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

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I know I wouldn't be very excited about them. Worldbuilding matters to me, and those products don't care about it.

Are you sure? Can you guarantee that if these adventures and settings that are being published in modern 5e were actually published in the TSR-era of D&D, the version of you that played the game 30-40 years ago wouldn't have liked them? Are you certain that if one of the classic TSR adventures or settings that you liked 30-40 years ago were actually just published now for the first time, you right now would be as big of a fan of them as you have been for decades?

And . . . plenty of modern D&D products care about "worldbuilding". Explorer's Guide to Wildemount and Eberron: Rising from the Last War do amazing worldbuilding and get across the ideas, creatures, and locations expertly. Sure, Strixhaven didn't really care much about worldbuilding (which is a shame, because the small bits that we got with the Archaics and Oriq were really interesting), but that's primarily because the book is more of an adventure than a setting guide. I think that was a bad design decision, though. Ravenloft had worldbuilding. It added new bits of awesome lore that previous versions of Ravenloft never had (the Priest of Osybus's lore is awesome), including many of the domains of dread. I mean . . . the fact that they changed things is proof that they "worldbuilt," because the act of changing something in the setting requires that you replace it with some other bit of lore. Netherdeep worldbuilt, expanding upon the lore previously established for Exandria in its different setting books and the show. Fizban's worldbuilt, adding the story of the First World and giving an explanation for why Dragons are important in this game. Descent into Avernus worldbuilt, exploring the first layer of the Nine Hells more in-depth than ever seen before in the history of the game. They worldbuilt for Witchlight, adding more to the Feywild than we had before (Domains of Delight to reflect the Shadowfell's Domains of Dread). They're also making two completely new settings that have never appeared in D&D or M:tG before . . . so they clearly care enough about worldbuilding to have at least started the process of making two completely new worlds (the first ever in 5e).

So, worldbuilding absolutely happens in modern D&D. The fact that it happens (and happens really well in most products) proves that they care about it. Whether or not you like the worlds/settings they build doesn't change the fact that they clearly do care about it.

 

[SakanaSensei]

The more I think about it, the more I realize my issue is mostly the character art.

I'm on board with monsters like this:
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Neat environments like this:
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But then the adventure party looks like:
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And I'm immediately turned off. There is just nothing in there that screams deadly dungeon delver. They look like they'd last about a minute in the Tomb of Horrors...

Sword guy looks like any other sword guy. He’s young, but lots of PCs are. The woman is bookish, just in a different way than other wizards. Round glasses instead of, idk, square ones? The owl is definitely cute. Good for him, little scamp.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The more I think about it, the more I realize my issue is mostly the character art.

I'm on board with monsters like this:
View attachment 156250

Neat environments like this:
View attachment 156251

But then the adventure party looks like:
View attachment 156253

And I'm immediately turned off. There is just nothing in there that screams deadly dungeon delver. They look like they'd last about a minute in the Tomb of Horrors...

I mean for one... good. I don't want a deadly dungeon delver anyway.

For another, a swordman, a wizard and a man-sized version o silent predator that can see a mouse on a football field by candlelight and disemebowel it before it realizes it made a mistake but with thumbs and probably a profit motive. it's the Tomb's crusty butt that's actually in danger.

 

[Jahydin]

I mean for one... good. I don't want a deadly dungeon delver anyway.

Oh, how come? Get bored of that type or just never was interested? What kind of characters do you like playing?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I mean for one... good. I don't want a deadly dungeon delver anyway.

For another, a swordman, a wizard and a man-sized version o silent predator that can see a mouse on a football field by candlelight and disemebowel it before it realizes it made a mistake but with thumbs and probably a profit motive. it's the Tomb's crusty butt that's actually in danger.

It works the other way too. My players have fought there way past dragons, beholders, liches and mind flayers. You know what made them say "nope"? A little old unarmed bald guy in robes sitting meditating in the middle of the road.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Oh, how come? Get bored of that type or just never was interested? What kind of characters do you like playing?

There's just a lot of dungeon delving-style art and adventures in D&D. There's a ton to choose from, even in 5e. Sometimes too much of a good thing is too much, especially when it gets in the way of having something different.

 

[Hussar]

The more I think about it, the more I realize my issue is mostly the character art.

I'm on board with monsters like this:
View attachment 156250

Neat environments like this:
View attachment 156251

But then the adventure party looks like:
View attachment 156253

And I'm immediately turned off. There is just nothing in there that screams deadly dungeon delver. They look like they'd last about a minute in the Tomb of Horrors...

See, the really funny thing is, my current group is all sages living in Candlekeep. But, my players have basically taken traditional fantasy and launched it out the window. I didn't make any restrictions on races, so, I got:

Tiefling
Owlfolk
Warforged
A dream of an Aboleth
Dragonborn who narrates his Eldritch Blasts as rainbows.

To say my group is a bit eclectic is an understatement. So, for us, the art is simply following right along with what my players are playing. Note, I think the youngest of us is over 40, so, it's not like we're young here. But, I certainly noticed that the whole "Tolkein" palate of fantasy has very much gotten left behind by a lot of players. It's just not all that popular anymore from what I see.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There's just a lot of dungeon delving-style art and adventures in D&D. There's a ton to choose from, even in 5e. Sometimes too much of a good thing is too much, especially when it gets in the way of having something different.

I very quickly (as in circa 1983) got bored with that style of play. I love novelty, and adventures that pushed the boundaries of what D&D could do. There seemed to be plenty of those in 1st edition days, but D&D got very dull and conservative 2nd to early 5e, when I switched to science fiction and superhero RPGs.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

See, the really funny thing is, my current group is all sages living in Candlekeep. But, my players have basically taken traditional fantasy and launched it out the window. I didn't make any restrictions on races, so, I got:

Tiefling
Owlfolk
Warforged
A dream of an Aboleth
Dragonborn who narrates his Eldritch Blasts as rainbows.

To say my group is a bit eclectic is an understatement. So, for us, the art is simply following right along with what my players are playing. Note, I think the youngest of us is over 40, so, it's not like we're young here. But, I certainly noticed that the whole "Tolkein" palate of fantasy has very much gotten left behind by a lot of players. It's just not all that popular anymore from what I see.

In my experience owlfolk and warforged are the new common races.

And none of my players are under 30.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Oh, how come? Get bored of that type or just never was interested? What kind of characters do you like playing?

Never interested. I prefer more plot driven, solve this problem, deal with these people sort of things. I'm usually the the Face or the Skillmonkey.

And I'm definitely not interested in the deadly part as I find it disruptive to the story and unnecessarily stressful for my weekly chill game time.