D&D General Ch-Ch-Changes

[Scott Christian]

I was actually thinking you could generate whole towns with NPCs going about their normal business. Select a general style, wealth and technology level, may be tweak it a bit for flavor. Monsters and whatnot would be the same, take a generic troll but add just enough detail to make each one unique and so on.

But it could all be descriptive, and the DM won't have to do much. I mean, we're already creating fake people that are hard to tell from real, games generate a lot of their environments. If you go to talk to a specific NPC you could have a few canned lines based on general (randomly generated) roles or the DM could step in.

Which would be all sorts of awesome. It's the implementation of things like combat and skills that I question.

That would not surprise me at all. I was trying to keep it "different" from a video game, as I feel like their going to have to do that if they decide to marry TT to Video. It seems like it'll need to be more of a DM tool than anything. At least that is how I see it.
And I am with you skill and combat. I don't see the skill or combat happening because people play D&D to be able to do anything, and that includes trying to get swallowed by the purple worm.

 

[Lanefan]

Another option is just that 'online D&D' is never going to be an attractive investment, PnP everything just basically dies, and the game lands in the dustbin of history, a quaint anachronism like quilting bees and the Grange.

If that's your optimistic take I'll pass on the pessimistic one, thanks.

 

[Lanefan]

Not that I necessarily like some of what I'm about to type, but here goes:

What will be vaguely the same:

---six base stats
---different playable creature types and species (but their underlying mechanics will be much more similar to each other than now, any species-based bonuses, penalties and abilities will be gone)
---classes (though somewhere along the way there'll be a big contraction in their number - likely on a new edition's release - before expansion takes over again)
---levels and-or power gradations
---D&D's dominance over the RPG marketplace (it can't be long before Hasbro starts buying up the more successful competitors in order to either adopt their IP or squash it)

Assuming current trends continue, what will be different:

---no randomness of any type in char-gen and very limited randomness in play e.g. pre-set damage amounts (or pre-determined combat and-or check outcomes in general?)
---alignment will be completely gone
---divine magic disappears, with its remnants combined with arcane magic to just have 'magic'
---spell preparation or pre-memorization will be gone as it's too inconvenient
---xp will be gone, replace either by group levelling or milestone levelling; also individual rewards of any kind will be gone
---D&D and M:tG will continue to merge, to the point where we'll see D&D-based card sets; maybe even to the point where WotC develops a true crossover game system with elements of both but different from either in how it plays

What will be new:

---the base game will become so easy on its players and PCs that a reverse movement will arise in a similar manner as today's OSR movement, toward grittier survival-first game styles
---advances in game-related technology will slowly cause a rift in the community between those who can afford it and those who cannot, adding further to an existing rift between those willing to adopt it and those who are not
---the D&D system will be expanded or reworked such that other types of RPGs (space, supers, etc.) can be played using the same rules chassis

 

[Voadam]

I'm not saying the classes themselves will look be the same. I'm saying every class in the PHB nowwill be in the PHB still in 20 years.

Betting against the trends of history?

No 4e PH Warlords in 5e.

No 3e PH Barbarians, Bards, Druids, Sorcerers, or Monks in the 4e PH.

All 2e PH classes in the 3e PH.

No 1e PH Assassins or Monks in the 2e PH.

 

[Minigiant]

Betting against the trends of history?

No 4e PH Warlords in 5e.

No 3e PH Barbarians, Bards, Druids, Sorcerers, or Monks in the 4e PH.

All 2e PH classes in the 3e PH.

No 1e PH Assassins or Monks in the 2e PH.

I'm betting with modern money strategies.

In 20 years, the physical book wont be the primary form of the books. They will be digital. So page count and space wont be issues.
Then you have the "buy for what you want" strategy. So offering more would be a way to make more money.

So yeah, 7e might get published with 15 or more classes in it.

 

[TiwazTyrsfist]

We know for a fact that ~1000 years in the future D&D is still played with paper and pencil, Dice, and Mini's, with a DM screen and paper books, by people drinking the closest possible equivalent of Mtn Dew.

Only there will be robots, so, IDK, maybe I wasn't joking about bringing Warforged into all settings.

 

[Scott Christian]

D&D's dominance over the RPG marketplace (it can't be long before Hasbro starts buying up the more successful competitors in order to either adopt their IP or squash it)

Didn't think of this one. This is probably spot on, especially if the market shrinks.

spell preparation or pre-memorization will be gone as it's too inconvenient

I've said it elsewhere, but I believe most changes occur to try and make things easier for the player. This is definitely one of those.

the base game will become so easy on its players and PCs that a reverse movement will arise in a similar manner as today's OSR movement, toward grittier survival-first game styles

Quoted the above prior to even reading this group. I definitely think this will happen.

And one I forgot to mention: The books will continue (I do not know how) to become even nicer. The graphic artists, layouts, etc. are more beautiful than 99% of the books (including art books) out there. They will only evolve to be prettier.

 

[jmartkdr2]

---the base game will become so easy on its players and PCs that a reverse movement will arise in a similar manner as today's OSR movement, toward grittier survival-first game styles

I've only played a couple of sessions, but Pathfinder 2e might be the tip of the iceberg in terms of bringing back challenging crunchy tactical ttrpgs from the 3e/4e era. I personally hope so for my own sake as a player - I love that style but it's hard to get a whole group together for it.

 

[Stormonu]

One thing I do really think we'll see is that ability scores 3-18 numbers will be replaced with ability modifiers, basically -4 to +4. It will no longer be "I have an 18 Strength", but "I have a +4 modifier to Strength checks".

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Dude. Keep it friendly.

Sorry Umbran, sometimes I forget with strangers it doesn't work the same way, because I'm not obviously saying in a Q-from-James-Bond voice ("Bond, do try to keep up!") to friends used to it, like I would be IRL.

Please cite some cases in which they've sold off multi-million dollar IP.

Hasbro Interactive would be the primary example, which was sold off, mainly for its IP, for $100m in 2000.

Interestingly, Hasbro clearly regretted this decision, because in 2005, they then bought back a lot of the IPs for $65m. So maybe they won't make that mistake again? But by the time 2041 rolls around, that'll have been 36 years ago, which means pretty much no-one who even worked at Hasbro in 2005 will be in upper management by 2041, so attitudes may change a great deal.

There are probably other examples, but my knowledge of Hasbro corporate history is far from complete, and largely focused on the videogames and WotC. Most of the other big IPs they've lost they never owned though, I think, they were just licensed. That was not the case with Hasbro Interactive.