D&D 5E What Does the Game Need Now?

Jester David said:

So far, all of the computer games done so far for 4e and 5e have been very, very loose with the rules of the game. Which is fine for an option. But it might be nice to have a D&D game that replicates the tabletop experience. Just like a lot of people love to play football games that are heavily focused on realism and have all the rules of that game. If every football game was like Super Mario Strikers, that wouldn't satisfy everyone.

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That’s fair. Would you consider Baldur’s Gate a faithful to the rules game?

doctorbadwolf said:

That’s fair. Would you consider Baldur’s Gate a faithful to the rules game?

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It’s pretty close. It and Neverwinter Nights are good examples of games that hew close to the rules but still function as video games.

Jester David said:

It’s pretty close. It and Neverwinter Nights are good examples of games that hew close to the rules but still function as video games.

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Okay, fair enough!

I’d definately rather have a dnd game that I can pause and I pause than a truly turn based one, but I could compromise on it.

We need the Creating a Monster guidelines in the Dungeon Master's Guide expanded - specifically, the table that runs from page 280 to 281. New monster abilities have been introduced since this table was printed, and it would be handy to have an evaluation of their impact on CR calculations.

Also, I think the existing table needs a bit of errata. For example, under "Constrict" it says to increase the monster's effective AC by 1; I don't really understand why that ability boosts the monster's AC. Perhaps it was intended to boost effective per-round damage? Or maybe it's just on the wrong line, since right below it is Damage Absorption, which as written has no effect on the CR calculations but would make sense as an effective AC booster.

This addition is on top of The Complete Update of Spelljammer That Retains The "What If Ancient Beliefs Of How The Universe Worked Were Actually Fact" Angle And Doesn't Veer Off Into Silly Planar Travel Nonsense, of course, which is clearly the MOST necessary thing the game needs right now.

pukunui said:

As a time-poor DM, I would really appreciate some more adventures like LMoP that don’t require loads of prep to run.

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This in spades.

Lots of us love the sorts of adventures that others call "railroad". Follow the breadcrumbs, explore a mine/ruin/castle/tomb, talk to a few NPCs without making a whole mini-game out of it, kill some monsters and take their stuff. I could do that every week forever.

And one thing I can't stand are these APs where by design you're only supposed to a sub-set of the content. E.g., "Pick one of the following four chapters and use that, discarding the other three." NO THANK YOU.

Elfcrusher said:

This in spades.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one!

Lots of us love the sorts of adventures that others call "railroad". Follow the breadcrumbs, explore a mine/ruin/castle/tomb, talk to a few NPCs without making a whole mini-game out of it, kill some monsters and take their stuff. I could do that every week forever.

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For me, it doesn't even necessarily need to be a "railroad" as such. I'm having a helluva lot more fun running SKT than I am WDH. The latter is more of an adventure outline than an actual adventure - lots of broad strokes and not enough attention to detail or quality control (resulting in it feeling noticeably unfinished).

LMoP isn't exactly a "railroad" either. However, it is fairly straightforward and doesn't require a lot of tinkering or filling in the blanks. I was able to run it for a group of newbies with very little preparation at all.

And one thing I can't stand are these APs where by design you're only supposed to a sub-set of the content. E.g., "Pick one of the following four chapters and use that, discarding the other three." NO THANK YOU.

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Again, I don't mind that too much, as it's been pretty clear from the start that the 5e hardcover adventures are designed with some cut-and-paste modularity. For instance, if I don't use all the giant lairs in SKT, I can easily plonk them into another campaign. (I have done that to great effect with pieces of PotA and OotA, among others, in the past.) That said, the fact that there are four whole chapters of optional material (that nevertheless reads as though it wasn't originally intended to be entirely optional) in WDH is rather irksome, even if those chapters can be reskinned and used elsewhere. It just adds to that whole unfinished outline feel.

Also, with SKT, what material ends up not getting used is more dependent on the choices the players make (and all of it technically can be used if you play your cards right), whereas with WDH, it's a lot more difficult to use it all in one go (and the DM is supposed to decide which content to use ahead of time). What's more, there are so many options in so many places that it's easy to become paralyzed by indecision. (For instance, I really struggled to choose the main season/villain as there were aspects of all of them that I liked and disliked.)

pukunui said:

As a time-poor DM, I would really appreciate some more adventures like LMoP that don’t require loads of prep to run.

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More LMoP like adventures would be great. While the low prep part is useful, for me the bigger part of the LMoP style was the jumping off points. It might just be because it's the Starter Set adventure, but it felt more like LMoP was a foundation for a campaign, rather than a campaign in and of itself. You could take the unresolved threads of LMoP, and weave a larger story with it.

The hardbacks, by virtue of trying to tell a complete story, don't really have that room to branch out. There's certainly dangling hooks for the DM to grab on to, but they don't really fill the same purpose as in LMoP. They expand the story, but don't often give you a way to continue the story forward, per se.

pukunui said:

LMoP isn't exactly a "railroad" either. However, it is fairly straightforward and doesn't require a lot of tinkering or filling in the blanks. I was able to run it for a group of newbies with very little preparation at all.

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Yeah that's why I put it in quotes. So many people slap that label on any adventure that is even somewhat linear, but most people I play with have zero problem with that structure. It's fun. I think WotC is making a mistake catering to the anti-railroad crowd with their attempts at sandboxes. I'm also starting to run WDH and it's annoying how much work I have to do in between sessions to prepare. And the end result is going to be something that some folks here would call "railroad".

And then I'll most likely never run it again. Which means all the unused options are wasted paper. And if I *do* run it again it will be for an entirely different set of players, which means I'll run it the way I already know.

You hear over and over again that one of the biggest challenges in D&D is finding enough DMs. You'd think WotC would publish more material that encouraged people to become DMs, and to have a good experience doing so.

Elfcrusher said:

I'm also starting to run WDH and it's annoying how much work I have to do in between sessions to prepare.

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I share your sentiments here.

And the end result is going to be something that some folks here would call "railroad".

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Not to mention that the adventure has some pretty egregious examples of actual railroading built-in.

And then I'll most likely never run it again. Which means all the unused options are wasted paper. And if I *do* run it again it will be for an entirely different set of players, which means I'll run it the way I already know.

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Fair enough. I will probably never run the adventure again either. However, I might recycle some of its parts for other adventures.

You hear over and over again that one of the biggest challenges in D&D is finding enough DMs. You'd think WotC would publish more material that encouraged people to become DMs, and to have a good experience doing so.

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I wish I could give you lots of XP for this one.

I’d like to see WoTC focus on two areas going forward.
First is to create more and varied entry points for new players and GMs. Products like the starter set that are easy to run, fun to play and really show off what this game is all about to new players. And do it by hitting on lots of different genres. Different types of stories appeal to different people, and having a wide selection of entry points will allow the game to grow!
Second and along those same lines would be a series of books aimed at long time players looking to be inspired by fresh ideas. Again I think aligning with genre here would be the way to go. I think Ravnica does this pretty well, but I think they could push it further and really bend the rule set to fit the style.
As a DM a huge book of NPCs with small stories and sidequest ideas would be very welcome, as would a huge book of places, filled with interesting terrain features and small puzzles or side quests.