D&D 5E (2014) Why such little content (books) for Dnd 5e?

[miniaturehoarder]

Planar Guide for travelling the planes and gear to go with it (and yes someone who played AdnD 1e

Then use you 1E manual of the planes. Book didn't burst into flames.

 

[Shiroiken]

But if I put on my jerk hat...I personally think this strategy is frickin stupid--we at a minimum need:

The PHB, MM, and DMG. Everything else is just wants.

Planar Guide for travelling the planes and gear to go with it (and yes someone who played AdnD 1e I have a right to request this so lick my b#lls)

Request all you want, but they've already implied that this is low priority. As a fellow 1E AD&D grognard, I would like to remind you that the Manual of the Planes was one of the later books in the edition. Planar games just aren't that important.

1 solid, detailed Campaign setting (FR, Greyhawk who cares but we need at least 1)

I kind of agree, but would again remind you that Gygax only published Greyhawk by popular demand (he felt that everyone should make their own world).

They've said they will support a total of 5 settings for 5E. As has been discussed elsewhere, this doesn't mean 5 campaign setting books, only information for said settings. I would LOVE to see a Forgotten Realms campaign book, or at least a supplement updating the world post-sundering.

Fiend Folio (or more monster books in general, DnD needs way more monsters, wth!!!)

Everyone wants more monsters. There are rules to create your own in the DMG (kinda iffy, IMO, but at least guidelines). We don't NEED more monsters, but I figure they're adding monsters using the adventures (which was common in early 1E).

If they just release these 3 core books then a bunch of adventures, 5e will be more quickly dead than 4e, what a waste.

Honestly, 5E reminds me mostly of early 1E. It had a slower release schedule than later editions, and used adventures to add to the game, rather than splat-books. I wish they'd do more smaller adventures than APs (I don't like APs as a rule), but I accept that I'm in the minority on that.

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

Personally, I'm pleased with the 5E release schedule and 5E as a whole. And, I do like the idea of just one or two adventure paths a year with a player's companion to go with them. I like this model, a lot.

I wouldn't mind a Monster Manual 2, a Fiend Folio, or a Player's Handbook 2. But, those aren't my primary concerns. My primary concern for this edition is playing it. I don't want to be overwhelmed with splatbooks just for the sake of splat. And, if I need something that isn't in the core books, I'm comfortable creating or converting it, myself. I feel that the core of 5E does a good job in providing guidelines for this (though an official conversion document would be welcomed, but isn't absolutely required).

 

[Umbran]

But if I put on my jerk hat...I personally think this strategy is frickin stupid--we at a minimum need:

I think you are confusing, "I, myself, really want...," with, "We, all of us, need..."

I don't need those things. In a little while, an extra monster book would be nice. Planar guides and campaign settings are books I'd take only small bits of content from, leaving most of it unused. So, no, I don't need them.

I think they'd find a stack of stand-alone adventures to be an asset. This is something they could farm out to third parties, either by an open license or by deals with specific publishers - either would be fine.

 

[Kyn@BattleBards]

For someone that bought way too many books during AD&D 2E and 3.5E I'm really glad that much of the core material for 5e is actually available for free. Beyond that a handful of books means it's just easy to get into and play. Remember that though WotC has a core group of gamers with higher spending potential they also need to introduce this material to younger players who have one too many alternate options to D&D competing for their spare time. Simplifying and focusing will keep the game far more accessible.

 

[Jester David]

I just checked the Wizards Catalog and there really isn't anything more coming out for 5e this year.

They just announced the next storyline this past week, so there's another book coming and likely another player's guide. Plus all the online content.
They might also have another book coming in August that they're not ready to talk about yet. Possibly a campaign setting, possibly an accessory. No one knows.

I just bought all 3 core books and am excited for more. Anything, really: campaigns, options books, splat books etc....but at this point it looks like 5e RPG table top is dead....

They will probably milk the license cash cow for awhile and the board game angle...but looks like the classic RPG is deader than .... dead...

Hope I am wrong.

They've said in interviews and at panels that they want to limit books this time round, to not release books for the sake of releasing books. They want to have a reason to make new content beyond just people wanting more.

For example, people were a little unhappy with the sorcerer options, given wild magic was a bit esoteric leaving the dragon sorcerer as the go-to option. So they pushed out the favoured soul and stormborn sorcerers. We know they're working on other class content as well, but they're likely holding off on that until they get some more feedback and word-of-mouth to see what characters people are struggling to create.

I bought the 3 core books and have played maybe 30-40 hours with them so far, not much. But I was looking for more material, but it looks like it will be much later, if ever at all.

Keep in mind there's all of 3-5 people working on the D&D books at this moment. They spent all of last year working hard on the core rulebooks and nothing else (for obvious reasons). It's going to take some time to get other books written, let alone released.
There's a reason all the adventures are outsourced to other studios.

Seems like they are doing the anti-pathfinder route--which is an interesting business strategy. Like some said, treating it more like a brand instead of an RPG.

Pathfinder is also doing the anti-Pathfinder route now. When it launched it eschewed monthly books in favour of 3-4 hardcovers each year and accessories every couple months. Their release schedule has only gotten bigger and bigger as the company gained popularity.
5e is taking the more classic slow Pathfinder release schedule and slowing that down even more when it comes to game accessories.

But if I put on my jerk hat...I personally think this strategy is frickin stupid--we at a minimum need:

Planar Guide for travelling the planes and gear to go with it
1 solid, detailed Campaign setting (FR, Greyhawk who cares but we need at least 1)
Fiend Folio (or more monster books in general, DnD needs way more monsters, wth!!!)

I'm sure we'll see some of those. The campaign setting almost certainly. A Manual of the Planes would be cool but there are 3-4 of those already available that need very little conversion to be useful.

And with all the classic monsters out there that didn't quite make the cut for the Monster Manual I imagine a second monster book is inevitable as well.

If they just release these 3 core books then a bunch of adventures, 5e will be more quickly dead than 4e, what a waste.

Dead is subjective. 4e is dead because they'll never release more content. 5e is still seeing online articles and adventures, so it's hard to call it dead. No more dead than AD&D was in 1980 after the DMG was released. If they want to release more books, they can do so at any time.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

[MENTION=7500]Nostromo[/MENTION] I can see why you might feel the "need" for those things...being one of the old guarde and comming back to RPG's now probably has you feeling a bit "out of the water". I'm also one of those resident "curmudgeonly grognards", having started my RPG'ing career with B/X in '80. If I went straight from 1e to 5e, the lack of books would seem a bit of a shock.

That said... 5e is more akin to the B/X and 1e style of "make it yourself" attitude. The actual system reflects this quite obviously, IMHO. There are a LOT of vagaries used when describing how something works or doesn't in the game. Wherein with 3.5e, a spell would have three paragraphs with several mentions of exactly what will not work (like, "...the spell can not be cast on ceilings or walls"), with 5e it uses much more broad language (like "...when cast on a surface, such as a floor").

All of that feeds into the baseline of 'how' the game is meant to be played: "Rulings, not Rules" is the mantra with 5e. Because of this, I find it refreshing and dirt-simple to just "wing it" and adapt things on-the-fly as they turn up. So far with 5e, I've run short campaigns in FR (the Starter Set), Paeleen (my homebrew...quite different in a lot of ways), Aereth (the DCC campaign setting from Goodman Games), and currently the World of Generika (exactly what it sounds like). For adventures, I used the ones from the Starter Set (Lost Mines of Phandelver; and not all of the content from that). I've also used a Labyrinth Lord adventure, a 1e AD&D adventure, a DCC 3e adventure, a Pathfinder adventure, and several others from all manner of "fantasy games". I have done almost ZERO pre-conversion on all of those. I was able to easily come up with suitable monsters, spells, items, rules, etc, all on-the-fly, simply because there aren't a half-dozen extra splat/campaign/whatever books out there that I would feel obligated to look through to find something that fits.

My suggestion is to keep playing 5e and use all the stuff that's already out there for (A)D&D. Or any other RPG for that matter. I'm sure you'll start to get your 5e-feet and pretty soon you'll be playing Keep on the Borderlands, set in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy with equipment from Talislanta and Jorune. And the cool thing is...it will all still feel like 5e D&D! Pretty amazing if you ask me.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[tgmoore]

Goodman games has 2x adventure modules and 2 more being kickstarted.

Frog God Games has 5th Edition Foes which bats clean up on nearly everything left out of the 5E Monster Manual.

I have been using some of betrer 1st Ed modules and converting as I go. Started with against the Cult of the Reptile God moving to Hidden Shrine of Tamochan and next is Isle of Dread.

 

[Queer Venger]

Wow.... a lot of speculative drivel with no real world basis....

DnD is *more* than just an RPG. DnD is *also* now a brand. (Which has been true for a long time actually.....)

Many people don't want an endless font of crunch books coming out..... WotC has decided to go with that business model. This isn't a baby on a respirator, its a healthy game system that is not relying on a constant spam of content to try and stay afloat.'

+1, couldn't have put it better.

 

[GameOgre]

Really threads like this I mostly try and avoid. Failed my save on this one.

Shrug, WOTC was tarred and feathered for being a money grubbing evil corporation that would endlessly put out splats ect to milk it's customers dry. Every four years those evil $%$% would be putting out a new edition without the ink being dry on the last one.

They try something different and it's "The game is stillborn and they care nothing for the role playing game and are just a money grubbing evil corporation trying to just sell video games.

There is no defense for these type threads.

Personally I want more stuff to buy. Yes in the end I just might bitch and moan that there is too much bloat (See the $1,000 worth of Pathfinder on my self) but at least It would be a fat and contented belly laugh/moan by that point and I would have single handedly paid for the WOTC electric bill for a few months.

But I'm not angry about it. Let em do there thing and who knows maybe it will work out. Meanwhile I really do have EVERYTHING I need to run 5e GAME FOR YEARS(if I can get off my butt and create some stuff myself).