Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Lunar Sorcery: A Preview from Shadow of the Dragon Queen
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8819369" data-attributes="member: 6877472"><p>In the old days, a major change to the mechanics of a new edition usually resulted in some sort of major, world changing event or cataclysm so that the new rules work with the revised setting. Because sadly, game worlds are created with editions in mind.</p><p></p><p>Eberron was created with 3e in mind, and it's updates have been lackluster as a result.</p><p></p><p>Dark Sun really doesn't work the same way after 2e; crazy psionic wild talents and strange rebalancing of classes* (not to mention jacked up ability scores) just don't jive with modern game design.</p><p></p><p>*some classes have their magic removed, like the Bard, and others double down on their magical abilities at very high levels.</p><p></p><p>And talking about what has been done (and undone) to the Forgotten Realms is a thread in of itself.</p><p></p><p>Dragonlance has dealt with this as well over the years. </p><p></p><p>It seems WotC has learned that radically altering a setting upsets the fans, but it's hard to have it both ways; you can't turn back the clock and have a setting work just like it did back in the day when so much has changed about the game. Because it's not just more races, classes, and subclasses that have changed; the classes themselves are not the same as they once were.</p><p></p><p>Heck, even Dragonlance introduced strange new rules for it's own setting in the past; like the complex system of advancement for the Knights of Solamnia, with entirely different classes for each of it's sub-orders, the ebb and flow of magic as a result of the moon phases, dividing all Wizard schools into three different subclasses (White, Red, and Black), and so on.</p><p></p><p>This used to be par for the course with many settings; many pages would be devoted to what's different, and what's allowed. Ravenloft came with a dozen pages of altered spells and even class abilities, ranging from "nope, doesn't work" to "oh you want to have an animal companion? Let's see what the Dark Powers have to say about that!". Planescape was the same way, and even Spelljammer had copious notes on how some spells could be used in space travel (and what spells would lead to doom in the Phlogiston). Dark Sun had, as mentioned, altered and even bespoke classes (Defiler, Templar, and Gladiator). Council of Wyrms had you playing <strong>actual dragons</strong>!</p><p></p><p>There's a reason why we see so much Forgotten Realms stuff from WotC; it's the setting that, at least on the surface, is the most like the base game (if one ignores spelldancers, spellsingers, spellfire, circle magic, incantatrixes, elven high sorcery...).</p><p></p><p>But these days, you walk a tightrope when you try to update an old setting. A lot of what made it unique was an artefact of the time it was created, and the days when you'd get a huge boxed set to cover all of what made the setting unique and different from any other game of D&D. WotC's business model doesn't support that, so any product is going to include:</p><p></p><p>*a brief summary of what the world and setting are like.</p><p>*some new character options.</p><p>*maybe a few alternate rules.</p><p>*monsters.</p><p>*maybe some brief notes on how to recapture the classic "feel" of the setting.</p><p>*a huge pile of "and you can figure out the rest on your own" for DM's.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 8819369, member: 6877472"] In the old days, a major change to the mechanics of a new edition usually resulted in some sort of major, world changing event or cataclysm so that the new rules work with the revised setting. Because sadly, game worlds are created with editions in mind. Eberron was created with 3e in mind, and it's updates have been lackluster as a result. Dark Sun really doesn't work the same way after 2e; crazy psionic wild talents and strange rebalancing of classes* (not to mention jacked up ability scores) just don't jive with modern game design. *some classes have their magic removed, like the Bard, and others double down on their magical abilities at very high levels. And talking about what has been done (and undone) to the Forgotten Realms is a thread in of itself. Dragonlance has dealt with this as well over the years. It seems WotC has learned that radically altering a setting upsets the fans, but it's hard to have it both ways; you can't turn back the clock and have a setting work just like it did back in the day when so much has changed about the game. Because it's not just more races, classes, and subclasses that have changed; the classes themselves are not the same as they once were. Heck, even Dragonlance introduced strange new rules for it's own setting in the past; like the complex system of advancement for the Knights of Solamnia, with entirely different classes for each of it's sub-orders, the ebb and flow of magic as a result of the moon phases, dividing all Wizard schools into three different subclasses (White, Red, and Black), and so on. This used to be par for the course with many settings; many pages would be devoted to what's different, and what's allowed. Ravenloft came with a dozen pages of altered spells and even class abilities, ranging from "nope, doesn't work" to "oh you want to have an animal companion? Let's see what the Dark Powers have to say about that!". Planescape was the same way, and even Spelljammer had copious notes on how some spells could be used in space travel (and what spells would lead to doom in the Phlogiston). Dark Sun had, as mentioned, altered and even bespoke classes (Defiler, Templar, and Gladiator). Council of Wyrms had you playing [B]actual dragons[/B]! There's a reason why we see so much Forgotten Realms stuff from WotC; it's the setting that, at least on the surface, is the most like the base game (if one ignores spelldancers, spellsingers, spellfire, circle magic, incantatrixes, elven high sorcery...). But these days, you walk a tightrope when you try to update an old setting. A lot of what made it unique was an artefact of the time it was created, and the days when you'd get a huge boxed set to cover all of what made the setting unique and different from any other game of D&D. WotC's business model doesn't support that, so any product is going to include: *a brief summary of what the world and setting are like. *some new character options. *maybe a few alternate rules. *monsters. *maybe some brief notes on how to recapture the classic "feel" of the setting. *a huge pile of "and you can figure out the rest on your own" for DM's. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Lunar Sorcery: A Preview from Shadow of the Dragon Queen
Top