1000 page PHB

[WheresMyD20]

The old 1981 B/X sets were 128 pages total and contained the entire game. The Rules Cyclopedia was 304 pages and contained the entire 1983 BECM game, including quite a few optional rules, kingdom management and warfare, and the Mystara game setting. There's no need for a core D&D ruleset to be any larger than that.

 

[kitsune9]

If there was a game that produced a 1,000 page rulebook, I'd buy it just to have that book!

However, for D&D 5e, if they are "going back to basics", then I think the a core rulebook for both the players and DM should be around 128 pages at the most.

 

[grimslade]

One Bible or OED Sized Book?

I like leaving the 3 book paradigm behind. I do not like an initial box set. Box sets take up more retail space than most retailers want to give. We all have great nostalgia for the box set but they are a pain. None of my box sets have survived with a box intact. I love what is inside but there has to be a better way to ship and sell 'em. A single hard back with shrink wrapped adventure or download redemption code would do, maybe a cardboard sleeve of dice.
One book should be no longer than the AD&D DMG in length for the basic rules of D&D VE Next.
Plenty of space for art, advice, and the rules for running and playing in a fantasy rpg.
Modular Option Books should be no bigger than splats 64-96 pages. Digital copies or e-books should carry a discount to offset the difference in cost of printing (not as big a savings as we think but some).
DDI should focus on the individual bits and parts of mod-op books. It can also fill in the cracks between.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You know, the HERO 5th Edition Revised book probably represents the upper limit of what people wnt in a single book...and it was right about 600 pages.

For a complete RPG.

 

[Glade Riven]

Oi...think I encouraged something with my sig..

I don't want another super-massive tome. Pathfinder's core rulebook is big enough. What I do like is the "digest sized" books found in Essentials and recent box sets. In fact, I'd rather have smaller digest sized books that are more focused as opposed to having a little bit of everything like every 3e book had. Maybe a few hardcover collections can be released at a higher pricepoint for collectors, but smaller books are more portable and easier to use at the table.

 

[Aeolius]

It looks like we needs both. In addition to a somewhat sizable PH, DMG, and MM, I suggest that the basics of the game should be extracted into two booklets: "Dungeons & Dragons: Quick-Start Rules"

The DM's booklet would detail the basics of the game, have a few monsters, and present a sample dungeon crawl. The Player's booklet would have a few basic classes and several pre-generated characters presented as examples. By keeping the DM and Player's booklets separate, gameplay would be easier for new players, who could keep the booklet handy while they played.

The booklets would be sold together and would compliment an accessory pack containing dice and a few minis.

This would allow for new players to investigate the game with a minimal investment in time and money.

Besides, I'd like to see one of these again..

 

[Reynard]

It looks like we needs both. In addition to a somewhat sizable PH, DMG, and MM, I suggest that the basics of the game should be extracted into two booklets: "Dungeons & Dragons: Quick-Start Rules"

The DM's booklet would detail the basics of the game, have a few monsters, and present a sample dungeon crawl. The Player's booklet would have a few basic classes and several pre-generated characters presented as examples. By keeping the DM and Player's booklets separate, gameplay would be easier for new players, who could keep the booklet handy while they played.

The booklets would be sold together and would compliment an accessory pack containing dice and a few minis.

This would allow for new players to investigate the game with a minimal investment in time and money.

I do not like quick start guides at all; less so if you actually have to pay for them. You cannot experience an RPG in a 30 minute mini adventure. At best you could get a very limited taste of a few subsystems like combat and traps.

Much better, I think, to go the Basic Set/Beginner Box route that gives them a real game and makes them fall in love with the hobby. Then, if they have $50 in birthday money in their pocket, they are much more likely to buy your core books than another XBox game.

 

[CleverNickName]

The game needs to be playable in 20 minutes or less. A PH the size of a phonebook (sorry, kids, look it up on wiki) would make this prospect difficult.

As for the format, hardback for the luddites and iBooks (ePub) for the rest.

Well it doesn't *need* to be playable in 20 minutes or less. 3rd Edition was probably the most complicated rules system we've seen in the franchise, and it was largely successful. Same thing for Pathfinder...it took the d20 System and added even more rules, and it is one of the best selling RPGs around.

But a thousand pages? Yikes.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What is in the pages matters: pages and pages of just rules would be impenetrable.

But if the rules are elegant/intuitive or otherwise easy to digest, and the bulk of the brick is evocative art, kewl spells, nifty classes, and clear & educational exemplars of play for the system's stickier parts, 1000 pages might seem like a digest.

 

[Aeolius]

Well it doesn't *need* to be playable in 20 minutes or less. 3rd Edition was probably the most complicated rules system we've seen in the franchise, and it was largely successful.

Compromise. How about a series of video tutorials showing how to roll up a character, run a combat encounter, and so on?