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What if 5e is a board game?

I purchased 3e Warhammer when it came out..I'm still yet to give it a go.:blush:

However, it is absolutely gorgeous and the fart factor amazing! Different for sure but the artwork is incredibly evocative, the pieces beautiful and if 5e D&D went that way, I would certainly check it out. I can imagine though that a whole heap of people wouldn't and so it is not the way D&D will go.

For WotC, a primary advantage is that it makes the game a lot more difficult to pirate; but then I suppose for some, changing to that style of game will equally turn them away. DDI equally makes piracy more difficult but also perhaps equally it turns a chunk of the customer base off and away.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
 

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D&D as "a boardgame" has actually already been tried. It was done back in the 90's with the Dragon's Den/Goblin's Lair/Haunted Tower sets for BECM D&D.

_b_vrq-q_wk___kgrhqyokioewq1l-nhpbmo1coh-dg___3.jpg


At the time, it did quite poorly as I remember, though that may have been because it was BECM D&D instead of 2E. If it were more along the lines of say, FFG Descent's Road to Legend, it might do better.

It's not something I think I'd want though. D&D boardgames are fine. But not to replace the RPG.
 

I think they'd be making a big mistake if they make a boardgame and call it "D&D 5e". Why not just make it a separate product line and have it sell alongside the RPG? That's what they did with Dungeon! back in the day and it was successful enough to warrant a couple of reprints/updates. I think that's what they've been experimenting with when they released Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon (sp?).
 


From what little I've seen/played, the D&D boardgames are actually very good - in fact, a better introduction to D&D than the RPG itself these days (including the Red Box). I've even pondered the potential of turning one of the board games into a very light 'true' RPG suitable for playing an adventure in 40 minutes, to serve as a demonstrator for the 'real' game.

So, I'm something of a fan of the boardgames, as an adjunct to the RPG.

If 5e were to be released as a boardgame, or even if the 'core rules' were in boardgame form, I simply would not give it a second glance. First and foremost, I'm a role-playing gamer, not a board-gamer (or video-gamer, or...). So, if 5e isn't first and foremost an RPG, I'm not interested.

(And, in fact, I very much dislike the current trend towards 'componentization' of RPGs - electronic tools, minis, tiles, power cards, equipment cards, Fortune cards, Madness cards... Any move by 5e further down this path is a mark against it, IMO. And if there is any required electronic component (including electronic-only distribution of 'books'), any required collectable card component, or if the game requires minis, then that is a deal-breaker for me.)
 

What if the game is already a board game?

I'm not sure if this was tongue in cheek, but...

When I first picked it 4e I created a party of 5 characters and tried out some sample 'encounters' from Keep on the Shadowfell. And it worked fine as a fantasy combat skirmish boardgame.

I'm not saying that's all it is - just that it's an option to play 4e like that and pretty much all the rules are there to do so.

You couldn't say the same about, say, Call of Cthulhu. There are boardgames which share the mythos theme but they require totally different rulesets and mechanics to the rpg.
 

D&D as "a boardgame" has actually already been tried. It was done back in the 90's with the Dragon's Den/Goblin's Lair/Haunted Tower sets for BECM D&D.

_b_vrq-q_wk___kgrhqyokioewq1l-nhpbmo1coh-dg___3.jpg


At the time, it did quite poorly as I remember, though that may have been because it was BECM D&D instead of 2E. If it were more along the lines of say, FFG Descent's Road to Legend, it might do better.

It's not something I think I'd want though. D&D boardgames are fine. But not to replace the RPG.

The product you have pictured there was actually the first D&D product I ever owned. My mother got it for me for my ninth birthday. It gave me everything I needed for hundreds of hours of entertainment. But more importantly it left me wanting more. I joined my first gaming troupe just over a year later and never gave it up as a hobby.


love,

malkav
 

D&D as "a boardgame" has actually already been tried. It was done back in the 90's with the Dragon's Den/Goblin's Lair/Haunted Tower sets for BECM D&D.

_b_vrq-q_wk___kgrhqyokioewq1l-nhpbmo1coh-dg___3.jpg


At the time, it did quite poorly as I remember, though that may have been because it was BECM D&D instead of 2E. If it were more along the lines of say, FFG Descent's Road to Legend, it might do better.

It's not something I think I'd want though. D&D boardgames are fine. But not to replace the RPG.
Well, I'm biased, because this was the way most people in Brazil (like myself) were first introduced to D&D. And I loved it :)

In my experience, and from what I gather from others who bought the game, it was not a fantastic introduction to RPGs, unless you already new what that means (I remember friends calling me on the phone, in the middle of their game! lol ), but also not a great boardgame either. I know someone who just recently gave away/sold her box, completely untouched. And she's an avid boardgamer!

I think the new D&D Adventure System does the job much much better. It's easy enough to pick up and play, and allows for great customization. Whithin days after Ravenloft came out, there was already an incredible ammount of non official content on BoardGameGeek! You're not required to do that in order to play it, but you can easily manipulate the rules and bits to create your own content, so it suits your RPG needs.

In the end, I think the boardgame could work, but as a separate venture, perhaps compatible with the main RPG, so it would appease both role and board gamers. IMO, that's what they're already trying right now - though if this is a sign of 5e to come, only time will tell...
 

5E if it ever happens, cannot be a boardgame. If such a game is released and labeled as 5E the question will be 5E of what?

E stands for edition. Edition in this context means rpg edition. If a new game is released that is not an rpg then it can certainly be of the D&D brand but not 5E.
 

5E if it ever happens
It will happen, just like DC Comics will reboot their universe again some day (after September, I mean), and for the same reason: to move more books. (And, at least from the designers' perspective, to improve things.)

Now, it could be 20 years from now, after Hasbro has long since given up on the property and sells it to someone else, who revives the brand, or they could announce it in January.

But it'll happen some day.
 

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