D&D General You are given the reigns: what do you do?

[Reynard]

Oh and I've base the core around a new setting.

Kinda like POL which steals from other settings but has a more classic core with new twists. Like there would be mountain dwarves and hill dwarves but volcano dwarves as well.

And classic monsters along with monsters and villains inspired by movies, comics, and anime. Prepare to be TPKed by the D&D version of the Joker. Maybe the first official bardic BBEG.

Yeah but which version do you take the reins of?

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah but which version do you take the reins of?

Which version of Joker?

All of them

 

[Stormonu]

For me, I'd leave 5E alone to let it continue to be published as-is. I'd like to go back to when we had both a (BECMI) D&D and AD&D line going at the same time.

So, I'd tackle B/X D&D, using mostly the Old School Essentials documents as the base. Put out a starter set that covers levels 1-5 for Fighter, Wizard, Thief, Cleric, Halfling, Dwarf & Elf, with a mini-campaign book (a 32-48 page brief compendium of Mystara with hometown of Threshhold) and an adventure (16-32 pages, PCs are sent to hunt down Bargle). Second product would be hardback that has rules up to 15th level, with additional option classes and option for separate race/class (i.e., Advanced Old School Essentials). Third product would be a revised/compiled Mystara campaign boxed set (or 3-book set, book 1 - Player's guide overview, book 2 - DM's in-depth compendium of the Known World, book 3 - (magic) items, monsters and one-page adventure ideas with mini-maps). Fourth product would be a campaign-length adventure (levels 1-15, lots of travel across Mystara to famous locations, at least one mass battle with the PCs at the head and an evil god [Zargon] behind it all). Fifth product would be a compendium of player & dm material - spells, magic items, joinable organizations and patrons, monsters and whatever other goodies will fit in the book.

Future years would be more adventures and converted campaign settings like Savage Baronies, Hollow World, Thunder Rift, Lost City (Cynidicea), Averoigne* (from Castle Amber), Blackmoor*, Horrobin (from Top Ballista) and hopefully a sprinkling of new places and ways to play in.

* would require licensing, but hey - I'm in charge to try, right?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm trying to answer the question honestly. So here goes.

If I were given the reins, I wouldn't look backward to older editions and products. I would "pick" 5E. Then I'd hire cultural sensitivity experts and younger brand managers, and work with diverse writers and artists to develop an entirely new product line. The past is in the past for a reason.

Not really in the spirit of the question, whether you meant to be snarky or not.

 

[The Soloist]

Invest massively to move D&D into 3D virtual tabletop gaming. Hire top fantasy writers to come up with a brand-new setting that would become core to the 3D VTT.

 

[CleverNickName]

Not really in the spirit of the question, whether you meant to be snarky or not.

Sorry about that, sometimes I'm accidentally vague when I respond to things. I'll try again, and stick a little closer to the brief.

The OP wrote:

Here are the rules: you MUST pick an existing edition of D&D, from OD&D through 5E. You are tasked with setting the slate for the first year of the relaunch with up to 5 total products. Your goal is to not just have a successful relaunch, but set the line up for ongoing success.

Which Edition do you relaunch? With what 5 products? What aesthetic and design paradigm do you go with?

And so my response would then be:

The existing edition I would pick: 5E. I believe it is the best choice for a successful relaunch, and is best-positioned for ongoing success.

The five products I would choose for the first year? A brand-new campaign setting, along with an adventure path, a live-play stream, a video game, and full VTT support modules for that setting in all major VTT platforms. This would introduce the new product line to the broadest range of players, and help cement it in the gaming community. (I acknowledge that releasing 5 brand-new products all within a few months of each other is a massive undertaking, but this is all an idealized hypothetical.)

What design aesthetic or paradigm would I use? I would hire new branding managers, and a diverse group of writers, artists, and developers, to create an entirely new aesthetic. I say this as a huge fan of the Basic D&D boxed sets, and a lover of all things Mystara: I believe that the past is in the past for a reason, and the best chances for success are found by looking forward.

 

[Zaukrie]

4e, 4e, and more 4e.....only presented in such a way that people embrace it.

There is so much greatness in there, especially the fluff, but also getting rid of natural language which takes up so much unnecessary space in books. So much space.
(to be clear, I don't know this would sell, and I'd likely significantly modernize 5e, maybe something like what EN Publishing has done?)

 

[LordEntrails]

That is an interesting assessment given the popularity of old school games and simulcra.

Old school is very popular, in terms of existing gamers. And in context of what it was years ago. But how does it's popularity compare to the player numbers from when the classic editions were actually in print?

I admit, I don't know. I know that OSR is now more known/higher awareness than 10 years ago. But what are the actual numbers? For instance, if in OD&D peak there were 500k players and in 2E peak their were 1 million and OSR now boasts 1 million fans, then that's not really much is it? Or compared to 5E which is what, now 40 million?

But anyway, the question was aimed to inspire folks to simply daydream and be creative, not shut down ideas.

Just because you don't like my opinion, doesn't mean I'm trying to shut down views other than mine. If I were to take the same view of your opinion as you did mine, then the only acceptable answers would of course be an OSR edition. And that would shut down ideas such as mine wouldn't it?

If I were given the reins, I would take 5E and go in deeper with digital technologies and with more non-traditional settings with a focus on drama and story telling and less on mechanics and simulation. Just this week my young adult son told me that it's not uncommon for his generation to fight a Ford F-150 in D&D. I have no idea where to go with that, but obviously that's a long way from the current MM.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Old school is very popular, in terms of existing gamers. And in context of what it was years ago. But how does it's popularity compare to the player numbers from when the classic editions were actually in print?

I admit, I don't know. I know that OSR is now more known/higher awareness than 10 years ago. But what are the actual numbers? For instance, if in OD&D peak there were 500k players and in 2E peak their were 1 million and OSR now boasts 1 million fans, then that's not really much is it? Or compared to 5E which is what, now 40 million?

Just because you don't like my opinion, doesn't mean I'm trying to shut down views other than mine. If I were to take the same view of your opinion as you did mine, then the only acceptable answers would of course be an OSR edition. And that would shut down ideas such as mine wouldn't it?

If I were given the reins, I would take 5E and go in deeper with digital technologies and with more non-traditional settings with a focus on drama and story telling and less on mechanics and simulation. Just this week my young adult son told me that it's not uncommon for his generation to fight a Ford F-150 in D&D. I have no idea where to go with that, but obviously that's a long way from the current MM.

What rules does he use for the Ford F-150? I'd like to see a monster stat block for a truck.

 

[Quickleaf]

Imagine: Wizards of the Coast decides that you, yes YOU, are the perfect person to revitalize any one of the existing editions of (A)D&D and givce you the job of Line Developer for the re-launch.

Here are the rules: you MUST pick an existing edition of D&D, from OD&D through 5E. You are tasked with setting the slate for the first year of the relaunch with up to 5 total products. Your goal is to not just have a successful relaunch, but set the line up for ongoing success.

Which Edition do you relaunch? With what 5 products? What aesthetic and design paradigm do you go with?

For my part, I would relaunch AD&D 2E starting with a single volume rule book that owes a lot to the BECMI Rules Cyclopedia in form and function. I would lean into the late 80s, early 90s high fantasy art and aesthetic, going neither Old School nor Nu School. The first peak at the new setting would be in the core book. The setting would be classic high fantasy but built with modern sensibilities in mind (inclusivity, avoiding clumsy uses of race and real world cultures, avoiding colonial ideas, etc...).

The second book would be a big old Game Mastery Guide" that combines the best of the DMG and the blue leatherette DM series of supplements. The trhird book would be a PHB 2 taking the best of Skills and Powers and the Complete guides. The fourth book would be a full on old school boxed set for the new setting, including an adventure anthology. I think I would cap off the line for the year with a monsters and lairs book that is part bestiary and part mini adventure collection.

What would you do?

I've seen retro-clones & alternate approaches for every edition of D&D, except for OD&D. So that's what I would do. I'd relaunch OD&D as part of the 50th anniversary celebration. Not just a re-release of what's already there, but a deep dive into the game and procedures and implied worldbuilding that actually is a fascinating dive into not just the history but the implicit assumptions around the game that never made it into the rules (e.g. the use of the Outdoor Survival boardgame from Avalon Hill).