D&D 5E Live Q&A with D&D R&D

[fjw70]

Is significant the same as "equal," or would see room for some characters being superior, as long as everyone can make a contribution?

Significant is not the same as equal to me. Others may disagree.

 

[pemerton]

Is significant the same as "equal," or would see room for some characters being superior, as long as everyone can make a contribution?

I'm not sure what the metric is for "equality", once you have multiple dimensions of contribution (damage, healing, control, etc) whose relative effectiveness is heavily dependent upon the interactions that result from real-time, in-play choices by the players and GM.

It's certainly possible to build a PC in 4e who is notably better with many skills than the other PCs, and correspondingly less effective in combat. The invoker/wizard in my 4e game fits that description.

I assume that the same thing is true in D&Dnext.

I don't think all three books have ever been released at the same time

As best I recall I bought my 4e core books all at the same time, and I think as soon as they became available in Melbourne, Australia.

Were they staggered in the US?

 

[Thaumaturge]

As best I recall I bought my 4e core books all at the same time, and I think as soon as they became available in Melbourne, Australia.

Were they staggered in the US?

No. You're right. I forgot. I bought the 4e slipcover case with all 3 books at launch. So there you go. Depending on one's disposition the last 1-2 edition launches have had all three books.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Nikosandros]

As best I recall I bought my 4e core books all at the same time, and I think as soon as they became available in Melbourne, Australia.

Were they staggered in the US?

No, they came out at the same time. There was even a Gift Set with a box that contained the 3 books.

 

[Nikosandros]

I am not sure I see the trend of everybody is equally good at everything and anti-teamwork that you do. 4e in particular was largely about teamwork.


The trend I do see is some people wanting all characters to be useful in and out of combat. Not all necessarily doing the same thing but everybody having significant contributions both in and out of combat.


To me this isn't a bad thing.

Indeed. I like the fact that in specific situations a character will be able to outshine the others, but I'm expecting all the others to be able to contribute. Also, combat and non-combat are such broad categories that I strongly prefer that characters be able to be effective in both kind of activities.

 

[fjw70]

No, they came out at the same time. There was even a Gift Set with a box that contained the 3 books.

In the US I am 99% sure they were staggered. It was only a few weeks but they weren't all released on the same day. The slip cover set came out after all three books were released.

EDIT: This site http://dnd4.com/release says they were all released on 6/6/08. I could have sworn they were staggered over a few week period.

Well it is still possible they could do a staggered release for 5e. I guess it would be the old school thing to do.

 

[DMZ2112]

I am not sure I see the trend of everybody is equally good at everything and anti-teamwork that you do. 4e in particular was largely about teamwork.
The trend I do see is some people wanting all characters to be useful in and out of combat. Not all necessarily doing the same thing but everybody having significant contributions both in and out of combat.

I clearly see both trends, so it's probably two sides of the same coin. As with most things in RPG design, whatever balance they strike between the two sides is going to torque /someone/ off.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

From the impression I get, the PHB is either complete, or really close. But I get the impression that the DMG, at least, has a lot of work left. Mike was asking just recently what sorts of questions we would like answered in it. Maybe the crunch is done and the DMing advice is not expected to take a lot of time to write. Sounds like the MM is mostly done.

Also, I have a hard time seeing the game being all that useful if it doesn't come out all at once. With 2e you already have more or less compatible material to use from 1e. 3e and 4e all had to come out at once because they were different enough that you couldn't just plug and play from the edition that was still on the shelves. 5e is going to bear more resemblance to 3e and 4e in that respect, so it probably needs to all come out at once.

 

[lkj]

From the impression I get, the PHB is either complete, or really close. But I get the impression that the DMG, at least, has a lot of work left. Mike was asking just recently what sorts of questions we would like answered in it. Maybe the crunch is done and the DMing advice is not expected to take a lot of time to write. Sounds like the MM is mostly done.

Also, I have a hard time seeing the game being all that useful if it doesn't come out all at once. With 2e you already have more or less compatible material to use from 1e. 3e and 4e all had to come out at once because they were different enough that you couldn't just plug and play from the edition that was still on the shelves. 5e is going to bear more resemblance to 3e and 4e in that respect, so it probably needs to all come out at once.

Actually, 3e came out staggered over three months I believe. It was only 3.5 that came out all at once.

AD

 

[GX.Sigma]

From the impression I get, the PHB is either complete, or really close. But I get the impression that the DMG, at least, has a lot of work left. Mike was asking just recently what sorts of questions we would like answered in it. Maybe the crunch is done and the DMing advice is not expected to take a lot of time to write. Sounds like the MM is mostly done.

Also, I have a hard time seeing the game being all that useful if it doesn't come out all at once. With 2e you already have more or less compatible material to use from 1e. 3e and 4e all had to come out at once because they were different enough that you couldn't just plug and play from the edition that was still on the shelves. 5e is going to bear more resemblance to 3e and 4e in that respect, so it probably needs to all come out at once.

Well, assuming the Starter/Basic set comes out first, and is a full game with 10ish levels like they said earlier:

The Monster Manual works as an add-on to the basic game, independent of the PHB or DMG.

The Player's Handbook works as a more advanced version of character creation, independent of the DMG. The PHB does depend on the MM for higher level monsters (since this hypothetical basic set would run out of monsters after level 10).

The Dungeon Master's Guide is the only one that depends on the other two (and isn't necessary for the game to be completely playable), so that can come last.