How much in the way of rules will we get when the public playtest begins?

Gundark · Jan 22, 2012

I doubt WotC will give us the rules to play a 1-20 game right away. Most likely smaller chunks at a time, for example levels 1-5, 5-10, 11-15, etc. I am thinking we will see only the very basic game at the start with no add ons. Then once the the basic engine is formed we will see "feats" "skills", "powers", optional rules, etc.

Thoughts?

Sammael · Jan 22, 2012

Actually, I think the basic engine is already done, and what we'll be playtesting are the various add-ons and their interaction, since there is no way WotC staff can go through all the different combinations - but we can.

howandwhy99 · Jan 22, 2012

Wasn't it said that nothing was definite? Maybe we will get a nice, quick, rules light and simple game to playtest and then give commentary back on?

That would require some restraint and maybe some explanation to those who want their edition or their mechanics implemented immediately, but I think it's doable.

Mark CMG · Jan 22, 2012

Here's something that has been confusing to me. By "public playtest" do they mean that going forward playtesters will not be under an NDA and many of the details will be hashed out publicly, even by people not part of the actual playtest? Or will playtesting be done just by those who sign up and discussion restricted? Obviously, the public playtest of Pathfinder was more easily done by Paizo because they were building on an existing, publicly available system, so there weren't many, if any, secrets to be held close to the vest. I'm not sure if the 5E playtest will actually be "public."

Anyway, it seems they have two methods to playtest a game with the scope they have proposed. Either they run 4E games and add in some new rules for including characters from other editions or they allow people to run games from any edition and provide new rules to allow characters from any edition. Thoughts?

Number48 · Jan 22, 2012

I'm thinking things like the prerelease kit for 4E. You have pre-gen characters, an adventure, and rules for running that adventure. Maybe even decisions for leveling up after the adventure. But I don't see us getting any kind of character generation rules in the general public.

Saracenus · Jan 22, 2012

Mark,

All D&D Next playtests are under NDAs. Open or Public is not the right word for it. General Playtest is a better term for it.

As I understand it (remember I am just a volunteer playtester and not someone running the show with full details of the program) that playtesting is broken down into to two categories:

1) Friends and Family Playtest. This group is the already established 4e playtest groups, WotC employees (with friends and families), and anyone else they want to do established testing. These folks will get stuff first, probably a larger sample to test, and their feedback will help smooth some of the rougher edges of the testing material.

2) General Playtest. This is what everyone that hit the big red sign-up button is getting into. This will be a massive group that will stress test specific material to really catch all the weird stuff that Friends and Family missed. They will also soliciting ideas for incorporation into the edition. See something that isn't the best representation of D&D, explain why and propose something else.

Now, this is party from my experience and reading what has been put out there about these playtest types. However, they could other levels of playtesters that i am not privy to and of course I could have misread some of my info, so take this with a grain of salt.

I hope this helps,

Mark CMG · Jan 22, 2012

Saracenus said:
I hope this helps,

Indeed! Thanks, Bryan!

(grumble grumble XP grumble 24 hours grumble mumble mumble . . .)

dd.stevenson · Jan 22, 2012

Saracenus said:
Mark,

All D&D Next playtests are under NDAs. Open or Public is not the right word for it. General Playtest is a better term for it.

I'm not sure this makes sense. How would wizards enforce an NDA against a group who signed up (anonymously) over the internet? What would be the point of such an NDA?

I've only ever playtested material with Paizo, so I'm assuming there's an angle of which I'm not aware.

Umbran · Jan 22, 2012

dd.stevenson said:
I'm not sure this makes sense. How would wizards enforce an NDA against a group who signed up (anonymously) over the internet? What would be the point of such an NDA?

Well, part of the secret there is in what they'll hand out.

I wouldn't expect to see them just handout a small game, with all the rules, covering levels 1-5, at least to start with. I think they'll give out a package of core mechanics, pregen characters, and an adventure to run.

Now, if they don't give out exactly the same package to everyone, they can narrow down who spilled what beans. If only three groups were given the "high level character scenario with the prototype level 20 sorcerer", and someone starts talking about high level sorcerers, they can start tracking them down.

In this case, though, the NDA is probably not going to be expected to stop all information flow. The intent is probably just to limit the fire hose to a slow leak. They want us talking about it and getting excited, after all.