How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears (First Look)
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Dungeons & Dragons is a game where players often face down plenty of hungry creatures. Fortunately, there’s a way for new and younger players to stay one step ahead of becoming a monster’s meal, thanks to a new book entitled Dungeons & Dragons: How Not to Get Eaten By Owlbears.
Published by Wizards of the Coast and DK, the 128-page small format hardcover is a tongue-in-cheek guide book that offers tips, tricks and tactics for how to stay alive in the Forgotten Realms. Its’ available now from book shops, local game stores and on Amazon.
So will this book keep your character from ending up as an owl owlbear snack? Below, we dig into all the details.
What is “How Not to Get Eaten By Owlbears” about?
How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears: A Survival Guide for the Forgotten Realms is 128-page small format hardcover book. It’s narrated by Falgriss, a new character within D&D lore who is a dragonborn ranger and former apprentice to the legendary explorer Volothamp Geddarm. In the book, Falgriss offers his hard-won advice for how to survive as an adventurer in the world of the Forgotten Realms, covering everything from deadly fauna and magical traps to seedy cities and bloodthirsty monsters.
All of it narrated in a humorous tone, with Falgriss offering his helpful “Dos and Do Nots” lists. It’s essentially a combination of fictional travel guide and primer on some of the most iconic creatures, characters and locations of D&D. It’s also similar in layout and structure to the Legend of Drizzt Visual Dictionary, with each page offering illustrations with bite-sized accompanying write ups.
Notably, How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears also features brand new artwork that was commissioned especially for the book.
Who is “How Not to Get Eaten By Owlbears” for?
The book is really designed for kids within the 7-12 age range. In this sense it’s similar to both the D&D Young Adventurers Series and the more recent D&D Pocket Expert book. It’s a fluffy and fun read for a younger audience who either already loves the Forgotten Realms or wants to know more about it (although the book also covers a few other parts of the multiverse, including Ravenloft and Spelljammer).
Hardcore D&D grognards and Forgotten Realms fanatics are probably going to turn their noses up at the How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears (although collectors may dig it) but younger geeks-in-training are likely going to love it.
It’s worth noting that the book purely covers the lore of D&D, so if you’re expecting any coverage on the rules of the game, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
Who is “How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears” author Anne Toole?
Anne Toole is a Writers Guild award-winning author who has worked in television, video games and comic books. Based in Los Angeles, she’s contributed to The Witcher and Assassin’s Creed video game series and currently writes the Horizon: Zero Dawn comic book series from Titan.
She’s also a Co-Chair for the Women in Games SIG of the International Games Developers Association (IGDA) and is an elected Board Member and Communications Chair for the IGDA in Los Angeles.
How much is “How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears”?
The Dungeons & Dragons Pocket Expert retails for $16.99 USD, with a Kindle version available for $7.99 USD. The book is hardcover, but slightly larger than a standard paperback novel, so the price point seems decent (the D&D Pocket Expert, which is similar in tone, retails for $7.99 USD, but it’s also a softcover and has about half the page count of How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears.)
You may also be able to find copies for a little cheaper online or at your local game store (as of this writing it’s currently on sale in a number of different online retailers).
Final Thoughts
While How Not to Get Eaten by Owlbears definitely isn’t for everyone, younger readers and adult D&D fans looking for a fun and fluffy read will likely enjoy it. And who knows? It could just keep your next character from ending up as an owlbear pellet.
You can pick a copy of a copy of the hardcover now from your local book store, game store or on Amazon.
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Ollie Delano is a Staff Writer who lives in Chicago, Illinois where he majored in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He’s been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 10 years and currently plays in a weekly game group where he rolls way too many natural 1s and chugs way too much Mountain Dew. His favorite D&D campaign setting is Eberron and his favorite character to play was a Tiefling rogue named Draxiss who enjoys both literal and figurative backstabbing.
