D&D 5E My New Players Have Quit 5th Edition

[billd91]

How about not talking about people... and just talking about the game. That should be enough. And please do NOT derail this thread with some side discussion on what to call people. If you feel the need to discuss something like that... start another thread... preferably on a different forum.

Good advice.

And if you do need to refer to different sides of the 4e issue, what's wrong with "4e fans" and "4e critics"? They're simple, not cutesy catch-phrase oriented, and hard to view as pejorative.

 

[Emerikol]

How about not talking about people... and just talking about the game. That should be enough. And please do NOT derail this thread with some side discussion on what to call people. If you feel the need to discuss something like that... start another thread... preferably on a different forum.

I was just asking a question of the moderator. Bill at least did provide a real answer instead of something snarky.

You can't discuss anything if you can't refer to those holding a particular position by some name. I'm for non-pejorative names but *nothing* is not going to work.

 

[Emerikol]

Good advice.

And if you do need to refer to different sides of the 4e issue, what's wrong with "4e fans" and "4e critics"? They're simple, not cutesy catch-phrase oriented, and hard to view as pejorative.

The advice may be good but kicking someone in the teeth before giving it will rarely help matters. I appreciate you at least answering the honest question. I really did pose it hoping for an answer from the moderator.

 

[keterys]

to emulate the farmer boy hero who hasn't yet come into his own and still scared of goblins. That playstyle definitely has its rewards (I'm sure there was an L&L article addressing how you could start a campaign at level 3).

I assumed that if low-level heroes have it easy like in the movies (ie., the Nazgul would never directly attack a young hero), that was a function of the adventure/DM's setup, not a function of the PC rules reflecting inherent robustness at low levels. This is in a "traditional" RPG of course. I think it was stated by the designers that 5E was leaning towards a traditional experience.

Depending on the edition of D&D, the PCs would be afraid of a house cat And might die just from being near a Nazgul, nevermind actually struck by one.

I think it's reasonable for 1st level PCs to fear goblins, especially goblin shamans, hobgoblins and bugbears, and to just abject run from something like a Nazgul.

In a not-5e game recently we encountered a cursed beast - I hit it for near-max damage and it bounced (did absolutely nothing). It then hit someone for about half that person's hp, with a Fort save required. We beat a retreat, eventually using terrain (locked ourselves in a jail cell) to avoid confrontation. Later, the group found out how to harm it and took it on more directly.

But note that it didn't, say, kill someone on its first hit, cleave into another person to drop them. If we'd had closer to 10 hp instead of 20 hp, that's how it could have gone.

 

[darkseraphim]

DM: "Black Dougal gasps 'Poison!' and falls to the floor. He looks dead."

Fredrik: "I'm grabbing his pack to carry treasure in."

Rebecca: "I'm giving Black Dougal the last rites of my church."

--Dungeons & Dragons, Basic Example of Play, 1981

 

[jgsugden]

If I were to list my top 100 most memorable moments in D&D, half would be PC deaths. One of my favorites is having my paladin get called out as a coward by the halfling rogue, getting angry, throwing caution to the wind, charging a creature with threatening reach - and getting hit for a double damage critical with maximum damage on the dice - which did just enough damage to kill him on the spot. He was 2nd level. It was hilarious.

 

[Savage Wombat]

DM: "Black Dougal gasps 'Poison!' and falls to the floor. He looks dead."

Fredrik: "I'm grabbing his pack to carry treasure in."

Rebecca: "I'm giving Black Dougal the last rites of my church."

--Dungeons & Dragons, Basic Example of Play, 1981

I swear that sounds more like Paranoia than D&D.

 

[Ichneumon]

I swear that sounds more like Paranoia than D&D.

Especially if Fredrik and Rebecca did a hi-five.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I was just asking a question of the moderator. Bill at least did provide a real answer instead of something snarky.

You can't discuss anything if you can't refer to those holding a particular position by some name. I'm for non-pejorative names but *nothing* is not going to work.

Hi Emerikol,

I thought you might remember that if you've got a question about something in 'moderator voice' then the best thing is to PM the moderator rather than turn a bit of moderation into a discussion (something we don't normally allow for various reasons). It would also draw my attention to it so I could get back to you quickly.

I think it is both possible and desirable to discuss things without labelling people holding particular positions. Labelling most often ends up in 'them and us' situations, drawn battle lines, cats and dogs sleeping together, the whole malarky.

If there is some reason that absolutely demands it, then I suppose you could choose to use less emotive terms (such as those Bill suggests) but honestly, in almost every case that starts to make it personal with those who self-identify as one or the other. Best just not to go there IMO, and put a bit of extra thought in how to couch things in terms of the rules or the game rather than people on one 'side' or another.

Thanks

 

[dd.stevenson]

Arguably some evidence that it doesn't matter comes from OD&D were it was the norm and D&D grew very well. (snip)

That's my reason for doubting whether new players hate risk as much as people like to assert. But it's not the sort of evidence that one can ride very far. I rather suspect that the truth of the matter is somewhere in the middle, dripping with nuance.

I wish better guidelines were available; it would be genuinely good for the growth of this hobby if DMs had good information about how to profile the wants/needs of new players, and how/whether/why to reign in risk while players are learning the game.