O5R Player's Guide

It's been awhile since I've posted anything.  Sorry about that, I've been busy finishing up my trio of adventures for the Trinity of Awesome Returns Kickstarter.

Just got to look at the Crimson Dragon Slayer scenario, and I'm quite pleased with it.

Anyways, this post is for posing a question, specifically to the OSR crowd, though I'm more than happy to hear from D&D 5th edition gamers, as well as, those who enjoy fantasy roleplaying games without relying too much on bloated rules, complicated mechanical fiddly-bits, and anything that takes authority away from the Game Master.

While still adhering to the Old School Renaissance aesthetic/philosophy, what sorts of things would you want to see in a player's guide or player's handbook?  I'm talking about options, tools, features, anything that might improve the experience for a player.

Thanks in advance for answering!

VS

Giving 5e D&D a try

The day is here (one of them, at least), the hour almost upon us (or way past if you're not reading this immediately after I post it).  The online, free, basic Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has arrived!

It's HERE!!!

Even though I've been or mirrored a mix of emotions about this latest iteration, I'm still excited to see, run, and tinker around with it.  The following is my 5e schedule so far...

• On July 17th, I'll be running two back-to-back demos at the Madison Central Public Library using the Starter Set intro adventure.
• On July 26th, I'm running 5e for my home game group (which I haven't seen much of, let alone gamed with in months).  Not sure if I'll use Lost Mine of Phandelver or something else... probably something else since I've got a ton of unused modules and it would be cool to see how she flies using an OSR scenario.
• Sometime in September, I'll be starting my weekly home game up again.  Not sure what system will be the core of this campaign but 5e will surely play a part.  If there are empty seats at the table, well, there's no better way of finding players than to run D&D.
• There's a new (this will be their 2nd year) tabletop gaming convention in my home town, Madison, WI - Game Hole Con.  November 7th - 9th.  I ran a bunch of Liberation of the Demon Slayer games last year and this year I'll be doing a single session of The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence, Saturday at noon for six hours!  Originally, I had posted the event using Swords & Wizardry, but since D&D 5e can be scaled down to an old school flavor, I reckoned D&D would be more inviting.  And this time I'll take pictures, damn it!

During all those D&D games, I'll do what I do with every roleplaying game I Game Master - experiment!  I'll try out new and very familiar house rules, swamp one game mechanic out for another, modify little bits here and there, and just see what happens, improvising as best I can.  The library demos will probably be the purest form of "basic" 5e because each session is only 2 hours; it will be a true test of the new system both for myself and all the casual RPG or 5e noobs who signed up to play.

There's no doubt I'll incorporate my critical hit table from Purple, dark secrets from Liberation, several awesome innovations from 13th Age, perhaps something from Dungeon World (amazon doesn't know where the fuck it is at the moment!), spells from Space-Age Sorcery, and that idea I had about outside-the-box combat stunts.  Probably lots more in varying degrees...

That's how I game.  As soon as the world and characters take shape, they change from what's written down in some book or on some character sheet.  It's purely subjective, moments of another reality.  Just as real as our everyday experiences... occasionally more so.

VS

p.s.  Probably goes without saying, but I'll be blogging about my experience after every 5e session listed above.  Stay tuned!

The Enthusiasm War

Something strange is brewing just below the surface of D&D's upcoming 5th edition.  I don't know if it's a backlash or some kind of mutant rebound backlash reverberating through the RPG echo-sphere.  Anyway, the effects are being talked about even though only a few people are addressing the problem itself.  And it is a problem, in my estimation.  Not because I have a particular view and others aren't agreeing with it, but that many gamers are fighting some invisible edition war over a set of rules which doesn't even exist yet.  It's not even a war of editions - it's a war of enthusiasm (or lack thereof).  Why?

Below are the eight camps I've seen.  Chances are, you're in one of the categories below or a hybrid of multiple categories.  Again, I don't care who is where or why... I would just like everything on the table so that maybe some civility can prevail, if not transcendent introspection.


1.  So, we've got people who are loving the promise of 5e and what it represents.  

2.  People who are tentatively optimistic but skeptical.  

3.  Those who just don't care.

4.  Those who think 5e is doing far too little, too late and are unhappy about one thing or another.

5.  A few cranks who absolutely loath 5e and what it represents.

6.  5e lovers who are sick and tired of what they perceive to be 5e hating trolls.

7.  Those disenchanted by what they've seen of 5e who just want the 5e lovers to shut up already.

8.  Cautious, intrigued skeptics who feel harassed or threatened by all the 5e love.

9.  Oops, forgot this one: individuals who are mad that 5e isn't being heralded as the awesome-est version of D&D ever!


Maybe the gaming community just needs to work this stuff out on its own by constantly arguing back and forth.  I don't know.  However, I will say that in certain corners of the internet, the trolling, flaming, petty bickering, and "threadcrapping" looks pretty ugly.

Perhaps we can agree on a few things... our very own Geneva Convention?  If one side refrains from using the phrase "OSR Taliban" and projecting that the other side "hates 5e" even though they're only skeptical or ambivalent, the other side can stop this: "Your 5e super-fandom is threatening my cautious appraisal of what I've seen so far; now I'm going to go off on it - and you!"  Sound fair?

Even though I'm pleased about what I've seen from all the articles, interviews, forum discussion, and playtest documents regarding 5e (yes, I've done the research), that's not why I'm on the + side of the debate.  Just to be clear, I'm not against debate.  In fact, I love it... when it's constructive.  Another reason I'm pro D&D is because our hobby is shrinking and could eventually die off if we're not passionate about its progression.

Now, there are many routes to rejuvenation.  5e isn't the answer to everything and, for you, it might be the wrong answer.  But at least it's something.  A step in the right direction.  Want to go a different route?  Awesome.  Do it.  Grow paper & pencil tabletop roleplaying in your own way. Just know that if you decide to do nothing, then 5e might be the only reason ordinary people know what a roleplaying game is five years from now.  "You know, like Dungeons & Dragons."

As a community, we can be critical while still being supportive; we can like what we like while understanding those who don't.  I propose we approach further discussion consciously.  Hopefully, that's not too much to ask.


VS

Unification Through Diversity

Can you imagine a two year delivery?

The creation of fifth edition was like childbirth.  I imagined those frustrating early stages, glimmers of hope and dread, small victories but miles and miles to go before anyone gets to sleep.  The screams, crying, shouting, pain, blood... everything.  Where in the fuck is my wife's epidural?  I wanted to be a part of it, to be there from beginning to end.  I wanted to know, and yet I didn't want to put myself through all that.  Not for two or more years.

So, that's why I only started paying attention these last couple months, finally allowing myself to get excited about what was just three pushes away from arrival.  Dungeons & Dragons s is coming!

Just to recap, this has been the OSR consensus regarding fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, based on the feedback from my last couple blog posts...

• The OSR had an enormous impact on 5e.  This makes sense because there probably wouldn't have been an OSR (as we know it today) without the missteps of 4th edition.
• The OSR isn't going anywhere.  It still has meaning and value.  It's a type of gaming, a style, an aesthetic... a feel.  It's many things to many different people.  A new version of D&D isn't going to eradicate it, but 5e will undoubtedly have an influence.
• Since 5e is pretty darn old school (at the very least, OSR compatible) the majority of OSR gamers plan on trying 5e at some point (especially since the basic version will be available for free online) and from there will decide on one of the following:  1) incorporating bits and pieces from 5e into their established RPGs (like S&W, DCC, LotFP, AS&SH, etc.).  2) adoption: switching over to the point where their primary RPG of choice is 5e (while possibly incorporating bits and pieces from the aforementioned OSR games).  3) decide against continuing with 5e in any form. 

My personal belief is that roughly half the gamers who try 5e will fall into one of the first two camps.

For those who ask, "Why would I want, let alone need, another edition of D&D if I'm happy with what I already have?  Isn't 5e supposed to be like AD&D 2nd edition minus Thac0, plus feats?"  Good question(s).  If you haven't been keeping on Next news, it's easy to be swayed to one side or the other based on rumors and hearsay.  

I've been reading Mike Mearls' articles on the game design process for Next / 5e.  This new version of the game will be radically different than what we've known while still feeling like home. Sure, it incorporates a lot of things that we love about all the previous editions (yes, including a few bits from 4th) while ditching odds and ends that hold the game back.  And 5e does a great job of that.  However, it brings a lot of fresh, innovative choices to the table (choices, options, and support for DM cherry picking are huge in 5e).  Things that D&D fans have never seen outside of home-rules and Dragon magazine!

Here's a brief rundown of what I've found...

• Magic item attunement.  Appendix N readers may recall some of their favorite fantasy characters possessing magic items which are somehow tied to them.  That's in 5e.
• Backgrounds.  Character history, including contacts, ties to places and NPCs, ideals, and flaws was an important part of the 80's 90's gaming sessions I was involved with... but a small part, unfortunately.  From a rules-standpoint, backgrounds were definitely in the background (no pun intended).  Writing out a personal history on the backside of a character sheet isn't the same as having options hardwired into the core rules.
• Armies battling.  D&D has its roots in miniature wargaming.  Admittedly, I don't know too much about how D&D handled large forces fighting each other on the battle field in the last couple of decades but its being addressed now.
• A smarter, more intuitive option for leveling the party.
• Rolling 2d20 and taking the lower of the two when at a clear disadvantage and the higher when at a clear advantage.  This replaces all the +1 bonus for this, -2 penalty for that, and +3 bonus for the other thing.
• Concentration for magic-users (it's cool, but I'm not going to explain it here).  And an option for using spell points instead of the traditional Vancian magic!
• Apprentice feel for 1st and 2nd level characters for either campaign introduction or system noobs, as well as, rules for starting established characters and veteran players at 3rd.
• Inspiration:  in-game bonuses for good roleplaying!

There will be more, of course, when 5e is released.  This is just a taste based on Mearls' Legends and Lore column.  A fascinating read!  I'm still waiting on a friends' last playtest material for more info on how 5e will look and feel.

Am I excited for D&D?  Oh, Hellzzz to the yeah!  It means I can easily run or play in an old school kind of D&D session which can handle a Tiefling alienist sorcerer or a Warforged warlock/fighter who loves tactical combat while accommodating a Halfling thief who performs shadowy murders for the city's high priest of K'tulu because of his sordid past. Or keep things as fundamental as possible by allowing only wizard, rogue, fighter, and cleric.  All this without having to remember what true roleplaying is about from a prior edition or slavishly adhere to a thousand fiddly rules that are supposed to counterbalance each other into infinity.

Those who don't share my eager anticipated are free, as always, to hate (or simply ignore what's coming).  It's cool.  Alternatively, those who want to bathe in the afterbirth may do so as well.  Either way, I'm interested in reading whatever it is you want to say.  Speak!

VS

D&D Free-For-All

Well, it looks like a lot of the haters will being hating 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons alone in their parent's basement.

The big secret is finally out!  There will be a freely (as in FREE!!!) available slimmed-down "Basic D&D" online which takes all the core classes (wizard, fighter, cleric, rogue, Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling) from 1st level to 20th.  Yep, it'll be a PDF so anyone can try the entry-level version before buying the "Advanced" books coming out later in the year, such as the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual.

So, what does this mean?  Well, free tears down many barriers.  Plus, it's an even stronger emulation of original D&D which is exactly what most OSR gamers are looking for. The Starter Set should help DMs use the Basic material rather than being the Basic material.

What does this mean for the game licence?  Will anyone be able to create a fully compatible 5e adventure, campaign setting, or optional rulebook?

Here's the announcement:  http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20140527

Questions, comments, criticisms, love letters, or hate mail?

VS