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The New D&D Book Is 'The Explorer's Guide to [Critical Role's] Wildemount!' By Matt Mercer
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<blockquote data-quote="JeffB" data-source="post: 7895923" data-attributes="member: 518"><p>Exactly- And since I am the one who created the tangent in this thread, I will point out It is also what I was discussing: D&D compared to other games. I specify that in my post.</p><p></p><p>For someone who has played Clue, Battleship, Monopoly and comes into D&D, it is beyond intimidating. Back in 1977 that was about my experience with games- Checkers, Battleship, Monopoly, etc. But D&D was far less intimidating then when it came to rules. My fiends had the LBBs, Holmes, and a MM (the latter two being brand new). I borrowed the Holmes book. 48 pages? It was not intimidating. It had some examples of play that described the minimal amount of rules (comparatively). Not to mention the entire game, despite the presentation not being so clear as things are today, had FAR LESS rules. Holmes could probably be summed up in about 15-20 pages if you remove the Good Dr.'s fluffy text and minimal art.</p><p></p><p>IME- 3/5E, as well as Advanced TSR D&D are a mess to teach complete newcomers who are not gamers in any real shape or form and are just trying the game out as if it was boardgame ala Monopoly or Clue, or what have you. S&W (whitebox/core) and Dungeon World/variations have been far more successful. If I had to pick a WOTC version I'd pick 4E as being the easiest because every class works in the same way and non gaming people relate easily to "you can do this anytime you want, this you can do once per battle, and this you can only do once per day). Additionally- levels match up with the powers/spells. 1st level characters get 1st level powers/spells. 5th level characters get 5th level spells,* 4E also has something cooked right into the system that is perfect for newcomers and casual players: Companion characters. Companion characters eliminates all the extraneous things that can take full blown 4E characters to a bad place with analysis paralysis. And with Companion Character builds the players can pick any class they want because they all operate at the same complexity (no need to recommend the Champion Fighter to the 8yo girl who wants to play a Wizard). EDIT- 4E also makes it easier for the players to help each other- because everybody's character works in a similar way. The newbie with that 1st level Fighter has very different rules to go by than the newbie with the 1st level Wizard or Barbarian in 3/5E (or TSR D&D)</p><p></p><p>*My god, trying to explain Vancian casting to my wife (a highly educated RN with an excellent career working for a Major Health system in the NYC metro area)---NEVAR AGAIN <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> Spell slots, level disparity, spells per day vs. spells known, etc. It makes no sense whatsoever to normal non-gaming humans. She did not want to play another class otherwise I would never have let her do it for her first ever D&D game.</p><p></p><p>Anyhoo... D&D is a complicated game- in any form or edition for someone who is completely inexperienced with RPGs (TT or Videogame)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JeffB, post: 7895923, member: 518"] Exactly- And since I am the one who created the tangent in this thread, I will point out It is also what I was discussing: D&D compared to other games. I specify that in my post. For someone who has played Clue, Battleship, Monopoly and comes into D&D, it is beyond intimidating. Back in 1977 that was about my experience with games- Checkers, Battleship, Monopoly, etc. But D&D was far less intimidating then when it came to rules. My fiends had the LBBs, Holmes, and a MM (the latter two being brand new). I borrowed the Holmes book. 48 pages? It was not intimidating. It had some examples of play that described the minimal amount of rules (comparatively). Not to mention the entire game, despite the presentation not being so clear as things are today, had FAR LESS rules. Holmes could probably be summed up in about 15-20 pages if you remove the Good Dr.'s fluffy text and minimal art. IME- 3/5E, as well as Advanced TSR D&D are a mess to teach complete newcomers who are not gamers in any real shape or form and are just trying the game out as if it was boardgame ala Monopoly or Clue, or what have you. S&W (whitebox/core) and Dungeon World/variations have been far more successful. If I had to pick a WOTC version I'd pick 4E as being the easiest because every class works in the same way and non gaming people relate easily to "you can do this anytime you want, this you can do once per battle, and this you can only do once per day). Additionally- levels match up with the powers/spells. 1st level characters get 1st level powers/spells. 5th level characters get 5th level spells,* 4E also has something cooked right into the system that is perfect for newcomers and casual players: Companion characters. Companion characters eliminates all the extraneous things that can take full blown 4E characters to a bad place with analysis paralysis. And with Companion Character builds the players can pick any class they want because they all operate at the same complexity (no need to recommend the Champion Fighter to the 8yo girl who wants to play a Wizard). EDIT- 4E also makes it easier for the players to help each other- because everybody's character works in a similar way. The newbie with that 1st level Fighter has very different rules to go by than the newbie with the 1st level Wizard or Barbarian in 3/5E (or TSR D&D) *My god, trying to explain Vancian casting to my wife (a highly educated RN with an excellent career working for a Major Health system in the NYC metro area)---NEVAR AGAIN :D Spell slots, level disparity, spells per day vs. spells known, etc. It makes no sense whatsoever to normal non-gaming humans. She did not want to play another class otherwise I would never have let her do it for her first ever D&D game. Anyhoo... D&D is a complicated game- in any form or edition for someone who is completely inexperienced with RPGs (TT or Videogame) [/QUOTE]
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The New D&D Book Is 'The Explorer's Guide to [Critical Role's] Wildemount!' By Matt Mercer
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