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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TerraDave" data-source="post: 6408397" data-attributes="member: 22260">You could argue that starting with 2E there was a consistent trend of more and more for players--first splats in 2E, then removal of various restrictions in 3E, magic items in the PHB in 4E--and various things to nudge the DM into letting players do what they want and not be "arbitrary" in their rulings. There seem to be three motivations: to get more players by giving them more, to avoid the much feared "bad" DM, and, to be honest, to sell supplements to players.5E does break this trend. I hope that is a recognition that D&D needs players, but it also needs DMs, who tend to be scarcer, put more work into the game, and generally drive the game by recruiting players and getting them to the table.This is not a zero sum game. All editions try to do things for both sides. So, for example, 4E could be easier to DM for relative to 3E, but 3E did give lots of tools to DMs, and older D&D, for all its DM empowerment, had all sorts of magic items and spells to benefit players. The 5E PHB gives players a lot, more then any single book I can think of. And by facilitating faster play and making DMs happier, it can also make players happier. But I welcome the break in the trend.</blockquote>