it isn't. There's no history, only monotony. There is no substance upon which to found a lasting campaign. Once the DM has exhausted the two dozen or so tropes that a setting like Ravnica will support, there's nothing left to see, without an enormous load of work on the DM's part. Good luck with that.
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From the Publisher
The First D&D Book to Take On Magic: The Gathering
With the Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica, you can create characters and run adventures on Ravnica, one of the richest, most beloved settings in Magic: The Gathering.
Ravnica is a worldwide cityscape, teeming with intrigue, driven by conflict between 10 powerful guilds, each with its own identity and interests.
D&D fans will love exploring the book’s additions to D&D, with new classes, races, and magic items to delve into, while Magic fans will love bringing their favorite cards to life in the world’s deepest roleplaying game, with all the rules needed to play a Loxodon Smiter, a Goblin Electromancer, or any other Ravnican characters you can imagine.
Inside the Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
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Explore The World of Magic: The GatheringWhen you build your character, you’ll not only choose a race and a class—you’ll choose a guild. Defend nature with the Selesnya Conclave or spread the vengeance of the underworld with the Golgari Swarm—each guild has a unique identity and motivation. |
Run a Ready-Made Adventure for Level 1 CharactersTake players through 'Krenko’s Way': a ready-made adventure for level 1 characters. The notorious goblin crime boss Krenko has escaped confinement in the Udzeo prison under suspicious circumstances. Now he plots to reestablish control over his criminal enterprise, raising the specter of a goblin gang war that could jeopardize the tenuous peace among the guilds. |
Enrich Your D&D GameExplore 5 new races, specific to Ravnica, plus 2 new subclasses, 78 new monsters, and 17 new magic items. Among these additions to D&D are recognizable icons of the Magic: The Gathering universe, from the elephantine race of Loxodons to Ravnican artifacts like guild signets and Sword of the Paruns. |
The leader in providing contemporary fantasy entertainment, Dungeons & Dragons is the wellspring for the entire modern game industry, digital as well as tabletop. Fifth edition D&D draws from every prior edition to create a universally compelling play experience, and exemplifies the true spirit of a game that holds captive the hearts and minds of millions of players worldwide. The core rulebook series consists of three books: the Player’s Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2018
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Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2018
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Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2018
The book quality is terrible. The copy I got has all the old trademarks of terrible print and binding quality that plagues all of the 5th edition books. The pages are wrinkled both along the edges and on the face of pages, specifically near the binding. WTF Wizards of the Coast, get your game together here, you have had this issue for 4 YEARS! It is unacceptable.
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Content A+, Quality F. WOTC still has issues with their printer
By Idahoan on November 30, 2018
First, the content is great and I will update my review should WOTC provide a decent copy to me.By Idahoan on November 30, 2018
The book quality is terrible. The copy I got has all the old trademarks of terrible print and binding quality that plagues all of the 5th edition books. The pages are wrinkled both along the edges and on the face of pages, specifically near the binding. WTF Wizards of the Coast, get your game together here, you have had this issue for 4 YEARS! It is unacceptable.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2018
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Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2018
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Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2018
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amazing book! hit or miss shipping :(
By Amazon Customer on November 20, 2018
As someone who loved the idea of having a campaign set in the largest, most well known location in Magic the Gathering, this book is all I will need to hopefully set my adventurers on a deep story driven quest in to Ravnica. Unfortunately for me, my book got a bit dinged up in shipping. Nothing outrageous like I have seen in other D&D book releases, but a little disheartening none the less. minus the slight damage, consider this a 5 star review.
By Amazon Customer on November 20, 2018
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Top reviews from other countries
Florian Narratio
A Great Toolset to build campaigns in Ravnica and beyond
Reviewed in Germany on August 28, 2019Verified Purchase
Dracomilan
Un'ambientazione diversa ma riconoscibile
Reviewed in Italy on December 5, 2018Verified Purchase
Cliente Amazon
Uma boa adaptação
Reviewed in Brazil on December 18, 2018Verified Purchase
Amazon Kunde
Gut, aber nicht bei bellwetherbooks_usa
Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2021Verified Purchase
Gut, aber nicht bei bellwetherbooks_usa
Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2021
Das Buch an sich ist durchaus für alle zu empfehlen die eine Dnd Kampagne im MTG Universum spielen möchten, oder Interesse an neuen Völkern wie dem Loxodon (humanoiden Elefant) haben.Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2021
Ich habe mein Buch gebraucht im sehr guten Zustand bei bellwetherbooks_usa über die Amazonapp erworben. Es war allerdings alles andere als im sehr gutem Zustand, das Buch hat einen fiesen Kratzer auf der Frontseite, der nicht beim Transport entstanden sein kann, außerdem ist das Buch an der unteren Bundecke beschäftigt was natürlich nicht schön aussieht und darüber hinaus ein Knacken beim Öffnen verursacht. Diese Beschädigung ist vermutlich beim Transport entstanden, da das Buch einfach nicht gut verpackt war. Des Weiteren würde das Buch mit einem roten Punkt markiert, welcher sich bei geschlossenem Buch unten über etwa die Hälfte der Seiten erstreckt.
Fazit: Das Buch ist gut, aber nicht bei bellwetherbooks_usa kaufen!
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Giovanni Filardi
Un must have
Reviewed in Italy on December 11, 2018Verified Purchase
