D&D 5E Anyone else feeling "meh" about recent 5e releases?

[Shardstone]

Why do people have to ask for something to receive it? I didn't ask for Mordekainen's. I didn't ask for Volo's. I didn't ask for Ghosts of Saltmarsh, or Tomb of Annihilation, or Descent into Avernus. Yet, all of these products I find interest in.

Maybe the reason so many of you are having issues with these releases is because you have a particular image in your mind of what D&D is and what it should be as a product line. You should let go of that image. WotC is very meticulous in their marketing data, has figured out a lot about their audience, and is releasing products that sell better then literally any other RPG book, sometimes by an order of magnitude.

 

[darjr]

I really like what WotC is doing.

But do not stop voicing what you want. If anything this current strategy is because they are paying attention.

 

[Zardnaar]

I had a quick flick through of the acquisition Inc book last night. First time I have seen it.

Really not my type of product lol. I don't mind so much as I know where to find alternatives.

 

[Retreater]

I really like what WotC is doing.

But do not stop voicing what you want. If anything this current strategy is because they are paying attention.

Thanks. I'm bellyaching, sure, but I'm also trying to start a debate about what our community wants from 5e (as small a segment of the D&D population as it is); also trying to get good suggestions for products I might've missed (especially 3pp and DMs Guild suggestions); discover if there are gaps that maybe I can put my design knowledge towards fixing.
I'm definitely NOT trying to tell anyone that their preferences are bad. Just that a lot of this isn't appealing to ME (and a few other grognards I know).

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

I doubt they will: Guildmasters Guide seems a one and done deal, aside from opening Planeshift as a DMsGuild option for the community.

Which is good. Instead of devoting resources to overdoing it, they instead let the fans and independent producers overdo for them.

 

[robus]

Which is good. Instead of devoting resources to overdoing it, they instead let the fans and independent producers overdo for them.

I honestly think the art books + plane shift docs are enough (as long as there’s a map, the Ixalan one is terrible though... ) I don’t want a ton of lore, I want my appetite for exploration and adventure whetted. I don’t want the bible, I want National Geographic.

Edit: With M:tG settings as soon as they start talking about the Eldrazi and planeswalkers my eyes glaze over and I start yawning.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Um, have you ever read any module/AP?
Because any that I can think of, whatever the edition/Co., all have some degree of story built in. Complete the adventure, learn the story. Granted, a few like Keep on the Borderlands, In Search of Adventure, & Isle of Doom are pretty sparse. Everything else though....

Yes. Not any 5e ones all the way through (skimmed over Storm Kings Thunder as a player bought it thinking it might be fun to play through). I have played through almost all of The Shackled City, and about 70% of Savage Tide (Piazo, for 3.x though). I also DM'ed and also played, through about half of Council of Theives (significant changes between Playing and DM'ing, with that one, obviously). I DM'ed the first three books of Second Darkness (read the whole thing), I also DM'ed some of Kingmaker, but used BECMI/Dark Dungeons in stead of Pathfinder. Also on the list are Rise of the Runelords (read, converted for use with Powers & Perils and put into my own home grown world), Shattered Star (read first two books iirc), Wrath of the Righteous (first book only), and I have also read through all of Age of Worms and Savage Tide...but did a total conversion of AoW to the Star Frontiers sci-fi RPG, and have DM'ed and converted the first two 'books' of Savage Tide; once with my own home brewed RPG (based on Darkurthe Legends), and once with Call of Cthulhu (THAT one worked out amazingly well!). In the last one, Savage Tide but for Cthulhu (oh, iirc the 5th edition version). So...uh...yes. I have "read" and "played" through AP's before.

But yes. ToA can absolutely be run like that.
In fact? Were I to run this again? I wouldn't tell the party anything about the death curse or a lich etc at first. I'd let them stumble upon it through play once in Chult. Why? Because them knowing something big & foul was going on put them on a clock & served to discourage any exploration/side-treks that didn't seem to be leading to Omu.

As I said, I'm just now reading and going through it on FGII. It seems to me like it's definitely trying to get me to run it "as expected"...which is fine. I mean, how else would they be able to get across the bedrock of the who's and why's of the actual adventure? One thing I like about the FGII version is that I can modify/change it myself. I'm not sure how/if this will mess up various links and whatnot, but if I'm careful I think I could probably just switch out "Tethyrian human mage" with "Suloise human MU", or switch out other names with that of Greyhawk (likely where I'd be running it).

Anyway, I have only JUST started really going through it...so, as The Great Hall said "Time, will tell..."

 

[Parmandur]

Hiya!


Yes. Not any 5e ones all the way through (skimmed over Storm Kings Thunder as a player bought it thinking it might be fun to play through). I have played through almost all of The Shackled City, and about 70% of Savage Tide (Piazo, for 3.x though). I also DM'ed and also played, through about half of Council of Theives (significant changes between Playing and DM'ing, with that one, obviously). I DM'ed the first three books of Second Darkness (read the whole thing), I also DM'ed some of Kingmaker, but used BECMI/Dark Dungeons in stead of Pathfinder. Also on the list are Rise of the Runelords (read, converted for use with Powers & Perils and put into my own home grown world), Shattered Star (read first two books iirc), Wrath of the Righteous (first book only), and I have also read through all of Age of Worms and Savage Tide...but did a total conversion of AoW to the Star Frontiers sci-fi RPG, and have DM'ed and converted the first two 'books' of Savage Tide; once with my own home brewed RPG (based on Darkurthe Legends), and once with Call of Cthulhu (THAT one worked out amazingly well!). In the last one, Savage Tide but for Cthulhu (oh, iirc the 5th edition version). So...uh...yes. I have "read" and "played" through AP's before.



As I said, I'm just now reading and going through it on FGII. It seems to me like it's definitely trying to get me to run it "as expected"...which is fine. I mean, how else would they be able to get across the bedrock of the who's and why's of the actual adventure? One thing I like about the FGII version is that I can modify/change it myself. I'm not sure how/if this will mess up various links and whatnot, but if I'm careful I think I could probably just switch out "Tethyrian human mage" with "Suloise human MU", or switch out other names with that of Greyhawk (likely where I'd be running it).

Anyway, I have only JUST started really going through it...so, as The Great Hall said "Time, will tell..."

Honestly, the WotC books aren't APs like Paizo's are. More like collations of material with a paper thin veneer of a "plot" to take or leave.

 

[Mistwell]

I'm not exaggerating the exchange. However, I've never read the book because several players in our group have read/played it, so I don't know how pivotal the scenes are or what. Just saying that two different groups in different states had the same sequences of events at 5th level. And that my fiancee, without knowing the background of what that group had done in their last session, was able to piece together what had happened based on what her group had played nearly two years ago.
If you want to know the specifics of the exchange and don't care if I post spoilers in this thread, let me know. Again, I don't know how important these events are to the main story because I haven't read the adventure.

Maybe give a brief summary of the topic you're referring to? There is a set piece around level 5 I seem to recall so it may well be that one.

 

[Zardnaar]

Think I have played 3 or 4 WotC adventures. I kind of collect them and go elsewhere for better ones.

Look for ones that are 5/5 star reviews or close to it 4.5/5.

Stuff rated 3.5/5 or 4/5 is often good enough but it won't be great.

Add half a star if it's a niche type adventure that scratches your itch.

Most Paizo/WotC stuff falls around the 3.5- 4.3 range.

None of them are likely to run well at higher levels or larger parties.

Been getting ting them since the Shackled City. Don't expect to finish them either maybe if they wrap up around level 10.

They were a new concept once upon a time now there have been around 30 odd?

There's only a few actual great ones maybe even 1. A few are great for the first half.

Theres quite a few good ones though.