For those of you who have been waiting for D&D Next to arrive, Wizards of the Coast have announced that the rules sets will arrive in Summer 2014. Some of us have been playing with the beta, or at the very least have been reading all of the materials that have been released from WotC. According to Wizards of the Coast, nearly 175,000 people have participated in the public playtest.
As this is really big news for Dungeons and Dragons fans, it begs the bigger question of how many will jump from their current version (4e, 3.5, AD&D) to Next when it arrives. Will you make the jump?
15 Comments
I prefer/will stick with Pathfinder.
I’m either making the jump to Next or we’re moving to an entirely different system that allows for gridless combat. I’m completely over running grid-based tabletop games. I’d play in one, but I’m sick of running them as a GM.
Interesting- can you elaborate?
Basically it was just a personal preference in that I just got sick of the system. I didn’t like the rigid representation of the battlefield and how slllllllooooowwwwww combat is. Grid based combat, unless you’re ruthless with time constraints as a GM devolves into painfully slow metagaming on optimal combat strategies. Not exactly realistic in the heat of battle.
“You’ve got an orc in your face. Ok, now take a few minutes to coordinate all your attacks with your party for an action that is seconds long”
Nah. I’ll pass.
Have you tried running D&D without a grid? It’s very, very easy with Next. Descriptive (non-grid) combat takes a fraction of the time grid combat does and is, for the most part, the preferred method for my group. Vivid descriptions of attacks with abstracted distances go along way to making it easier. Plus, Next’s amped-up damage and lowered attack bonuses add more to the sense of if you manage to hit, you REALLY hit, as you would if you were wielding a greatsword and hit them dead on.
I recently played in a one off of Barbarians of Lemuria. I really liked that it is light on rules, and concentrated on the story. We did use miniatures, but it was on a white board so no grid. The next game I run will be Barbarians of Lemuria. http://beyondbeliefgames.webs.com/
Dungeon World (Adapted from Vincent Baker’s Apocalypse World) is an interesting D&D flavored variant that relies on narrative flow for it’s combat. Plus, with the variety of fan-made and third-party playbooks, there’s plenty of options for character types to fit different story arcs or personal preference.
I’ll be sticking to 4e I think. For a few reasons; the first, I’ve invested quite a bit of money in 4e books and stuff so don’t want to cast that aside! The second, although I haven’t taken part in the playtest, and the gridless combat appeals, DnD Next hasn’t taken my fancy like 4e did. I hadn’t played DnD for a loooong time, and 4e hooked me back in. The third, I looooove 4e! Yes combat can be a grind, but I love the balanced feel of 4e both as a player and DM.
I think my group will switch to DnD Next at some point. Although I enjoy 4th, DnD Next would be more conducive to the type of game my DM is running
Nope happy with OD&D And pathfinder thanks
4E and the beta rules killed any hope I have in Next
Which playtest packet did you try? I only ask because some had significant ups and downs that were enhanced or corrected along the way. Next is probably the closest thing to OD&D or AD&D using a D20 system.
Wish I could find a group to play with
I’ll stick with 2E, when it was all about the role playing. Never liked WOTC taint on these games. They will never be as good as TSR was.
That being said, I haven’t seen any previews of the “next” (won’t hold my breath) I also realize the products produced are for “new school” not “old school gamers. And I repeat, They will never be as good as TSR was.
I haven’t been particularly pleased with the playtest packets that I have seen, and my group is fairly resistant to learning (another) new system. That said, when it does come out, I will probably take a look, and decide from there, though I am inclined to stick with what I am already using (which is runnign 4E and playing in a 3.5 game).
I was not charmed by the play test. The classes were too structured, not customizable enough in my mind. The math wasn’t right across any of the play tests. Didn’t like the spamming casters. The races weren’t interesting, particularly humans. Overall, I felt I could make a better game myself. No significant improvement from Pathfinder. Unless the final version is remarkably different from the play test, I’ll play other options.