D&D General D&D, the Complete Rules, and You

[Ruin Explorer]

As always, there is a lot of discussion about the rules over in the ENWorld Community Forums. And for December 2022, the buzzword of the month seems to be Need. As in, "I need Wizards of the Coast to update the Wizard" or "the Wizard needs fixing" or "nobody needs to buy that book," or the evergreen question of "how many rules do you need, anyway?"

So when it comes to the Dungeons & Dragons game: do you need rules? If so, how many? and how current do they need to be? Check all that apply.

I've not voted yet but I honestly feel like all and none of the answers apply at different times.

I think the real question for me is "what am I paying for?".

Like, I could easily make up rules at this point, or use any one of literally hundreds of other RPGs I own, many of which do a pretty good impression of D&D.

So what I "need" from WotC is rules that are worth paying for and worth sticking with because they're well-designed, well-conceived, better than I could pull out of my ass and so on. I feel like we mostly got that in the PHB, Xanathar's, Tasha's, but like, not in the DMG. At this point in 5E's history I honestly feel like I could do a better job with making it up on the spot than most of the DMG.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I am in need of rules that force other players into my prefered style.

 

[jasper]

Core or the door baby. Okay if you a good player I may allow something else. Wait a minute. I a 95% AL DM. Give me the most updated stuff there Clarence.

 

[aco175]

Core, or until I but a splay book and want to use some of it. I have put in a few options like the aim ability for rogues.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Don't need nothin'. But don't have a problem dropping a few sheckles on some new books either. But they're all just guidelines rather than rules.

 

[overgeeked]

So when it comes to the Dungeons & Dragons game: do you need rules?

Not really, no.

If so, how many?

No more than two or three.

and how current do they need to be?

Something from the most recent three centuries is probably best.

 

[Lanefan]

Interesting in that this is an edition-agnostic question and can be answered through the lens of any edition you're playing. (though if not playing 5e, voting for "we don't really care about using the latest versions" should be a no-brainer.

In terms of adventure material, we're using a 3rd-party campaign(Call from the Deep), so I'd classify that as needed; especially as I haven't really been convinced by the first party adventures I read.

I'm not sure whether adventures fall under what the OP is asking about. @CleverNickName ?

 

[CleverNickName]

I'm not sure whether adventures fall under what the OP is asking about. @CleverNickName ?

Sure, some adventures definitely fall under the "splatbook" category in my opinion. Some of them have custom feats, spells, backgrounds, magic items, all kinds of crunchy bits that can be permanently integrated into a character/campaign setting.

And to be fair, others are little more than just a map and encounter key. And those I'd say aren't "splatbooks" for the purpose of this poll.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I’ve had D&D sessions that were D&D sessions mostly because they were part of a D&D campaign, but otherwise were just improv storytelling. The rules serve the table.

 

[Jack Daniel]

It depends entirely on what kind of D&D I'll be running. If I'm running more or less regular D&D, I'll want some core rules (the Rules Cyclopedia), some official supplements (the Creature Catalog, Wrath of the Immortals), some third party (the Basic Psionics Handbook), and of course my own house rules. If I'm running D&D in any other mode, I'll likely be using some white box or red box compatible set of OSR core rules, plus some other books from entirely different systems that I'll keep around as system-agnostic sources of inspiration. For example, if I'm running D&D but IN SPAAACE!!!, I'll use White•Star for the rules (which is what makes it D&D in the first place), but I'll definitely look to the Star Frontiers and Star*Drive settings for lore and creative inspiration.