D&D 5E EN World Interview With Mike Mearls, Lead Designer of D&D Next

sheadunne · May 21, 2012

Thanks for the Interview!

I'm skeptical about two things mentioned. Interrupts eating actions (I'd rather just have a flat limit of one a round to include things such as AoO). Healing. I like my clerics to be the only source (it bugs me that other classes can do it as well). Healing should be a rarity, not the norm.

Umbran · May 21, 2012

Mark CMG said:
Class seems to be tied to combat role still, which is something I've not liked in the past.

In the past, however, we only really had class and race from which to get all the character's abilities.

If you're instead building a character out of race, class, theme, and background, it makes some sense that some of these building blocks can be a bit more focused. Class is mostly for combat, the others can be for other things, if you use them.

The assumption that the game is combat focused seems to pervade the design...

To my eye, it has pervaded the design of every prior edition. If they are looking to those editions as their inspiration, combat focus should be expected as a given. Whatever the marketing copy, I would expect them to extend the game's capabilities in other realms, but, ltimately, killing things and taking their stuff is pretty central to the game's history.

Gryphon04 · May 21, 2012

Sheadunne,
Your right healing, that is to say the magical healing clerics provide, should be a rarity. Everyone heals over time without magic even in the real world. i.e. rest, recuperation, nourishment, first aid, etc. The designers are simply creating a mechanic to reflect this is all. Will they get it right? Well that is what the playtest is for. Maybe we can ask Game Tonic how it works and if he likes it.

Mark CMG · May 21, 2012

Umbran said:
In the past, however, we only really had class and race from which to get all the character's abilities.

If you're instead building a character out of race, class, theme, and background, it makes some sense that some of these building blocks can be a bit more focused. Class is mostly for combat, the others can be for other things, if you use them.

Maybe. I'm not sure the lines cannot be less rigid and the system more integrated. I like the idea of there being more options in each area that allow for greater diversity from each area rather than a sort of separate but equal policy of how themes, classes, races (I prefer "species" as each is made up of mutliple races), and backgrounds will interact. So, if class is mostly about combat, and backgrounds engender the roleplaying aspects of the roleplaying game, though themes can be about either . . . but it is worth noting that someone not taking a combat theme will be less combat proficient (which seems obvious but seemed important enough to the design process to be pointed out) . . . I'm not sure I see this segregation design as being as flexible as it could be if class, race, theme and background could all speak to the three pillars. I guess it might depend on which is the corner stone of character building. From my own experience, background seems like it needs to be the foundation, inclusive of race, and then as a character becomes part of the setting, through theme, class eventually follows. Class becomes more of a byproduct of a character's growth, even if much of that growth occurs during chargen. I think that keeps roleplay at the fore and allows that combat is simply one of many activities of the characters in-game. It certainly would seem backwards to think of class first when character building in anything but a combat focused game particularly if class is going to be the primary bastion of combat related elements in a roleplaying game.

Umbran said:
To my eye, it has pervaded the design of every prior edition. If they are looking to those editions as their inspiration, combat focus should be expected as a given. Whatever the marketing copy, I would expect them to extend the game's capabilities in other realms, but, ltimately, killing things and taking their stuff is pretty central to the game's history.

What you're describing is a lowest common denominator approach to the design rather than focusing the design on something more and allowing those kill-things-and-take-stuff aspects to be subsumed during the process of design toward the greater goal. As you point out, that approach has been done before to good effect and otherwise, and the hope is that the leader in the field will have a bit of a higher purpose while trying to produce a really good (even great!), unifying edition.

I know, I know. They are a business with a bottomline. We can all be aware of that and still hope that the big dog in the niche market is hiring the best designers available to put out something more than just a game designed to try and capture the largest possible market share. That's a good business goal, and I don't think it is wrong to try and achieve that, but lofty design goals can often dovetail with lofty business goals.

Jack Daniel · May 21, 2012

Gaming Tonic said:
While themes are by no means complete, I’d love it if you could play the game without them and need only minimal or no modifications by the DM. That would be a good option for groups that want a slimmed down experience or who simply don’t want feat-style abilities in the game. For instance, our assumption for now is that if you want to build NPCs using classes, you don’t have to give the NPC a theme or background. That speeds things up considerably, while pointing us in a direction where PCs could also do that.

This is the only part that makes me kind of nervous. Playing the game without themes should be the default assumption, and adding them should be the module. It's easier to add complexity than it is to strip it away. The "remove themes module" is bass-ackwards game design.

Gaming Tonic · May 21, 2012

Mark CMG said:
All NDAs are lifted or just some (or just your NDA)? Why would they only lift certain NDAs? I hope everyone who has their NDA lifted will be sure to keep a critical eye on the whole process, in the discerning sense and not necessarily in the negative sense unless warranted. It's nice to get some design details but nothing quells interest faster than marketing couched as insider info.

Hey Mark I am not sure about other NDAs. I think a few select people have had them lifted but I have no solid evidence of that. I think mine was lifted because I view this with a positive attitude and sense of community and WotC knows that I will bring that to my coverage. (I live in a perfect world, ha) It is a good idea to have someone who has been extensively playtesting the material to speak out a bit before the open playtest begins. Solid marketing and I am appreciative because I haven't been allowed to talk about it at all for so long. Now I will begin to address some of the things I see on the thread that are either a bit off or blatantly wrong.

Mark CMG · May 22, 2012

Gaming Tonic said:
Hey Mark I am not sure about other NDAs. I think a few select people have had them lifted but I have no solid evidence of that. I think mine was lifted because I view this with a positive attitude and sense of community and WotC knows that I will bring that to my coverage. (I live in a perfect world, ha)

Thanks. I suppose others will surface if they can.

Gaming Tonic said:
It is a good idea to have someone who has been extensively playtesting the material to speak out a bit before the open playtest begins. Solid marketing and I am appreciative because I haven't been allowed to talk about it at all for so long.

My first question would be if any of the materials distributed by WotC had an OGL attached to them.

Gaming Tonic said:
Now I will begin to address some of the things I see on the thread that are either a bit off or blatantly wrong.

That might be tricky with nothing set in stone and if they plan to adjust even these preliminary rules based on feedback. Be cautious to separate your opinion and impressions from actual fact so that folks don't wind up quoting you all over the Internet only to be disappointed down the road. One of WotC's biggest PR nightmares has to be someone giving out false information only to have to backtrack and your singular status of having your NDA lifted makes you as much an official spokesperson as any of the designers at this juncture.

Farstrider · May 22, 2012

What link?

What I'd like to know is where is the link to signup for the startup?

Gaming Tonic · May 22, 2012

Mark CMG said:
My first question would be if any of the materials distributed by WotC had an OGL attached to them.

I asked about this at the D&D Summit in December and there were unable to answer at that time. The sets of material I had did not have an OGL attached to them. Have no fear by the way, I did not mean to quote rules. In fact most of the people commenting on EN World have been right on with their comments, as far as attitude. What I think I took away from this whole process and some have been blatantly wrong about is that Wizards of the Coast seems to genuinely want to reach out to the community and work on a system that fans can play together. There are no rules set in stone and that is how you know the fans will have input.

YRUSirius · May 22, 2012

Wanna spill the beans on some class features of The Big Four (classes) and some themes?

EDIT: Okay, to get a little more specific: Any idea what the fighter got instead of the surge and weapon specialization class features? How do fighter's maneuvers work? Any idea if Paladins use 'stamina'? What is this 'stamina' Cordell spoke of? How does 'backstab'/'sneak attack' work? How many hit dice does a long rest regenerate?

-YRUSirius