D&D 5E Live Q&A with D&D R&D

They talked about optional for flanking, forced movement and other rules related to battles using a grid, which is optional. They also talked about the downtime rules as including such things as a rogue going on a crime spree, or taking on an opposing thieves' guild, or a character crafting a magic item. They said the downtime rules work in increments of 10 days.

zoroaster100 said:

They talked about optional for flanking, forced movement and other rules related to battles using a grid, which is optional. They also talked about the downtime rules as including such things as a rogue going on a crime spree, or taking on an opposing thieves' guild, or a character crafting a magic item. They said the downtime rules work in increments of 10 days.

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Is it like a separate mini-game?

...like a skill challenge, but measured in days/weeks?

Jester Canuck said:

You're right. I'm so sick of all the edition waring, the 4vengers, the WotC apologists, and everything. I went through this all before during the 3e-4e transition, and it all seems fairly similar save the 4e fans being the disgruntled defenders of the dead edition. The notes are all different but the song is the same.
I'm done. Done with message boards and possibly even D&D...

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I hope you don't leave. I understand you're frustrated, and I can appreciate that feeling. But, there is a lot of cool stuff to talk about concerning D&D, which has nothing to do with those subjects. When I get frustrated in a similar fashion (and it happens all too often for me), I try to turn to those other kinds of topics. Things like interesting ways to craft secret doors, interesting traps, puzzles, political campaign ideas, what makes for a good wilderness adventure, campaign settings you'd like to see, things you've loved from prior editions, those sorts of things. Just focus on stuff you like, and ignore the stuff you dislike, and it gets better.

Johnny3D3D said:

Is it like a separate mini-game?

...like a skill challenge, but measured in days/weeks?

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They also said the downtime mechanics aren't exactly one unified mechanic for everything, but would be built according to what you wanted to accomplish
For the most part I think it would be as simple as "it takes this much time and ___ GP, etc, to accomplish this task."

There's no reason that creating a magic item and going on a crime spree need to look the same mechanically.

bogmad said:

They also said the downtime mechanics aren't exactly one unified mechanic for everything, but would be built according to what you wanted to accomplish
For the most part I think it would be as simple as "it takes this much time and ___ GP, etc, to accomplish this task."

There's no reason that creating a magic item and going on a crime spree need to look the same mechanically.

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Yeah... I'm just trying to get a better grasp on what the intent is. Most importantly, is success a binary thing (yes/no)? ...or is there some way to measure degrees of success and failure (that hopefully isn't just a series of d20 rolls)?

One tiny tidbit I haven't seen upthread--the DMG is full of magic items.

So now we know where magic items live.

And it is, in my opinion, the correct place.

Thaumaturge.

FWIW; I'm almost certain they do not need 3 - 4 months lead time. (Based on...things I can't exactly talk about). That said, I would be surprised if they make GenCon 2014. I think they are taking the Blizzard approach of "it's done when it is done".

As for @Jester Canuck - I know we've gone back and forth our share on these boards, and I have had a blast with NEXT so far. But I do think your previous experiences have colored your future expectations & interpretations of WotC's actions and statements. While 4E most certainly earned much of its' scorn and issues; do remember that this is the same company that also put out 3E/3.5E (and by extension, did most of the work for Pathfinder). A single data point is not a trend, nor is it any basis for causation. Mind you, as someone who had to DM constantly, I'm a much bigger fan of 4E over 3E, but I love how Pathfinder has done organized play, and their other products have made me a large fan of Paizo and PF. Both games are good games, and appeal to different subsets of the overall TRPG market for the most part.

I get why you're cynical. But it does seem rather off to assume said cynicism is valid and then build off the assumption that the cynical view is a guaranteed fact on to more assumptions. You very well might be right about WotC repeating the mistakes of the past (WHY CR, WHY DID YOU BRING CR BACK!). But before the books actually come out, I do not see the value in letting said cynicism drive the car.

zoroaster100 said:

They also talked about the downtime rules as including such things as a rogue going on a crime spree, or taking on an opposing thieves' guild, or a character crafting a magic item. They said the downtime rules work in increments of 10 days.

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I wonder why ten days. Most weeks are seven.

GOOD REASON: 10 days is two weeks minus weekends. A typical month is three of these.

BAD REASON: A Forgotten Realms week is a tenday.

Remathilis said:

I wonder why ten days. Most weeks are seven.

GOOD REASON: 10 days is two weeks minus weekends. A typical month is three of these.

BAD REASON: A Forgotten Realms week is a tenday.

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It is probably since 10 is an easy number deal with, and the FR thing.

10 days might just be my "extended rest"