D&D 5E Are we at, or close, to peak D&D? Again?

[Parmandur]

I'm not too worried about this. If anything, I'm worried they'll go too far in the other direction. The overall trend in "classical fantasy" these days is toward the grimdark: not just GoT, but also stuff like The Witcher. And they're also going to want to distance themselves from the legendary campiness of the last D&D movie. I just hope that in the process, they manage not to obscure the fact that D&D is fun.

Well, I have good news about where Ray Winninger's head is at:

WinningerR (@WinningerR) Tweeted:
• The magnitude of DC’s strategic ineptitude is on full display. Who thought it was a good idea to build a film franchise around characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman that isn’t family-friendly?

 

[Parmandur]

My biggest concern is that they try too hard to emulate the Marvel films.

It's not actually possible to try too hard to emulate the Marvel films, merely succeeding to do so or failing to do so. Not trying hard enough to emulate them is the greater failure, particularly for D&D which has always had the same tonal pitch as Marvel material, from OD&D onwards (heck, the OD&D artist just plagiarized their favorite Marvel artists oftentimes).

 

[payn]

50 bucks for a level 1-20 hardcover? Thats a good deal!

 

[Ancalagon]

It's not actually possible to try too hard to emulate the Marvel films, merely succeeding to do so or failing to do so. Not trying hard enough to emulate them is the greater failure, particularly for D&D which has always had the same tonal pitch as Marvel material, from OD&D onwards (heck, the OD&D artist just plagiarized their favorite Marvel artists oftentimes).

5e is bad for that particularly... I wrote a blog post how the players engage less with the world and more with their "powers" to solve problems. You can only get advantage once so....

 

[collin]

It's not actually possible to try too hard to emulate the Marvel films, merely succeeding to do so or failing to do so. Not trying hard enough to emulate them is the greater failure, particularly for D&D which has always had the same tonal pitch as Marvel material, from OD&D onwards (heck, the OD&D artist just plagiarized their favorite Marvel artists oftentimes).

Particularly Jeff Dee. Not that there is anything wrong with that. He put it to even better use when he drew for the Villains and Vigilantes RPG.

 

[S'mon]

5e is bad for that particularly... I wrote a blog post how the players engage less with the world and more with their "powers" to solve problems.

I find it doesn't take many tweaks to the rules modules & default world assumptions to get players engaging with the setting rather than their character sheet. Eg no feats or multiclassing, and lots of 'unbalanced' encounters - that can be dealt with successfully by engaging with the world, eg by finding allies.

 

[prabe]

I would agree, but published adventures can be very helpful for getting the feel of how a rule system works in play before you actually dive into your own adventure design.

I am not opposed to published adventures; and I do still buy some. Just not from Wizards. I'd prefer spending a few dollars for a pdf with a short adventure I can adapt and slot in, than a big $50, Level 1-20 hardcover.

I hope I've been clear that I'm not opposed to published adventures, of any length; it's just that they don't work for me, on either side of the screen.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

D&D has survived the rise of the videogame industry. The TTRPGs have discovered the potential market among the fandom who love to create their own stories and worlds. And now even if videogames are making a lot of money D&D can survive as multimedia franchise selling different products.

My opinion is there is also a potential market in the webcomics. WotC has to sells the right pieces and others will be happy to build, to create, their own sagas.

The risk is if a new edition is not welcome. WotC doesn't want one yet, but other titles using d20 system, or variants. Some players can start to would rather other titles, but here the answer could be to publish new settings with a different style.

Renegade Games Studios could be licenced to publish a new edition of Gamma World. Then others could use this d20 system variant to create their own version of superheroes or urban fantasy (vampires vs werebeasts).

Other mistake to be avoided is not be enough ideologically neutral. Buyers don't want to spend their money to suffer propaganda from the other side. Marvel and DC are losing too many readers because this reason.

WotC could publish new settings based in not Western civilitations, but here we have to be very polite to avoid possible misunderstandings.

 

[MGibster]

Other mistake to be avoided is not be enough ideologically neutral. Buyers don't want to spend their money to suffer propaganda from the other side. Marvel and DC are losing too many readers because this reason.

I am incredulous that anyone can believe a work of fiction with meaning can be ideologically neutral. D&D is a game that embraces values like individuality, freedom of religion, and cooperating with others for the mutual benefit of all. An ideologically neutral D&D is a game nobody would be interested in.

WotC could publish new settings based in not Western civilitations, but here we have to be very polite to avoid possible misunderstandings.

They could but I don't know how much mass appeal a non-western setting would have. One of the strengths of D&D is that I can dive in and pretty much know how the world works. You throw a group of players in the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty of India, the Xia dynasty of China, or the city-state of Lagash in Sumeria and getting them to connect to the setting is going to be some work.

 

[darjr]

So, it’s not just D&D. See the front page about 7, million dollar, rpg Kickstarters, three in the last month. Only one of those was D&D.