D&D 5E Why such little content (books) for Dnd 5e?

[Sunseeker]

So far, I'm happy with the release schedule, provided of course that campaign books continue to add crunch as well as story options. We may not have gotten a PHB2, but we've already got 3 new races, a slew of new spells and hints of more of the same coming up in the future. I think that's a reasonable amount of new content per year.

 

[JeffB]

But, hey, it's all good right? Why bother trying to have a discussion when you can just shout from the rooftops and beat your chest, right? The view from the soapbox is just so superior to any other possible view.

Thjs goes both ways. Anytime some laments a lack of support, they get a "sorry champ, go buy some old Pdfs, and convert it yourself or use your old books""

Well this sucks.For 35 years they have done it that way. Now the focus is on xyz., and its pretty much cold turkey for tabletop products"....


WHINING!!!!

It was the same here when 3.0 was released No System schock?? Clerics with 9 spell levels?

Suck it up, this is the new D&D.

4.0. Yep. Daily powers for fighters? That gnome cartoon offended me. I LIKE 3.5 Grappling.

WHINING!

Same , different edition. Use the ignore function if people are bothering you in hundreds of posts. That is what it is for.

 

[teitan]

Coverting is not that easy.

Low level stuff? Sure. Higher level stuff? Not so much. 5e had a large weight of creatures from the 1-5 CR range, and high level NPCs are non-existant. Takes me about an hour to create a high level spellcaster.

Converting 3rd edition stuff, especially high level, is a chore, because boy they love their monster templates with class levels (and I streamline a lot of that away).

If the back catalog was the intention all along, then they should have had the conversion guides ready to go. At least bump it up the priority order a bit.

Quit thinking in third terms and it is a lot easier. Lower CR monsters are a threat much longer and convert levelled monsters with the special class abilities as monster abilities. Also use those npcs in your monster manual with subtle modifications based on race. But yes it is easier with first and second material.

 

[DaveDash]

Quit thinking in third terms and it is a lot easier. Lower CR monsters are a threat much longer and convert levelled monsters with the special class abilities as monster abilities. Also use those npcs in your monster manual with subtle modifications based on race. But yes it is easier with first and second material.

I know what the theory is. What high level stuff are you converting to have experience in the matter?

If the module calls for a EL16 battle with a high level spellcaster, tweaking the CR6 mage at the back of the Monsters Manual isn't going to cut it.

 

[teitan]

Archmage. Can't get to my book to cite the page number.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

Coverting is not that easy.

Converting 3rd edition stuff, especially high level, is a chore,

My experience has been the opposite, I find 5th Ed the most conversion friendly edition to date, I have been a converting manic (especially 3rd Ed races, classes, monsters, spells).

 

[Queer Venger]

Ok, I was serious BTW

I have been out of it for awhile so I was not clear what the direction of 5e was--some of you cleared that up for me, thanks!

I bought the 3 core books and have played maybe 30-40 hours with them so far, not much. But I was looking for more material, but it looks like it will be much later, if ever at all.

Last time I played was 3.5, skipped 4.e and now have a group that does 5e every other week or so.

Seems like they are doing the anti-pathfinder route--which is an interesting business strategy. Like some said, treating it more like a brand instead of an RPG. Like that one guy (famous dnd guy) got hired back as a contractor to work on license material (organization) so video games and other companies have an easier time to access...wtf?? But, honestly, as you guys have pointed out that probably makes more money than splat book of the 3.5 era.

Thanks again and happy gaming! I seriously wasn't trying to troll!!!

But if I put on my jerk hat...I personally think this strategy is frickin stupid--we at a minimum need:

Planar Guide for travelling the planes and gear to go with it (and yes someone who played AdnD 1e I have a right to request this so lick my b#lls)
1 solid, detailed Campaign setting (FR, Greyhawk who cares but we need at least 1)
Fiend Folio (or more monster books in general, DnD needs way more monsters, wth!!!)

If they just release these 3 core books then a bunch of adventures, 5e will be more quickly dead than 4e, what a waste.

I get that 5e needs a solid campaign guide, and I'd love a Fiend Folio, but the game is shy of 1 year old, I am sure these are coming

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Archmage. Can't get to my book to cite the page number.

342

 

[CapnZapp]

It's not that too many books makes an edition unwieldy. No one forces you to buy books. For 3.5 I bought maybe 5 books.

It's that they can't make money out of printing endless books, and in fact, probably start to lose money after a while, as the cost of the book outweighs what they make on it. D&Ds business model of expensive books with expensive artwork is very front loaded.

They tried to go "all in" with 4e, and couldn't come up with a sustainable business model, even with trying to include subscription based services, so they've basically decided that old business model won't work long term.

As much as I want more stuff for 5e, this business model makes sense. Just hurry up with the damn conversions documents already (yeah yeah jury duty, whatever).

As I see it the main problem is something completely different:

Unrealistic profit expectations.

This because Wotc is not a small hobbyist operation driven by enthusiasm and love.

It's a corporation owned by Hasbro, for which "D&D" is a brand associated with words like "revenue", "profit margin" and "shareholder dividends".

Sorry for saying this, but the truth is that Hasbro desperately wants D&D to break out of the pnp rpg niche into the much more profitable hobby genres of... pretty much everything else.

If you want more supplements, you need to hope Hasbro gives up on D&D and sells it to a smaller operation. Preferably one with a proven track record of making pnp rpgs work for them.

If you know of any such company, be sure to mention them... [emoji10]

 

[CapnZapp]

Wow.... a lot of speculative drivel with no real world basis....

DnD is *more* than just an RPG. DnD is *also* now a brand. (Which has been true for a long time actually.....)

Many people don't want an endless font of crunch books coming out..... WotC has decided to go with that business model. This isn't a baby on a respirator, its a healthy game system that is not relying on a constant spam of content to try and stay afloat.'

Mark my words: you do not want dnd to succeed as a brand.

Everytime a rpg company has managed to branch out in other markets, they have abandoned pnp rpgs. Every time.

And why not? Ours is probably the least expensive, the least monetizable(?), of all hobby markets.

Five people buying a few books, and that's it for YEARS of customer value.

No, keep our miniscule hobby out of the corporate world, I say.