D&D 5E Initial D&D Next Releases Showing Up on Barnes & Noble Website

[Falling Icicle]

I'm also wondering if there's any point to buying the starter set if you already have the PHB. Like maybe it will come with some figurines or tiles or something?

 

[ExploderWizard]

I'm also wondering if there's any point to buying the starter set if you already have the PHB. Like maybe it will come with some figurines or tiles or something?

The starter set will be my 5E acid test. If you can create characters and the set has replay value, even at very limited levels then WOTC has learned something and the PHB might be worth checking out.

If the starter box is demo crippleware then I will already know everything I ever need to about 5E.

 

[RevTurkey]

If this is correct then it does look a bit pricey.

My biggest worry for such a potentially expensive book is that they rush the proof reading and it is full of errors. Hopefully the length of development time might help get the content correctly printed.

If the book is glorious and full of awesome art then fair enough.

If they give us a complete game system and stay away from splat bloat...selling more setting and adventure material instead then a high price would be worth paying to give then sufficient profit to justify cutting down on churning out guff just to make quick cash.

Won't be long now and we can all stop wondering and play the thing instead. Exciting!

 

[Obryn]

The starter set will be my 5E acid test. If you can create characters and the set has replay value, even at very limited levels then WOTC has learned something and the PHB might be worth checking out.

If the starter box is demo crippleware then I will already know everything I ever need to about 5E.

That sounds eminently fair to me, and I agree 100%.

My metric is, "at least as complete a game as Moldvay or Mentzer Basic, but hopefully more." I expect level limits and restricted options; those come with the territory. But how well does it help a DM run adventures beyond whatever is included? That's the test.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Firstly - what will be the cost of the pdf (if there is one)? 'Buy in' price can be significantly reduced, if there are reasonably priced pdfs to download.

Secondly - what will be the worth of the Starter set in terms of repeat playability and 'completeness' (i.e. how many options and levels does it account for)?

Thirdly - What will be the compatibility between the two products? Will the Starter set be complimented by the Players Book (and the rest)?

EDIT: I recognize that others may have mentioned these things earlier in the thread, but it is a long thread to read through. They are my personal questions however.

 

[thewok]

Which begs the question "how much is the COMPLETE Core rules?" If you need the PHB, DMG and MM II and III, it's a lot more expensive, even if each books sells for, say, $25. IIRC, one criticism levied against WoTC when 4e was released was the "missing" races and classes in the initial release. If 5e is complete in the tin, and later releases viewed as truly optional additions, $50/book is comparatively cheap.

Technically, with Shadowrun, the $60 rule book is the "basic game." The core (or standard game, to use DDN terms) for Shadowrun also includes other books. For 4E, the core for the game was the Players Handbook, Runner's Companion, Augmentation, Unwired, Street Magic and Arsenal. We Shadowrun players tend to know that off hand, though, and go in expecting to buy those extra books for a "complete" game experience, even if the basic rulebook is complete in itself.

FFG's Star Wars line is a different set-up as well, with three separate, complete games that can then work with each other. So, Edge of the Empire has a $60 core book (with GM section and Example enemies), but they also release splatbooks for the careers at $30 each. Age of Rebellion and Force and Destiny will follow the same scheme.

With D&D, though, we generally expect to have to get three books for a complete experience (at least as DMs). $150 is a lot for a complete game when every other game is $60 for a "complete game." Part of me wonders if someone at WotC leaked the info as a kind of trial balloon ("Can we get away with it?"). Then, they'll gauge reactions and announce a price point that maximizes profit and customer satisfaction.

Printing costs have gone way up over the years, much higher than inflation. I realize none of us like to pay $50 for a rulebook, but cost in all areas of printed media have gone up substantially. A good comaprison of a niche product would be comic books; in 2000 a Spider-man comic would have cost you $2.25 and now an issue will cost you $3.99 for the same title. What I'm more concerned with is will we get a pdf version and how much will that be?

I think Marvel has dropped the price of their titles to $2.99 again. I know DC has, but they also dropped page count to compensate. Smaller publishers (Dark Horse, and the like) all tend to be around $3.50-3.99, though.

Now, if $50 includes a PDF version at no additional cost, I'm sold on that price point.

 

[Derren]

Technically, with Shadowrun, the $60 rule book is the "basic game." The core (or standard game, to use DDN terms) for Shadowrun also includes other books. For 4E, the core for the game was the Players Handbook, Runner's Companion, Augmentation, Unwired, Street Magic and Arsenal. We Shadowrun players tend to know that off hand, though, and go in expecting to buy those extra books for a "complete" game experience, even if the basic rulebook is complete in itself.

When you count those books as core you should also count the usual fighter/cleric/wizard/thief splatbooks as core in D&D.

 

[Gamgee]

This is possibly too steep for me. I am not concerned buying a single rulebook from a small publisher that charges fifty bucks because it is pod or a small print run (happily paid that for Numenera). But fifty bucks for a players handbook from WOTC, when I also have to buy the MM and the DMG? It feels a
bit high.

Yea that price is way to steep. Numenera was well worth it though. Especially in Canada when the cost goes up even more, and then if I try and support my local LFGS it will jack those prices even more. It's getting way to expensive. For the cost of the core for 5e I can save up a quarter of the price of a new gaming PC. And then Steam sell oodles of games for dollars.

It's not like I don't have 3.5/Pathfinder and 10+ other games including Numenera.

 

[Connorsrpg]

So, many people are happy with other games that cram everything into one book? but, there is no where near everything in there. AND players don't need the Dm stuff or monster stats, or adventure. in fact, I would rather they did not have that in their core.

I am more than happy for there to be 3 books. I would rather the material spread out and easy to find.

Imagine the outrage if WotC DID put the whole game in one book. It would either be too big OR they would cop a LOT of crap for not having everything. Remember the 'gnome rage' in 4E.

Seems a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario again.

I for one am more than happy to have 3 books and I don't really care if they are $50 a pop either. Still money well spent for a game I can play and books I can use for years (and hours upon hours of entertainment).

 

[delericho]

Hrm, a decent board game is 50 bucks or more. I just dropped a hundred bucks on Eclipse at Christmas and I've only gotten to play it twice since then. How is this really out of line for a game?

It's not. But when it's a new version of a game that we already have four times over (actually more), the value proposition is rather different. When it's a new version of a game that can be had for free in clones of most of those older versions, the value proposition is rather different.

And unlike, say, video games, where a new version means that you get upgrades in graphics and sound, that isn't the case here - with D&D 5e the lion's share of the work will be provided by the DM, same as always, and as far as I know WotC aren't offering to upgrade him!