D&D 5E fifth edition release schedule ... cart before the horse?

TerraDave said:

Its not just you. [MENTION=59082]Mercurius[/MENTION] has only started like 10 or so threads basically all wondering when the WotCs are going to announce and release more stuff.
[MENTION=2525]Mistwell[/MENTION], a conversion guide for Next, which might just say "increase monster HP 50%" or "use monster stats from MM", would be handy.

On the other hand, 5E should be easier to convert lots of old adventurers to, certainly compared to 4E and probably 3E. I have just started doing this, but was not very hard, at least so far.

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Most definitely a conversion guide would do wonders, plus it would increase sales of what they've put out through DriveThruRPG.

I'm curious what obstacles you have come across that needed ironing out to convert different things to 5E? I ask, because I haven't started doing so yet, but I will be soon.

Dndungeoneer said:

Most definitely a conversion guide would do wonders, plus it would increase sales of what they've put out through DriveThruRPG.

I'm curious what obstacles you have come across that needed ironing out to convert different things to 5E? I ask, because I haven't started doing so yet, but I will be soon.

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I am really at early stages, so hard to answer. Basically trying to lean on the MM as much as possible, including for NPCs. For those, the options are clearly limited, and we really need the DMG on how to customize them, and assign CRs for NPCs built as PCs, as this is not obvious, at all, from the examples.

Otherwise, if the CR of the monster is in the ballpark for the PCs, then just use the draft encounter building guidelines in Basic to check the number of them. I am not looking to tweak stat blocks...just use the MM version or a modified MM version (eg for a kobold sergent, look at a tougher monster like Orc for basic stats, then give it the kobold close fighting power).

Traps and obstacles is a whole other kettle of fish. Basically just winging these. If there is damage, check to see if it is reasonable (and pre 4E editions have damage scaling that is not that far off from 5E). Come up with DCs for perception or whatever else might be relevant, if all fails, I use DC 15.

But we need the DMG. Official conversion guide, some official coversions, and the DMG.

TerraDave said:

I am really at early stages, so hard to answer. Basically trying to lean on the MM as much as possible, including for NPCs. For those, the options are clearly limited, and we really need the DMG on how to customize them, and assign CRs for NPCs built as PCs, as this is not obvious, at all, from the examples.

Otherwise, if the CR of the monster is in the ballpark for the PCs, then just use the draft encounter building guidelines in Basic to check the number of them. I am not looking to tweak stat blocks...just use the MM version or a modified MM version (eg for a kobold sergent, look at a tougher monster like Orc for basic stats, then give it the kobold close fighting power).

Traps and obstacles is a whole other kettle of fish. Basically just winging these. If there is damage, check to see if it is reasonable (and pre 4E editions have damage scaling that is not that far off from 5E). Come up with DCs for perception or whatever else might be relevant, if all fails, I use DC 15.

But we need the DMG. Official conversion guide, some official coversions, and the DMG.

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OK, all of what you are doing so far seems reasonable to me, and almost exactly what I would do. Thanks for taking the time to share some of you thoughts on what you've found so far.

Yes, the DMG, at the very least, is sorely needed for a lot of the modules to be truly done (I hesitate to say) "right".

@am181d not to put too fine of a point on this but if i bought phb on release there is little to no chance i would buy starter set for mines of phandelver. now this leaves me with one module- hoard. there is another module tyranny coming out november 4th. phb released on august 19th. so between release date and now i have one module. by november 4th i have another (albeit a continuation of the first module). the modules are definitely easier to produce than the books (and they are outsourcing the modules !). why not give us some choice and variety. some shorter adventures some longer ones (a full ap would be nice). release some conversions of old modules...throw some encounters up on the website. for now it's either your full on for hoard and then you play tyranny...or...well this is no or.

@etal why i don't necessarily care for homebrew- there is no product testing. meaning does the module/world work (not just mechanically but does it provide fun). again some homebrew campaigns might be wonderful...but hey i'm on deviant art too. not everyone is a professional artist..most of us are amateurs (and realize it) we do it for fun and/or are trying to get better. without playtesting -the players are left with untested ideas , encounters and settings...not that a dm designing his own world would be self indulgent .

to a second point-i really like the idea of the plot/lore advancing in a broad sense (community wide) not just in a home game. i like the shared experience of a bunch of players playing a module...man klarg was really tough in mines! for instance-provides a point of reference and a shared experience.

but all that being said...homebrew away my homebrewskis

[MENTION=6775377]Selkirk[/MENTION] there's 15 people working on 5E, so while I think what you're saying you'd like to see would be great to have, I don't think it's possible with the staff levels WOTC has working on D&D. At least not while they are still finishing up the DMG and likely working on a third part of the adventure.

So, you have a few choices: play what's available, play another edition or game, play hoard/mines, play homebrew, shake your fist on ENWorld.

well that's true...but we shouldn't just give them a free pass-oh hey the company that just had the best selling book on amazon only has 15 people working on this project (cry me a river right?). and again they are outsourcing modules anyways....they had to know they needed more content. not to say they rushed the release...but they rushed the release ! (angrily waves fist on en world ).

inspiration point for staying in character with fist waving? just saying....

The starter set is meant not as just a starter set, but also as a very good adventure. Phandelver is 2/3 as many pages as Hoard, and better in my opinion.

Selkirk said:

@etal why i don't necessarily care for homebrew- there is no product testing. meaning does the module/world work (not just mechanically but does it provide fun).

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Uhm.... I don't know what to say about that.
Do you require the PCs to be product tested beforehand as well?

This game is all about improvisation and inventing new stuff - all the time; at the table and away from it.

What do the characters say, what do the monsters and NPCs say, what do they do - it is all inventing new stuff.

And so can you.
And it's damned fun. It doesn't have to be great, and it can be pretty small things - giant rats in the cellar.

@Henrix and i agree... i mean i think homebrew can work and work very well (and it doesn't have to work in a traditional sense for it too 'work' -if that makes sense ). but it just isn't my cup of tea (errr...ale ) at this point with 5e.

and again on mines (which i have played and really like-and which has gotten better reviews than hoard)...why would i pay 20 bucks for starter set just to get mines?

Selkirk said:

they had to know they needed more content.

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I don't think so. I mean, if half the people replying were in agreement with your original complaint, then yeah, sure. But near everyone seems pretty happy with the amount of available products out right now. If your demand is that they have a number of available modules and adventures that are not outsourced, thoroughly play-tested and excellent to coincide with the release of the new system, you may have to accept that you're in a small minority.

Therefore, the level and quality of content seems to be about right for most people playing the game.

So, no. I don't think they put the cart before the horse. They didn't know they would be as big a seller as they were, and even if they did I think most people would want them putting any additional resources into making a great system instead of converting or creating modules and adventures.

Selkirk said:

@Maldavos i pretty much consider all 'homebrew' worlds to be inferior (some might be good...most of them definitely are not). but with a new edition i definitely consider all homebrew material to be inferior. the mechanics are new...mearls and company are still answering rules questions (some of them pretty big ones) and the designers are the ones that have a definite feel and knowledge for this edition. not to mention wotc employs professional writers and artists (and playtests modules) to ensure quality and play balance -which is what i find so delightful about mines of phandelver..the balance of the encounters.
@DeFcon1 it really wouldn't have mattered if hoard had gotten good reviews. if we assume that i bought phb on august 19th (it is very unlikely then that i would have paid 20 bucks for mines of phandelver in starter set) i would be left with one module of content. for experienced dm's and players fifth edition is just a bunch of mechanics which they can apply to whatever setting. to me as a new (albeit returning d&d) player-i am incredibly interested in the setting. i want more content tied into this pretty cool world...not some random 'world' from a homebrew campaign or some module from the past (which might or might not tie into the present 5e world). what wotc has given us so far is a very thin reed...a few sentences about setting/one module. and some rules. this isn't good enough!

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I find many of the best adventures are those DMs write themselves. Our group typically uses the FR setting, in fact we've never homebrewed a world (too much work!) - but I'd say about half our adventures are written by the DM (and we rotate DMing duties, too). Theyre cool coz they are tailored to our party/history/what we're interested in. In my experience it is the published modules that tend to be lacklustre - especially if they arent tweaked by the DM with extra prep. We played the Isle of Dread in the playtest and that was fantastic. I hope the DMG includes guides to converting 2e and earlier adventures, or actually I hope they just release a bunch of older adventures re-statted for 5e.