The First Five Books (after core)

[Jeff Carlsen]

After the core rulebooks are released, how do you want to see the system supported? How often should new hardcovers and boxed sets come out, and most importantly, what are the first five products you want to see?

Personally, I want fewer, more comprehensive books. I don't mind only buying a new book every three or four months, especially if I feel really good about my purchase. I like my hardcover books to have over three hundred pages of content each. I honestly felt disrespected by the cost to content ratio of 4e books, which isn't a comment on the quality of that content, which tended to be decent.

Here are the first five books I feel should be published after the core:

1. Campaign Setting. Probably Forgotten Realms, even though it isn't my preferred setting.
2. Full Campaign. This should be an extensive campaign that new groups can run. It should be quintessential, varied, and a genuine masterpiece that gamers will be talking about for decades.
3. Manual of the Planes. This book should be a thick and comprehensive tomb containing a default planar structure, a few, less detailed alternatives, and rules for making your own. It should be rich in flavor and content. No fewer than 320 pages.
4. Mythologies. This would basically be an expansion of Deities and Demigods, covering a wide realm of various mythologies that could be used in a D&D game.
5. Player's Handbook 2. This should be something like the Advanced Players Guide for Pathfinder. This is the one book you need when your group is ready for more player options. It should encompass everything that the Complete Series or Power Source books did, as well as equipment and magic items.

 

[Sunseeker]

Campaign setting(don't care where, preferably something new to 5e). This is basically your campaign setting and full campaign put together.
Powers book, ideally one big book with an expansion of powers for whatever classes came in PHB1, as opposed to multiple supplement books wherein your cleric might not get one until 2 years from now.
General Race Guide: Depends on how many races came in core. If we get few, than at least 10 races and added flavor to the ones in Core. If we get a lot or races in Core(say, 6+) then a stat-light, fluff-heavy guide expanding upon them. Ideally it may even include a system for building your own races, if that's not part of Core. If it is, then expanding upon that tool with more possibilities.


Honestly I can't think of much else because I really won't buy much more than this until Core part 2.

 

[Mark CMG]

After the core rulebooks are released, how do you want to see the system supported?

Settings and adventures. Let the core stand on its own for a year or two while the bugs get worked out. Let the mags/DDI go into creating and using settings and adventures to emulate the various playstyles they are saying the rules will allow. Make the core solid enough to stand on its own without tons of planned supplements and add-ons. Don't purposefully hold stuff back that was traditionally core in earlier editions as a way to sell more books.

IOW, do right by the fans you hope to retain and regain.

 

[Tallifer]

The Fifth Edition has to draw in all the fanatics of previous editions, so it needs to get to business.

1. The Forgotten Realms
2. Combat Options (martial characters with powers, martial practices, spiked chains, healing surges, tables of critical hit and fumble effects)
3. Magical Options (wizards at-will, encounter and daily powers, rituals, mana, overcasting, spell research, words of power, swordmages, warlocks)
4. Exotic Races and classes
5. An Adventure Path done well

Furthermore, the Dragon magazine must burst with articles to support mechanical conversion for Eberron, Dark Sun and Planescape; fluff on the Realms and those worlds.

I think the Dragon magazine should avoid at all costs any articles which add new powers, et cetera to existing classes and races. That was a source of untested cheese in the Fourth Edition.

The Dragon magazine should instead offer a cornucopia of fluff plus several playtesting articles for new classes (Shaman, Swordmage, Artificer, Seeker, Runepriest, et cetera).

 

[Minigiant]

Race book.

All the fluffy and crunchy goodness to make custom PCs and NPCs.

After that, I don't care.

 

[Ratskinner]

This is a good question. My answer depends on how they go about designing 5e to some extent, especially how much actually makes in into the core.

1. 5e "red box" - with PHB, DMG, MM and the basic/core game for some early levels...maybe 3 or 5, as well as a solid introductory adventure.
2. Champions - an expansion for high-level/Epic play which covers the PCs beating up gods and the like. Including advice for GMs on building adventures for this kind of Campaign.
3. Kings - an expansion for high-level play covering things like becoming a nobleman or running a thieves guild. Including advice for GMs on building adventures for this kind of Campaign.
4. The Realms campaign setting - not that I'll use it, but other's will.
5. Worldbuilder's Guide - helping DM's create new races, nations, classes, magic systems/spells, etc. Possibly illuminating the mathematical assumptions (if any) for 5e.

Of course, the "Champions" and "Kings" stuff might be in the core...but I hope not. All evidence I've ever seen indicates that high-level play is a rarity at best. I feel it should be supported, but there are such diverse ideas about what it should be that I feel it would take up inordinate space in the "big three" that most campaigns would never use. I'd rather see separate supplements to target campaigns with these bents.

 

[howandwhy99]

Personally, I want fewer, more comprehensive books.

Boy do I agree. As to your other questions: I prefer hardbacks are only done for larger works requiring such binding. I'd like the system supported with more options, modules, toys, boxed sets, maps, figurines, and adventures and campaign settings especially.

1. 1st level Starting Adventure, 32 pages.
2. Campaign Setting, 32 pages.
3. Monster Guide
4. Deity & Mythology Lorebook
5. "Magical Spellbook of ..." someone or other.
6. "The Schools of War" Manual
7. "How to Win at Everything by Cheating" for thieves and assassins.
8. Lots more adventures published during that time too

 

[Kaodi]

1. Adventure Path
2. Forgotten Realms
3. Dungeon Master's Guide (II)
4. Monster Manual (II)
5. Player's Handbook (II)

6. Deities & Demigods
7. Atlas & Almanac
8. Manual of the Planes
9. Adventure Path II
10. Eberron

 

[delericho]

Broadly speaking, they should steal the Pathfinder model. That is, have a regular adventure output, a regular 'setting' output, and occasional (but significant) rules releases to expand the system.

More specifically:

On Day One:

Core Rulebook - a single 250ish page book containing all you need to play (levels 1-15 would be ideal)

Beginner Box - probably the single most important in-print product in the whole line, this must be released alongside the CR, and must be "done right".

At least one, and preferably two, really good 1st level adventures.

Plus new issues of eDragon and eDungeon supporting the new edition. I don't really care too much what's in eDragon, but eDungeon should contain at least 3 adventures, preferably suitable to act as a mini Campaign Arc (that is, don't assume they're linked, but don't put them in wildly different locales!).

Monthly Output:

Most of the monthly support should be in e-magazine form. In particular, eDungeon should go back to the "3 adventures every month" model, and should gradually let the level range drift upwards, so they pretty soon get to doing one adventure per tier per month.

Additionally, they should produce online Conversion Manuals for (at least) Forgotten Realms, Eberron and Dark Sun, to bring current players of those settings up to date. These can gradually be withdrawn as the settings get 'properly' supported.

Books:

Player's Handbook - provides the 'rest' of the level range (levels 16 - 30, or whatever the game supports), plus whatever races and classes didn't make the CR, and then as much extra 'good stuff' as you can fit.

Dungeon Master's Guide - make it more about equipping DMs to run good campaigns, than just a catalogue of stuff. See the Pathfinder GMG for an example.

Monster Manual 1 - as the name implies, a big book of monsters.

Unearthed Arcana (1) - a big book of optional modules, showing how to customise the game for different styles. Apparently, modularity is going to be a big selling point of 5e, so they need to support that.

Campaign Setting - actually, my preference would be something different, but I can't think of another single product that deserves a higher priority. So, yeah, get the FR back out there!

Other:

They should aim to do two in-print adventures per year. These should be fairly meaty, and as good as they can possibly make them. But, in particular, there should be some reason they can't be issued online - perhaps they contain props, or minis, or make heavy use of handouts, or poster maps, or something. But if they could just as easily be done online... they should be done online!

 

[delericho]

5. An Adventure Path done well

1. Adventure Path

9. Adventure Path II

While I would dearly love to see a good Adventure Path from WotC, their record with adventures is... not good, at best. Given the cost involved in such a project, and the already-thin margins on adventures (plus the greater risks inherent in doing an AP at all), I'm inclined to think that they should instead focus on doing standalone adventures for now.

Learn to consistently create good standalone adventures, and then think about doing something more ambitious.

Also, the AP should be done in eDungeon, where the risk is lower (since most subscribers are 'locked in'), and where the impact is less anyway (since you're hopefully offering several adventures per month, so even if people aren't following the AP they still have other things to play).

IMO, of course.