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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DaveMage" data-source="post: 4608106" data-attributes="member: 10447">The reason I ask is that if 5E is to be the "holy grail of D&D", I think we need to look back on both why people love and dislike 3E and 4E.To your point about splats, I think this is a seldom-talked about, but very important point.  If one looks back at 1E, there are really only 5 core books for players with rules - the Player's Handbook, Unearthed Arcana, Oriental Adventures, Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, and Wilderness Survival Guide.  That's it.  We had 12+ years of an edition with only FIVE player-focused rulebooks.  Compare that with 3.5, which had (not including compendia) 24 IN A FOUR YEAR PERIOD!  That's way, way too many core rules options for a DM to master.  Therefore, the game is bound to break as written  (especially in a homebrew) as there is no way for a DM or adventure writer to account for everything.  2E started to break when kits took off, and 4E shows no signs of curtailing the problem as there will be 5 Core Player Rule Books within 1 year (Player's Handbook, Adventurer's Vault, Martial Power, Arcane Power, and Player's Handbook 2).I'm all for options, not restrictions, but the drive to sell player-oriented books (in both 3E and 4E) is, IMO, killing this game.  It's too much.  I wish D&D were an evergreen, one-shot type base product, that says "here are the rules for players in this one book (or maybe a small few spread out over time - such as 1/year - but not 24!)" and the rest is using those rules (adventures, campaign setting, player and DM aides).The other problem I have with 3E and 4E is the time it takes to play the game.  I have mentioned this elsewhere, but I think 5E needs to be released as a game that is played without the grid & minis.  That type of play can be added back in a tactical sourcebook, but otherwise I think it has the effect of making the basic game too centered on combat simulation and not on adventure (which I define as seeing unique places and meeting various challenges).  By "too centered" I mean that a single combat takes up too long out of a session.  Of course, the economic realities at WotC may prevent such a strategy, but I think that for the health of the game, it needs a format change.</blockquote>

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