D&D 5E How Wotc can improve the adventure books.

[robus]

Overall, what I see is a dismissal of new DMs, a dismissal of critics, and a dismissal of ideas, which is very disconcerting

That is, sadly, a common claim: D&D is not hard to learn, apparently, so if you're struggling then it's your fault. I think many have forgotten how intimidating this game can be. There are seemingly endless rules, options and numbers that all come together at the table where you have the entertainment of 4 other people also resting mostly in your hands. It's quite a lot. And adding rejigging a poorly assembled adventure to that mix is just too much to ask of new DMs IMHO.

Sure people are muddling through and going to the school of hard knocks, but it's led me to a point where I no longer want to invest in WotC adventures because they're just too much work for little reward.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I Why should I pay $50 for an adventure that does not meet my standards? That's half a $100! That's a lot of money to pay, and I find it a little bit elitist almost when people say "Well just change it!" I already bought it, and now I have to change it?

Many people go by 1 gp = 100 $. Since they expect PCs to pay 5 gp for a rumor, a full module at the price of a TENTH of a rumor is a steal.

I think the main "flaw" of the game is trying to please too many reader: I don't think they did a bad job, but for example, they tried to make the Ten-towns usable outside of the context of Rime AND to provide a contained adventure, they want to provide horror elements AND have light-hearted adventure, they want to have a sandbox adventure but also let DMs run an easier story...

 

[Wasteland Knight]

Hire the Alexandrian to run a week long training seminar for their designers.

 

[Zaukrie]

Let us know what CR an encounter is......lots of stuff lately seems to completely ignore this. It is very important for newer DMs, and somewhat important for the rest of us.

INCLUDE AND INDEX

In Rime, I could really use some kind of diagram that shows all the encounters, the level, the story arc....something that would help me tie it together. For example, this one I found online for Phandalin is very helpful.

 

[robus]

Let us know what CR an encounter is......lots of stuff lately seems to completely ignore this. It is very important for newer DMs, and somewhat important for the rest of us.

Yeah - there's way too much "make it an entertaining read" and far too little of "make it easy for me to prep and run". I think a bunch of reviews of WotC adventures are "Wow that was a fun read, 5 stars!!!" Very few are post-run (because people like to review things when they first come out naturally and it takes too long to run for a fair review to come out before a bunch of people have taken the plunge and bought it).

 

[Umbran]

Waterdeep Heist Oceans 11 meets D&D Um no it was treasure hunt where you could NOT keep the treasure.
Descent. Mad Max meets D&D. See you can spend $50 on a war machine mini. War machines are used in how many chapters?
Icewind Dale. It freaking cold like the 80s movie the Thing. It is horribly cold. Page 20 Cold Weathr gear for protects from extreme cold. For only $10. Um 10 gp.

So, with the exception of the first item, which might actually be a marketing failure, the rest seem like... poorly articulated criticisms of the quality of the products, which, again, marketing really isn't in charge of.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Remember that there are new DMs attempting to run these adventures and the more "clever" you make them the harder it is. And telling new DMs to "make it your own" is like telling a new skier to just go to the top of the mountain and find your own way down!

There are adventures aimed at inexperienced DMs, such as LMoP. This is not one of them. Most DMs are not inexperienced, and will not consider basic level stuff appropriate. I have been DMing for 38 years. I do not want newbie content.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Hire the Alexandrian to run a week long training seminar for their designers.

Better still, hire a chimpanzee to teach the Alexandrian how to not be a moronic jerk.

 

[MGibster]

Because people in marketing have an interest and understanding of climatology and ecology such that their review of how cold Icewnd Dale is would be useful?

That's the first thing they teach you in Marketing 101!

Edit: There does appear to be a number of players who care about this kind of verisimilitude in their games. I am not one of them.

 

[HawaiiSteveO]

• include suggestions for NPC / monster tactics if combat takes place
• describe NPC / monster appearance and unusual features or even expressions
• bullet point entries for areas without all the extra verbiage
• areas linked together as needed
• reference page #‘s for MM etc
• don’t repeat things like ’See Poisons in Chapter 7 of the Dungeon Masters Guide’ over and over (257 DMG)
• give summary at start of each chapter
• include stat blocks for all at the end of the book in short form
• designer notes indicating intent, concept behind portions of the book
• easy to read, direct and to the point
• no filler, pages and pages of random encounter tables etc DM has to read up on all those critters and be ready to play any one if them based on random roll - ugh

There was an amazing thread at paizo site I read years ago, wish I bookmarked it. There were some fantastic ideas on making books read and go.