A really good overview of 5E. What it is and how they are growing it.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/02/reviewed-dungeons-dragons-5th-edition/
Thanks for the link, MetalDog.
I don't know if anything could tear me away from 3.5. However, if Wizards has, in fact, somehow managed to streamline the game without dumbing it down, I'd probably be willing to at least take the new version for a spin.
I've been running an online campaign for a little over a year now (using Fantasy Grounds) and I really like it. They removed a lot of the bloat from other versions, imho. Very few skills and the extra stuff, like feats can be optional. It reminds me a lot of 1E AD&D, but without the THACO. Yes, I know, Blasphemy. You can pretty much crop out the rules and things you don't want to use and go with it or add on things as preferred. I like how they did Advantage/Disadvantage too.
I was a hardcore 1st ed AD&D fan until I found Microlite20. Anything I might want to do with an RPG is covered for me by M20 and all the versions created by the fans.
From the looks of the review they have went back to the 'Dragonlance' theory which is when I started to drift away from the game. For myself RPGs were about using your imagination. My group might have played straight through 1 module back in the day. We bought source material. I would buy a module packed with lots of maps and extras and strip it. And not just D&D stuff. My favorite source material was Creatures & Treasures 2. I never let anyone know I had that book (there were three full time DMs in the group so it was hard to throw something canon at them that they didn't already know).
When things started being about playing pre-gens in a world just like everyone else was playing everyone I gamed with just lost interest.
I wish they would stop trying to re-create lightning in a bottle and service the fans that like previous editions. The legacy value of D&D is where the heart is...if I want something different there's 10,000 different RPGs these days and hell most of them are free.
Quote from: Wes on February 07, 2016, 03:27:10 AM
My favorite source material was Creatures & Treasures 2. I never let anyone know I had that book (there were three full time DMs in the group so it was hard to throw something canon at them that they didn't already know).
I still have my copy along with a boatload of other Rolemaster books. ICE and their publishers put out tons of good source material stuff.
There's a game store in town. I need to go see what they offer for D&D. It's been way too long since I have.
I've been playing some 5e with a few friends. So far, so good. It really goes back to role playing instead of die roll modifiers for every little damn thing.
Quote from: Double Deuce on February 07, 2016, 03:43:05 AM
Quote from: Wes on February 07, 2016, 03:27:10 AM
My favorite source material was Creatures & Treasures 2. I never let anyone know I had that book (there were three full time DMs in the group so it was hard to throw something canon at them that they didn't already know).
I still have my copy along with a boatload of other Rolemaster books. ICE and their publishers put out tons of good source material stuff.
ICE had a ton of good source. Judges Guild was in the mix and getting White Dwarf and Dragon were essentials. I remember when the Harn material started being released. One of the three DMs picked up an early map and used it for his setting. It was weird. You were riding through what could have passed for beautiful English countryside when suddenly from a stand of trees this shadow would appear and be headed toward the party...OH HELL! FLYING VAMPIRE SQUIRRELS! (Yes, I believe he mutated every creature TSR ever released...I think he was reading Gamma World behind our backs).
Good Times. :)
I still have ICE's Middle Earth RPG (the last edition iirc) along with a few supplements like Dol Guldur and the Creature book. Always thought the Rolemaster system was rather fidgety but at least it was .. interesting.
Quote from: Nefaro on February 08, 2016, 08:10:57 PM
I still have ICE's Middle Earth RPG (the last edition iirc) along with a few supplements like Dol Guldur and the Creature book. Always thought the Rolemaster system was rather fidgety but at least it was .. interesting.
Oh, totally agree and you are being kind. I still have the original 'Laws' books and I just couldn't get into the system.
But I picked up Calenhad: A Beacon of Gondor to design a proper high speed communication system in my setting. That was money well spent.
Favorite picks for 'WTF WAS THAT!' moments from C&T II:
Thracha
Ihl Wolf
Vile
Quote from: Arctic Blast on February 07, 2016, 09:24:10 PM
I've been playing some 5e with a few friends. So far, so good. It really goes back to role playing instead of die roll modifiers for every little damn thing.
It streamlines the game enough so that six people plus a DM isn't unwieldy. After six players the game can bog down some but it isn't fatal as long as everyone is having fun. 3.5's optimal size was about four players. I *loved* the complexity of the game, but it could be daunting.
Along those lines there is no reason why house rules can't be applied to adapt some of the things you like from 3.5 (or other versions) to 5.0. Multi-classing is possible, as is the importation of other races/classes. When I was DMing I had a few 3.5 books handy for thoughts and inspiration that I was working on.
There are also several DMs at my FLGS which have adapted v1.0 modules for 5.0. Personally I didn't enjoy those too much, but they have a good following.
I own every D&D product that Judges Guild ever released (I think). Their world maps were excellent. City State of the Invincible Overlord was great. Tegal Manor. Dark Tower.
I always had to do some adjustments on the Judges Guild materials, but the ideas they generated were excellent.
Minsc from the Balders Gate computer games was the only computer character who came close to some of the quirky personalities of the characters I used to DM for.
Quote from: LongBlade on February 10, 2016, 07:51:19 PM
There are also several DMs at my FLGS which have adapted v1.0 modules for 5.0. Personally I didn't enjoy those too much, but they have a good following.
I had a lot of modules for 1 edition, but very seldom did we play through them unless I didn't have time to come up with an adventure prior to the gaming session. Of course that wasn't very often because I had nothing better to do in my youth then make up dungeons and city scenarios. :) I did love them because of the ideas they provided and I'd steal specific encounters or dungeon sections and make them apart of something I was working on.
Quote from: airboy on February 12, 2016, 03:46:37 PM
I own every D&D product that Judges Guild ever released (I think). Their world maps were excellent. City State of the Invincible Overlord was great. Tegal Manor. Dark Tower.
I always had to do some adjustments on the Judges Guild materials, but the ideas they generated were excellent.
I think I only ever had one of their products but didn't like the layout so never got more of them. They seem pretty popular to this day so I probably missed out on some good stuff but I still have AD&D modules I've had since the 80's that are still unopened. That and an old Army buddy sent me his collection a year or so ago, so I have a ton more copies.
I've been in a 3.5E group for almost to years. The convoluted mechanics and rules often killed the pace and required cross referencing, not to mention the discussions players had amongst themselves or with the DM about this or that.
5E seems to streamline this process quite effectively. And the promise of returning the focus to the storytelling is met, IMO.
It's also easier to go with the flow as a DM and be more creative with plot twists, although I do find that the intricate and creative toolbox the players have at their disposal is reduced quite a bit. Of them is asked more creativity as well instead of resorting to a bag of tricks from some ruleset.
All in all I think 5E is a successful lean version of the DnD system, great for groups who have trouble getting their agenda's to fit regularly and so time management is paramount to be able to get some decent playtime in.
Also, new people to the Tabletop RPG system are much better eased in as well.
For those who like to have many tools and fiddle with the nuts and bolts 3.5 / Pathfinder will probably remain the main system.
I see myself active with both versions.
And yet another case as to why I need to have D&D 5e to augment my Pathfinder/3.5 gaming. It'll be interesting to see how long WotC can resist printing the next "Unearthed Arcana" and had layers of complexity to the rules.
Quote from: Bison on March 04, 2016, 09:27:22 AM
It'll be interesting to see how long WotC can resist printing the next "Unearthed Arcana" and had layers of complexity to the rules.
It's WotC...
They'll put out a whole 'nutha updated D&D 5.5/6.0 version in a handful of years, requiring re-purchase of everything if you want the new deal. Shortly after you've purchased a few hundred dollars worth of 5th Edition. :P
Quote from: Nefaro on March 07, 2016, 10:27:57 PM
Quote from: Bison on March 04, 2016, 09:27:22 AM
It'll be interesting to see how long WotC can resist printing the next "Unearthed Arcana" and had layers of complexity to the rules.
It's WotC...
They'll put out a whole 'nutha updated D&D 5.5/6.0 version in a handful of years, requiring re-purchase of everything if you want the new deal. Shortly after you've purchased a few hundred dollars worth of 5th Edition. :P
You hush your mouth!!
Quote from: MetalDog on March 07, 2016, 11:09:13 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 07, 2016, 10:27:57 PM
Quote from: Bison on March 04, 2016, 09:27:22 AM
It'll be interesting to see how long WotC can resist printing the next "Unearthed Arcana" and had layers of complexity to the rules.
It's WotC...
They'll put out a whole 'nutha updated D&D 5.5/6.0 version in a handful of years, requiring re-purchase of everything if you want the new deal. Shortly after you've purchased a few hundred dollars worth of 5th Edition. :P
You hush your mouth!!
New launches takes years.
Besides, there are still people playing v1.0 at my FLGS. No reason to upgrade if you don't want.
Dude who designed Pathfinder is a good friend and he can't lure me away from 1E AD&D...in which there is no THACO; that heresy replaced my beloved combat tables in 2E.
Gary Con just wrapped up in these parts and it reminds me of why the allure is still there: let's go into the basement and kill things!!
Quote from: Cyrano on March 08, 2016, 11:07:09 AMlet's go into the basement and kill things!!
said this guy
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fassets.rollingstone.com%2Fassets%2F2015%2Farticle%2Fbuffalo-bills-silence-of-the-lambs-house-for-sale-20150819%2F206564%2Fmedium_rect%2F1439990846%2F720x405-MCDSIOF_EC049_H.JPG&hash=3a71965d33bbd36fcced794c49e3bd5dd46372d0)
O0
It puts the scale mail on its skin or it gets the hose...
I really enjoyed the original AD&D when I was a kid. I sure wish I had kept all of that old stuff. ::)
I have some of my 1E AD&D books - Monsters Manual, DM's Guide, Player's Handbook, Legends & Lore. They're pretty beat up but I'd never get rid of them. That's the system I started with. Still my favorite.
I only posted that because I'm hoping to guilt Double Duece into sending me some of his extra stuff. I mean, how many copies do you really need? 8)
Quote from: Toonces on March 11, 2016, 08:31:17 AM
I only posted that because I'm hoping to guilt Double Duece into sending me some of his extra stuff. I mean, how many copies do you really need? 8)
LOL, I'll have to see if I can pry them out of the kid's hands. Over this past year all my GURPS, AD&D and D&D 5e books have disappeared into their rooms. The only one still in my man cave is the Savage Worlds book, probably because its so small and doesn't draw their attention when they go in there rooting around in there.
^ LOL.
I'm looking for the old skool AD&D stuff like this:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1141.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn583%2Fwizardsandwarriors%2F100_3426.jpg&hash=830d07f7b50887383b03b0537ff76591c02868d4)
If you're seriously interested in getting rid of them, I have the brand new 4th edition set in the box-cover sleeve that I've barely opened. I will trade you those for your 1st edition stuff; I also have Neverwinter campaign guide and Dragonlance if you have some extra stuff you're looking to trade. Let me know.
Toonces- I may be able to hook you up :)
Quote from: Toonces on March 11, 2016, 12:45:33 PM
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1141.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn583%2Fwizardsandwarriors%2F100_3426.jpg&hash=830d07f7b50887383b03b0537ff76591c02868d4)
That's pretty much the condition of my AD&D books.
I had all three of those books and I have no idea what happened to them. :(
Quote from: bbmike on March 11, 2016, 02:18:33 PM
I had all three of those books and I have no idea what happened to them. :(
Toonces stole them.
:tickedoff: Toonces!
Quote from: Toonces on March 11, 2016, 12:45:33 PM
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1141.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fn583%2Fwizardsandwarriors%2F100_3426.jpg&hash=830d07f7b50887383b03b0537ff76591c02868d4)
My MM is in way worse shape than that one. The DMG and PHB have held up better.
I had all of that stuff- the Fiend Folio, Dieties and Demigods, a bunch of modules, the red box, the blue box, the aqua(?) box...
All gone. Went to college and I guess it was all taking up just too much room in my mom's basement, all the way in the back, next to the box of stuff that got moved into the house 30 years ago and is still sitting there where it was originally dropped off. ::)
Funny how the wear on those books mimics the wear on mine.
My Mom zapped my comic collection one summer; adios my near entire Micronutrients run (to include the X-Men crossover issue). :-[