Fifth edition preconceptions

This is second post in the Lurking series. This post's topic is...

"What s/he (Nymie the Pooh) thinks about the upcoming 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and which edition is its favorite. (Note: Pathfinder is also an acceptable edition.)"

I have been through a few renditions of the beta rules. I have also looked through the free starter pdf available from Wizards of the Coast. I have not played the game. I will be joining in a 5e game next week.

I like what I read. I have not looked at the rules in depth nor have I any practical experience. The concepts I am reading sound great. I can not really speak to fifth beyond that.

As for versions, the edition I played the most was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition. I played so that much DMing AD&D 2e reached the point where it was the easiest game I ever ran. There was a time friends would invite me over to play. After arriving I would find out that not only was I DMing, but they had already made new characters I had never seen at a level they wanted to play in a setting of their choosing. My familiarity with the system was at a level where I could get the information from them then start on a fresh cigarette. The game would be up and running before I was done with the first cigarette. I quit smoking 16 Sep 2002 so that gives you an idea of the time frame I am talking about here. Yes, I forget my own birth date. No, I do not forget the day I quit smoking.

Alternity is my favourite edition. It's my article, deal with it. Alternity was my bag for a couple of years. There were way too many skills in that game, and there were fiddly bits, but overall I liked it. For those not acquainted with Alternity, it was a science fantasy game written by Bill Slavicsek and Richard Baker. The publisher was Wizards of the Coast but they were still placing the TSR logo on products at that time. There were other noteworthy names that contributed to Alternity, but this is a post about D&D editions, not Alternity itself. I believe Alternity is important not only because it is a decent game, but also because it bridges the gap that was created late in the lifespan of AD&D 2e while preparing some of the ideas to come in third. Many contributors to Alternity were also contributors to third edition.

Third edition is my favourite edition if Alternity is not permitted by the made up rules I may or may not hold myself to. If WotC had not made the rule set available for everybody to sell content for, third would still fall where it does form me. Third was a good transition from previous editions. In spite of the vast amount of time I spent with AD&D 2e I can see it was a hot mess. I had a lot of familiarity with the system and even I do not remember today how exactly THAC0 works. I know I could figure it out and pick it up again, but there is no need. THAC0 however is just one example, and probably the most obvious one, of why third wins me over when compared to previous editions.

I have not played much Pathfinder. Most of the local Pathfinder players I know are playing Pathfinder Society. The concept seems neat, but I like the idea of the party being able to tell whatever story they want. The idea that a character I have been leveling in one game can be slotted into a game somewhere else and taken around the country like that is a novel one. I can't help but wonder though what kind of impact my character has on the world when those decisions are out of the hands of anybody sitting at the same table I am at. How is this different from a video game where the quest hubs are at set locations? One of the local GMs runs the same packet four times a week as he goes to different locations. I admire him as he is a super nice guy and I do not think my frayed sanity would continue to hold if I attempted to do the same.

Fourth edition is the version I have played the least discounting Pathfinder. I have spent more time with the latest version of Gamma World which was based on the same rules as fourth edition than I have playing real fourth edition D&D. I do not think it is a bad game. It has it's problems such as the time combat encounters require once a few levels in. Like many, it does not give me a D&D vibe. It reminded me quite a bit of games like Warhammer Quest and Descent. Many say it reminds them of video games. I guess I can see that. My friends used to refer to Warhammer Quest as Diablo the Board Game. I think it was mostly how time was handled in relation to powers. Warhammer Quest also had actions that could be used once per turn, once per encounter, or once per dungeon instead of day. The time spent in combat once monsters started to become hit point sponges was the main reason I did not seek out games specifically to play fourth edition.

Since Pathfinder was permitted, I am going to expand on that concept a smidge. True20 is a reworked version of third. I give the edge to third here, but if you like third edition it might be worth your time to take a gander at True20. I like all three versions of Mutants & Masterminds. I was on a small team that got approval to use the license in an Norse mythology themed supplement. About a week after we got the okay to use the license Green Ronin announced second edition would be released at that year's Gen Con two or three months after the announcement. There was a lot of back and forth amongst us as we tried to figure out how we wanted to handle it. The group fizzled as we were not looking forward to redoing the work we had already done, and would not know what would need reworked for a few months. Second edition was very strong however with a very active community. Third edition is the furthest removed from traditional D&D, but still an amazingly versatile system. I highly recommend it if you enjoy d20 systems and want to try your hand at a super hero game. It really is a great choice. If you can find it, there was a fantasy supplement for second that is fabulous. I think both second and third editions of M&M are better than D&D third, but they build upon D&D and would not exist without D&D.

Those are my general impressions on some of the editions preceded by a short blurb of me talking out of my elbow about fifth edition. I think it is the best edition by Wizards of the Coast since third. It has the potential to be the best edition from the little I have seen. Whether it topples third or Alternity for me remains to be seen. If you would like to try fifth edition then you could do much worse than to read this article about getting started by Scott Martin over at Gnome Stew.

I wish Wizards of the Coast luck and I hope their product line remains both profitable and manageable.