D&D 5E reviewed 16 months after launch

MetalDog · February 07, 2016, 12:08:46 AM

A really good overview of 5E. What it is and how they are growing it.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/02/reviewed-dungeons-dragons-5th-edition/

Martok · February 07, 2016, 01:37:50 AM

Thanks for the link, MetalDog.

I don't know if anything could tear me away from 3.5. However, if Wizards has, in fact, somehow managed to streamline the game without dumbing it down, I'd probably be willing to at least take the new version for a spin.

Double Deuce · February 07, 2016, 02:26:44 AM

I've been running an online campaign for a little over a year now (using Fantasy Grounds) and I really like it. They removed a lot of the bloat from other versions, imho. Very few skills and the extra stuff, like feats can be optional. It reminds me a lot of 1E AD&D, but without the THACO. Yes, I know, Blasphemy. You can pretty much crop out the rules and things you don't want to use and go with it or add on things as preferred. I like how they did Advantage/Disadvantage too.

Wes · February 07, 2016, 03:27:10 AM

I was a hardcore 1st ed AD&D fan until I found Microlite20. Anything I might want to do with an RPG is covered for me by M20 and all the versions created by the fans.

From the looks of the review they have went back to the 'Dragonlance' theory which is when I started to drift away from the game. For myself RPGs were about using your imagination. My group might have played straight through 1 module back in the day. We bought source material. I would buy a module packed with lots of maps and extras and strip it. And not just D&D stuff. My favorite source material was Creatures & Treasures 2. I never let anyone know I had that book (there were three full time DMs in the group so it was hard to throw something canon at them that they didn't already know).

When things started being about playing pre-gens in a world just like everyone else was playing everyone I gamed with just lost interest.

I wish they would stop trying to re-create lightning in a bottle and service the fans that like previous editions. The legacy value of D&D is where the heart is...if I want something different there's 10,000 different RPGs these days and hell most of them are free.

Double Deuce · February 07, 2016, 03:43:05 AM

Quote from: Wes on February 07, 2016, 03:27:10 AM
My favorite source material was Creatures & Treasures 2. I never let anyone know I had that book (there were three full time DMs in the group so it was hard to throw something canon at them that they didn't already know).

I still have my copy along with a boatload of other Rolemaster books. ICE and their publishers put out tons of good source material stuff.

MetalDog · February 07, 2016, 11:59:40 AM

There's a game store in town. I need to go see what they offer for D&D. It's been way too long since I have.

Arctic Blast · February 07, 2016, 09:24:10 PM

I've been playing some 5e with a few friends. So far, so good. It really goes back to role playing instead of die roll modifiers for every little damn thing.

Wes · February 08, 2016, 02:25:31 PM

Quote from: Double Deuce on February 07, 2016, 03:43:05 AM
Quote from: Wes on February 07, 2016, 03:27:10 AM
My favorite source material was Creatures & Treasures 2. I never let anyone know I had that book (there were three full time DMs in the group so it was hard to throw something canon at them that they didn't already know).

I still have my copy along with a boatload of other Rolemaster books. ICE and their publishers put out tons of good source material stuff.

ICE had a ton of good source. Judges Guild was in the mix and getting White Dwarf and Dragon were essentials. I remember when the Harn material started being released. One of the three DMs picked up an early map and used it for his setting. It was weird. You were riding through what could have passed for beautiful English countryside when suddenly from a stand of trees this shadow would appear and be headed toward the party...OH HELL! FLYING VAMPIRE SQUIRRELS! (Yes, I believe he mutated every creature TSR ever released...I think he was reading Gamma World behind our backs).

Good Times. :)

Nefaro · February 08, 2016, 08:10:57 PM

I still have ICE's Middle Earth RPG (the last edition iirc) along with a few supplements like Dol Guldur and the Creature book. Always thought the Rolemaster system was rather fidgety but at least it was .. interesting.

Wes · February 08, 2016, 09:24:29 PM

Quote from: Nefaro on February 08, 2016, 08:10:57 PM
I still have ICE's Middle Earth RPG (the last edition iirc) along with a few supplements like Dol Guldur and the Creature book. Always thought the Rolemaster system was rather fidgety but at least it was .. interesting.

Oh, totally agree and you are being kind. I still have the original 'Laws' books and I just couldn't get into the system.

But I picked up Calenhad: A Beacon of Gondor to design a proper high speed communication system in my setting. That was money well spent.

Favorite picks for 'WTF WAS THAT!' moments from C&T II:

Thracha
Ihl Wolf
Vile

LongBlade · February 10, 2016, 07:50:12 PM

Quote from: Arctic Blast on February 07, 2016, 09:24:10 PM
I've been playing some 5e with a few friends. So far, so good. It really goes back to role playing instead of die roll modifiers for every little damn thing.

It streamlines the game enough so that six people plus a DM isn't unwieldy. After six players the game can bog down some but it isn't fatal as long as everyone is having fun. 3.5's optimal size was about four players. I *loved* the complexity of the game, but it could be daunting.

Along those lines there is no reason why house rules can't be applied to adapt some of the things you like from 3.5 (or other versions) to 5.0. Multi-classing is possible, as is the importation of other races/classes. When I was DMing I had a few 3.5 books handy for thoughts and inspiration that I was working on.

LongBlade · February 10, 2016, 07:51:19 PM

There are also several DMs at my FLGS which have adapted v1.0 modules for 5.0. Personally I didn't enjoy those too much, but they have a good following.

airboy · February 12, 2016, 03:46:37 PM

I own every D&D product that Judges Guild ever released (I think). Their world maps were excellent. City State of the Invincible Overlord was great. Tegal Manor. Dark Tower.

I always had to do some adjustments on the Judges Guild materials, but the ideas they generated were excellent.

Minsc from the Balders Gate computer games was the only computer character who came close to some of the quirky personalities of the characters I used to DM for.

Bison · February 21, 2016, 11:16:55 PM

Quote from: LongBlade on February 10, 2016, 07:51:19 PM
There are also several DMs at my FLGS which have adapted v1.0 modules for 5.0. Personally I didn't enjoy those too much, but they have a good following.

I had a lot of modules for 1 edition, but very seldom did we play through them unless I didn't have time to come up with an adventure prior to the gaming session. Of course that wasn't very often because I had nothing better to do in my youth then make up dungeons and city scenarios. :) I did love them because of the ideas they provided and I'd steal specific encounters or dungeon sections and make them apart of something I was working on.

Double Deuce · February 22, 2016, 02:05:37 AM

Quote from: airboy on February 12, 2016, 03:46:37 PM
I own every D&D product that Judges Guild ever released (I think). Their world maps were excellent. City State of the Invincible Overlord was great. Tegal Manor. Dark Tower.

I always had to do some adjustments on the Judges Guild materials, but the ideas they generated were excellent.

I think I only ever had one of their products but didn't like the layout so never got more of them. They seem pretty popular to this day so I probably missed out on some good stuff but I still have AD&D modules I've had since the 80's that are still unopened. That and an old Army buddy sent me his collection a year or so ago, so I have a ton more copies.