D&D 5E Where are the options?

[Sadras]

Personally, I'm loving the pace of the releases. It works well with our bi-weekly games. As a DM I can focus on the story and direction of the campaign while not having to deal with players 'changing' or requesting to change their characters as more 'splat books' become readily available and feeling this compulsion to read up on new classes/sub-classes and spells.

We've only recently started Hoard of the Dragon Queen so we have miles of material still to go through we also level up much slower than RAW. 5e meets my needs perfectly and there is plenty of great fan-made content on the net to incorporate which provides more than enough options for my table.

 

[CapnZapp]

I have no problem with this in general, depending on the format in which it's done. If it's similar to the UA articles about the ranger, that would be fine. But any kind of published product I would hope would not be revisiting material we've already received. Especially with the presence of the DMs Guild and the fact that problems with a specific class or subclass is going to be highly subjective, even given that there seems to be some consensus on a few examples.

I'd much rather any published material be new material. Class tweaks and the like can stay in UA.

UA could as well not exist for many people, and every AL player.

It's like with 3PP, the quality is so variable, it's easier to just stick to official published paper books from WotC.

But anyway.

If it were up to me, you wouldn't have to see the improved updated content edge out new content... because I envision the improved updated content to be shipped in... the PHB!

That's right: just update the PHB, like how every new printing incorporates more errata.

It's a "silent" update in that there are no new version number, no splitting of the customer base, no drumming on the advertising vine.

Of course it's not truly a silent update. Wotc clearly tells us it's being done. No tricks,no stealth. The cover is slightly changed, so people in the know can find the PHB they want.

But the PHB remains the PHB. Everyone can play together.

Absolutely not a repeat of 3.5.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

You just walked up to someone and told him that his ankle was in the middle of his body. Right now there is no compromise between WotC's old release schedule and anything. They virtually stopped rules releases and that's no middle ground no matter how you want to spin it Aaron.

You're comparing the current release schedule to previous editions of D&D, which has been waaay product-heavy for the last three editions. Their current schedule is roughly middle-ish for all games on the market, with that average being significantly skewed by the many games which release nothing beyond a core book (or three).

 

[ExploderWizard]

It doesn't matter how much quality is there. Nothing there is official, even if it is endorsed.

So wait, you are saying that quality is irrelevant in gaming products? I don't think that I have ever heard anyone actually express that opinion. I suppose its true that you do learn something new every day.

If material is good, and you really like it what does it matter if it is official? Lets say someone produces a book of prestige classes for 5E and after reading it, you decide that the options are awesome and want to include them in your game. In what way would not being official suddenly make this great material terrible? I mean its YOUR game, and you actually LIKE the material.

Yeah. I'm not saying it's a failure so far, but people are going to want official mechanical support that is more than tidbits in adventures. As they play more and more of the same ole, same ole, it's going to get old if there isn't new content being released. A few more years of almost no support and I think people will start leaving for more supported systems.

I don't have any idea how much you get to play, but I have a feeling that I would be jealous. I am running two campaigns and playing in a third, so I get to play a total of 6 times a month. I consider that fairly fortunate compared to some people. I haven't even come close to exhausting all the possibilities in the core yet. I have made stuff up for my own campaigns, mostly monsters and unique magic items, and had fun converting things from older editions. Not once have I felt that playing would be boring without more official support.

I have no real idea what your games are like, but if constant new mechanical bits are needed to maintain interest then the actual campaign material must be very dull.

 

[Maxperson]

So wait, you are saying that quality is irrelevant in gaming products? I don't think that I have ever heard anyone actually express that opinion. I suppose its true that you do learn something new every day.

Brilliant Strawman there. No, I'm saying that 3rd party releases are not official WotC D&D releases, so the quality is irrelevant to a discussion about WotC releasing product. You did well Mr. Strawperson.

If material is good, and you really like it what does it matter if it is official?

Because I don't have the time or inclination to sift through a bunch of crap looking for a few gems. I just want to look at product put out by a reputable company for its game.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Brilliant Strawman there. No, I'm saying that 3rd party releases are not official WotC D&D releases, so the quality is irrelevant to a discussion about WotC releasing product. You did well Mr. Strawperson.



Because I don't have the time or inclination to sift through a bunch of crap looking for a few gems. I just want to look at product put out by a reputable company for its game.

Once again, being official has absolutely nothing to do with quality. No matter what name is on the product as the publisher or creator, its value is still determined by the quality of the content. If WOTC started cranking out 12-15 books per year, you would still need to sift through them to find the gems. If an official supplement has 80% filler and 20% useful stuff then you still have to comb through it to find the content that is useful to you.

Or are you saying that you will happily use even the most craptastic content as long as it comes from a certain publisher?

 

[Jester David]

You're comparing the current release schedule to previous editions of D&D, which has been waaay product-heavy for the last three editions. Their current schedule is roughly middle-ish for all games on the market, with that average being significantly skewed by the many games which release nothing beyond a core book (or three).

Good point. I think everyone gets caught up on the D&D/Pathfinder rapid release schedule of late that we forget almost every other game is restrained.
Or forget to look back at how few splatbooks 1e and Basic had.

 

[Maxperson]

Once again, being official has absolutely nothing to do with quality. No matter what name is on the product as the publisher or creator, its value is still determined by the quality of the content. If WOTC started cranking out 12-15 books per year, you would still need to sift through them to find the gems. If an official supplement has 80% filler and 20% useful stuff then you still have to comb through it to find the content that is useful to you.

Or are you saying that you will happily use even the most craptastic content as long as it comes from a certain publisher?

Based on personal experience, official product is far, FAR more likely to contain high quality balanced material, and unofficial product is far, FAR more likely to contain unbalanced junk. This is the way it has always been and I see no reason that it should change now just because you personally wish it to be so.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

quality over quantity. But I still do like some official releases. I am however also ok with officially approved material which dm guild hopefully will provide soon.
The last unearthed arcana article could be a model for such an approvement system. Although it should be on a different place.

 

[Mistwell]

This seems to have been lost in the mix (and I appreciate that Maxperson is working with the difficult task of having to reply to a lot of people at once so I understand). I will ask again:

Yeah. I'm not saying it's a failure so far, but people are going to want official mechanical support that is more than tidbits in adventures. As they play more and more of the same ole, same ole, it's going to get old if there isn't new content being released. A few more years of almost no support and I think people will start leaving for more supported systems.

If you had to guess what people wanted prior to 5e being released, would you have guessed no rules-focused support in the first two years would be this successful?