doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Is it just me or are like half or the responses very clearly indicating that the poster didn’t actually read the OP, just the title?
D&D General You are given the reigns: what do you do?
Don't look at me buddy, I said I'm launching with a book of just equipment, magic items, scrolls, and traps.
5 core books is 66% more money!!!
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Actually I’m gonna cheat and make a version of D&D using The mechanics of Star Wars Saga Edition with some bits from 5e and 4e D&D .
Skill based Magic with spells and powers as advanced options to do stuff that normal skill use can’t normally do. The magic skills (arcana, nature. Religion, occultism) would allow even someone who otherwise isn’t magical to do rituals and basic cantrip type effects derived from that skill, and focusing that skill would give you expanded cantrips. Spells would all read like force powers.
Skill based Magic with spells and powers as advanced options to do stuff that normal skill use can’t normally do. The magic skills (arcana, nature. Religion, occultism) would allow even someone who otherwise isn’t magical to do rituals and basic cantrip type effects derived from that skill, and focusing that skill would give you expanded cantrips. Spells would all read like force powers.
greymist
Lurker Extraordinaire
Despite my love for AD&D 1E, I would choose 5E as the foundation.
I would have my crack staff clean up all of the ambiguities and broken spells and useless feats, etc. and there would a mandate to remove callbacks to old versions that exist only for nostalgia’s sake (goodbye 8d6 Fireball and Lightning Bolt), and mechanics would still be explained in natural language, but clearly!
I would deliver five books, starting with the Core three: PHB, DMG, and MM.
The PHB would be laid out similarly to the current version but related rules would not be spread out in multiple places (looking at you Hide and Surprise) and idiotic interpretations would disappear, even if it means adjusting a general rule (invisibility).
The DMG would include a section on how to run a game if you have never seen an RPG before. World-building, encounter- building, exploration, role-playing would all be explained. Optional rules might still exist here, but likely there would not be too many, as will be explained below.
The MM would be the monster manual. Just bigger, all of the 5E monsters and some of the cool stuff from 3PP in one volume (might be a very big volume, but I’m not in charge of logistics).
Book 4 would be a Campaign Setting Box. For this post, I will assume Forgotten Realms, but I wouldn’t be averse to something else, even something brand new. This would contain one volume covering the geography of most of Faerun, not just the Sword Coast. The latter would be expanded in a separate volume so adventures could be located without much background work. But I want DMs (and perhaps 3PP) to have the ability to use the rest of the massive continent within an “official” structure so there would some coherence to products. (I might be dreaming here). And of course, a massive multiple poster-size full-colour map.
The last book would be D&D: Chainmail. Another over-sized book that would provide alternate rules for playing a darker/grimmer/less-forgiving style Of D&D. This would allow for portions of the standard rules to be removed and replaced. This could encompass fewer spells to casters, no cantrips, no full recharge on rests, etc.
As for the aesthetics, I don’t know any of the technical terms but I would like non-glossy covers like the 1E books with that type of paper, but not the old micro-font! I’ll be heretical and say the two-column layout is not required, but I would like a thinner second column for sidebar comments, examples, and design explanations to help the reader understand better. I think 3E had something like this, but my memory is weak. Art is subjective, and I am not at all artistic, but for the sake of answering I like both old-school and the current stuff. I did not like the Brom-era.
I don’t use D&D Beyond, so some of this might already be in place. Every book would allow the purchaser to gain access to the content on DDB at a very discounted price.
I would want a free level on DDB to allow a player to save at least 10 characters. And those characters could be built with different books, based on what the DM owned/allowed.
I would like for DMs to be able to include their house rules in the DDB environment. So if for some reason they want their Fireball to do 8d6 damage, they could edit their version and it would propagate to their players automatically.
Thank goodness I have lackeys to see all of this implemented!
Edit: Forgot one last point: lobby for movie sequels.
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EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Okay well, no answer on "does 'products' mean 'books'?" question, so I'm going to just proceed with "yes," based on the other stuff said in the OP.
So, to begin with, mechanical structure changes:
From there, non-mechanical additional stuff:
Alright! Finally, with that out of the way, let's get to the important part: BOOKS. Core three right out the gate, simultaneous: PHB, DMG, MM.
PHB aims to be highly inclusive, featuring sixteen different classes (all those from 5e, plus Warlord, Alchemist, and "Machinist"--noting that I'm not attached to that name). DMG is written first and foremost to help the DM have the easiest time possible doing their job, and is thus chock-full of advice and guidance, useful examples, and thoroughly-tested, well-made tools for a host of things a DM might want to do, particularly encounter design and campaign setting construction. MM is a "greatest hits" catalogue, while also covering ecology and thematics.
The next two books would be kinda-sorta-vaguely like the 5e approach of an "all in one" book, but in this case, one focused on presenting a classic, beloved setting that already had 4e integration (Eberron)...and the other a setting-framework that never got its own book, Points of Light. They would combine player options, DM options, treasure, bestiary, and general setting overview stuff, all in one focused book. More specific subsidiary books can come after. Each would also add at least two new classes. The Eberron Enchiridion would offer Swordmage and Assassin, reflecting the high-magic, high-intrigue nature of its setting, alongside new subclass/build/power/feat/etc. options for the existing classes. The Points of Light book (name pending!) would offer Shaman and Avenger, as their lore is particularly consonant with the lore of that setting-framework.
There would also be a public announcement of the first major publication to follow: Dark Sun, to be paired with the Psion and Warden classes (since DS is so linked to psionics and the savagery of a dying land), and a complete inventory of extra setting-specific subclass options for every PHB class, "gritty survival" mechanics, ways to run "nastier" monsters, and tips and advice on how to run dark, "adult" themed campaigns with content that might not be for all groups. This would get extensive public playtesting.
The next major publication to come after would be Planescape-focused (featuring the Summoner and Invoker classes and rules for both the existing Factions and ways to build your own, both for Planescape and for homebrew settings or as a bolt-on to other, existing settings), followed by Greyhawk (no new classes, but "old school"-themed options, and extensive guidance for how to run a no-holds-barred, OSR-style "hardcore" game using this system), followed by Mystara (which I don't know enough about to say what character options, DM advice, setting materials, etc. might be added there, but I'm sure folks could tell me), followed by Ravenloft (with no new classes, but rules for lycanthropy, vampirism, and other "cursed with awesome" type deals, alongside the expected "Domains of Dread" content and advice for how to run horror campaigns), followed by Dragonlance (with stuff specific to it, and also guidance on how to run DL-like campaigns-as-novels with scripted elements and finding ways to manage the probabilistic nature of dice.)
Between these major campaign-setting releases, perhaps offering smaller, specific subsets of the Forgotten Realms, e.g. Kara-Tur, Al Qadim, the Sword Coast, etc., with fewer distinct options therein, but lots of ways to inject flavor and fun. Basically, structure the BIG books around settings, because people like settings, while including useful rules, advice, and materials for general kinds of gaming, not just stuff specific to that one campaign setting. That way, while each book would always get a lot of attention from fans of that specific setting, anyone interested in the overall tone, theme, or high concept of that setting can still get much use from it. Then structure the "little" books around a more focused slice of the setting everyone already knows something about, to make use of its perennial popularity without making it the only game in town. That could also be where official "Plane Shift" stuff goes, for when they want to capitalize on that sweet, sweet MtG crossover value.
Finally, have Organized Play themes every 12-24 months. That is, put out one of these new "big" books each year-or-so, alongside whatever smaller/more specific supplements (e.g. new bestiaries, "Treasure Trove" books, "Plane Shift" documents, premade battle maps, minis, playtest stuff, etc.)--and each new book launch would correspond with a new season of Organized Play. That season's book is a freebie, plus the PHB, and one other supplement of choice. This way, each new release gives a theme and concept to the year's official games, and lets folks play through a fun experience in one world before moving on to something new (or, if they prefer, continuing their adventures in the old one!)
So, to begin with, mechanical structure changes:
- Average out the gap between 4e math and 5e math. That is, 4e expected (very very roughly) +30 over 30 levels to core basic things like attack rolls, half of which came from the half-level bonus. 5e expects roughly +11 over 20 levels, half of which comes from Proficiency, aka "quarter-level bonus + 1". Target is thus (30+16.5)/2 = +23.25 (call it 23) over 30 levels. This is a hair above 3/4. Start with Proficiency scaling at 1/3 level; this nets us +10 of the +23. Let weapons scale up at +1 every 5ish levels, so that's another +6. That leaves a total of +7 remaining. 4e's existing ability score increases (+1 to two at 4, 8, 14, 18, etc.; and +1 to all at 11 and 21) give a total of +4, and the remainder can come from a properly-integrated innate "Expertise Feat" benefit, for a grand total of +23 as expected, spread out over 30 levels.
- Cull powers and feats. A lot, though not as much as some folks think.* 4e has good feats and powers...in a sea of mediocre to bad ones that can be removed without remorse. Cull classes only as necessary, e.g. Seeker is merged into Ranger, Runepriest into Cleric, etc.
- Personally, I prefer tying role to class rather than subclass, but folks seem to value that, so I guess I will bow to the public perception on that even if I consider it fundamentally bad design. Start off with subclasses that have the expected builds, and explicitly announce, preview, and playtest subclasses that intentionally go in other directions (damage-focused Fighters, healing-focused Paladins, defense-focused Rogues, etc.)
- Iterate on and heavily playtest skill challenge rules. Provide excellent examples and advice for how to run a spectrum of stuff--from individual one-off skills to slightly more involved but still individual skill checks to semi-systemized stuff to full-blown skill challenges, and actually teach techniques for making ALL of those things interesting in contexts appropriate for each approach.
- Surges are back, but called "Hit Dice" because the people who get fanny-finagled about design stuff tend to care WAY more about names and labels than about the actual underlying mechanics.
- The old Backgrounds and Themes are absorbed into simple, relatively streamlined (and easy to draft/homebrew) "Heroic Origins," so that the whole system becomes HOPPED: Heroic Origin, Paragon Path, Epic Destiny. These can now be more tightly integrated with one another (if the table desires to), allowing for a mechanical representation of going through a hero's journey.
- Weapons are reworked, very lightly, to provide a more systematic experience, including rules for creating your own weapons with different properties. (I have like 80% of a "build your own weapon" system written up, someday I'll post it on here.)
- Rituals are very VERY VERY heavily playtested with a focus on UX and presentation, to make sure it's communicated just how important, useful, flexible, and accessible they are.
- NOVICE LEVELS!!! I cannot stress this enough. Well-made, useful, enjoyable novice levels for the folks who want them, with extensible rules (probably cribbing from 13th Age's incremental advancement rules) so that these "novice levels" can fill in the jumps between regular levels too, allowing DMs to spool out advancement nearly without limit if they so choose.
- "Inherent bonuses" rules in the DMG as a specifically favored option for (a) low-magic games, (b) games where treasure is meant to be special and rare, or (c) games where having a "signature weapon" or the like is more desirable than changing weapons regularly.
- Launched simultaneously with the initial books, there is a fully-functional, homebrew-enabled, easy-to-use VTT, character creator, monster creator, encounter builder, and campaign planner/character journal/etc. application. It needs to have multiple levels of graphical fidelity (e.g. simple 2D, advanced 2.5D, simple 3D, advanced/high-fidelity 3D). Potentially the high-end sub makes ues of Larian's stuff so you can literally run virtual versions of your combats.
- The above tools will allow reasonably-limited free usage (without direct homebrew capability), so long as the user is logged in. Anything already created while subbed is still usable without the sub, but you can't modify anything that contains content depending on a subscription.
- The VTT will include integration for voice communication (such as Discord), streaming/recording software (such as XSplit) and streaming platforms (such as Twitch), and other relevant third-party things.
- Anything submitted to the equivalent of "DM's Guild" can be drafted up (by the submitter) for official integration into the character/monster/etc. creator. Effectively, this does all of the "enter the data into the sheet" stuff for the user, in advance. This helps support 3PP creators who want to reach an audience that has good reason to use their 3PP stuff. Users do not need to be subscribed to use 3PP they've purchased, but they cannot modify further without a sub (except
- Individual subs would be less expensive, but couldn't be shared. DM subs would slightly more expensive (e.g. the difference between $10 and $15 or whatever), but DMs may share their subscription with up to twelve players (to account for even unusually large groups), who can create charactres freely using any content the DM-subscriber possesses, while keeping the characters actually attached to their personal account.
- The books themselves will go through EXTENSIVE review for their user experience, presentation, and aesthetics. Production values must be absolutely top-notch, and the books should feel good to read. While actual rules-text sections should be focused, specific, and unambiguous, there should be lots of good fluff sprinkled liberally over anything that isn't pure crunch.
PHB aims to be highly inclusive, featuring sixteen different classes (all those from 5e, plus Warlord, Alchemist, and "Machinist"--noting that I'm not attached to that name). DMG is written first and foremost to help the DM have the easiest time possible doing their job, and is thus chock-full of advice and guidance, useful examples, and thoroughly-tested, well-made tools for a host of things a DM might want to do, particularly encounter design and campaign setting construction. MM is a "greatest hits" catalogue, while also covering ecology and thematics.
The next two books would be kinda-sorta-vaguely like the 5e approach of an "all in one" book, but in this case, one focused on presenting a classic, beloved setting that already had 4e integration (Eberron)...and the other a setting-framework that never got its own book, Points of Light. They would combine player options, DM options, treasure, bestiary, and general setting overview stuff, all in one focused book. More specific subsidiary books can come after. Each would also add at least two new classes. The Eberron Enchiridion would offer Swordmage and Assassin, reflecting the high-magic, high-intrigue nature of its setting, alongside new subclass/build/power/feat/etc. options for the existing classes. The Points of Light book (name pending!) would offer Shaman and Avenger, as their lore is particularly consonant with the lore of that setting-framework.
There would also be a public announcement of the first major publication to follow: Dark Sun, to be paired with the Psion and Warden classes (since DS is so linked to psionics and the savagery of a dying land), and a complete inventory of extra setting-specific subclass options for every PHB class, "gritty survival" mechanics, ways to run "nastier" monsters, and tips and advice on how to run dark, "adult" themed campaigns with content that might not be for all groups. This would get extensive public playtesting.
The next major publication to come after would be Planescape-focused (featuring the Summoner and Invoker classes and rules for both the existing Factions and ways to build your own, both for Planescape and for homebrew settings or as a bolt-on to other, existing settings), followed by Greyhawk (no new classes, but "old school"-themed options, and extensive guidance for how to run a no-holds-barred, OSR-style "hardcore" game using this system), followed by Mystara (which I don't know enough about to say what character options, DM advice, setting materials, etc. might be added there, but I'm sure folks could tell me), followed by Ravenloft (with no new classes, but rules for lycanthropy, vampirism, and other "cursed with awesome" type deals, alongside the expected "Domains of Dread" content and advice for how to run horror campaigns), followed by Dragonlance (with stuff specific to it, and also guidance on how to run DL-like campaigns-as-novels with scripted elements and finding ways to manage the probabilistic nature of dice.)
Between these major campaign-setting releases, perhaps offering smaller, specific subsets of the Forgotten Realms, e.g. Kara-Tur, Al Qadim, the Sword Coast, etc., with fewer distinct options therein, but lots of ways to inject flavor and fun. Basically, structure the BIG books around settings, because people like settings, while including useful rules, advice, and materials for general kinds of gaming, not just stuff specific to that one campaign setting. That way, while each book would always get a lot of attention from fans of that specific setting, anyone interested in the overall tone, theme, or high concept of that setting can still get much use from it. Then structure the "little" books around a more focused slice of the setting everyone already knows something about, to make use of its perennial popularity without making it the only game in town. That could also be where official "Plane Shift" stuff goes, for when they want to capitalize on that sweet, sweet MtG crossover value.
Finally, have Organized Play themes every 12-24 months. That is, put out one of these new "big" books each year-or-so, alongside whatever smaller/more specific supplements (e.g. new bestiaries, "Treasure Trove" books, "Plane Shift" documents, premade battle maps, minis, playtest stuff, etc.)--and each new book launch would correspond with a new season of Organized Play. That season's book is a freebie, plus the PHB, and one other supplement of choice. This way, each new release gives a theme and concept to the year's official games, and lets folks play through a fun experience in one world before moving on to something new (or, if they prefer, continuing their adventures in the old one!)
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
This is necessarily a contradiction in terms. Natural language is, unfortunately, the enemy of clarity in the long run. That's why no professional discipline has ever existed that didn't develop its own jargon. Even trade-skills have it. Jargon is the natural result of fighting back against how ambiguous (and, often, exploitable) "natural language" is.
Its problem, of course, is that you have to actually learn it before you can speak it. But that is an unavoidable dilemma: either you expect people to know the lingo so they can speak precisely, or you allow them to speak with whatever hodgepodge they already know, and accept that it will frequently be imprecise.
Zardnaar
Legend
Well my theory is there's to things WotC coukd do that coukd get a small market between them.
An actual official 3.5. SWSE direction makes sense.
The other is an AD&D 3E.
. Going by OPs criteria.
Mind of tempest
(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics
I know something they would need in general a cultural analysis and ethical dismantling department.
as people like things inspired by other cultures but it has to be done responsibly and ethically, also it is to get the ideas of wider fantasy cut up and analysed so it is not a generation behind thus getting to sales faster thus more money long term.
also make a setting where the non-tolkein player options are the big guys for a change if only so it feels like it has a reason to sell.
you know people want a setting with deep teifling and Dragonborn integration
as people like things inspired by other cultures but it has to be done responsibly and ethically, also it is to get the ideas of wider fantasy cut up and analysed so it is not a generation behind thus getting to sales faster thus more money long term.
also make a setting where the non-tolkein player options are the big guys for a change if only so it feels like it has a reason to sell.
you know people want a setting with deep teifling and Dragonborn integration
SableWyvern
Adventurer
Get in touch with Kevin Crawford, come to an arrangement that satisfies him financially, give him close to carte blanche to do as he sees fit, and then profit from all his hard work.
