D&D 5E 3rd party publishers and 5E

[pkt77242]

One of the most common complaints that I see about 5E is the lack of options. So I wanted to start a thread that had two main purposes, one if you feel that 5E doesn't have enough options for you, do you buy and allow 3 party materials? If not, why not? And for anyone (both those who feel that there are enough options and those that feel that aren't enough) that does buy 3rd party publishers, which ones do you own, which do you use the most and which do you feel are the best?

 

[Erechel]

There is no such thing as lack of options in 5th Ed. There is over 60 subclasses available! I use to look the old classes, and the sane thing 5th Ed did was to condense the hell out of them. And balanced a lot of them so they don't become trap options, increasing a lot of the viability of certain concepts (fighter and monk, I'm looking at you!).

Saying that there is no options is just plain ignorance. I, with only the PHB, could build a character at level one impossible to work in 3.5: a master crossbowman. And it was just a fighter!

Enviado desde mi XT1063 mediante Tapatalk

 

[Zardnaar]

We allow it I use a lot of 3pp adventures. For PC splat I print off interesting stuff from ENworld EN5ider and I have a few PDFs from the DMguild.

We generally allow 3pp PC options drawing the lines it its really OP or rubbish.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

If I wanted something that wasn't in the PHB, I would just write it myself. I trust my own ability to balance content more than I trust some random third-party publisher.

 

[Tallifer]

I allow stuff from the DMs Guild. There are indeed a multitude of options in the official books, but almost everyone has at least one pet race, class or concept which doesn't quite match the published rules or even the Unearthed Arcana.

Behold:

 

[silentbob1]

Their are some great 3rd party adventures from the dms guild, kobold press and frog good games.

 

[Greg K]

(Edit: I originally wrote this reply while suffering from an eye migraine and was, barely, able to see the screen. Hopefully, it is cleaned up.)

I have not as as of yet run 5e. However, when and if I do, I plan to include a lot of third party material just as I did with 3e. I currently have several sub-classes, a few classes, and several rules variants that I plan to use as well while other concepts can be handled via I am a banana's 2e kit conversons. This assumes that I just don't port certain ideas from 5e back to my house ruled 3e.
The goal of my using third party sub-classes and classes is to provide additional options that fit my style and campaign since I was disappointed with several sub-classes and one entire class in the PHB and nearly every subclass in both the SCAG and XGtE. From the PHB, I will not be used using the Totem Barbarian, Circle of the Beast Druid, the Monk class, and the Sorcerer archetypes (I will, however, be keeping the Sorcerer and using at least one third party subclass). I am also debating about allowing the Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster archetypes (the former is, probably, being replaced by a third party class and, if I can find a base class for the latter, it will also be replaced) . Similarly, all but one or two sub-classes from both the SCAG and XGtE combined will be allowed (if I decide to allow them rather than something similar from a third party). The remaining sub-classes from those supplements either a) don't impress me conceptually; b) don't impress mechanically; or c) I have found a third party class or sub-class that, in my opinion, handles a given concept in a manner that I prefer to the official version.

As for some of the specific third party options that I like, several can be found is a previous thread that I had started. My original list excluding DMs Guild and RPGNow/DrivethruRPG stuff here
and a follow-up post here. The list is not complete.

For websites and blogs where I find or have found interesting things, you can check out this post from a thread I started on websites and blogs (note: a few sites have not been updated in some time). Here is a followup post in the same thread. Again, the list is not complete. For instance, I think that I recall Sterling Vermin not being on the list.

I'll post specific items companies and/or authors from RPGNow and DriveTrhru RPGl later.

 

[Ath-kethin]

It's funny; I think there are too many options, many of which aren't really options (hello, wizard slight-variations-on-a-dull-theme!), and I dislike many of them. Concepts that COULD be interesting are handicapped (hello, warlock!).

So most of what I use in my campaigns is 3rd party. Even most of that is pretty boilerplate and hews too closely to the dull PHB options (hello, everything by Kobold press!), but occasionally you see a novel development.

I also think it's funny when people deride 3rd party publishers as being somehow inferior to the WotC material. Many of the 3pp companies are made up of people with longer and more illustrious credential lists than the main WotC staff, many have in fact written "official" 5e products as well, and in the end, everybody who works for anybody interested he industry started somewhere.

So at the end of the day, if an option works for my campaign, I use/allow it. If it doesn't work, I don't. The logo on the front of the option's source matters little to me.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

For adventure options, I’m often grabbing (and modifying) freebies from DriveThruRPG.

For monster options, I’ll do the same. I also own Tomb of Beasts and am looking forward to receiving the Creature Codex when it ships. I love the MM, but I like to throw some nasties at the players that they have never seen before.

For character options - race and class - I’m sticking to the WoTC materials for what is allowed at the table. Makes my life as a DM more manageable and there really is no shortage of combinations. For character backgrounds, I’ll allow something creative as long as it follows the power structure of the WoTC examples.

 

[Shiroiken]

I've found with the timing of the release of SCAG and XGtE, the players have had a manageable number of new options made available. There are only a handful of things left on the players side that I would still like to see, and I will use homebrew rather than 3PP to fill that need.

There are never enough monsters. Ever. Fifth Edition Foes, Tome of Beasts, and several items from the DMGuild help fill in the gaps.