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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EvilDwarf" data-source="post: 5436316" data-attributes="member: 46843">I may get trounced here, but if WoTC were to produce a D&D 5+E that Transbot9 described in his OP, my group and I would buy it in heartbeat.   I started playing with the "White Box" set in the 70s with essentially the same group I play with now, so I'm no newcomer to the game (and very blessed to have the same gaming friends all this time--we've gone away for education, jobs, etc.--but most of the original gang has come back through various means and purposes). But our story is one we've all heard before.  We went and did dumb things, like got jobs, got married, had kids, taken on responsibilities like households, and grown up (well, some of us <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />).  As the years passed, and the editions, we had less and less time to get together, much less to prep.  DMing became a joyous chore--fun, creative, ways to create and live out our own fantasy tales (we have done probably less than 5% of purchased modules as our campaigns and adventures because we prefer our own stories) but a burden to pull off. But, we just ran out of time to play and to prep.  Then play time became prep time when we got together.  Then we ran out of prep time between play times.  We tried some modules, but, meh.  You know our story. Then 4E hit and we were a bit renergized.  More modular, seemed like less time to prep, etc.  The 4E adventure/delve format hit us just right it seemed.  Easy to run and little reading ahead, etc.  No more huge burden on the DM. But even with that, time pressures remained, 4E combats took too long, times between play sessions broke campaign and adventure continuity....  We knew what we needed--a game that played fast.  Required little prep for characters.  Required NO prep for the DM.  And, SOMEHOW, a campaign/adventure arc that could withstand long dry spells and didn't require certain characters present each week.  What, we puzzled, could it be? I eventually tinkered around with a rule set for DMless, self-contained scenario play that could lead into a longer story narrative.  That was working, but gawds, who had time to write and playtest that? (I know the DM guides have such guidelines, and they were a big help). Then....and this is where I'll get nailed....Castle Ravenloft appeared.  It was the ruleset I was working for. And it's been great for our gaming:  modern ruleset (we really like 4E); no prep for characters, players, or DM; self-contained scenarios that play out in an hour or so, depending on if we have pizza delivered or pick-up; challenging play. Now, imagine CR expanded with more classes, rules for advancement, WoTC/DDI support for involved and expanded ongoing scenario support.  Rules packets to add on.  Character classes to add on.  Tokens for monsters, etc.  That is, pretty much what Transbot described, but I would even go a little further than I think Transbot does, and go DMless. What we would buy the heck out of?  Transbot's idea, made DMless, with a more open, larger world and modular, ongoing expansion.  That would do it for us.  I can't imagine how exciting it would be to see a Castle Ravenloft-type RPG/boardgame hybrid with an "adventure-path" series of scenarios and challenges, treasures, powers, modular rules expansions, etc.  I think it would appeal to older groups like ours, and to younger, newer players.  Don't like the DMless aspect?  Give optional rules for a player who likes to play the monsters, NPCs, etc., like some FFG boardgames do now. Ok, I'll shut up and duck now  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/blush.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":blush:" title="Blush    :blush:" data-shortname=":blush:" /></blockquote>

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