D&D 5E Is 5e really that different?

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

DM's Guild is like a recreation league sports
WOTC is the pro league
I want a semi-pro version!

Your realize DMsGuilff has something like that. There are a group of creatures who have a preferred status and have been/ are professional designers. I can’t remember what they are called, but they have their own category. On top of that there is a rating, review, and ranking system. It is very easy to sort this all out with a few clicks and find the post professional and best selling content. If that is what you are looking for

 

[Shardstone]

IMO. Not buying their product or spending my time trying it out isn't shutting down experimentation.


IMO, that's going to be the case for any mostly amatuer marketplace. Most amatuers just aren't that good. Only a few have the skills and talent necessary to really rise to the top.


If they just made a marketplace where I didn't have to weed through as much crap to get to good products I'd be much more likely to participate.

DM's Guild is like a recreation league sports
WOTC is the pro league
I want a semi-pro version!

Of course, I can't negate your experience.

But when I look at third party publishers, I see a lot more good then I do bad.

Absolute Tabletop's adventure kits and Dragongrin setting, Sandy Peterson's Cthulu Mythos, Kobold Press's many works, and a huge host of one offs too, such as Graham Ward's Darkplane setting and content expansion, Dice on Ice's Crifoth setting + expansion, Jarl DM's Iskloft setting, the other 4-10 well-made but similar viking settings out there, and so on and so forth.

IT isn't all gathered in one place, so I'll give you that, but when I look at modern 3rd party, I see quality far more then I see unusable drek.

 

[Maxperson]

I'm not sure that it makes many people upset, it's by far the most popular edition ever.

I'm not entirely convinced that's true. It certainly has by far the most players, but it's also the first edition to be embraced mainstream. Times have changed and I don't know that a prior edition wouldn't have fared better had that rule set been the one released at this time in gaming history.

 

[lichhouse]

In my circles (older edition gamers - pre 3rd edition) 5E comes across as very high magic, with crazy overpowered superheroic characters. It's not a good emulation of classic fantasy or literature without many optional rules applied. The typical Adventurer's League D&D party looks like a cross-section of aliens from Babylon 5 or the Star Wars Cantina, with Tortles, Drow, Goliaths, Aasimar, and whatnot all thrown in the mix. However, there's nothing stopping a 5E DM from recreating a 1st Edition Greyhawk style game other than the MMO inspired power levels of 5E.

Besides the grognard crowd, why else would people complain about 5E? It's wildly popular, the rules work well, players love it, 8 years into the edition's life 5E is trucking along like a juggernaut. I'm really interested in hearing what's in store for 5.5 in a couple of years.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

In my circles (older edition gamers - pre 3rd edition) 5E comes across as very high magic, with crazy overpowered superheroic characters. It's not a good emulation of classic fantasy or literature without many optional rules applied. The typical Adventurer's League D&D party looks like a cross-section of aliens from Babylon 5 or the Star Wars Cantina, with Tortles, Drow, Goliaths, Aasimar, and whatnot all thrown in the mix. However, there's nothing stopping a 5E DM from recreating a 1st Edition Greyhawk style game other than the MMO inspired power levels of 5E.

Besides the grognard crowd, why else would people complain about 5E? It's wildly popular, the rules work well, players love it, 8 years into the edition's life 5E is trucking along like a juggernaut. I'm really interested in hearing what's in store for 5.5 in a couple of years.

I’m an old school player and people who think this way, IMO, simply lack imagination and conviction. Sorry I’m feeling salty as I’m waiting for my lunch (which is 20 minutes late)

 

[Aldarc]

Of course, I can't negate your experience.

But when I look at third party publishers, I see a lot more good then I do bad.

Absolute Tabletop's adventure kits and Dragongrin setting, Sandy Peterson's Cthulu Mythos, Kobold Press's many works, and a huge host of one offs too, such as Graham Ward's Darkplane setting and content expansion, Dice on Ice's Crifoth setting + expansion, Jarl DM's Iskloft setting, the other 4-10 well-made but similar viking settings out there, and so on and so forth.

IT isn't all gathered in one place, so I'll give you that, but when I look at modern 3rd party, I see quality far more then I see unusable drek.

It also often gets forgotten, if not neglected, that many of the current designers of 5e D&D were also designing top notch 3pp for the d20 system, which is often how they landed their jobs at WotC: e.g., Jeremy Crawford (Blue Rose), Mike Mearls (Iron Heroes, Arcana Evolved), etc.

The same is most certainly true for 5e 3pp. There is a lot of high quality work out there for 5e.

 

[FrogReaver]

Of course, I can't negate your experience.

But when I look at third party publishers, I see a lot more good then I do bad.

Absolute Tabletop's adventure kits and Dragongrin setting, Sandy Peterson's Cthulu Mythos, Kobold Press's many works, and a huge host of one offs too, such as Graham Ward's Darkplane setting and content expansion, Dice on Ice's Crifoth setting + expansion, Jarl DM's Iskloft setting, the other 4-10 well-made but similar viking settings out there, and so on and so forth.

IT isn't all gathered in one place, so I'll give you that, but when I look at modern 3rd party, I see quality far more then I see unusable drek.

I notice most of your examples are settings. I think settings are one area that's harder to outright screw up. So I can go with them being on average better than class content designed to fit into an existing 5e game.

It's also possible I just have higher standards than you.

I don't think it has as much to do with 'experience' as the kind of content we are looking for and our individual standards of how good it ought to be.

 

[Greggy C]

Why does 5e make so many people upset?

Because there are no dungeons.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Because there are no dungeons.

Because there are no warlords.

 

[David Babbitt]

It seems that the WOTC 5e fanboys took over this thread. WOTC is not pro league, its noob friendly entry to roleplaying games.