D&D 5E Basic 5e, Anyone Actually Play It?

[Sacrosanct]

Just like the title says. Does anyone actually play or have played basic 5e? If I were to guess, I'd say new players might start at one of the boxed sets (like the new Strormwreck Isle), and then move right on to the full rules.

The basic rules seem to not even be all that basic. They are pretty much the full rules with just a few PC options and that's it. The actual rules of the game are all there, just not the player options. 180 pages of small font text with no art. IMO, that's too big to be considered "basic". I.e., If I'm gonna read that much, I'll just get the actual books.

I'm including the cover to Moldvay's Basic as I think it's the best iteration of basic D&D to date. It was right to the point, didn't have a ton of the extra rules AD&D had, and had a short page count (which is really important IMO that a basic set should have). Also, as a grognard myself, I know a lot of people who still enjoy playing B/X to this day, and played it all through the 80s, 90s, and 00s as well, right alongside of AD&D.

So that begs the question, is Stormwreck 5e's version of B/X? Or is it missing some of those critical pieces (like adventure/world building)?

 

[bxcorgi]

I have never viewed the 5e boxed sets as being analogous to Classic/Basic D&D. The Basic D&D runs from 1977’s Holmes Edition to 1994’s The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game. Basic D&D was more of a continuation of 0e than being a simplified version of AD&D.

A better comparison for the 5e boxed sets would be Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game for 2e and 3e. I have not played the 5e boxed sets but own the Starter Kit, Essentials Kit, Rick & Morty set, and Stormwreck Isle. I skipped the Stranger Things set since it seemed lacking for the money. The sets are simplified and have pregen characters. The dice that come in the sets are fine for table play. They are a ramp for beginners to move up to the 5e PHB and DMG. The boxes also help fill the shelves next to the 5e books.

 

[Zardnaar]

Back in 2014 I played it no phb.

 

[GreyLord]

Just like the title says. Does anyone actually play or have played basic 5e? If I were to guess, I'd say new players might start at one of the boxed sets (like the new Strormwreck Isle), and then move right on to the full rules.

The basic rules seem to not even be all that basic. They are pretty much the full rules with just a few PC options and that's it. The actual rules of the game are all there, just not the player options. 180 pages of small font text with no art. IMO, that's too big to be considered "basic". I.e., If I'm gonna read that much, I'll just get the actual books.

I'm including the cover to Moldvay's Basic as I think it's the best iteration of basic D&D to date. It was right to the point, didn't have a ton of the extra rules AD&D had, and had a short page count (which is really important IMO that a basic set should have). Also, as a grognard myself, I know a lot of people who still enjoy playing B/X to this day, and played it all through the 80s, 90s, and 00s as well, right alongside of AD&D.

So that begs the question, is Stormwreck 5e's version of B/X? Or is it missing some of those critical pieces (like adventure/world building)?

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The closests you can get to B/X is NOT Stormwreck or even the other starter sets.

It's the Essentials Kit.


PS: Yes, I have run 5e basic games.

 

[delericho]

I haven't run Basic. I have run games using just the rulebook from the Essentials Kit, however.

 

[Li Shenron]

The basic rules seem to not even be all that basic. They are pretty much the full rules with just a few PC options and that's it. The actual rules of the game are all there, just not the player options. 180 pages of small font text with no art. IMO, that's too big to be considered "basic". I.e., If I'm gonna read that much, I'll just get the actual books.

I agree, 5e Basic (as per the free document) is just a character material reduction (four classes only, fixed subclass, no feats, no multiclassing), but it's not really a "basic game". I think the real purpose of it, is to provide a sort of "demo" of the game for people to try before buying the PHB, and/or possibly provide a sort of SRD.

In general my concept of a "Basic Game" is related to lower complexity, which means a combination of low level, slimmer in-game rules and simpler character creation, but typically when playing with beginners I offer pre-gens characters for the latter purpose, without limiting to just the 4 iconic classes though... I can easily offer pregens of any class.

 

[Nikosandros]

The first time I ran Phandelver, I did so with just the basic rules. I don't think that the 5e basic sets really compare with B/X though. B/X is a full game that can be used over and over, while the 5e set is basically a one-shot (at least for a given group). There are no rules or suggestions for creating new adventures and there are no rules for creating characters.

 

[Shiroiken]

I doubt many here would play in a game using only Basic 5E. It's probably useful for a group of casual players, since they won't be overwhelmed by options, but most serious gamers are going to want the choice.

 

[Islayre d'Argolh]

Just like the title says. Does anyone actually play or have played basic 5e? If I were to guess, I'd say new players might start at one of the boxed sets (like the new Strormwreck Isle), and then move right on to the full rules.

The basic rules seem to not even be all that basic. They are pretty much the full rules with just a few PC options and that's it. The actual rules of the game are all there, just not the player options. 180 pages of small font text with no art. IMO, that's too big to be considered "basic". I.e., If I'm gonna read that much, I'll just get the actual books.

If the Basic Rules were for levels 1-11 PC only, they could be shorter. In fact, with the CR 17 Adult Red Dragon as the strongest monster in it, there's no point playing past level 12.
We could also cut some monster stat-blocks to go even slimmer (do we really need a badger stat-Block to play D&D ?).

I really like the Basic 5e, reminds me of OD&D.

And from MPOV combining the first Starter set and the Essentials kit gives us something pretty close to B/X, with a lot of playing potential.

 

[Ath'kethin]

I actually passed on the Basic rules because they were still too complex. I ran a game for years using the Dunegonesque set, which is IMO a better Basic 5e D&D than Basic 5e is.