D&D 5E D&D and who it's aimed at

[Micah Sweet]

The specific claim is that there is evidence that wotc products are aimed at younger audiences:



Per your claim of "soft, sleek, and silly," I would question whether that's specifically for younger audiences or just a wider variety of audiences at all ages. And second, along those lines, the tone of their products seem to vary which doesn't suggest a trend, and they are revisiting heritage settings which is a gamble because new players may or may not actually care about those settings.

Are the following books "soft, sleek, and silly"?

• Call of the Netherdeep
• Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
• Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

note, I'm not asking whether you like critical role or not, or whether you agree with any lore changes in VRGtR. How would you characterize these books in terms of their tone?

I found the changes they made to Ravenloft rather silly.

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah. It's pretty strange to think that those would not be controversial subjects. They aren't alignment, but they're still way up there for controversy.

Well it's usually because the argument is focused on one thing (save or die/art and tone) when the culprit is something else (the saving throws system and spell/trap design/sharing a fandom).

I find a good half of D&D arguments are like the first 30 minutes of Law and Order when the twist isn't revealed so everyone is badgering the first suspect who didn't do it.

 

[cbwjm]

Hey, last D&D book I bought was about 3 years ago. I'll be buying Dragonlance though, that's for sure!

I'm definitely keen on dragonlance, and I love the fact that there is a mass combat game being released at the same time. I think I'll be going for both!

 

[Medic]

Tenacious D&D.

The imagery that this provokes... yes, I think I'll be co-opting it.

I found the changes they made to Ravenloft rather silly.

Would you care to elaborate on this a little? I did not plan on buying the book, and I'm currently not in the mood to hunt down a copy that happened to fall off of a truck at the moment.

 

[Stormonu]

I found the changes they made to Ravenloft rather silly.

While I don't like some of the changes they made (Victra Mordenheim comes to mind at the foremost), overall I do like it better than previous iterations. To me, the book feels focused more on actually running adventures in Ravenloft at the game table than on spinning a tale for the DM about the villians as he reclines and reads his copy of VRGtR in a study.

I am a bit disappointed with Strixhaven - I wanted more campaign setting and adventure ideas and less a fully fleshed out adventure.

At first, I wasn't enamoured with Witchlight. Got it for my wife, and glancing through it it was lot more interesting than I had initially thought it was going to be. And of course, it had some of my favorite old LJN action figures as enemies...

Overall, there is an undercurrent of feeling that this aimed at a slightly younger, or at least carefree crowd than back in say, the 90's. But the 90's was an era dominated with media that pointed towards a society that thought everything was going to come to a crashing end around 2000 - perhaps the biggest group of that time being the "emos". We're in an era now, that until lately, has a horizon uncluttered with doom and gloom, with no future looming predictions of our untimely demise (again, ignoring a couple of recent events).

 

[Greg Benage]

We're in an era now, that until lately, has a horizon uncluttered with doom and gloom, with no future looming predictions of our untimely demise (again, ignoring a couple of recent events).

Wow. Just out of curiosity, where do you live?

 

[Scribe]

We're in an era now, that until lately, has a horizon uncluttered with doom and gloom, with no future looming predictions of our untimely demise (again, ignoring a couple of recent events).

If this is the case, then corporate America has done a fantastic job of advertising. I simply take it for granted, we are doomed, and I try to not picture the world my son's kids will grow up in.

 

[Maxperson]

I find a good half of D&D arguments are like the first 30 minutes of Law and Order when the twist isn't revealed so everyone is badgering the first suspect who didn't do it.

Is it really the twist being revealed, or people pivoting to provide a new argument they think will do the trick?

 

[Retreater]

If this is the case, then corporate America has done a fantastic job of advertising. I simply take it for granted, we are doomed, and I try to not picture the world my son's kids will grow up in.

Growing up in a death cult, I've survived numerous would-be apocalypses. The world will last long beyond me. And if I'm wrong, please let me know when it happens.

 

[Scribe]

Growing up in a death cult, I've survived numerous would-be apocalypses. The world will last long beyond me. And if I'm wrong, please let me know when it happens.

Oh the world will be here.