D&D (2024) Pulse check on 1D&D excitement level

[Incenjucar]

I don't think this could be called "immediately surrendering," since there is no war. WotC is not fighting you. They are just sticking with 5e. I'm sure they would wish you well.

"Quixotic" means futile, pointless - specifically, it kind of refers to fighting a battle that no one else even thinks exists...which seems rather apt.

I am quite aware of the term and its overuse. You are free to hope that WotC will continue to earn the "meh" from me and fail to win back the portion of the audience that shares my opinion. We have rather compelling evidence that WotC is in fact subject to the opinions of the audience, so am not inclined to simply give up without throwing in my vote for something I find more compelling. WotC has made more interesting martial classes in the past, there's no reason to assume they're incapable of doing so now, even if they have to split classes in two to keep what amounts to the "Essentials" versions as-is.

 

[Minigiant]

They're limited in function because WotC makes everything interesting into magic. Battle Master should be a baseline, not a subclass, and they should get more utility features for outside of combat.

Even the 4E fighter could have used a bit more to do outside of combat.

Battle Master can't be the baseline, because it's not simple enough for WotC's intended casual audience. Don't expect that to change.

A lot of 5e's class issues would be fixed by just adding 2-3 more classes.

But it wont happen without a push from the community or new designers. This is because I think the main 5e designers are a combination of AD&D and 3e mentally.

Instead of "There are only 4 classes" its "There are only 12 (13) classes".

Just make the Champion and Battlemaster into 2 seperate classes or make the Barbarian the simple warrior. We can have 4 types of mage and 4types of priest but all trained warriors have to be under the same umbrella class.

 

[Incenjucar]

A lot of 5e's class issues would be fixed by just adding 2-3 more classes.

But it wont happen without a push from the community or new designers. This is because I think the main 5e designers are a combination of AD&D and 3e mentally.

Instead of "There are only 4 classes" its "There are only 12 (13) classes".

Just make the Champion and Battlemaster into 2 seperate classes or make the Barbarian the simple warrior. We can have 4 types of mage and 4types of priest but all trained warriors have to be under the same umbrella class.

100% They could keep their simpler classes AND add some more dynamic classes and everyone wins and they can expand their audience.

 

[Olrox17]

I’m squarely in the meh camp. I’ve been bored with 5e’s defects and stagnant evolution for a good while now.
So far, the playtest has showed me some minor tweaks that I agree with, and some less minor tweaks I don’t like (I hate their take on stealth and grappling, for example).

I’ll keep a close eye on the playtest, but also on ORC products, Black Flag, and any other new game using creative commons D&D stuff.

 

[Micah Sweet]

100% They could keep their simpler classes AND add some more dynamic classes and everyone wins and they can expand their audience.

I love this idea. The problem is that WotC doesn't seem to have any interest in the audience that would want it, as they think the casual crowd is worth much more to them.

 

[Incenjucar]

I love this idea. The problem is that WotC doesn't seem to have any interest in the audience that would want it, as they think the casual crowd is worth much more to them.

They have proven to be very wrong about their audience lately. Hopefully they can be convinced to reevaluate. There's no reason to assume the "casual crowd" can't handle the existence of more complex non-magical options that they don't need to engage in. They handle the magical options just fine.

At the very least it would get me above Meh.

 

[mamba]

I love this idea. The problem is that WotC doesn't seem to have any interest in the audience that would want it, as they think the casual crowd is worth much more to them.

how is having the additional option for this driving away the casual crowd?

 

[Micah Sweet]

how is having the additional option for this driving away the casual crowd?

It doesn't, but WotC apparently sees no value in making options for players at all interested in a little more complexity. Ease of use is all that seems to matter to them, so from their perspective, design work in any other direction is a waste of effort.

 

[Gladius Legis]

The Warrior packet in April is going to determine once and for all whether OneD&D is worth investing any more time and energy in. I have a feeling it will indicate very strongly that it will not be worth it at all.

 

[see]

The Champion had hugely positive feedback in the Next playtest, and it's consistently been the single most popular subclass on D&D Beyond. The odds that it's going to go anywhere are minuscule.

What D&D could actually use is a simplified, Champion-like magic-user. A warlock more like the original 3.5 version would have done that well, but instead they gave that class name and shtick to a class with perhaps the most moving parts of any in 5th, and compatibility means they're stuck with it.