D&D (2024) Not enough DMs / new edition

[TwoSix]

So is this new edition going to be the one that finally makes things a bit easier for the Dungeon Masters out there?

I'm unsure how to answer, there hasn't been a new edition in 10 years and there isn't one forthcoming.

 

[Cadence]

I'm unsure how to answer, there hasn't been a new edition in 10 years and there isn't one forthcoming.

I think they meant the DMG that will be being printed later this year and marketed as a distinct thing from the currently available one. (I understand there will also be a corresponding PHB coming out this year and MM next year too, and the SRD will be numbered 5.2 instead of 5.1).

;-)

 

[TwoSix]

I think this is a mistake. Make a starter/basic set that does what BECMI did, walking both players and GMs through the process and multiple escalating levels of detail, and any 10 year old could do it.

I would love to see a new version (same underlying mechanics, but new everything else) with a series of smaller PHBs that covered 4-5 levels at a time.

 

[TwoSix]

I think they meant the DMG that will be being printed later this year and marketed as a distinct thing from the currently available one. (I understand there will also be a corresponding PHB coming out this year and MM next year too, and the SRD will be numbered 5.2 instead of 5.1).

;-)

Well, the OP was a bit terse so I get they may have missed some of the nuances.

 

[Cadence]

I would love to see a new version (same underlying mechanics, but new everything else) with a series of smaller PHBs that covered 4-5 levels at a time.

I would love a 1-10 PHB with two different follow-ups to pick from, an 11-20 PHB and an E10 style one.

To make sure no one was happy we could call the 11-20 one "WotC Super Heroes" and the E10 one "Not actually that gritty Vanilla".

 

[overgeeked]

This is also why Matt Colville says that his 'The Delian Tomb' is the most successful starter adventure of all time. Mainly because it is short and simple to run.

Now granted, I do not know what metrics he is using to determine this as being "fact" (is number of times downloaded a thing and any sort of useful measurement?) But I do have to think that if enough people looking to DM are either told about or they stumble upon his YouTube video series... 'The Delian Tomb' is the immediate gateway into putting into practice what Colville tries to teach. So maybe he's right? It is a short "five-room dungeon" that just happens to be promoted by one of the most known DM instructors on the 'net, so that kind of advertising is something you cannot discount.

Well, maybe. If the fact that lots of people have made human fighters on D&D Beyond is somehow a stand in for humans being the most popular race in play and fighters being the most popular class in play, then why not downloads equalling the most played or successful starter dungeon?

 

[DEFCON 1]

Well, maybe. If the fact that lots of people have made human fighters on D&D Beyond is somehow a stand in for humans being the most popular race in play and fighters being the most popular class in play, then why not downloads equalling the most played or successful starter dungeon?

Sure. After all it's only Colville that has said it as far as I have heard, so whatever methodology he is using makes it true as far as he is concerned.

Not sure the rest of us care, but if it works for him, then more power to him, LOL.

 

[Blue]

My impression is, SlyFlourish wants deadlier encounters to be more normal. The difference in math complicates establishing a measuring system to reliably predict the difficulty of a future encounter.

Plus. Discontinue the technical jargon of "Challenge Rating". The math is already complicated enough without injecting an arbitrary and opaque unit of measurement into it. If one level 4 monster is a medium challenge for four level 4 player characters, this is the kind of information I need to know. It might be difficult for two such player characters.

Then I could use a DM player character of level 4 with the appropriate modifications, with a sense of how everything works together.

I am the exact opposite. Overloading the meaning of level yet again causes more confusion. Having a different measure for different things is not a source of confusion. Think of pound and gallon. They don't interfere with each other. But when you have ounce, which could be a measurement of weight or of volume, it's confusing.

Having level for one of these vs. four PCs is not at all the same level. Because with action economy this doesn't scale nicely. Two PCs is much weaker than four PCs, not half as weak. Three creatures is much more powerful than one creature. How you rank them should never be confused with a clear linear scaling that has the first priority.

If anything, change spell levels to something like spell circles. Make each thing clear. Completely boggled by the idea that a separate term isn't clear but reusing an existing term which cannot help but cause confusion is.

 

[Blue]

I don't think so. He, @Alphastream and their co-writer just weight things differently than WotC does. But, as you are fond of pointing out, the way WotC scores CR isn't a particularly useful barometer of how tough a fight will be.

In any case, if you want the ability to create a monster in seconds, Forge of Foes has you covered. If you think it produces monsters that are too tough, just go one level weaker on its chart.

This was one of the things I liked about 13th Age, a d20 that came out a bit before 5e but they share a lot of sensibilities. Core book had everything you needed to quickly make up a monster and have it balanced, plus the Bestiaries would have variations of the same monster family at various different challenge ratings. It's encounter calculator also seemed to be more robust that 5e's, but that could be just my experience.

 

[Yaarel]

I am the exact opposite. Overloading the meaning of level yet again causes more confusion.

You misunderstand.


I am saying, level means the same thing for both character sheets and statblocks.

level 3 statblock = level 3 character sheet
level 3 character sheet = level 3 statblock

The main difference is, if using a statblock (or a character sheet) for a combat encounter against the player characters, then the nonplayer statblock (or character sheet) gains a hit point boost.



Pitting the players against a creature of lower level but more hit points, helps stabilize the predictability of the outcome.

If anything, change spell levels to something like spell circles. Make each thing clear.

I do that. I always say a "slot 3 spell" rather than the ambiguous "level 3 spell".