New D&D is officially released

[Double Deuce]

The new D&D version (5e or Next or whatever you want to refer to it as) is out and free for download. You can grab it at Basic Rules for Dungeons & Dragons. Its about 2.7MB and 110 pages.

[Martok]

Thanks for the heads-up, DD! 


Holy crap, though:  Did you see the price for the Players Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide is set at $50.00 each??!  Farkin' a... 

[Double Deuce]

Yeah, you can get them on Amazon for almost 1/2 that though or could at certain times.

[Double Deuce]

Also, just so everyone knows, the free Basic Rules do NOT include any monsters. To get those you need do wait for the Monster Manual to be released or purchase some modules that have monsters in them.

[Double Deuce]

Also, just so everyone knows, the free Basic Rules do NOT include any monsters. To get those you need to wait for the Monster Manual to be released (September 30, 2014) or purchase some modules that have monsters in them.

[Nefaro]

I vowed never to purchase a D&D set again.  I lost count how many new editions I bought over the years.  But the real kicker was after buying 3.0, which was an excellent upgrade, they then re-released it as "3.5" a short time later.  F'ers.  And then kept going. 

I was done.   

For fantasy, I vaguely considered picking up the latest Warhammer Fantasy (I still have the original one from the 80s somewhere IIRC) in the hopes that it's much improved.  But I grabbed the new Shadowrun and Star Wars core books instead.  I won't even end up playing them, anyway.  ;D

[Double Deuce]

I bailed on the D&D train when they went to 2e AD&D but having read through the new edition stuff it does seem that they have gone back to the earliest versions. The books will add on extra, like feats and other classes/races but the Basic Game reminds me of OD&D/AD&D the most. They even have simple grapple rules now.   8)

[Double Deuce]

So, the kids and I rolled up characters last night and ran through some check situations and encounters to give a it go. It was really smooth and reminded me a lot of the old school versions (OD&D and 1e) and what I think they could have been with a some tweaking (I'm looking at your THAC0).

At first I was just going to stick with the free Basic Rules and go with those, then just convert my stacks of 1e and 2e stuff to it on my own, but after re-reading the docs and that little playtest I am seriously leaning towards getting the 3 main books when they are released.

[bayonetbrant]

I'll totally end up getting the, because I'm a compulsive completist that way.  But honestly, I'm really hoping there's some sort of continuing 4e aftermarket that'll support that version through add'l expansions and releases, even if it's from a different company.  I really, really enjoyed 4e and had a lot of fun playing it.

[Double Deuce]

I hadn't followed 4e, how is the licensing on that version? Have they been pretty tight with the 3rd party stuff? I wold expect them to lighten up if they wanted to keep stuff on the shelves.

[bayonetbrant]

I hadn't followed 4e, how is the licensing on that version? Have they been pretty tight with the 3rd party stuff? I wold expect them to lighten up if they wanted to keep stuff on the shelves.

no idea how it works.  I could find out but I haven't cared enough to look into yet.  I imagine they'll be reluctant to license much since they seem to be trying to bury 4e and forget it existed.

[Martok]

I'm still on the fence with this new edition.  I've been reasonably satisfied with 3.0/3.5 for the last 15+ years; 5e will have to be pretty compelling to make me want to switch. 

[bbmike]

I'm still on the fence with this new edition.  I've been reasonably satisfied with 3.0/3.5 for the last 15+ years; 5e will have to be pretty compelling to make me want to switch.

I haven't played D&D since the mid 80's and I was wondering what do any of these version changes do? Once you have a ruleset can't you just use that and/or modify it to your own needs?

[Double Deuce]

Hmm, that could  be a loaded question.    8)

Probably depends who you ask. I have never played any version beyond 2e AD&D but, the newer versions mostly added extra classes, races, and added things like skills and feats. By the time 4e came along many felt it had morphed into more of a board game where you needed miniatures and a gridded battlematt to play and with rules that seemed more constricting. But having not played anything beyond 2e (actually I don't think I ever played it, just more familiarized myself with it via the books) I cannot say from a personal standpoint on how those later version actually played. I don't have a single 3.0/3.5 book and my 4e books were purchase done on a whim but never opened other than to scan the art.

5e seems to have gone back to the old versions as its base and then the forthcoming "advanced" rules will bolt on the extra features found in the later versions. This way you have a base set of rules and can select optional rules for your specific wants and needs. It actualy reminds me of the way HarnMaster is organized and how that game's optional rules are available to be added individually in a more modular format.

[Martok]

With apologies to fans of AD&D, I will say I liked 3.0/3.5 more because it was more intuitive, at least for me.  The higher you roll, the better...and no silliness like THAC0 and negative armor class numbers. 

That's oversimplifying it, of course, but I really did struggle to grasp/follow the rules for AD&D -- even the basics often eluded me.  In contrast, I picked up the rules for 3.0/3.5 pretty quickly, and in general have had to puzzle over only the most obscure details/minutiae of the game.