Design The Core For Drunks!

[Blood & Bones]

No, seriously! The core of the game should be designed for inebriated 20-something adult males who want to bash stuff and don't want to think about mechanics. Not the art or adventures - we don't need a testosterone filled romp through a bordello of Succubi - I'm talking about the mechanics.

The mechanics for the base game should be so simplified and streamlined that someone can understand it even when they are blasted out of their minds... and not by Mind-Flayers. The most stripped down version of the rules should fit on three pages, front and back, AT THE MOST - not including equipment, spells, or monsters.

Release THAT as the SRD and satisfy all of the Open Source nerds (like myself) and protect product identity by not providing equipment, spells, or monsters. I think that will make the Hasbro's lawyers happy, too.

AND - if you really want to gear up attention for the game, get the designers to all play a game with the most basic rules as they slowly get drunk, then post a you-tube video of the session on-line.

... Okay, maybe that last part was a bit much, but you get the idea.

 

[Abstruse]

Release THAT as the SRD and satisfy all of the Open Source nerds (like myself) and protect product identity by not providing equipment, spells, or monsters. I think that will make the Hasbro's lawyers happy, too.

Anything OGL or SRD they're going to have to fight Hasbro tooth and nail for. And they may have used up all their goodwill by doing the open playtest. If they did that, they'd just piss off everyone. Everyone would complain they didn't provide any equipment, spells, or monsters were included so they can't actually do anything with the OGL/SRD, Hasbro would be pissed they gave anything away at all and pretty much did exactly what they did with 3.x and hand Paizo the ability to print money using their work (because you have to admit it, Pathfinder's pretty much 80-90% D&D 3.5 with new art and no beholders), and the lawyers would squish it because a lot of those things are exactly what they can't protect by copyright. You can't copyright rules, so all the things you listed could either be printed by another company flat out or just reskinned.

I have no idea if they're going to do an OGL or release an SRD for Next and I don't think anyone does. Everyone from WotC is being squirrelly when they're asked about it because it's going to take a lot of work to convince Hasbro to do it and a lot of work to clear the wording through legal. And right now, they're focused on getting the game right in the first place which is what they should be doing at this point. Worry about the marketing and legal crap after they have a product worthy of being stolen.

 

[Blood & Bones]

Abstruse Dude... Chill. Have a beer. Maybe I'm wrong - maybe you're wrong. I'm just telling it as I see it and only time can tell. The SRD/OGL issue isn't the central theme of this thread anyway...

 

[zoggynog]

I agree 100%. The core should be playable on a camping trip with drunk buddies.

DM should need to remain somewhat sober...maybe.

On a side note...I think the in game rules for drunkenness are great...I'm considering a house rule where I make folks take it on if they are actually drunk.

I really wanna see a drunken master build for 5e where you lose power if not drunk...and then tie it to the above houserule.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dragoslav]

No way, there's no need to make the rules needlessly complicated like that. WOTC needs to keep their core demographic in mind and design the core rules for groups like mine: we play D&D in brief, cocaine-fueled bursts amid sensual, orgiastic feasts of flesh.

 

[MichaelSomething]

In a completely unrelated subject, anyone up for a game of Micro lite D20?

 

[underfoot007ct]

No, seriously! The core of the game should be designed for inebriated 20-something adult males who want to bash stuff and don't want to think about mechanics. Not the art or adventures - we don't need a testosterone filled romp through a bordello of Succubi - I'm talking about the mechanics.

If you really have the need to be drunk, may I suggest the Munchkin game.

 

[jadrax]

In a completely unrelated subject, anyone up for a game of Micro lite D20?

Are you providing the cocaine and sensual, orgiastic feasts of flesh?

 

[Doug McCrae]

Beer & Pretzels is a valid play-style, not much talked about on ENWorld. I agree, it probably should be supported by D&DNext.

You can keep those who enjoy deep, complex systems happy with modules I think.

3e itself has a super-simple core rule mechanic - d20 + modifier versus DC - with a lot of extra rules added on top.

 

[Blood & Bones]

No way, there's no need to make the rules needlessly complicated like that. WOTC needs to keep their core demographic in mind and design the core rules for groups like mine: we play D&D in brief, cocaine-fueled bursts amid sensual, orgiastic feasts of flesh.

If you want to relive the 80's, you already have your edition; that's what 2nd edition is for.