D&D 5E GAMA Trade Show and Game Developer Conference start Monday - announcement Tomorrow?

[Jester David]

I doubt it'll be at PAX East if that's what you are insinuating. Mike Mearls answered that some of them would be going to PAX East but their work schedule wasn't allowing them time to have an organized presence or gaming there this year.

It sounds like they are still frantically trying to finish the game on time. A bunch of us on another thread were guesstimating that the book would need to be finished by the end of this week in order to release at Gen Con but some of Mike Mearls tweets insinuated that they are still in the middle of a final pass and rework on the math this week based on feedback from the private beta. Which implies they are a little behind.

I imagine they can tweak the math all the way until the end, as they can layout and polish the book and still tweak the numbers without greatly affecting pagination.

Heck, they could continue to tweak after sending the PDF to the printers, as the printer will send back a proof and WotC can check that and send a revised PDF with some tweaks.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I imagine they can tweak the math all the way until the end, as they can layout and polish the book and still tweak the numbers without greatly affecting pagination.

Heck, they could continue to tweak after sending the PDF to the printers, as the printer will send back a proof and WotC can check that and send a revised PDF with some tweaks.

Yeah, I'm sure you are correct. It just concerns me slightly when nearly every answer from Mike Mearls last week was "I think that was changed".

It doesn't seem like the book is currently in a state that he has sat down and read it.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Well, if the starter set releases this summer, and the PHB releases "later," then as far as I care they can take all the time they want. The only worry in that case is that the Starter Set will be incompatible with the PHB (which would be lame, but I'd rather have a good PHB than a compatible PHB).

There's also the MtG-inspired idea someone had a while ago that they could re-release the starter set every year with a different super-adventure (so the first one is Tiamat-themed, next year's one might be Neverwinter or whatever, etc.). In that case they can update the next release of the Starter Set after the PHB comes out. Not a perfect fix, but at least we'd end up with a starter product that's compatible with the advanced product.

 

[Li Shenron]

Well, if the starter set releases this summer, and the PHB releases "later," then as far as I care they can take all the time they want. The only worry in that case is that the Starter Set will be incompatible with the PHB (which would be lame, but I'd rather have a good PHB than a compatible PHB).

I am confident that they will be fully compatible. I don't think they will change the rules between freezing the Starter Set content for release and doing the same for the PHB, but rather the additional time between them will be spent to decide what exactly goes in the PHB (not so much anymore in terms of what chapters, but rather which subclasses/feats/spells exactly will go in the PHB and which ones are deferred to splatbooks) and doing all the layout and editing. Next will come the MM, perhaps with an extra month to fine-tune the math (but the most iconic monsters already included in the Starter Sets probably will be finalized first, much earlier). Finally the DMG, in which case they can probably take all the time they want.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I am confident that they will be fully compatible. I don't think they will change the rules between freezing the Starter Set content for release and doing the same for the PHB, but rather the additional time between them will be spent to decide what exactly goes in the PHB (not so much anymore in terms of what chapters, but rather which subclasses/feats/spells exactly will go in the PHB and which ones are deferred to splatbooks) and doing all the layout and editing. Next will come the MM, perhaps with an extra month to fine-tune the math (but the most iconic monsters already included in the Starter Sets probably will be finalized first, much earlier). Finally the DMG, in which case they can probably take all the time they want.

But, given the release date, the Starter Set should probably be frozen right about now, and they're still changing system-wide things like how the proficiency bonus progresses.

 

[Li Shenron]

But, given the release date, the Starter Set should probably be frozen right about now, and they're still changing system-wide things like how the proficiency bonus progresses.

Uhm... how do you know that? I have no insider info, so what I see is only what they tell us publicly. But when they tell us they've changed something since the last playtest packet, how do we know they changed it yesterday or 5 months ago?

 

[heptat]

...or even a Erol Otis drawing of PCs fighting a dragon!!

That or a homely dude giving flowers to a female beholder wearing eye shadow and lipstick.

If it's not one of those, this game is dead to me.

Oh you troll you.

 

[D.M.T.rpg]

what is a Pathfinder Card Game OP?

I know what the Pathfinder Card Game is, what the heck is an OP? And why would it be assumed that everyone would automatically know what that means? Is it that hard to spell things out anymore?

 

[mach1.9pants]

No idea either. OP to me is Overpowered

 

[Hussar]

Organized Play.

And the irony of D. M. T.rpg is not lost on me.