Rampant Anti-Groggism

[Spinachcat]

Everyone should buy a shotgun. You will surely need it when the Edition Police come for your old D&D books. As a fan of both OD&D and 4e, I personally keep a 20mm minigun by the bed. It's really the only sensible thing to do in light of all the burning and dying suggested on this thread.

There is a big difference between making something core and making something optional.

Not really.

DMs have always had the ability to tailor their campaign worlds. Whether DMs used that option or not is their issue, not the game's fault.

My current OD&D campaign takes place during the Elf vs. Dwarf global war of genocide. No halflings. No thieves. Human only Psionics. Lots of Assassins. Three human gods and a Demon lord. I declare what is "core" in my campaign.

If 5e is going to be modular, then "core" is the DM's choice and the DM should tailor his world or make it a giant kitchen sink - whatever works best for him and his players.

Or her and her players.

 

[Umbran]

That's a good point but it might just be speaking more to the trouble with trying to be too inclusive in what should be core. We might all be coming to an understanding that the "core" is something that should be a very tight game that allows for a great number of additional options...

We might do well to remember that there can be a difference between "core" and "available upon first release". They keep speaking of the game being modular - how many "modules" will be available in the initial release, and in what form - are they extra books? Just chapters in the core book?

There are many possibilities.

 

[Mark CMG]

We might do well to remember that there can be a difference between "core" and "available upon first release". They keep speaking of the game being modular - how many "modules" will be available in the initial release, and in what form - are they extra books? Just chapters in the core book?

There are many possibilities.

So many ways to Frankenstein and then skin a cat.

 

[Libramarian]

Not really.

DMs have always had the ability to tailor their campaign worlds. Whether DMs used that option or not is their issue, not the game's fault.

My current OD&D campaign takes place during the Elf vs. Dwarf global war of genocide. No halflings. No thieves. Human only Psionics. Lots of Assassins. Three human gods and a Demon lord. I declare what is "core" in my campaign.

If 5e is going to be modular, then "core" is the DM's choice and the DM should tailor his world or make it a giant kitchen sink - whatever works best for him and his players.

Or her and her players.

Yeah I don't advocate a conservative core because I'm incapable of setting up some limitations as DM. That's fine.

My angle is that I think a conservative core just looks better. I think for newbies too! It makes a good first impression if we can say that our game is about pretty much the same thing as it was 38 years ago, and we're not necessarily updating it every few years in order to stay current with fantasy tastes.

The AD&D fantasy aesthetic was outdated when it was released in the late '70s, and that was part of the appeal then, and the reason why it's still a classic now.

I think presenting the "big 4" races at first has an aesthetic effect greater than the sum of its parts, basically.

 

[Yora]

I think the term core rules is not very useful to use in this case.

I rather think of it as "basic rules" and "core rules options", which are included in the PHB and DMG (and hopefully SRD).