D&D 5E What do you want out of 5E/Next?

[DEFCON 1]

I really couldn't care less about the 5E game itself. I like roleplaying games. I like owning them. I like playing them. I'm going to buy 5E regardless. I'm going to play 5E regardless. I'm going to enjoy 5E regardless. Because every game is enjoyable if you have the right people to play it with.

But my entire hope for 5E comes down to the PLAYERS of 5E.

- I hope 5E's announcement was early enough that these two years give everyone plenty of time to save $1 buck a week, thereby giving them about $100 bucks in cash when the game gets released. That way they can buy it easily and we never have to hear the complaints again that "WotC is making me buy all my books over again!"

- I hope 5E is flexible enough that you CAN use it to play all manner of styles of D&D so we never have to hear the complaints of "WotC refuses to support how I play the game!"

- I hope 5E's marketing tells us that they think it's a really fun game, and is adaptable in many ways to any of your favorite D&D games of the past so that we never have to hear the complaints of "WotC insulted my style of play and I refuse to support them ever again!"

- I hope that 5E is released in a happy middle ground between the OGL and the GSL, where it's economically feasible for third party producers to create content for 5E, but still restrained enough that they can't produces games off of it that don't require 5E. That way we'll never have to hear the complaints of "I'll never play any of version of D&D that isn't open sourced!"

- I hope that 5E is produced both in hardcover form *and* made available on e-readers and tablets, so that we never have to hear the complaints of "I refuse to play any game that isn't in book/electronic form!"

- I hope 5E is flexible enough with older editions and that WotC gets their e-book and PDF system in order so that they can and do continue to release older D&D material for purchase, so that we never have to hear the complaints of "WotC is refusing to take my money by not making older material available for purchase!".

And I could go on.

Needless to say... I'd love for 5E to solve most of the problems that cause folks here on EN World to go apoplectic. Because it'd be a lot nicer time to hang out here if there were fewer constant complaints.

 

[Blackbrrd]

I want them to make adventures like Red Hand of Doom instead of Keep on Shadowfell and a game system that caters to that kind of node-based adventuring instead of the linear style that has become all too common.

 

[the Jester]

What I want from 5e:

1. Quick character generation (15 mins)
2. A system that allows low and high level pcs to adventure together, i.e. a system that enables a game where all new pcs start at 1st level.
3. A system that doesn't break under its own weight at high levels.
4. A system that works well across many playstyles (not just my own).
5. A system in which randomness is not trivialized.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

A simpler, more streamlined, and less high powered version of Third Edition that feels more like Second Edition.

 

[Deset Gled]

I want to be able to stand up in a group and say "Who wants to play Dungeons and Dragons?" and have everyone understand what game I intend to play.

 

[the Jester]

I’d like to see each game have a life cycle of about eight years, with one of the four games getting an incremental revision every 2 years.

Hmm, you're the first person I have seen post who actually likes the edition treadmill. Not me. I'd love to believe that 5e will stay "current" for well over a decade.

 

[Howndawg]

I want only two things:

1. A game which lets players play the type of character they want to play.

2. A game which lets DMs run the type of campaign they want to run.

In other words do not make decisions for us which ought to be ours to make and then embed them in the game.

 

[Libramarian]

Are you looking for something that evokes an older system, but has current support?

Yup (1e).

What I really, really want is an OSR with d20 boom-type money flowing around, so the scene is a little less echo chamber-y and self-indulgent, and it's easier to find out what's actually good. That would be the bees knees.

 

[RACER_X?HAHAHA]

I want controlled inequity of mechanics. Specifically I want some classes, races, monsters, etc. to be better at some things than others. I want the ability to focus on something other than combat. I want the world I'm playing in to feel alive and real, where not everything you stumble across is just another thing to slaughter and loot. I want many different cosmologies, not just one. I want the choice of how complex I want my character to be. But most of all, I want it to have soul.

 

[Libramarian]

But most of all, I want it to have soul.

I think part of the reason D&D lost its soul is because the designers don't actually read and enjoy fantasy fiction anymore. These are dudes with The Cathedral and the Bazaar in their offices, rather than fantasy stuff. Nerds rather than geeks, so to speak.