D&D 5E To much 5th edition content?

[jayoungr]

There is already way more content than my group can get through and I just don't know that I want anything more.

Have you ever gone into an edition expecting to buy/use everything they put out?

 

[Undrave]

Ideally, WotC would release more material I do want and less material that I don't want.

Isn't that all of our problems?

 

[jerryrice4949]

I buy lots of 5th edition material just not from WOTC. Nothing this year. Last year just Ghosts of Saltmarsh. I bought Tome of Foes in 2018 and nothing else. Xanthars and Tales of the Yawning Portal in 2017.

FGG, Kobold Press and several other publishers get most of my money at this point.

 

[pukunui]

WotC is hardly flooding the market and the paradigm has changed--not only in terms of what you are recommended to buy, but the type of products they're doing. Whereas WotC tried to pull off "everything is core" with 4E, they're taking the opposite approach: "everything is optional." Most books--especially the last couple years--are either story arcs or settings, so explicitly optional ... If you want to be a completist or have FOMO, but feel overwhelmed by material, I'd suggest having an accessible shelf of the books you are currently using, and then everything else on another "archive" shelf that you can access if so desired.

It's not just FOMO or completionism. There's also pressure from players who have bought stuff and want to use it.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm over adventures, prefer shorter ones and they've been a bit meh for a while.

Would be after a setting that's good and not converted from elsewhere or an old setting updated.

 

[Mercurius]

It's not just FOMO or completionism. There's also pressure from players who have bought stuff and want to use it.

To that I would say, take one of two options:

1. Let the players have their toys. I mean, why not? You don't have to own the books, and there's always D&D Beyond.
2. If for whatever reason you don't want that (e.g. satyrs don't fit in your campaign setting idea or theme), tell them what options are available to choose from; a character creation primer handout is never a bad thing.

 

[pukunui]

To that I would say, take one of two options:

1. Let the players have their toys. I mean, why not? You don't have to own the books, and there's always D&D Beyond.
2. If for whatever reason you don't want that (e.g. satyrs don't fit in your campaign setting idea or theme), tell them what options are available to choose from; a character creation primer handout is never a bad thing.

Yes, but that then requires that the DM knows what all those options are and where to find them. Yes, D&D Beyond is technically an option, but not everyone uses it. Some of us still prefer printed books.

 

[Mercurius]

Yes, but that then requires that the DM knows what all those options are and where to find them. Yes, D&D Beyond is technically an option, but not everyone uses it. Some of us still prefer printed books.

I greatly prefer printed books and almost never purchase PDFs, so you'll get no argument from me in that regard.

I personally don't think the DM needs to know everything. My approach is a character and setting primer, including any limitations or added options specific to my setting, and if a players wants something outside of that, it is open for discussion. If they want to play something from a book I don't have, I'm usually fine with it and default to trust. If I need to look something up, D&D Beyond is easy.

Usually the restrictions I place on character creation are more thematic and stylistic, e.g. no dragonborn. That's a personal preference. If a player really wants to play one, I'll bend and create a context where it is viable.

 

[MichaelSomething]

If you're looking to sate your hunger for high quality 5th Edition stuff, consider EN Publishing's very own D&D section!

 

[dave2008]

Funny, the usual complaint is the exact opposite: Not enough content.

I know, my group and I are a little different than the typical poster here. We are still on our first 5e campaign since we started 5+ years ago, we are not optimizers, and we play mostly martial characters.