The Next Level (Dungeons & Dragons 5.0)

So their is this Big Pink Elephant in the RPG room lately and I do not see much discussion here on it.

Dungeons & Dragons Next
Dungeons & Dragon 5.0
DnDN
D&DN

What does everyone think? Beta Playtest at the DDXP con on the 26th.

I find it strange they have playtesting at the same time they are calling on the community to help design it. I guess they already have a format in mind.

Also, I think everyone here knows this is just the SOP of Hasbro/WotC to rebrand a product every 2 to 5 years to generate income. I think they should come up with a skeletal system that doesn't change and it's only the campaign worlds, encounters, creatures and stuff that changes. They kind of did that for D20 where multiple genres were created in the D20 system.

I would love to see a "Rule of X" applied to D&D. Some way of quantifying a power level of a character based on defense, attacks and abilities. So, when creating a character, the character will be forced to be balanced. Or they can chose to be uber in one area and weak in another.

How I feel about 5.0 and the direction D&D shall be taken...



Mind you, I am not against D&D, just that it seems this shall be the trend to follow.

Yes Wizards is famous for rinse and reprint however I think that in light of 4.0 lackluster performance they have no choice but to try another approach, otherwise the Pathfinder lead will continue and increase.

Just our groups take on the situation.

Regards

Chris

I find it strange they have playtesting at the same time they are calling on the community to help design it. I guess they already have a format in mind.

Also, I think everyone here knows this is just the SOP of Hasbro/WotC to rebrand a product every 2 to 5 years to generate income. I think they should come up with a skeletal system that doesn't change and it's only the campaign worlds, encounters, creatures and stuff that changes. They kind of did that for D20 where multiple genres were created in the D20 system.

I would love to see a "Rule of X" applied to D&D. Some way of quantifying a power level of a character based on defense, attacks and abilities. So, when creating a character, the character will be forced to be balanced. Or they can chose to be uber in one area and weak in another.

I haven't heard much about the 5E yet. I am going to keep an open mind about it...which I have to say I really didn't with the 4E. Though coming from a GM who has about every 1E, 2E, 3.0 and 3.5E I really don't know if I will go more into a 5E than I did with 4E (purchasing the PHB and DMG).

I would hope that 5E will not have the feel of the love child of CCG and Wow...that is what I feel that 4E plays like.

It would take some kind of innovative/amazing to really pull me out of 3.5 or Pathfinder. Who knows...maybe Hasbro/WotC can do that.

Jim

I would hope that 5E will not have the feel of the love child of CCG and Wow...that is what I feel that 4E plays like.

Although 4E shall forever be branded as the "FAIL" of all D&D editions, I feel that people didn't give it fair credit. I believe most hate for the edition stems not from the games mechanics, but the hurt that WoTC caused when 3.5, just an infant in its day (comparitively speaking to the previous editions), was halted due to what WoTC saw as a need for a marketably better game and was buried in the tomb of obsolete RPGs with the previous editions.

I could rant about what makes 4E a good system for me, but to save a lot fo time and typing I will just state I personally like 4E and invite any player to join me at a table I might be DMing, so that I may have the chance to demonstrate the reasons why.

As for 5E and beyond, as stated before this is just the first in a circular repetition program for WoTC where they will craft a new edition, say it was what the players wanted, realize they aren't making sales, craft a new edition, and state that the new edition was done in order to "listen to what the players really wanted," rinse and repeat.

I do hope that one day they will stick to a D&D edition that shall be forever hence known as D&D and just leave it at that. Adding to it, but not plotting in crafting it in new manners and directions that would create a reason to continue with adding numbers at the end of every new take on the original concept.

I have to say that the few times I have played 4E, it wasn't horrible, just not something that I felt was something I could get into character and play as enjoyably. The DM's I played under were good DM's, and while the storyline was fun, I just couldn't get into that comfortable rhythm of the characters I played (Human Rogue, Elf Wizard). I know that there are quite a few people who like 4E, and I am happy that the system got a following.

There were a few things that 4E did change that I liked a lot...the less emphasis on alignment for one I was actually happy to see.

WotC needs to find a system and stick with it. Who knows...maybe 5E will be be that system. I am fully willing to get the PHB, DMG and probably the Monsters Manual and attempt running and playing a few games.

Jim

WotC needs to find a system and stick with it. Who knows...maybe 5E will be be that system. I am fully willing to get the PHB, DMG and probably the Monsters Manual and attempt running and playing a few games.

I can agree with you on that. d(^_^d )

I pretty much agree with everything that's said here. My concern is mainly with the effect this will have on the RPG industry as a whole. 4e isn't a bad game in and of itself. I'll concede that mechanically, it doesn't deliver what most old school gamers would consider the "D&D experience". However, I believe that it's actual failure is in delivering a new generation of tabletop gamers. It was clearly designed to lure WoW players away from the computer. An ambitious goal, indeed! In the end, it divided the industry and opened up an opportunity for companies like Paizo to gobble up neglected market share. I'd be surprised if even a single kid thought "Forget letting my computer crunch the numbers and render sweet-ass graphics! I'm going to roll the dice myself and scribble on graph paper! (Just as soon as I finish reading all these rule books) That'll be awesome!"

It does sound like WotC/Hasbro has realized that they'll attract more players if they distill the "essence" of D&D. The thing that caught our attention when we first got into the hobby. If you follow Monte Cook's blog, you can get a sense of what's driving the design. I'm cautiously optimistic. Creating a version of D&D that will unite all D&D players is, again, an ambitious goal. I think they are capable of creating something good as long as they don't go overboard on "pleasing all of the people, all of the time" (so to speak). Time will tell.

Chris

I think they should come up with a skeletal system that doesn't change and it's only the campaign worlds, encounters, creatures and stuff that changes. They kind of did that for D20 where multiple genres were created in the D20 system.

The problem with this approach is that, if you look at sales figures, the Player's Handbook far outsells anything else that WotC publishes. This unfortunately, leads to having to produce a new version every 5-10 years.