D&D 5E Are DMs getting lazy?

Reynard

Legend
It seems that in a number of threads, a certain subset of folks are very upset at the lack of adventures and such for 5E, to the point of suggesting they will "run out" of things to do with 5E in a year or so. While I would certainly like to see a more robust release schedule with both standalone modules and setting books (not to mention Dungeon and a Dragon back in publication) the idea that you would "run out" of stuff to do with D&D is just plain weird. It's D&D. One of the core conceits is that you, the DM, will be creating most of the game content (usually in conjunction with your players). Need a new and interesting magic item? Create it. Need a monster that the PCs have not faced before? Create it. Need to know what it costs and how long it takes to create a magic item? Decide. These aren't the burden of the DM, they are the joys!

For fear of of sounding like an in-my-day curmudgeon, are DMs these days just too lazy to make the game their own?
 

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Sacrosanct

Legend
I don't know if I'd use the term 'lazy' myself; there are probably lots of reasons. But I get you. Back in the day with AD&D and B/X, I'd say an easy 75% of the adventures we went on were of my own design and creation. Still are, actually ;)
 


Folks have other things to do with their time away from game. Even if the DM doesn't work, they may have plenty of other duties, activities and hobbies to devote their time to than be a unpaid game designer.
 

S

Sunseeker

Guest
I'd say two things:

First, good adventure creation is not easy. Good world creation is even harder. Only a select few can ever make a true sandbox world.

Second, there's a level of repetition that leads to burnout. How many generic-fantasy games can you honestly run before you look at the same classes, the same races, the same player options, the same list of monsters and still say "this inspires me to create something new and unique?" Without additional material, either official or 3PP, there is a finite limit on exactly how much you can do.
 

Gnarl45

First Post
It's just that people don't have as much time to invest in the game as they used to. A wife and kids are huge time timesuckers and MMOs are even worse...
 

Sacrosanct

Legend
Folks have other things to do with their time away from game. Even if the DM doesn't work, they may have plenty of other duties, activities and hobbies to devote their time to than be a unpaid game designer.

This has always been true though. It's not like we all sat around in 1979 staring at the wall all day long.
 

Fanaelialae

Legend
I'd say two things:

First, good adventure creation is not easy. Good world creation is even harder. Only a select few can ever make a true sandbox world.

Second, there's a level of repetition that leads to burnout. How many generic-fantasy games can you honestly run before you look at the same classes, the same races, the same player options, the same list of monsters and still say "this inspires me to create something new and unique?" Without additional material, either official or 3PP, there is a finite limit on exactly how much you can do.

In fairness, you can create new material (I have 23 homebrew races, 16 sub-classes and 22 feats in my current campaign). A full class is hard to do, but the rest is easy in 5e. That said, I realize not everyone has the free time do so. Although it becomes a lot easier if you borrow other homebrews (like in the ENWorld database) and just tweak them as desired.
 


Rhenny

Adventurer
This has always been true though. It's not like we all sat around in 1979 staring at the wall all day long.
In '79 I did a lot of wall staring. But seriously, when I look back at my teen years and even college days before I had a career, a wife and family, I marvel at the free time I had to play marathon sessions of D&D, and other things. I think the aging demographics for some of us is definitely a factor when it comes to DMs homebrewing and creating their own campaign worlds.
 

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