D&D 5E The Real Question About 5th Edition

[Werebat]

The real question about 5th Edition that no one has asked yet (I think) is this:

Will the Order of the Stick comic make the switch? They never switched over to 4th Edition (but they did switch over to 3.5 from 3.0).

Maybe WotC should work out a deal with Burlew; make him an offer, you know? Wouldn't be bad for publicity...

 

[Tony Vargas]

They never switched over to 4th Edition (but they did switch over to 3.5 from 3.0)...

Actually, it /started/ with the 3.5 switch, then went back later and did some 3.0 stories. Slightly different. And, it did include an encounter with alternate-universe 4e versions of the characters - so I don't see why we couldn't expect something like that, at minimum.

 

[Jester David]

Unlikely. Burlew likely doesn't want to tie the comic to an edition any more. And derailikng the story by spending a half-dozen strips on an edition change would be detrimental. It's likely a good thing for his overall story that he didn't try and work in a 3e-4e transition and ditto the current edition change.
The humour also works better if it's not tied to topical mechanics talk. A lot of the early strips are pretty esoteric now and hard to read, being tied to a long dead rules system.

 

[Werebat]

Actually, it /started/ with the 3.5 switch, then went back later and did some 3.0 stories. Slightly different. And, it did include an encounter with alternate-universe 4e versions of the characters - so I don't see why we couldn't expect something like that, at minimum.

I could swear I remember a strip with Belkar anticipating some kick-ass new powers and learning to his dismay that everything different about his class was weaker. His (small) daggers did less damage, in particular. That was a 3.0 to 3.5 change.

I don't remember the 4th Edition versions of the characters -- was that in the online strip or in a magazine or something that might not be available to everyone?

 

[Tony Vargas]

Yep, the 'weapon shrinkage' one was the first strip.

Now that I think of it, I only heard about the 4e one second-hand.

 

[ephemeron]

I could swear I remember a strip with Belkar anticipating some kick-ass new powers and learning to his dismay that everything different about his class was weaker. His (small) daggers did less damage, in particular. That was a 3.0 to 3.5 change.

The very first strip is about switching from 3.0 to 3.5. Belkar is excited about the change and hoping for more skill points, and instead his weapon shrinks.

 

[mcmillan]

Unlikely. Burlew likely doesn't want to tie the comic to an edition any more. And derailikng the story by spending a half-dozen strips on an edition change would be detrimental. It's likely a good thing for his overall story that he didn't try and work in a 3e-4e transition and ditto the current edition change.
The humour also works better if it's not tied to topical mechanics talk. A lot of the early strips are pretty esoteric now and hard to read, being tied to a long dead rules system.

While I can't seem to find it right now, I seem to remember seeing somewhere Rich Burlew making pretty much this exact point in response to this question about why he wasn't intending to explicitly switch to 4e.

 

[Rune]

Didn't the Order if the Stick's run in Dragon predate the webcomic? Or am I misremembering?

 

[Henry]

Didn't the Order if the Stick's run in Dragon predate the webcomic? Or am I misremembering?

The webcomic appeared before the Dragon run by a good bit - a couple of years? Matter of fact, I want to say Rich Berlew started it not long after he was announced as one of the three setting submission finalists, but that could be ME misremembering.

 

[DogBackward]

Am I the only one wondering how close the official Next release will be to the release of the Snarl? That certainly sounds like a world-changing sort of event... and one that wouldn't disrupt the story, since it's part of the story.