D&D 5E Tired of doing WotC's job

[Morrus]

There’s definitely been a fundamental change in the nature of what an RPG is over the last 20 years or so. Used to be tweaking and houseruling your game was part of playing it. It was fun! Now it’s “WotC's job”.

 

[smcc360]

I'm sensing a demand for a cloak/lycanthropy product on the DM's guild...

The Cloak of the Lycanthrope, part one of the epic Heroes of Haberdashery adventure series. Don't miss The Kobold's Kilt and Spats of the Spirits--coming soon!

 

[Lem23]

There’s definitely been a fundamental change in the nature of what an RPG is over the last 20 years or so. Used to be tweaking and houseruling your game was part of playing it. It was fun! Now it’s “WotC's job”.

I'm not sure that's a fundamental change at all - more one person's attitude that may have changed. The majority of the posts here in reply suggest that others have not made any such change.

 

[Aldarc]

Either way, more and more people seem to think the Game designers should be telling them everything. That's silly.

I would not call it "silly." It's a matter of personal preference regarding how much prep work or pre-existing materials exist. I may not share the OP's preference, but I think that it's important to sympathize with how 5e is able to meet or fails to meet different playstyles and preferences.

There’s definitely been a fundamental change in the nature of what an RPG is over the last 20 years or so. Used to be tweaking and houseruling your game was part of playing it. It was fun! Now it’s “WotC's job”.

But he also is reminiscing of pre-WotC editions of D&D, so I'm not sure if this quite fits the OP's situation.

 

[Charlaquin]

Beyond lycanthropy, can you use Detect Magic to sense an animated skeleton? A doppleganger? A vampire? A summoned creature? A golem? A dragon? A polymorphed gold dragon disguising as a human? I'd probably allow it for the skeleton (if it had been animated by a spell), the golem, the summoned monster and the polymorphed dragon, but probably not for the others, unless they had active spells on them. Couldn't use a Detect Magic to root out a doppleganger, for example. But that isn't backed by anything other than gut feeling and a sense to preserve certain story tropes.

I pretty much agree with your rulings on these, though I’m not 100% sold on the shapeshifted dragon. If it’s shapeshifted with a polymorph spell, then definitely, but if it’s an innate ability the dragon has (like the doppelgänger’s innate shapeshifting) then probably not.

 

[Reynard]

There’s definitely been a fundamental change in the nature of what an RPG is over the last 20 years or so. Used to be tweaking and houseruling your game was part of playing it. It was fun! Now it’s “WotC's job”.

I don't think this is any different than when I first started in 1985. Ever GM and table is different. Some want more detail, others want less. There are ancient grognard GMs that refused to allow anything not printed in the book, and brand new GMs that happily make up cloak prices on the fly, and every step between. I would say if anything that the real change has been in how people approach the entertainment of RPGs and that has led to some very interesting perspectives on what they are and how they aught to be played.

 

[TwoSix]

But he also is reminiscing of pre-WotC editions of D&D, so I'm not sure if this quite fits the OP's situation.

Yea, nostalgia for 20th century gaming has multiple threads to it; there's the aspects of "the DM as ultimate arbiter and homebrewer", but there's also the tons of games (including AD&D) that had strong focuses on detailed simulationism, with tons of charts and tables and specific rules. OP is more nostalgic for the latter.

It's interesting to contrast with most modern games, in which the game engine is much more specific and curated and has the general expectation that all the players (including the GM) will run the game as written; but specific details are generally handwaved away. (Unless the game is specifically focused on equipment tracking as part of the game, as with some hybrids of newer games and OSR mentality.)

 

[NotAYakk]

I think I'd prefer the PHB to have prices for a cloak.

At least that way the player can just do their own maths and write it on their character sheet without wasting game time asking pointless questions.

What ho:

This set of clothes could consist of boots, a wool skirt or breeches, a sturdy belt, a shirt (perhaps with a vest or jacket), and an ample cloak with a hood.

 

[jasper]

New spell first level. Detect Lycanthropy Range 30. You detect were creatures. Material component. Hair of a dog.
****
Stormonu does point out where this Detect Magic argument will go. And I had the argument back in AD&D. I would allow the skeleton if a spell, but not the others. As magical disguises etc would go out the window. I did try back in AD&D is having Xanth magic items to throw off the pcs casting detect magic every 60 feet.
Vvv
I agree with Sabthius42, up to 3E we had a standard adventurers backpack/load out. And I generally charged 10 GP reloading fee if did cover shopping when the pcs were in the city.

 

[Li Shenron]

Well, it has been a while since I've posted on Enworld. After 18 months of 5E, I think I am soon to be done with it. Honestly, I am sick and tired of doing the game designers' work for them.

...

Compared to the amount of information in prior editions, 5E is severely lacking. We all know that the idea was to allow players to play how they want, but making up the rules and the systems for the game because they aren't there in the first place is just getting annoying IMO.

...

I know in prior editions we house-ruled stuff, but I have four times as many house-rules and such for 5E than any other edition I've ever played. And a lot of this might be for (what I consider) a better balanced game, but a lot of it is for standard stuff.

Being a D&D designer must be an ungrateful job... make one decision, gamers protest you didn't make the opposite one, make the opposite and they'll protest you didn't make the first, let them choose and they protest you didn't choose for them.