D&D 5E Blow Torch Vs Scalpel: Neogrognardism 101.

[Garthanos]

RPGs are free these days the WWW pretty much guarantees that will remain forever - I mean if you are trying to sell them you have to do something dramatic. So scalpel work really might not be good enough.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

D&D's editions differ from each other *way* more than is the case with most games. Compared to the scalpel that is par for the role-playing course, even the changes from 1e to 2e, or 3.0 to 3.5 are blowtorches.

I'd like a core established by 5e that will remain D&D forever. If they want to make new games call them new games. Even if they are labeled as variants. "Dungeons & Dragons TACTICS"; "Dungeons & Dragons Worlds"; "Dungeons & Dragons Heroes." Just don't give them sequential edition numbers that imply they are the same game.

D&D's different editions are only nominally the same game because it insists on demanding we recognize that by labeling them with sequential numerals. No other role-playing game has ever tried such a crazy labeling system. Most companies are honest about it and simply make a new game when they want a new game. (I'm not actually accusing WotC of dishonesty in an ethical sense, merely regarding using the same terms that others use, but using them in a different way without telling us.)

Hmm. That was unexpectedly ranty. Mainly, my goal is simply to inform the large number of D&D gamers who have had little or no exposure to other role-playing games, and hence really don't understand how different its publishing and design are from the norm.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Duplicate

 

[Blackbrrd]

As I see it, 4e was an anomaly when it comes to D&D. D&DN reminds me a lot of the earlier editions. It feels like something between AD&D and 3e. If you disregard 4e, D&DN to me doesn't use a blow torch at all. The backgrounds reminds me of the kits from AD&D while the specialization you can do in D&DN reminds me of the PrC's of 3e.

Sure they have changed the spell casting a lot, but if you look at the amount of spells per day in 5e compared to 3e, it's a lot lower. It's actually even lower than AD&D. They do get some unvanician spells though, but that's something that the casters will fall back on. The power lies in the vanician spells. I think D&DN will have a very interesting dynamic between fighter and wizard. Something that feels a lot more like AD&D than 3e.

Btw, I am a 4e player and DM, but I am not sad to see it go they way of the dodo when it comes to splat books. If they would do some adventure support, I would be really happy though.

What I want out of D&DN:
1. Lots of adventures
2. Low amount of splat books
3. Interesting rules expansions tied to running a campaign
4. Setting books
5. Good digital support (adventures optimized for running from, or reading, on a tablet)

I am pretty sure I will be satisfied with the mechanical aspect of D&DN, but I think making the rule books a good read is more important than making clear rules. It should be inspiring to read the books. If a rule can be interpreted differently, it's ok. As a DM you should be making decisions like that anyway. Plenty of fun examples is also good.