D&D 5E Is Monte Cook working on D&D 5th Edition?

Scott McFarland · Sep 22, 2011

The Best Case Scenario here is that they've brought in a proven game designer with the credentials to put D&D back on track, will consult with their customer base to establish the game they want to play, use open play testing to get the new rules right and build excitement, then make sure they don't release core books that get errata'd to the point of uselessness barely 18 months later.

As for a release date, the 40th anniversary is 2014...

Anselyn · Sep 22, 2011

Morrus said:
(Quoting Mearls ...)

I've spent the past several months talking about D&D's past and how that relates to its future. It's now time to focus much more on the future of the game. Monte has an unmatched design pedigree in the RPG field, and for that reason we've brought him on board to work with R&D in making D&D the greatest RPG the world has seen.

The sentence I've highlighted in red seems quite germane to this discussion.

Arbiter of Wyrms · Sep 22, 2011

You can call it 5E. You can call it AD&D 3rd Edition. You can call it Robilard's Remarkable Roleplaying Relaunch. I don't care. If Monte Cook designs it and Paizo supports it, I'm good.

kitsune9 said:
I think it will be a 5E coming with Monte's return. I can't imagine doing anything with less fanfare. I think they will try to create a version that will appeal to old and new gamers alike.

Whether that will be well-received, who knows. Marketing to us is like herding cats.

Regardless, I will definitely buy the set when it comes out just for collecting at least. Not sure if I'll jump in since I ended up making my choice with Pathfinder.

To those who argue that it's too early for 5E, remember that the PHB is D&D's cash cow. I think Hasbro, or any profit driven business, will slaughter it as often as they can.

It is a fractured market, and it is hard to market to us, but as long as we all by each new PHB, it pays off.

I play a Pathfinder/BoXM/House Ruled hodge podge that no one will ever publish. I'll still buy the 5E core rulebooks, and so will most of you. If 5E takes Pathfinder and pulls all the cool stuff (whatever there is) from 4E, while incorporating the kind of design philosophy Monte has demonstrated in Arcana Evolved, World of Darkness, and The collected Books of X Might, I will even like this new product. And I will steal ideas from it for my game I almost never get to play.

Kitsune, I believe you hit the nail right on the head, or at least where WotC should aim: the goal has to be to unify the fantasy RPG market again. Return to the OGL. Have Monte, Skip, Jonathan, Mike, Sean, Bruce, and Ari author a cohesive, yet versatile system that supports a variety of popular play styles, license that system's publication to Paizo, along with Dragon and Dungeon Magazines, under the direction of Erik Mona. Cancel 4E edition and all it's predecessors in favor of this new, somewhat backwards-compatible game. If the new game is better than 3E, but just as open, 3E will go away on its own.

Retreater · Sep 22, 2011

I don't know why so many are so eager to go back to 3rd edition as the gold pinnacle of D&D. Of any incarnation it required more math, more fiddly computations, and a higher entry point for the casual gamer. (Of the other editions, the fiddly computations were more optional.)

I know that I can run 4E while intoxicated, having a great time with my friends. We can play in a crowded environment, easily toggling between table sizes of 3-10. This would be a logistical nightmare in 3E, but less so in AD&D.

I can print out a pregenerated character with all powers and equipment generated in a fraction of the time that it would take to develop that character in 3E. Likewise, all of the spells are printed out instead of having a player heave a $40 rulebook to the table and thumb through 100s of pages.

To me this is progress. If Cook et al can develop a game that is simple, fast-paced, and fun, I will be excited for it. I do not want to add more complexity to the game.

While this is purely anecdotal, I can say that 4E has brought people to my game who had been scared off of RPGs since before 3rd edition was released. It has brought new gamers, coworkers, colleagues, spouses, and more to the table in ways that Pathfinder or 3E never could.

4E is streamlined, accessible, and balanced. On the other hand, characters in Pathfinder can easily become so broken that they cannot be challenged without resulting to ridiculous, impractical strategies that employ only a very specific subset of monsters - even at mid levels. (The scaling of AC is a major problem.) High level play is so messed up that even Pathfinder's Adventure Path designers and Organized Play won't touch it.

To me, 3E and Pathfinder is not the pinnacle of D&D's development. Some do see it that way, but I do not.

El Mahdi · Sep 22, 2011

Retreater said:
...snip...

Since I messed up my XP comment :blush:

That would be because the pinnacle of D&D is different for each and every person. :erm:

Kobold Boots · Sep 22, 2011

Opinion: It takes a regular group of dedicated players between 2 and 3 years if played by the book to go from level 1 to level 30.

That countdown begins the moment the game is released. So if anyone says it's not time for a new edition or significant rules change by year 3; they're wrong in the case of the people who are playing the way the game is built to be played (note I did not say "meant" or "should" just built.. there's no dictating there

)

Of course the average player of the game is casual so it takes a lot longer to get through a campaign if ever, or the games played start at a certain level and are done at a different rate, but the point is the largest number of players are casual so if you put a new edition out 3-4 years after the last, it seems odd; especially considering the 10 year cycle we got with 2nd ed.

End of the day expect a new edition or rollout every 3 years. The fact that Monte's back in the fold is a HUGE thing for me as his interpretation of D&D 3e was the reason I started playing again. If Monte is working with Mearls to me that's gamer nerdvana as 4e is a great step in a good direction for the game in terms of making combat fun and balancing things out (in my opinion).

As for Paizo, WoTC, Hasbro - I could give two quarters for all I care about the corporate banners. All companies suck somewhere and at something. I agree with those who have said - work together and stop publishing competing games from the same source mats.

Good luck