Help! (gasp) drowning in D&D options... (urk) so many... can't focus... (cough)

[sluggo the sleazebag]

Gone are the days when all you needed were three books and an imagination. Well, maybe not an imagination...

 

[Howling Coyote]

There are definitely too many books available.

First I just limited myself to the WotC stuff plus to some pearls from other sources. Even that’s too much, since I can't even hope to bring even half of that to a game.

3.5 was a blessing in a way, because it gave me a good reason to draw the line. Now I only get what I absolutely must have and the rest can just rot in the store.

 

[Eternalknight]

I find my self agreeing with Crothian. You cannever have too many options. Use what you want, and ignore the rest.

 

[hrafnagud]

I find my self agreeing with Crothian. You cannever have too many options. Use what you want, and ignore the rest.

A fine theory, but I think TTTroll is suggesting (and I agree) that these options are rolling off the mill so fast they have become soulless. Nothing is exotic anymore; the wonder is gone. I certainly feel this way. Like many people here, I've been gaming for 20 years (which may or may not give me some perspective), and I just don't think the slough of options add anything anymore. Sure, you could just ignore the repetitious, ridiculous and uninspired material if you like, but this doesn't stop WotC et al. from wasting their time producing it.

Of course, this is only my 2d...

 

[Numion]

Alas poor Numian... you failed to grasp the point. It was not about core rules or funny combinations or diversity. Now reread mine post once more - this time with comprehension as your goal!

Well, 80% of the replies took your post to question whether there are too many options .. as did I, pointing through counter-example that maybe there aren't.

Alas poor TrubbulTheTroll .. you failed to understand what you wrote yourself. Now reread your own post once more - this time with comprehension as your goal!

 

[jasper]

core or the door
core or the door!
CORE OR THE DOOR!

 

[maddman75]

I personally have to a certain extent put the brakes on. In the world I run now, an elf is something exotic. In some regions, a halfling will turn heads. Most PCs are human, because you get an inordinate amount of crap otherwise. A tiefling, genasai or some monster PC is unthinkable. For one, my cosmology is completely different. For another, you'd be killed the second you tried to enter a town.

Feats I'm pretty open on, so long as you follow Rule 0 if it isn't in the core. Check with me - I don't allow material by entire books. Clear each one with me first. Same with spells.

Prestige Classes have an even higher bar to pass. Not only does it need to be approved, but I have to work it into the storyline. PrCs as skillsets I despise. They are a way to tie the PC to the campaign world, something far more interesting than a new list of abilities. And if you don't want to have ties to the campaign world, you probably aren't going to have very much fun in my games.

But I think I do pretty good. One short term campaign has ended, and we're talking about starting a new D&D game. One of the players said 'It's going to be in your world again? Cool!'

 

[Greatwyrm]

I have to ask: Are we being crunchy bits'd to death?

Assuming this is the focus of your comments, I'd say yes. I like crunchy stuff. I judge what I buy by how much it crunches. But at the same time, I feel like the mentality surrounding the game has shifted to more of a focus on talents and abilities than the actual story.

I noticed this in some of the 2e games I ran as well. It seemed like the more stuff I allowed from splatbooks, the less the game focused on story and adventure. When I reigned things in to the three core books plus the Tome of Magic, I think things went much smoother as far as plot and character development.

I wasn't really sure why this was, until a friend of mine took over as DM for the last year or so. The same thing was happening. All of the original characters were made from just the PHB. As more came out (S&F, T&B, S&S, DotF), it felt like new spells/abilities/PrCs were the focus.

As long as everyone is having fun, so what, right? Wrong. Finally it dawned on me what was really detracting from the game (for me at least, can't speak for the others). Rules questions happen in every game. The more you allow in, the more books you have to search when you have a question. It was bogging the game down, having to look through half a dozen books to find out which descriptor or save a spell needed or just how that ability worked in this situation. Computer games aren't fun when they run too slow, neither are pen-and-paper games.

I finally decided that when I run a game again (hopefully next year) it's the three core books and my own, typed-up campaign guide. I'll lift some stuff verbatim from splatbooks and 3rd party stuff. Some will be all my own. I'll update and add to it as new stuff comes out. But I think the real key to it is keeping the number of books used to a minimum. The three core books, a consolidated splatbook, maybe a couple of extra monster supplements and that's it.

 

[Henry]

This isn't about picking and choosing the options I like. And this isn't about designing a game the way I want to play (oh, I know I can do that!). What this is about is a fundamental shift in what D&D as a game is. The D&D landscape is changing drastically every, every, EVERY month with a myriad of options that tease, tug and pull players & DMs in all directions.

Less, not more. WotC produces LESS supplemental material now than TSR EVER did in its heyday. Are you aware that in the 1990's TSR used to produce anywhere from 5 to 8 supplements a MONTH??? And it was the same thing then as now - cool magic items, cool kits, cool specialty priest classes, and cool adventures. Cool this, that, and the other, for consumption.

There is a fundamental shift - away from drowning, not towards it.

Ultimately, it IS about picking and choosing. And about what sells and what doesn't. And if the majority of D&D players out there didn't want what's being offered, D&D still wouldn't have the lion's share of RPG sales currently.

Yet they do.

The shift that HAS occurred, is the one where WotC saw what TSR never did - that there are six times as many players as DM's, and players will buy crunchy stuff more than DM's will buy fluffy stuff. So they hextupled their market share, by marketing to players as well as DM's.

It's still ultimately about picking and choosing. What do I do? I drop back and punt. Core rules only, supplemental on a case-by-case basis. No need to "drown" if you closed the sluice gates.

 

[TrubbulTheTroll]

A fine theory, but I think TTTroll is suggesting (and I agree) that these options are rolling off the mill so fast they have become soulless. Nothing is exotic anymore; the wonder is gone. I certainly feel this way. Like many people here, I've been gaming for 20 years (which may or may not give me some perspective), and I just don't think the slough of options add anything anymore. Sure, you could just ignore the repetitious, ridiculous and uninspired material if you like, but this doesn't stop WotC et al. from wasting their time producing it.

Of course, this is only my 2d...

And the prize goes to hrafnagud! He has succeeded where all others have not!
A person who really reads posts! How refreshing!