D&D 5E How Can D&D Next Win You Over?

[Mengu]

With its current direction, it is highly unlikely it'll ever be my primary game of choice. If they make enough customization options, I might play a short campaign but I'm not likely to devote much time to it. I like 4e. For me it is a superior gaming experience than all previous editions. For me to really get on board with 5e, they need to stop this "what does D&D feel like" line of thinking, and give me a game that allows me to make it feel however the hell I want it to feel.

I'd be happy with either:

A. They make a new non-clone edition, starting from scratch for mechanics without sacred cows, mechanics that give us freedom, rather than restrictions, and innovation, similar to what they did going from 3e to 4e, but taking steps forward from 4e.
B. They use 4e chassis.

We pretty much know neither of these are going to happen.

 

[Umbran]

So...what you're saying is...F.A.T.A.L. is a Retch Provoking Game.

In considering this response, I was reminded of the immortal wisdom of one penguin, by name of Opus, who opined:

"PPPBLTHTTBLPTPTH!"

And that's all I have to say about that

-Um "this gives me images of 'raspberry sorbet' that I never wanted" bran

 

[TwoSix]

The bounded accuracy is giving me some hope.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In considering this response, I was reminded of the immortal wisdom of one penguin, by name of Opus, who opined:

"PPPBLTHTTBLPTPTH!"

And that's all I have to say about that

-Um "this gives me images of 'raspberry sorbet' that I never wanted" bran

I thought that was originally a Bill the Cat line...

 

[Mallus]

Like I've posted before, I'll use D&D Next if...

... it's less complicated than 3e/4e/Pathfinder.

... it plays faster at the table than 3e/4e/Pathfinder.

... it offers more robust mechanical options for PCs than AD&D/2e.

If it doesn't, I'll mine Next for useful rules and then switch off between Pathfinder, AD&D, and possibly 4e for my D&D needs.

 

[billd91]

So far, based on the play test, D&D Next is already making good moves to win me over. It plays reasonably quickly and has plenty of old-school D&D feel to it.

However, articles that have been coming out are a decidedly mixed bag. I like the idea of moving back toward 1e/2e magic item sensibilities and GM authority over the magic items in the campaign. But the monster creation article and discussion about balancing characters by managing an estimated daily number of combat rounds leave me cold. I start to feel that the game is being over-designed around certain specifications and may not tolerate deviation from those very well. And if there's anything we've learned from communication with other gamers, there's a lot of variation out there, some of it pretty radical.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I'll run it as long as it can present itself as being the best game going for what I want to play. I'll play it if it's what the DM wants to run.

At the moment it doesn't look like improving on 4e in the slightest (I'm looking hard at 13th Age as something that might).

 

[KidSnide]

Like I've posted before, I'll use D&D Next if...

... it's less complicated than 3e/4e/Pathfinder.

... it plays faster at the table than 3e/4e/Pathfinder.

... it offers more robust mechanical options for PCs than AD&D/2e.

That is almost exactly what I'm looking for as well. I'd like a game that provides speed and simplicity of play that is closer to BECMI than the WotC editions of D&D, but with sensible modern mechanics and more flexibility.

I would also like to see an attempt to solve the problems that 3.x introduced to the game, especially in magic items, class imbalance and time consuming character gen and adventure prep. 4e made strides here, but I'd like to see solutions without adding the 4e's poorly chosen keywords, focus on unimportant tactical complexity or encyclopedia of thinly differentiated powers and feats.

-KS

 

[innerdude]

It could cease to exist.

Seriously.

It's not to everyone's taste, but 4e is far and away the best at what it does, and is actually a unique entry into the market. Let 4e "be D&D" for a decade. Reprint old systems occasionally, maybe, but the community doesn't really need 5e. I've seen NOTHING from the 5e playtest that made me want to use it over anything else I have on my shelf RIGHT NOW.

If I want fast, easy-to-play rules that don't totally sacrifice tactics? Savage Worlds nails it. If I want "classic" D&D? I've got hundreds of megabytes of OSR retroclones on PDF, print-on-demand, and my Rules Cyclopedia. If I want a more modern take on "classic" D&D, I've got Pathfinder (with excellent GM material from Paizo) and Fantasy Craft (which frankly blows every other d20 system out of the water). If I want "gritty" fantasy, I've got Runequest / Legend.

But if 5e is going to have ANY chance of winning me over, it needs to be FAR AND AWAY the most deeply supported version of D&D EVER. It needs to be OGL. It needs to allow third-party publishers to create supplements, modules, and settings. It needs if not innovative at least COMPETENT digital support. It needs to be available on PDF so I can use it with my Android tablet. There needs to be so much cool stuff available for it that I can't HELP but want to buy it. Every time I walk into my FLGS, if I'm not tempted to walk out with $100+ of D&D Next stuff, then it's a failure in my book. I've probably spent $700-800 on RPG stuff the last 24 months. Other than a $20 set of dungeon tiles, not a cent of that has been on WotC stuff.

I forget who said it in another thread, but it's absolutely the truth--I don't need D&D Next, but it definitely needs me.

 

[delericho]

In order to win me over, 5e needs to be significantly better at providing me with a D&D experience than my current edition of choice (3e). As for what that actually means, it is both ill-defined and necessarily subjective - I'll know it when I see it.

In particular, I'm not particularly interested in 'modularity'. If I have to make significant changes from the Core, whether these are house rules or are the "official house rules" that modules represent, the game will quickly reach a point where it's just not worth my effort. I know that's a very demanding requirement, but there it is: the Core needs to nearly match my requirements in order to win me over.