D&D 5E BoardGameGeek at a 5e Seminar

[Callahan09]

This is awesome! And for those folks who are unhappy that the chargen rules will be available online and not in the box, think of it like this... if you *really* need to have them on paper so you can make a character when you don't have internet access: Just print them out!

Staples & Office Depot will both print ~50 pages for you for 5 bucks or less. If you need internet access to do download the pages in the first place, just add another another dollar. It really isn't all that expensive, or difficult, to get online and print them out.

But I have a feeling, though, that the vast majority of people who will want to use those rules will have no issue just going online to use them and not having a printed copy anyway.

It is a very, very small minority that need to have them on paper, and again, those folks should be able to go to Staples and get a printed copy for about 10 bucks including the cost of a bus ride if you don't have a car.

 

[RevTurkey]

I like the artwork cover wrap-around and clean uncluttered text on the black. Classy.

 

[GX.Sigma]

This is awesome! And for those folks who are unhappy that the chargen rules will be available online and not in the box, think of it like this... if you *really* need to have them on paper so you can make a character when you don't have internet access: Just print them out!

Hold on; did anyone actually say it's a PDF?

 

[Morrus]

Hold on; did anyone actually say it's a PDF?

Yes, it was explicitly described as a PDF. Mike Mearls just confirmed it separately, too.

 

[DMZ2112]

Hold on; did anyone actually say it's a PDF?

Yup. *whistles* Nothing to see here.

...A potentially smart move might be to release this chunk of information as open-source material. Allow it to percolate through the community. Inspire third-party apps. You want to easily create a character for our system? Go right ahead, first dwarven fighter's free. Come back and see me when you want to roll that dragonborn paladin.

 

[Kinak]

Hold on; did anyone actually say it's a PDF?

That's actually an interesting point. It could be raw HTML or, in theory, even some sort of Silverlight or Java abomination.

It sounds like a PDF to me, but that's reading a lot into "15% of the PHB." The worst I'd expect, though, is something like the SRD/PRD that's spread around and a pain to print out.

Edit: Or what [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION] said

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[GX.Sigma]

Yes, it was explicitly described as a PDF. Mike Mearls just confirmed it separately, too.

Huh. That seems really weird to me. I mean, what is the starter set? It's a box with two booklets in it... and you have to get the third booklet somewhere else. Why not have all three in the box?

 

[TerraDave]

Given the low price of the box set...printing and distributing 40 pages could be an issue.

It also drives people to the website.

 

[Morrus]

Huh. That seems really weird to me. I mean, what is this product? It's a box with two booklets in it... and you have to print the third booklet yourself. Why not have all three in the box?

I'm sure that's just a rhetorical question, but in case it isn't - you don't print another 48 page book and put it in the box mainly so you don't have to print another 48 page book and put it in the box. They clearly identified that $20 as the price point they wanted to aim at, and the customers they're aiming at (hint - not you and not me) won't miss character generation rules they don't even know could exist. Then they find a note in the book saying "Hey, didja like playing those heroes? Guess what! You can make your OWN! Just head to this URL!" and they go "What? Really? Cool! I'll check that out!"

 

[GX.Sigma]

Twitter update: This PDF is "part of" what Mike and Pundit were talking about (and the "key part" as far as the starter set is concerned).