D&D General What Do You Hope to See with 7e?

[Charlaquin]

Also, let's go back to Basic and Advanced sets and bridge them up proper this time.

Basic is where all the simplicity and low power stuff live.

Advanced is where the fun stuff is stored.

This sounds to me pretty much like modularity, but with fewer discrete “modules.”

 

[Lanefan]

Also, let's go back to Basic and Advanced sets and bridge them up proper this time.

Basic is where all the simplicity and low power stuff live.

Advanced is where the fun stuff is stored.

Agreed except I'd tweak the descriptors a bit:

Basic is where all the simpliicity and fun stuff live. It's all anyone needs.

Advanced is where the high-powered stuff is stored. No-one needs it, but it's there for those who want it.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I want psionics in core, will it happen no but that is assuming the world holds together long enough for a 6e let alone a 7e.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Uh.... what happened to 6E? Aren't we still waiting on that one???

 

[CleverNickName]

"STOP CALLING IT A NEW EDITION!"
-Wizards of the Coast, 2022

I'm happy with the current edition; it is pretty much everything I ever want from D&D. And for all of the minor things that I would like to see from older editions, I still have those older editions. (Why OSR, when you can just OS?) But in the spirit of this thread,
if none of this were the case, and
the next edition is called "sixth edition," and
if I still wasn't happy playing an older edition:

1. I'd want only four classes (Fighter, Mage, Priest, and Sneak). Subclasses, prestige classes, multiclassing, and all that jazz would be replaced with a modular system. Divide up all of the class features like Sneak Attack and Rage and Turn Undead, and put them into long chains of Perks that the player chooses from at every level, Diablo 2-style.

2. I'd also want to scrap spell slots, spell levels, and all that stuff, and use a new Mana system. It wouldn't be that difficult; spells have a level requirement (or a Perk requirement) and mana cost, done. Fireball unlocks if you have the Elemental Magic --> Fire Magic perks, and costs 9 or more MP. The more MP you spend, the more powerful the spell.

3. I'd want them to call it something else. As I'm sure everyone in this thread is about to inform me, this game would no longer "be" Dungeons & Dragons. And I'm okay with that. I don't need it to have that particular name, and in a lot of ways it's better if it doesn't--it might keep a lot of preconceived notions and expectations in check, at the very least.

 

[pnewman]

Uh.... what happened to 6E? Aren't we still waiting on that one???

Seventh edition will be where we fix all the problems from sixth edition such as Quadratic Armor Class and Fighters being required to move in L shapes.

 

[TwoSix]

Ideally, I'd like to a synthesis of a couple different strands of modern RPG play fused together and made as palatable as possible for a broad audience of competing play priorities.

-Focus on Neotrad/"OC" play, where the goal of play is making strongly differentiated characters via character building options, and then performance/demonstration of those choices in play.

-Updating the "generic setting" of play to be more Renaissance/magitech oriented. Defaults to brighter/optimistic tones, can be grim, edgier and more challenge-based, but generally not gritty and ugly.

-Demonstrate character capability by making combat encounters the primary challenge locus of play. Less frequent but more intense combat, rather than "6-8 encounters per day".

-Weave in OSR/NSR sensibilities by moving progression from character build to diegetic character progression. Have progress be transformational, rather than evolving pre-selected capabilities.

 

[Haplo781]

Short of some really big evolutions in game design that result in a similarly large shift in the what folks in the RPG community demand out of games, I don’t foresee D&D making another major change like 2e to 3e, 3e to 4e, or 4e to 5e. I think they want to move more towards what we see with, for example, Call of Cthulhu, where a new edition may mark some small changes, but the fundamental system remains largely the same. So, while I have some of the same preferences with regards to bringing back some of 4e’s stronger ideas, I just don’t anticipate it happening.

It can happen. You have to start by introducing the mechanics as optional, then if they prove to be popular you make them core due to demand (feats). If they don't, you make them core because you're disappointed that not enough people were using them (inspiration).

 

[Bill Zebub]

Re-release Chainmail and start the cycle over.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Uh.... what happened to 6E? Aren't we still waiting on that one???

Tradition! People were speculating on 6e before 5e was released also.