One of the central components of the discussion of ... whatever the next iteration of DnD will be called has been modularity. This seems promising but it has a whiff of being all things to all people -- with very little information as to what it would look like. The more I break it down, the more skeptical I become.
I leave it to the people here to correct my growing pessimism.
The basic notion of modularity is that your game can include whatever components you want and ignore what you do not want. The poster child for this (across editions) seems to be psionics. It is pretty easy to run any edition of DnD without psionics but it is a module you can graft on to any edition if you choose -- with varying perceptions of the success of the graft.
It sounds like the intent with the next iteration is to take such modularity MUCH more seriously. This leads me to wonder what will be core and what will be modular. Here is my off-the-wall guess as to what is core and what modules can be added to recreate specific "edition-specific" experiences.
Core - *basic classes (fighter, thief, magic-user, cleric)
*basic level-based advancement - probably with an AEDU-light system to balance choices across classes
*basic combat (NOT requiring a grid -- more on this in a second) including a simple Vancian magic system
The core will be rules-light and emphasize setting and RP.
Example modules --
* Expert combat (grid-based)
* Alternative magic systems (3e sorceror, etc. -- maybe vancian is a module)
* Psionics
* Planar mechanics
* Additional classes by, roughly, power source
* Skill-based play a la' skill challenges
* Setting specific modules (Dark sun, generic sea-based setting, etc.)
* Investigation-specific systems a la' Lorefinder
* Horror themed rules (think BoVD, HoHorror, sanity rules, etc.)
* Diplomacy-specific systems
If you want ODnD or 1e feel- you can stick to the core (I am not an expert there - just guessing)
If you want 2e - core + skills + a setting
If you want 3e - core + skills + expert combat + a setting
4e may have an AEDU based alternative if that is not core
If you want heavy RP -- core + diplomacy / investigation but not expert combat
If you want heavy combat -- core + expert combat but not skills etc.
Is this the goal?
There is a chance this create a common infrastructure that players of all editions could buy in to (this seems to be the goal from PR documents) but it could dramatically accelerate fragmentation as well.
I wonder how well one could write a Ravenloft of Shadowfell supplement (lets say) in year 3 of the edition. Would it be core only? Would it have to include explanations of how to adapt expert combat, Vancian magic, investigation skills, etc. into Ravenloft such that a third or more of each book is irrelevant to large segments of the community?
I leave it to the people here to correct my growing pessimism.
The basic notion of modularity is that your game can include whatever components you want and ignore what you do not want. The poster child for this (across editions) seems to be psionics. It is pretty easy to run any edition of DnD without psionics but it is a module you can graft on to any edition if you choose -- with varying perceptions of the success of the graft.
It sounds like the intent with the next iteration is to take such modularity MUCH more seriously. This leads me to wonder what will be core and what will be modular. Here is my off-the-wall guess as to what is core and what modules can be added to recreate specific "edition-specific" experiences.
Core - *basic classes (fighter, thief, magic-user, cleric)
*basic level-based advancement - probably with an AEDU-light system to balance choices across classes
*basic combat (NOT requiring a grid -- more on this in a second) including a simple Vancian magic system
The core will be rules-light and emphasize setting and RP.
Example modules --
* Expert combat (grid-based)
* Alternative magic systems (3e sorceror, etc. -- maybe vancian is a module)
* Psionics
* Planar mechanics
* Additional classes by, roughly, power source
* Skill-based play a la' skill challenges
* Setting specific modules (Dark sun, generic sea-based setting, etc.)
* Investigation-specific systems a la' Lorefinder
* Horror themed rules (think BoVD, HoHorror, sanity rules, etc.)
* Diplomacy-specific systems
If you want ODnD or 1e feel- you can stick to the core (I am not an expert there - just guessing)
If you want 2e - core + skills + a setting
If you want 3e - core + skills + expert combat + a setting
4e may have an AEDU based alternative if that is not core
If you want heavy RP -- core + diplomacy / investigation but not expert combat
If you want heavy combat -- core + expert combat but not skills etc.
Is this the goal?
There is a chance this create a common infrastructure that players of all editions could buy in to (this seems to be the goal from PR documents) but it could dramatically accelerate fragmentation as well.
I wonder how well one could write a Ravenloft of Shadowfell supplement (lets say) in year 3 of the edition. Would it be core only? Would it have to include explanations of how to adapt expert combat, Vancian magic, investigation skills, etc. into Ravenloft such that a third or more of each book is irrelevant to large segments of the community?