D&D 5E With the Holy Trinity out, let's take stock of 5E

Mercurius · Nov 29, 2014

With the DMG out* and the Holy Trinity finally assembled, what's the verdict? Is the most play-tested version of D&D a creative success? Does it bode well for the future of the edition? Is this the One Edition to Rule Them All? Given the seemingly overwhelming accolades for the Trinity as a whole, will 5E be a wild financial success? And while we're at it, another round of...What next? Where to now, WotC? The DMG is out, we want to know what else is coming down the pike!

(*I pre-ordered mine on Amazon so won't get it for another week and a half, but I'm probably going to go browse through it tomorrow...will be hard-pressed not to pick it up).

fjw70 · Nov 29, 2014

I like 5e a lot. It pretty much replaces my need to play any pre-4e D&D (except for the occasional nostalgia game). However I don't find it an adequate replacement for 4e D&D. There are stil so many things that edition does that I like that 5e doesn't. Right now 4e and 5e are tied for my favorite edition. They are both great but different games.

guachi · Nov 29, 2014

5e is better than 1e, 2e, 3e, 3.5e, or 4e.

The only thing that could compete is OD&D/BECMI as they are different beasts. The early editions are incredibly rules light.

5e does a great job attempting to strip as much away as possible to try and leave a system that's easy to execute. The classes are fun and interesting. The rulebooks are well separated. That is, PHB stuff is in the PHB and DMG stuff is in the DMG. They really put the G in the DMG. It's a Guide book not a Rule book. The art is fantastic, for the most part.

It's failures, to me, are lack of clarity of some rules and poor organization of the spells and magic items. The large number of options can be overwhelming. The small number of planned supplements leaves lots of areas 1/2 or 1/4 finished. Lack of setting support is a disappointment. But I have enough old stuff that it's not a big worry.

Ratings:
PHB 9/10 (-1 as my binding fell apart)
MM 8/10 (Great art, but text doesn't equal the awesome that was 2e)
DMG 10/10 (so far it's been a wonderful read)

Warmaster Horus · Nov 29, 2014

As someone who sat out 4e because I already play Heroes of Might and Magic and got feat-fatigue from 3.5/Pathfinder, I find 5e to be just what the doctor ordered.

Queer Venger · Nov 29, 2014

Mercurius said:
With the DMG out* and the Holy Trinity finally assembled, what's the verdict? Is the most play-tested version of D&D a creative success? Does it bode well for the future of the edition? Is this the One Edition to Rule Them All? Given the seemingly overwhelming accolades for the Trinity as a whole, will 5E be a wild financial success? And while we're at it, another round of...What next? Where to now, WotC? The DMG is out, we want to know what else is coming down the pike!

(*I pre-ordered mine on Amazon so won't get it for another week and a half, but I'm probably going to go browse through it tomorrow...will be hard-pressed not to pick it up).

IMO this is the definitive edition. Im 1e D&D, and this is the first edition to come along that truly captures, and helps me capture, the Spirit of D&D. Now that I have all 3 I can definitely say that this is the edition that satisfies my craving for table-top fantasy (high, low, or S&S) rpg. The DMG, which I picked up this morning, cements what I want my D&D experience to be: simplicity, tool-kit style, and the return of control to the DM. Is it perfect? No, nothing can be, certainly not a fantasy RPG. Does it have everything a gamer could want? No, nothing can give *every* gamer what every gamer wants. Is it the D&D I want? Yes.

I imagine that more customization books will come along, but its comforting to know that the Trinity remains a simple, elegant, and creative set of tools. I dont like something? I can take it out (and the books give options for this). I want to make things grittier ala Game of Thrones, I get rules for that.

As for my D&D street cred? Ive played 1e, 2e, 4e. I didnt get to play 3e, but I heard good things of it. I played 4e briefly, not knowing much about it and quickly realizing what it was. I wish I would have sat out 4e in retrospect, it really, REALLY turned me away from D&D.

So now Im back! Im excited, thrilled, and happy for what D&D is becoming. 2015 is going to be the year of D&D no doubt.

guachi · Nov 29, 2014

Given that there aren't going to be lots of supplements, they had to get the DMG and PHB right or we'd have incomplete rules that would never be finished. I can no confidently recommend to someone that they can buy the big 3 and they can know they aren't missing much of anything. The Starter Set + Basic PDFs are $20 max for you and your friends to see if you like D&D. Slowly get the big 3 and you're good to go. My last recommendation is to head to dndclassics (or ebay) and go nuts on the $5 or $10 supplements and convert to 5e.

GMforPowergamers · Nov 29, 2014

fjw70 said:
I like 5e a lot. It pretty much replaces my need to play any pre-4e D&D (except for the occasional nostalgia game). However I don't find it an adequate replacement for 4e D&D. There are stil so many things that edition does that I like that 5e doesn't. Right now 4e and 5e are tied for my favorite edition. They are both great but different games.

I agree with most of this... and I am very worried about caster supremacy in this new edition...

SilverfireSage · Nov 29, 2014

Rulebooks: A+. Never have I been so delighted reading books filled with rules!

Adventures: C-. Having played a lot of Hoard and some of Rise, the only good adventure out so far is the Starter Set. Rather disappointed with that offering, but I'm sure they'll find they're groove. After all, those adventures were made before the books were released.

All in all, this is easily my, and my group's, favorite version of D&D yet. Never turning back!

rjfTrebor · Nov 29, 2014

while i haven't seen the final DMG yet, i can say for sure that it's my favorite edition and i'll be playing it for years to come.

the art has sort of let me down, though. it's all cartoonish, deviant art slush. there's hardly any pieces in the phb or mm that have really blown me away or stood out as being in the spirit of dnd.

The Myopic Sniper · Nov 29, 2014

I probably need another five years to digest it all. I love stuff like advantage and disadvantage, concentration, backgrounds, chunky feats that replaced ability score increases that took a lot of fiddly but essential bits of the system and simplified them... still there was a lot of fiddliness that made it to the final rules that probably could have been replaced through similar mechanisms... although I realize that might have been a step too far for a lot players. In many ways, this is the most conservative edition of D&D, I am glad that they got as many things as represented as they did.