D&D 5e Products

Looks like they're about to drop this summer.

www.wizards.com/dnd/Event.aspx?x=dnd/4ne...ent/tyrannyofdragons

I know nothing of the gameplay, as I haven't followed along with the 5e playtest. The Starter Set at only $20 looks attractive though.

Not a big fan of these covers, however. Pretty terrible. Take the book titles away and the covers could be swapped around. They all simply have some large monster singing/yelling and mean nothing in relation to the contents. Who let these covers pass? Where's the exploration or adventure. Looks like it's all action.

Anyone play 5e? Is it a dud?

The art is basically what you'd expect from WotC in 2014, predictable and uninspiring. Not sure about the game, not really that interested in it, but if it gets good words I'll check it out. ddcrpg4lyfe.

Word on the street is that mechanically it is kind of between 2e and 3e. Has a lot of the more modern, streamlined design aesthetic of 3e (simpler saves, ascending AC, etc.) but is not as crunchy or complicated as 3e and 4e.

A good chunk of the old-school crowd online seems to have a positive reaction to it, although many of them are perfectly happy with their retroclone of choice.

Loter was running a playtest version for a while and had good things to say about it.

I flipped through it but wasn't inspired enough to run it. Between Swords & Wizardry, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, DCC, and a dozen more that I only have in PDF, I have enough classic class/level games that any more are really going to have to bring something new to the table.

dysjunct wrote: although many of them are perfectly happy with their retroclone of choice.

Does 2nd Edition count?

I have two dozen characters that made their way up in the AD&D ruleset that just can't upgrade without losing half their spells or abilities. I've been able to work them in 2nd edition well enough by grandfathering in Unearthed Arcana material and the like. The game was straightforward enough in 2nd edition, all the follow-ons seem to have added is a revenue stream for TSR/Wizards. Chasing the upgrades is a waste of money, simply no compelling reason to upgrade.

S.

I wont be getting it, DCC, Astonishing Swords & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, and S&W are already out and i am familiar with them. Besides I'm really into the old school art and feel anyways. The covers for the new edition do look ugly.

Be interesting to see how it does.

edit;

also why release the players guide in August and then the DMG in November?

Apparently the basic game will be free to download:

www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20140527

That is a really good move by WOTC and given their boneheadedness in the past, I'm surprised. But it's really the only way to compete with the massive amount of free content out there under the OGL.

I agree that the art is distinctly uninspiring.

DukeofChutney wrote: also why release the players guide in August and then the DMG in November?

I'm sure it has to do in part with printing capacity limits, the perception that a staggered release schedule will make it more likely for people to pick up all of what are essentially pretty expensive ($50 list price) books, and the likelihood, from the description I read, that there's almost nothing in the DMG that's literally required to play.

Bull Nakano wrote: The art is basically what you'd expect from WotC in 2014, predictable and uninspiring.

I happen to know more on this subject, as a certain someone I know contributed to it (and your truly might appear in it somewhere, though it's going to be damned hard to spot). They went for a more traditional look (meaning not digital) by hiring artists who either work traditionally or those who make a good enough job of making it look so. The reason for this is that the game is much more "old school" than 4e was, and if you had played Next at all, you'd already know this and know that this edition is going to be really fun. Whether or not the final product lives up to that initial vision, we'll have to wait and see.

God, I hope it isn't overwrought and played out.