WotC What Official 5E non-D&D Game Do You Want To See from WotC?

[LuisCarlos17f]

Today after buying my Eclipse Phase RPG I miss transhumanist technology in my sci-fi game, with the mind-upload and digital inmortality.

 

[Jaeger]

I can't recall a fantasy media thing that feels like the forgotten realms in a long time.

Harry Potter* aside, If you look at the Fantasy that has broken out into the mainstream, you have:
Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Conan, and The Witcher.

All three taken individually, or heck, even combined are far and away more "low-magic", and less fantastical, than Forgotten Realms ever was. Or core book baseline D&D for that matter.

You don't have to throw in the kitchen sink to make a fantasy setting compelling, and adventure worthy.

*Kids fare will naturally be more whimsical by default.

If they deviated hard from 5E and did a sort of E6-ish thing I could see it working but the OP's position is that they don't.

^This^ And I don't think a E6 or even E3 play model would be that hard of a deviation.

And, he did say:

using 5E as a base

I see some wiggle room there!

Part of why D&D doesn't work for some fantasy genres/vibes though is its use of linearly increasing HP.

Plenty of RPGs which either have HP that don't increase linearly (in some cases don't increase significantly at all after chargen), or don't use HP at all are as fun or more fun than D&D

In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's one of the things that people tend to end up disliking about D&D, and it's one of the many reasons so many campaigns peter out in the 8-12 level bracket, because HP have got so crazy. It's also why in editions where people have low HP at L1-3, adventures often have to be written in peculiar ways to "shepherd" PCs out of that zone, and why, as far back as 2E, starting L3 seemed like a good idea.

I'll go further and say that making d20/5e based games around an E6, or even a E3, flat HP paradigm is a big unexplored design space for d20 games that even the OSR has yet to dive into.

5e's 'Bounded Accuracy' based math would be a good base for this. And the Dark Souls RPG, even though a bit DOA, did show that there is enthusiasm for a 5e variant that is willing to redesign itself around a different paradigm of play. A E3 fix HP fantasy game would play out very differently over time than the current HP to 20 levels 5e model.

If WotC does a Gamma World or Star Frontiers style game; A fixed HP model should be embraced.

Which of course means that neither will ever happen. I just cannot see WotC doing a5e based game that doesn't work exactly the same way as their D&D offering.

I'd be interested in seeing what Wizards would do with the 5e engine outside of D&D, if only from a game design perspective.

Another poster here listed opined how all current alternate D&D settings serve to drive corebook sales. All the settings they offer always have a clause that everything in the PHB is a-ok to play. I wish I remembered who it was so I could quote it but the post is from a while back in an older thread. And I find myself in agreement with that assessment.

I really doubt that WotC would even do a setting where Core PC classes are redesigned and flat out not allowed, let alone a ground up 5e based RPG. I really think that they don't want to clutter up their D&D 'lifestyle' branding.

I think Star Frontiers and Gamma world should get a shot - but unless WotC is gonna take a real crack at what a custom 5e based game can do, and support the game line, then they are best left alone.

And to be honest, given recent 5e offerings, I'd take my chances on some well known 'amateur' game designers having their hands on the reigns over the WotC 'professionals'...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'll go further and say that making d20/5e based games around an E6, or even a E3, flat HP paradigm is a big unexplored design space for d20 games that even the OSR has yet to dive into.

Yeah I'm honestly surprised we haven't see people do this much yet. Especially the OSR stuff which nowadays tends to be pretty daring systems-wise. I was somewhat disappointed to see Worlds Without Number didn't take a smarter approach to HP despite solving a number of other perennial "D&D oddity" issues fairly handily (not least knocking out/killing unaware characters).

 

[Jaeger]

Yeah I'm honestly surprised we haven't see people do this much yet. Especially the OSR stuff which nowadays tends to be pretty daring systems-wise. I was somewhat disappointed to see Worlds Without Number didn't take a smarter approach to HP despite solving a number of other perennial "D&D oddity" issues fairly handily (not least knocking out/killing unaware characters).

The only thing I can think of is that it is a kind of a game design 'blind spot'.

Level goes up, of course HP must go up... It has just been so much a part of D&D based games design, that it is just taken as a given. Changing it just doesn't occur to them.

When really 'levels' are just a way to do advancement, and there is no real reason HP has to scale with it.

But in fairness, I'm a minority opinion on this.

People love having high hit point PC's, or rather, I think they love the idea of it. To the point that many are willing to ignore/put up with the scaling issues that HP bloat inevitably induces in the game system at higher levels.

 

[Stormonu]

People love having high hit point PC's, or rather, I think they love the idea of it. To the point that many are willing to ignore/put up with the scaling issues that HP bloat inevitably induces in the game system at higher levels.

I actually prefer 1E/2E's handling of HP, where it really started to peter out at 9th level. You still got some, but at a much reduced rate.

As for Star Frontiers, I really liked the mechanics of Alternity better than SF's - but as mentioned earlier, I think WotC gave up the Alternity rights. But most of all I like a mix of Star Frontier's races with Star*Drive's setting. Go team Yazarian!

On GW, if someone preferred the edition from the 4E time period, I'd need an explanation as my own experience with that version was grossly underwhelming and unappetizing - especially considering the card booster sets.

 

[Jer]

As for Star Frontiers, I really liked the mechanics of Alternity better than SF's - but as mentioned earlier, I think WotC gave up the Alternity rights. But most of all I like a mix of Star Frontier's races with Star*Drive's setting. Go team Yazarian!

Wizards didn't give up the rights to the game mechanics for Alternity, they let the trademark lapse and Sasquatch published a new game with the name Alternity and similar but not the same dice mechanics. They were pretty explicit that they were not stepping on Wizards copyrights, only using the trademark that had lapsed.

 

[Jaeger]

I actually prefer 1E/2E's handling of HP, where it really started to peter out at 9th level. You still got some, but at a much reduced rate.

I am of the opinion that had WotC stuck to that HP paradigm with 3-5e it would have smoothed out the math at higher levels and greatly reduced the scaling issues that have plagued every edition since.

But most of all I like a mix of Star Frontier's races with Star*Drive's setting. Go team Yazarian!

Not a bad notion at all...

IMHO Star frontiers has the more recognizable name in the hobby, but the star drive setting was better.

I can see a new Star Frontier's the game, but with the star drive setting. More or less...

I would totally to a scum and villainy/edge of the empire take on the default mode of play. i.e. Firefly.

But such a thing might be seen as grand heresy.


If I did Gamma World I would openly commit grand heresy.

My 5e based Gamma World would be reimagined from the ground up. It would be a combination of Fallout + MadMax + Jurassic Park. Or if we want to reference obscure games: Atomic Highway + Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.

But don't worry, GW is safe.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Star Drive is the name of a videogame without links to the RPGs. Star Frontiers can be the title, but the lore or background can be Star*Drive or a rebooted version mixed with some things from Star Frontiers. It is strange but I imagine it as sci-fi with a lot of vintage look.