D&D 5E Reality Check: What 5E Will NOT Be

[Mercurius]

• 5E will NOT be a remake of your favorite version of D&D with glossy new books and illustrations.
• 5E will NOT be primarily illustrated by Erol Otus and Jeff Dee.
• 5E will NOT resuscitate outdated and unwieldy game mechanics like combat tables and THAC0 and Resurrection Survival
• 5E will NOT, for all that's holy, bring back Comeliness
• 5E will NOT, hopefully, make shardmind battleminds a viable character option

And, perhaps most importantly of all....

• 5E will NOT, cannot possibly, please every D&D player from every era, edition, age and creed, in every possible way. It will not cater to every proclivity and personal preference of every disgruntled former fan in an effort to woo them back.

What 5E will likely be is...

• A version of D&D that tries to be as flexible as possible, allowing different players and DMs to play or DM in the style of their edition of choice (or something entirely new), all at the same table.

The key being "in the style of" - those players that have some degree of flexibility about what that means, and how something can be "in the style of" their edition of choice without directly emulating the specific rules of their edition of choice, are going to be quite pleased with 5E, I would imagine. Those that are rigidly attached to the specific rules and/or idiosyncrasies of their edition of choice are likely to be disappointed and should probably stick with their edition of choice (although this is where putting the old PDFs back online would be a nice PR move, WotC!).

Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own.

 

[nedjer]

• 5E will NOT be a remake of your favorite version of D&D with glossy new books and illustrations.
• 5E will NOT be primarily illustrated by Erol Otus and Jeff Dee.
• 5E will NOT resuscitate outdated and unwieldy game mechanics like combat tables and THAC0 and Resurrection Survival
• 5E will NOT, for all that's holy, bring back Comeliness
• 5E will NOT, hopefully, make shardmind battleminds a viable character option

And, perhaps most importantly of all....

• 5E will NOT, cannot possibly, please every D&D player from every era, edition, age and creed, in every possible way. It will not cater to every proclivity and personal preference of every disgruntled former fan in an effort to woo them back.

What 5E will likely be is...

• A version of D&D that tries to be as flexible as possible, allowing different players and DMs to play or DM in the style of their edition of choice (or something entirely new), all at the same table.

The key being "in the style of" - those players that have some degree of flexibility about what that means, and how something can be "in the style of" their edition of choice without directly emulating the specific rules of their edition of choice, are going to be quite pleased with 5E, I would imagine. Those that are rigidly attached to the specific rules and/or idiosyncrasies of their edition of choice are likely to be disappointed and should probably stick with their edition of choice (although this is where putting the old PDFs back online would be a nice PR move, WotC!).

Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own.

All of that sounds likely and very playable.

However, I think you've hit on the snapping point for the spin-off Edition War. Without Comeliness it's obviously not D&D and I need to never read the game, never play the game, slag it off to my mates and send the designers hate mail - seems reasonable

 

[Glade Riven]

Besides, there's that 1e AD&D Collectors Box being release. Go buy it - if it sells very well, WotC may reissue <insert favorite edition here> as collector's editions.

 

[Yora]

I would also add that 5th Edition will not be compatible with any other editions.

Lots of people seem to have expected this, but with the misleading choice of words of pretty much everything Monte Cook says, it's not such a suprise.
Still won't happen.

 

[Iosue]

I would also add that 5th Edition will not be compatible with any other editions.

Lots of people seem to have expected this, but with the misleading choice of words of pretty much everything Monte Cook says, it's not such a suprise.
Still won't happen.

I dunno about that....

"We hope to create a system that allows players to use much of their existing content, regardless of the edition." - Mike Mearls.

It's not for nothing that the first open playtest was Caves of Chaos.

 

[gloomhound]

Perfect.

 

[Yora]

It's not for nothing that the first open playtest was Caves of Chaos.

Yes, but from what I know that Module is a floorplan with notes that say "4 goblins" and "2 bugbears". Maybe there are some traps that need actual rules, but those are converted in 10 minutes.

 

[Hassassin]

Not that I expect it to reappear, but what's unwieldy about resurrection survival?

 

[Yora]

What is resurrection survival?

 

[Hassassin]

What is resurrection survival?

A check when you are resurrected which determines if you actually come back to life or are permanently dead.