D&D 5E Why the D&D Next playtest won't resemble the final product

[Alzrius]

There's a sort of unspoken understanding that a lot of people have regarding the playtests for D&D Next (or, as I prefer to call it, 5E), that being that these playtest packets are giving them an insight into what the final product, when it goes on sale, will look like.

I think that this is inaccurate, for a number of reasons.

Chief among these is because the very nature of playtest packets means that certain features of the game are still up in the air in terms of development - as their name states, these are in need of playtesting, which once it's collected could result in any number of changes. Just look at the differences between the current playtest packet and the very first one; nothwithstanding the things that the first packet simply didn't have, what was there then is notably different from what's there now.

That doesn't mean that what's there now will necessarily be what's in the final release of the game; these changes aren't insights, they're experiments.

The second point to keep in mind is that it's counterintuitive for a free playtest to closely resemble the final material, since too much similarity eats into sales. While there will obviously be early adopters, WotC does not want the people who are anticipating Next to hear that it's 99% the same as the final playtest packet, causing them to think "oh, well I can just use the rules I've got, maybe make some changes myself to approximate what little the official rules did change, and that's good enough."

Now, this doesn't mean that when 5E does come out, the changes it makes from the last playtest packet will necessarily be egregious, but they will likely be numerous, so much so that the actual experience of running a game will be notably different with the final product than with the final packet.

In short, don't assume much - or even anything - about the game based on the way the playtest packets look. What goes into something does not necessarily resemble what comes out.

 

[delericho]

Where I have a problem with that logic is that WotC have started accepting submissions for 5e adventures for Dungeon. It seems frankly bizarre that they would do that if the rules didn't look at least significantly like those we've already seen.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Where I have a problem with that logic is that WotC have started accepting submissions for 5e adventures for Dungeon. It seems frankly bizarre that they would do that if the rules didn't look at least significantly like those we've already seen.

I don't think it's really that bizarre. It's the same reason why they've finally released and reprinted whole swathes of their older edition product on PDF and book form-- all of this stuff should theoretically be compatible to a certain degree with the game when it's finally released. After all... we've been using all kinds of older modules within the playtests themselves. So to think that a D&DN module that gets released in Dungeon won't work with the ultimate game when it's released is pretty far-fetched in my opinion. Will some of the specific monster numbers need to be tweaked after the fact to be used? Probably. But all the rest of the stuff (like plot, number of enemies, DCs for ability checks, etc.) will probably all be able to still be used without issue.

The Basic game foundation is still pretty much set. It's all the other Standard stuff that keeps getting offered up and tweaked. So long as the adventure is compatible with the Basic rules, everything else is just window-dressing.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Of course it will change as they go, but I think the further we get, the more it will resemble the final game.

If there was a lot of changes at the last minute, that would mean that those changes did not go through a public playtest. What would be the point of having the big playtest if you weren't going to make sure that the final game that you actually released was actually tested to make sure that it works. How do they know that they wouldn't just be introducing a whole ton of new problems.

I don't think they need to worry too much about people just using the playtest rules. 90% of the Pathfinder System is free online, but that still sells just fine.

 

[delericho]

After all... we've been using all kinds of older modules within the playtests themselves.

If, as the OP says, the final product won't represent the playtest materials, then neither can we assume that any compatibility with the playtest materials will indicate compatibility with the final product.

Probably more to the point, though, if it truly is just that easy to convert from any other edition to 5e, then it still makes no sense for them to ask for 5e submissions - it makes far more sense for them to ask for submissions for any edition. After all, we have 4+ editions that are known to work (well, as much as they do) versus a new edition that is known not to work. And since the adventure will need conversion anyway, they might as well get sales from old-edition fans as they go.

 

[DaveMage]

I would think WotC would want to write the first few months of adventures themselves so that they can use them to show off the best of what the new system has to offer.

As to the OP, I agree.

 

[Ahnehnois]

How much do we need to see?

I mean, with the 2e-3e transition, the basic innovations were really apparent right off the bat. Numbers that scale up instead of down? Yes please. All checks with d20's, scaled the same way? Why weren't we doing this already. Skills instead of NWP's? Exactly what I always wanted them to be. Multiclassing level by level? Genius. The list goes on. What exactly the classes were, how the skills worked, those kinds of things, hardly matter by comparison.

Same with 4e, in reverse. Power system? Standard modifiers? Roles? Tiers? No thanks. Again, doesn't matter that much what the classes are or how the powers work. Nothing good could ever have come from those basic precepts.

So where's the thing in 5e that would grab me the way skills did? (Or any number of other things)? Where's the basic mechanics that tie D&D together and make every playstyle possible? I haven't seen them. Again, don't care about which classes they include or how feats are selected or that kind of thing. I don't see the one big thing that makes the rest of the game worth buying.

 

[TwoSix]

Same with 4e, in reverse. Power system? Standard modifiers? Roles? Tiers? No thanks. Again, doesn't matter that much what the classes are or how the powers work. Nothing good could ever have come from those basic precepts.

Except for 4e, of course, which is AWESOME.

 

[Kinak]

I would think WotC would want to write the first few months of adventures themselves so that they can use them to show off the best of what the new system has to offer.

Yeah, that's a little weird, but at the same time... Keep on the Shadowfell.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Jester David]

How much do we need to see?

So where's the thing in 5e that would grab me the way skills did? (Or any number of other things)? Where's the basic mechanics that tie D&D together and make every playstyle possible? I haven't seen them. Again, don't care about which classes they include or how feats are selected or that kind of thing. I don't see the one big thing that makes the rest of the game worth buying.

There's advantage/disadvantage, bounded accuracy, the focus on ability scores, skill dice, and baked-in subraces.