D&D General 6E But A + Thread

[Parmandur]

Reading this makes me feel far too old, given my current campaign started about 4 months before 4e was released.

Thing is, in order to see what might be changed in current 5e to make it more palatable we first need to look at the prior editions - all of 'em - to see what made them unpalatable and thus avoid blundering back into those same errors. At the same time, looking at all the prior editions might yield some good ideas, since lost, that are worth reviving.

I mean, WotC did just that in the D&D Next process, went over every prior edition woth a fine tooth comb.

 

[Minigiant]

Only the basic engine not the class, power, roles design.

Could also be tweaked 5E.

4E big problem was playstyle. They used its engine in SWSE.

My final 3.5 had a ban list and some 2E rules.

The Playtest wasn't the the issue of 5.5e, Daggerheart, and Draw Steel copied major parts of it.

It was mostly presentation and the sacred cows thrown out for balance.

After 5e, many people realized why 4e did what it did. Hence why post 2014 dungeon games have a 1e/2e paint to go simpler or use a 4e paint and clamp down on things that hurt or hinder gameplay.

A 6e should do both.

 

[GobHag]

To the bolded: that's a connection I have a hard time seeing no matter how hard I squint.

DCCRPG is, if anything, somewhere between a 1e-adjacent and a 1e-parody.

I vaguely remember that it was based on 3.5, which made me think it was to 3.5 what Shadowdark was to 5e

 

[mixmastashizz]

To the bolded: that's a connection I have a hard time seeing no matter how hard I squint.

DCCRPG is, if anything, somewhere between a 1e-adjacent and a 1e-parody.

People call DCC close to 3e because it uses fort ref and will saves and gives you a base attack bonus with ascending ac.

But really it's a bx-like with race as class, funky dice, and a magic system with so many tables that makes coming up with your own stuff an entire project of its own.

 

[payn]

I vaguely remember that it was based on 3.5, which made me think it was to 3.5 what Shadowdark was to 5e

DCC is not really anything like 3E. Goodman launched a series of modules during the 3E era, which might be why folks occasionally think this.

 

[Parmandur]

DCC is not really anything like 3E. Goodman launched a series of modules during the 3E era, which might be why folks occasionally think this.

There is a lot of d20 DNA in there.

 

[payn]

There is a lot of d20 DNA in there.

Not really, no. Other than using odd numbered dice sets, its very pre-D20.

 

[Remathilis]

It was mostly presentation and the sacred cows thrown out for balance.

It's basically this. You can make a thousand D&D clones with different names and have each one play differently from D&D and people will love them all, but make one of those clones the "official" D&D game and people will cry bloody murder about the changes to the mechanics, tone, feel, and especially the lore.

Which is the crux of the matter. 6e could be the best RPG ever designed, but by having the name D&D it's going to bring the baggage of 50 years and five wildly different editions with it.

 

[AnotherGuy]

You can make a thousand D&D clones with different names and have each one play differently from D&D and people will love them all, but make one of those clones the "official" D&D game and people will cry bloody murder about the changes to the mechanics, tone, feel, and especially the lore.

Which is the crux of the matter. 6e could be the best RPG ever designed, but by having the name D&D it's going to bring the baggage of 50 years and five wildly different editions with it.

As this point there are too many versions of D&D to make the fanbase settle for one official version.

 

[payn]

I think the era of monthly adventure material is over, sadly. Though, id love to see a monthly adventure module from WotC for a 6E in which it was a complete adventure with lite links to the next so they can be chained into a campaign like APs. Even if it was digital only (not going to happen with WotC.) id be a-ok with that.