D&D5e - Thoughts
D&D5e is out and it seems to be receiving generally positive reviews. I am interested to see what the next year will bring as I partially expect WotC to base its commercial success on how much it dents Pathfinder's fanbase (which is hard to do given what they value), but I am also intrigued by suggestions from WotC that 5e's release schedule will be a lot lighter than 2e, 3e and 4e and more in line with 1e. If so, then its good to see WotC take some of the pressure of the RPG itself (increasing profits through the brand more) and it also makes the RPG more attractive to me as I prefer less releases of higher quality and a focus on adventure material.
My own reaction to 5e remains mildly positive. Its clear that for the first time since 2e, WotC see the true appeal of D&D as D&D itself and not a specific rule set. D&D5e rules are solid but spend most of their effort getting out of the way of gameplay, so that D&D can be played in whatever manner a person wants to play it (and probably has for many years). Normally, this approach doesn't appeal to me. I prefer to see the rules be designed to be the best they can for what they are needed for (and this was very much the appeal of 4e for me).
However, I think 5e's approach makes sense for D&D. D&D seems to hold a relatively unique position where it has mostly been fun despite it rules. D&Ders have always played what they wanted to play with D&D regardless. I think this is a core to why 3e did well despite being an absolute burden to play. The ruleset tries to cater for every manner that a person may want to play D&D in by creating a comprehensive set of mechanics regardless of how they play. As a response to that, 4e tried to create a comprehensive set of mechanics but for a specific play style. Both succeeded to an extent, but ultimately proved a wrong fit for D&D's greatest appeal.
5e sees a return to a pre-2e state of affairs, with a forgiving ruleset with plenty of blank space and flexibility. However, with the benefit of the lessons learned in 3e and 4e, it combines this with a considerably more coherent and solid base ruleset. On paper, there is very little to specifically get excited about, but I am guessing that it will be very good in play. To that end, I have almost confirmed my first test run of 5e, with a 2 to 3 session game starting in mid October, so I will be able to start firming up my opinion on the edition based on actual play experiences.
My own reaction to 5e remains mildly positive. Its clear that for the first time since 2e, WotC see the true appeal of D&D as D&D itself and not a specific rule set. D&D5e rules are solid but spend most of their effort getting out of the way of gameplay, so that D&D can be played in whatever manner a person wants to play it (and probably has for many years). Normally, this approach doesn't appeal to me. I prefer to see the rules be designed to be the best they can for what they are needed for (and this was very much the appeal of 4e for me).
However, I think 5e's approach makes sense for D&D. D&D seems to hold a relatively unique position where it has mostly been fun despite it rules. D&Ders have always played what they wanted to play with D&D regardless. I think this is a core to why 3e did well despite being an absolute burden to play. The ruleset tries to cater for every manner that a person may want to play D&D in by creating a comprehensive set of mechanics regardless of how they play. As a response to that, 4e tried to create a comprehensive set of mechanics but for a specific play style. Both succeeded to an extent, but ultimately proved a wrong fit for D&D's greatest appeal.
5e sees a return to a pre-2e state of affairs, with a forgiving ruleset with plenty of blank space and flexibility. However, with the benefit of the lessons learned in 3e and 4e, it combines this with a considerably more coherent and solid base ruleset. On paper, there is very little to specifically get excited about, but I am guessing that it will be very good in play. To that end, I have almost confirmed my first test run of 5e, with a 2 to 3 session game starting in mid October, so I will be able to start firming up my opinion on the edition based on actual play experiences.