D&D General "As a whole, 3rd Party Products Make D&D Better." (a poll)

[Reynard]

There is stuff I would LIKE WotC to make, but since they won't I am glad there are other companies out there making those products.

 

[payn]

… Army with harmony
Snarf drop some learnin' on 'em

… 3PP, how can I explain it
I'll take you game by game it
To have y'all playin' I am splainin' it
3 is for Third, P is for Party- not the kind at the inn
The last P... well... that's a Product you take for a spin
It's not official from the source but you might be smitten
It's five little letters that are missin' here
H-A-S-B-R-O won't ever appear
Unofficial product 'n it seems I gotta start to explainin'
Buy it

There you go gettin all bard on us all of a sudden; again.

 

[carmachu]

Without third party I would move on from 5e and D&D. Many of WotCs releases in my opinion and tastes have been substandard. Third party has ideas and adventures that I like way better and spend my money accordingly

 

[TwoSix]

I would definitely have moved on from 5e at this point if it wasn’t for 3rd party products keeping me within the 5e ecosystem.

 

[Weiley31]

Thanks to 3PP, the weapon list for my 5E games now encompasses the default 5E listing+Iron Kingdom: Requiem(and future book releases from Privateer Press)+Ruins of Symbaroum: Player's Guide+Adventures in Middle-Earth 5E: Players Guide+Whatever comes from Kobold Press.

Depending on how it looks or what not, Adventures in Rokugan's weapon list may be added to it.

 

[Lanefan]

3rd parties are SO hit or miss.

I agree they're hit or miss - that's been true since the 1e era and Judges Guild - but the hits undeniably make the game better and the misses are easy enough to ignore.

Hence, the poll statement is true.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Without third party I would move on from 5e and D&D. Many of WotCs releases in my opinion and tastes have been substandard. Third party has ideas and adventures that I like way better and spend my money accordingly

And I have not bought a single thing that is made solely to supplement 5E. What I have bought are systems/settings that use the 5E OGL/SRD which do not require you to own/use the 5E core books. Things like Adventures in Middle-Earth and Esper Genesis.

 

[Ancalagon]

Dungeons of Drakkenheim is significantly better than any 5e adventures I've purchased or played.

If we step away from 5e, I've also had a lot of fun with UVG, Troika! and Yoon-Suin

 

[MNblockhead]

I voted false... in 2e and when 3e was new even a bit into 3.5 I would have said true, but I have been burned too many times.

WotC itself shows that repeatedly they themselves have trouble following there own rules and making fun balanced content (in this case I don't even just mean balanced like a new class... but an adventure that is fun in all three listed types of play too) and as such I have had to think through each new book (it is easier with slower 5e releases) about if I will let them into my games or not... but mostly I do allow WotC stuff.

3rd parties are SO hit or miss. I often use them for inspiration, there are some companies (or people) I have learned to trust, and some that I steer clear of (no second chances) due to wildly good or bad results... but I just don't have the time to check out every 3rd party so lately I just say no... even to the ones I liked. I have 1 or 2 books from 3rd parties I will make exceptions for but all of them are 4+ years old now.

and my group generally feels the same way. Even things I would lable good and let into my campagin some of my buddies would not let me play in theres... so there is a time and money investment that could just end up failing that isn't worth it to me anymore.

If I was 20 again and had no major responsibilities and my bills were lower maybe I would feel different.

Emphasis mine.

So...true then.

 

[MNblockhead]

Even if I never used a single third-party product in my game. Even if I only read WotC printed books and never participated in any discussion boards or consumed any non-WotC internet content and had never been directly influenced by third-party content. Third-party products make the game better. They have influence on the folks creating D&D. They expand the D&D community and keep things fresh for people who may still continue to buy WotC content even while also consuming third-party content. That helps WotC stay profitable and creating more D&D content.

But I do use third-party content. A lot of it. Even the third-party stuff that I think is "crap" still makes D&D better because a lively and competitive marketplace is necessary for the good stuff to rise to the top. Creators have to take chances, fail sometimes, and--hopefully--improve. Even if they don't, others can learn from their failures.

I don't know how anyone can answer this question as "no", unless they are reading it as "the personal use of third-party products in my game have made D&D more enjoyable for me." I find that hard to relate to, but at least I could see it being true for some people.