D&D 5E Will D&D Next qualify as "Rules Lite"?

[Argyle King]

Agreed the definition of rules-lite needs to be established, but in plain English I'd say yes. With regards to your comment re 4e having clunky rules I'd have to respectfully disagree. The game was rules-lite, it might have had myriads of powers or classes but that is not what I would equate to as rules-heavy, at least in plain English. IMO, character options don't make the game rules-heavy. It might make it more complex to design a character but not necessarily to play the game.
PS: I'm not referring at all to the duration of combat.

I wouldn't view 4th as "heavy" per se, but I do think it still had its fair share of clunky rules. I'd agree it is not a complex game to play (for the most part,) but it can be a complex game for people to understand; sometimes for reasons which people familiar with the game don't always see. For example, one of my friends had a really hard time understanding why some of his powers would only work with specific weapon types when he first started playing.

 

[delericho]

At release, do you think D&D Next will qualify as rules lite?

Not a chance.

 

[pemerton]

I wouldn't view 4th as "heavy" per se, but I do think it still had its fair share of clunky rules.

I agree with the second - eg in my most recent session the mounted combat rules came into play - but not the first. I think it's pretty heavy in play. (For the sake of clarity - I'm an ex-Rolemaster GM. I'm fine with heavy.)

 

[Sadras]

I wouldn't view 4th as "heavy" per se, but I do think it still had its fair share of clunky rules. I'd agree it is not a complex game to play (for the most part,) but it can be a complex game for people to understand; sometimes for reasons which people familiar with the game don't always see. For example, one of my friends had a really hard time understanding why some of his powers would only work with specific weapon types when he first started playing.

Hmmm, I guess we have to disagree. Rules lite doesn't necessarily mean that there are no rules for the new player to learn (not that you said that in anyway) but given that the powers already state the requirements necessary for the power to work that is just a slip up on the player's side. Unless of course I'm misreading your example.

If you had to list gaming systems in a progressive line from rules lite to rules heavy, I'm of the opinion that 4e is definitely on the side of rules lite. I base a game on how much the DM has to learn, fair enough I have D&D experience under my belt, but I believe that should not be factor given the vagueness of the OP query. and based on that, I felt there was very little as DM I had to learn for 4e.

 

[Ratskinner]

My guess is that Next (at least the basic game) will be very lite for an edition of D&D.

That will still make it grotesquely ponderous in comparison to most of the games that are high on the "rules lite" list.

The last playtest packet struck me as "rules medium".

 

[Desdichado]

At release, do you think D&D Next will qualify as rules lite?

Will it be published in three books; a PHB, a DMG and an MM?

Then no. I'd maybe--maybe--call the old B/X Moldvay rules rules-lite. But even then, that's only relative to D&D specifically, not relative to other games that are generally considered rules-lite. And those were boxed sets, with a 64-page rulebook each.

Lately I've been playing with Microlite a bit, which as you can infer from the title, is meant to be rules-lite. My houserule document, which is a complete game ready to play, with monsters, spells, and lots of rambly discussion on how to GM and whatnot by me, and big public domain artwork files embedded in the text, and a page of OGL and a character sheet, is still only 28 pages.

 

[Kinak]

"Rules Lite" is one of those terms that varies a lot from person to person.

By my internal definition, the first packet was rules lite and the last packet definitely isn't. So I don't expect the final game to be rules lite.

But my expectations for D&D are calibrated to the Rules Cyclopedia and 2nd Edition homebrew. Someone who was looking for something more along the lines of 3rd or 4th might very easily see Next as rules lite.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Serendipity]

Rules light? No. With the understanding that I consider the playtest stuff to be rules medium to more. Rules light to me is anything less complex than B/X or BECMI D&D.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

It's very rules light for a modern D&D game, but not when compared to actual rules light games. I think it's comfortably rules medium.

 

[Yora]

From what I've last seen of the playtest version, it looked pretty rules light.

However, rules bloat is basically the business strategy by which WotC has always produced D&D. Crank that splatbook machine as fast and long as you possibly can. I don't see that they would suddenly turn away from that practice.