D&D 5E 5E without WotC [+]

[Oofta]

Mike and everyone else who’s said similar things are 100% correct. We don’t need WotC to enjoy or play D&D. Doesn’t matter which edition. That’s the beauty of RPGs as a hobby, right? You buy the core book(s) and you never need anything else. Trick is, you don’t even need the core book(s). As Gary himself said years ago.

All it takes is a little elbow grease and some imagination to design your own stuff, reskin what’s already there, and run any RPG forever without a single (extra) dollar spent.

In the age of VTTs there’a trap in relying on the VTT to do all the math and programming the thing to roll the right dice with the right modifiers with a click of a button. Don’t fall into that trap and it won’t matter how unique, home brewed, or customized your game is. If that’s something you think you have to have, then you’ve chosen your own cage.

When I was running a VTT game I just trusted my players to not cheat. It's not like I'm looking over their shoulder at their dice or character sheet when we play in person. I even let people roll their dice if they wanted to, setting up a VTT to roll dice publicly is also pretty simple.

 

[dave2008]

Related but not really a rules issue: I have a potential player and good friend excited about Planescape. What are the 3rd party planar sources that could allow me to accommodate him without actually playing Planescape?

Is there a reason you can't play planescape? I mean there is more than enough material available on DMsGuild or is that to WotC adjacent?

 

[dave2008]

Mike and everyone else who’s said similar things are 100% correct. We don’t need WotC to enjoy or play D&D. Doesn’t matter which edition. That’s the beauty of RPGs as a hobby, right? You buy the core book(s) and you never need anything else. Trick is, you don’t even need the core book(s). As Gary himself said years ago.

All it takes is a little elbow grease and some imagination to design your own stuff, reskin what’s already there, and run any RPG forever without a single (extra) dollar spent.

In the age of VTTs there’a trap in relying on the VTT to do all the math and programming the thing to roll the right dice with the right modifiers with a click of a button. Don’t fall into that trap and it won’t matter how unique, home brewed, or customized your game is. If that’s something you think you have to have, then you’ve chosen your own cage.

So play the VTT without any automation? Is that easy to do?

 

[Umbran]

Related but not really a rules issue: I have a potential player and good friend excited about Planescape. What are the 3rd party planar sources that could allow me to accommodate him without actually playing Planescape?

That depends upon why/what about Planescape is attractive to them.
If, for example, the city of Sigil and its specific lore is what is attractive to them, that'll be hard to handle without WotC.

 

[overgeeked]

So play the VTT without any automation? Is that easy to do?

Yes. Dead simple. You use it as a virtual tabletop instead of a computer that runs the mechanics for you. As long as it has a dice roller and you can drop maps and tokens in, you’re set. Run the game like you normally would around a real table.

 

[overgeeked]

There are vast wikis detailing each and every D&D setting. Fan websites dedicated to the settings filled with info. You don’t need WotC to run any of them.

Frex, here’s a Planescape wiki.

Planescape Wiki

planescape.fandom.com

 

[J.Quondam]

Yes. Dead simple. You use it as a virtual tabletop instead of a computer that runs the mechanics for you. As long as it has a dice roller and you can drop maps and tokens in, you’re set. Run the game like you normally would around a real table.

Agreed, absolutely. I've done it this way for many short campaigns. Macros and such are nice as conveniences, but not at all necessary.
Added bonus is there's no need to implement a new system module, or move to completely different platform if/when you change to a different set of rules.
It works pretty well for anyone who can handle / is familiar with gaming at a regular face-to-face table.

 

[Quickleaf]

Related but not really a rules issue: I have a potential player and good friend excited about Planescape. What are the 3rd party planar sources that could allow me to accommodate him without actually playing Planescape?

Monte Cook's Path of the Planebreaker is the most recent one that springs to mind for me.

EDIT: Also, I wonder if switching to a different VTT like Foundry might offer better 3rd party integration into the VTT for your group? I don't know for sure, but have been impressed by what little I've used Foundry. Here's a search page for add ons: Search | Foundry Virtual Tabletop

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Monte Cook's Path of the Planebreaker is the most recent one that springs to mind for me.

Yes, but isn’t more a Manual of the Planes type setting rather than Planescape alternate? I mean it doesn’t have anything like Sigil and the Outlands more most of the actual planes from Planescape does it?

 

[Reynard]

When I was running a VTT game I just trusted my players to not cheat. It's not like I'm looking over their shoulder at their dice or character sheet when we play in person. I even let people roll their dice if they wanted to, setting up a VTT to roll dice publicly is also pretty simple.

My particular issue is about automation being very good for WotC stuff and generally terrible for most 3PP content. This creates a tension between those sources for some players when using Fantasy Grounds, which is the platform I use as my primary VTT.

I should look into simpler platforms but it seems like everyone is trying to implement more utility. As I understand it, Owlbear Rodeo was super simple but 2.0 has started to chase Foundry.