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The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

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Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#31

Post by dragonwriter »

klipt wrote: post #29
dragonwriter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5e did what I would have thought impossible: the people that preferred 4e to earlier editions largely liked it, the people who were repulsed by 4e but stayed with 3e/3.5e or forks of those liked it, and a lot of the “old school” crowd that preferred OD&D, B/X or BECMI D&D, or AD&D 1e or 2e also liked it.

Pathfinder still has a dedicated following though - maybe that's the one niche (tons of detailed customizations and third party add ons) 5e didn't fill?

Sure. I'm not saying 5e killed every other D&D and clone system, just that it seems to have come done a good job at appealing broadly to what had become a very balkanized fanbase with separate communities that were hostile to each other's preferred systems.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#32

Post by klodolph »

dmoy wrote: post #22
forapurpose wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would someone who already knows AD&D 1e switch to the new one? What does that person gain? Imagine this hypothetical person wants to spend as little time as possible learning and on details, and as much as possible on creative experiences.

Not having to use THAC0 ever again would be one thing they would gain. I'd make a silly wager that the net time saved by using 5e rules would outweigh the cost of learning them.

THAC0 didn't come around until 2e, 1e had hit tables. You can see them on p. 74 of the AD&D DMG, with some more notes on p. 82.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#33

Post by thefalcon »

dmoy wrote: post #22
forapurpose wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would someone who already knows AD&D 1e switch to the new one? What does that person gain? Imagine this hypothetical person wants to spend as little time as possible learning and on details, and as much as possible on creative experiences.

Not having to use THAC0 ever again would be one thing they would gain. I'd make a silly wager that the net time saved by using 5e rules would outweigh the cost of learning them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/3au0ie/thac0_origins_a...

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#34

Post by curiousGambler »

gerdesj wrote: post #27
acbabis wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another very important reason was left out: The 5th edition of the game was very well designed and received critical acclaim among veterans who were disappointed by the 4th edition. The article makes it sound like there's been a resurrection when in fact the game was just hibernating.

What on earth are these edition things? I'll have to dig out my DMG, PH, MM, FF etc. Apparently, they might be cool. Then there is Traveller, Runequest, Tunnels and Trolls, Car Wars (with Truck Stop etc) and rather a lot more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editions_of_Dungeons_%26_Drago...

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#35

Post by dragonwriter »

klodolph wrote: post #32
dmoy wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having to use THAC0 ever again would be one thing they would gain. I'd make a silly wager that the net time saved by using 5e rules would outweigh the cost of learning them.

THAC0 didn't come around until 2e, 1e had hit tables. You can see them on p. 74 of the AD&D DMG, with some more notes on p. 82.

That's true; it's easy to forget that THAC0 was a simplification from 1e.

Though that kind of reinforces the point.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#36

Post by thefalcon »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #10

>half a dozen paid Dungeon Masters... Still trying to process that. Do I need to polish my resume? What type of experience is required? How many applications did he get? How old were the applicants?

Paid DMs can be a great experience for everyone, especially if all the people in your play group "just want to play."

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#37

Post by Steko »

klodolph wrote: post #32
dmoy wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having to use THAC0 ever again would be one thing they would gain. I'd make a silly wager that the net time saved by using 5e rules would outweigh the cost of learning them.

THAC0 didn't come around until 2e, 1e had hit tables. You can see them on p. 74 of the AD&D DMG, with some more notes on p. 82.

Actually it was introduced before 2e but wasn't a core system in 1e.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#38

Post by BillBohan »

I tried getting friends to play RPG's in the early 1980's but they didn't show much interest until I came across a supply of 6" (150 mm) square pieces of styrofoam (discarded packing material from work) which I painted with gray acrylic paint. I cut some in half and some in quarters and used them to depict the dungeons for use with metal miniatures. After that I had a group which showed up every month for 5 years.

I wrote a program for my computer which generated dice rolls, monsters, treasures, and random names to assist me in my role as Dungeon Master but the critical element was my ability to ignore or re-roll any result which seemed too unfavorable. Good players really help the game but a good Dungeon Master is essential for an enjoyable game. Computers alone cannot exhibit the empathy necessary for a great game.

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#39

Post by tunesmith »

dragonwriter wrote: post #21
nickthegreek wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just searched for something like this about a month ago and found nothing. I think both an ipad app to design 2d dungeons for print or use on sites like roll20 as well as an AR app could corner the market. The only good d&d mobile apps are on iOS only and have no real competition either (Fight Club 5 and Game Master 5).

Deep integration with rules may have licensing issues, and as D&D Beyond expands, apps which lack such integration may have trouble competing with the growing first-party service.

What's the growing first-party service?

Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons

#40

Post by squeaky-clean »

gerdesj wrote: post #27
acbabis wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another very important reason was left out: The 5th edition of the game was very well designed and received critical acclaim among veterans who were disappointed by the 4th edition. The article makes it sound like there's been a resurrection when in fact the game was just hibernating.

What on earth are these edition things? I'll have to dig out my DMG, PH, MM, FF etc. Apparently, they might be cool. Then there is Traveller, Runequest, Tunnels and Trolls, Car Wars (with Truck Stop etc) and rather a lot more.

Every 8 or so years they revamp the rules and release it as a new edition. Aside from few exceptions, they're mostly incompatible with each other and offer different rules for combat, skill usage and training, etc, and quality-of-life improvements.

3e (more specifically 3.5e) was extremely popular. There's now a ruleset called Pathfinder made by another company, Paizo, that continues the style of 3.5e and is mostly compatible with it (though it has its own core rulebooks and most people I know don't mix 3e and PF).

4e wasn't as well liked but it still had mostly good reception. It was very polarizing to many players. This obviously isn't the space for a debate about it but I think the biggest cause of complaints are the way the combat system was overhauled. Many people compare it more to a modern RPG video game rather than a pen and paper one.

5e has had a great reception from old and new players. It's rules are definitely closer to 3rd edition than it is to 4th. Though it brought in a lot of quality of life improvements from 4. For example while it makes sense that 'Hide' and 'Move Silently' are two separate skills, it just means a rogue has to split their skill points between two things. There's not many scenarios outside of comedy where you give a character 'Hide' but not 'Move Silently' or vice versa. 5e has merged both of these into a single Stealth skill.

All the editions are still considered Dungeons and Dragons though, and not separate games (of which there are many wonderful ones, some of which have their own 1e, 2e, 3e, an so on...)

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