Is it time for 5E?

[Dungeoneer]

We've progressed from the traditional (Pre 4e) rock throwing, we're throwing (Essentials/4.5e) goats.

Goat Fling
PC Attack 1
Staggering you grab the goat, lift it above your head- and fling the beast at your mortal enemy.
Standard- At Will: Range 5/10
Target: One Creature
To Hit: Strength vs AC
Damage: 2d8 + Strength damage, and target knocked Prone.
Miss: Roll on Goat Scatter Table.
Effect: Your goat is gone.

Cheers PDR

I recommend making this close burst so it won't provoke OAs. In the meantime I will be picking up a feat that gives me Resist 5 to damage from Thrown Horned Ungulates.

 

[Diamond Cross]

Did somebody say goat?

YouTube - Death Goat on rampage

 

[CleverNickName]

See, this is what I was talking about. Goat-throwing is not an innovation of 4E (or the theoretical Essentials/4.5E) system. We allowed the tossing of ungulates way back in 3.5E, using the rules for improvised weapons and the Throw Anything feat. (More strict DMs would require the tosser to first grapple an adjacent goat.)

I predict that in the next edition, goat-throwing will be expanded to include all manner of barnyard animals: chickens, pigs, maybe even dairy cows.

 

[Jack Daniel]

I'll throw some oil on the fire. How about this:

5e, whenever it comes and whatever it is called, will not look anything like 3x, 2e or 0d&d. Old skool gamerz will continue to be bitterly disappointed.

With every edition there's a contingent hoping that the next one will be a return to whatever version is their favorite. But that's never happened. And it's not going to happen in the future.

Those old editions have been done. They are still being done. You have Pathfinder and retro clones and yes, your dogeared copies of the actual game.

But while releasing, let's say, the Uber Ultimate Edition of classic AD&D might garner a temporary wave of enthusiasm in the community, it's a dead-end. Once everyone who is 30+ had finished hailing D&D's return to its roots, they'd go back to raising their kids and working at their office jobs. Sales would slump as the younger gamers who actually drive them completely failed to connect with the older style of game.

Okay, I have to jump in here and stand up for the old school gamers (note the use of letters like "c" and "s" in spelling that phrase, by the way). This might just be ideology-driven punditry on my part, but I happen to disagree with a lot of what you're saying here.

For one thing, sometimes new editions do in fact hearken back to what came before. One of 3rd edition's major selling points was that it sought to revive some of what was lost from 1st edition. It trumped the brining back of demons and devils, monks and assassins, half-orcs and barbarians. The slogan was "back to the dungeon," which was kind of a backhanded way of saying "away from 2nd edition's poncy setting-and-narrative style."

And it worked. Many lapsed gamers who skipped 2nd edition came back for 3rd.

Now, are there any grognards who really believe that 5th edition will look anything like older D&D? Realistically, of course not. Attack tables, descending AC, and saving throws vs. dragon's breath are just never coming back. We know this. And we accept it; it's all just so much window-dressing anyway. But, speaking for this old-school gamer at least, I do look forward to 5th edition, because I might not be disappointed. I might be vindicated. That will happen if the new slogan is something like: "back to the fantasy world" or "between the battles" or "beyond the encounter." If that is the guiding principle that drives the design of 5th edition, then 5th edition will indeed recapture the spirit of editions zero through three. And in that case it will probably bring back many lapsed gamers who skipped 4th edition to go play Pathfinder or a retro-clone (because they didn't want to play a glorified skirmish game that probably should've been called "D&D Tactics").

I will argue this point, at least, until my lungs run out of breath and my fingers can type no more: so long as D&D remains a relatively complex game that plays out like a series of battles with obligatory smatterings of "story" in between, the player base will not grow. Simplify, simplify, simplify. The only way to connect the game to young people is to hook them with a "basic" game that does what tabletop RPGs do well -- inspire the imagination -- and not what tabletop RPGs do poorly, which is try to be a battle sim without a CPU to do the number-crunching for you. In short: <Frankenstein voice> "Math... bad!!! Roleplay... good!!! Battles... bad!!! Exploring... good!!!" </Frankenstein voice>

 

[Diamond Cross]

D&D is basically the geek's soap opera.

 

[Goonalan]

Goat Scatter Table

On a Miss roll a D12 and refer to the following table-

1- Goat lands D4 squares to the North of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
2- Goat lands D4 squares to the North East of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
3- Goat lands D4 squares to the East of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
4- Goat lands D4 squares to the South East of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
5- Goat lands D4 squares to the South of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
6- Goat lands D4 squares to the South West of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
7- Goat lands D4 squares to the West of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
8- Goat lands D4 squares to the North West of the target, if square occupied see '10'.
9- Goat caught by target, may make Goat Fling attack back as Free Action.
10- If target Huge or larger then target opens mouth (or similar) and consumes goat- set target state to 'Sated', target exits combat, belching, as a Free Action. If target smaller than Huge, goat lands in same square as target, target mounts goat as Free Action- see Goat Mount sidebar.
11- Roll 1d8 again and refer to Goat Scatter Table. If goat not consumed then goat charges original thrower as Free Action.
12- Goat unfurls bat-like wings and takes flight, goat is never seen again- remove Goat from equipment list.

 

[Diamond Cross]

Goat of Wonder! Operates like a Wand of Wonder!

 

[Momeeche]

I'm living in Bulgaria - there are a lot of goat here. And sheep. And donkeys. But I don't think it's time for 5E yet.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Technically, they are correct until 5E actually appears. They aren't wrong... yet.

My TARDIS says otherwise.

 

[Diamond Cross]

So time traveling Goats. Hmmm... I can see how Goats could evolve to a new life form that is just as sentient as humans.

If not superior.

Except for that fainting weakness thing.