Some Brief Talk Of D&D 5th Edition
Alright so this is more like “what I would like to see happen” since the information given to us thus far has been vague and rather un-helpful(although the new books are something like a year out anyway so I can’t really hold it against them too much). Now I’ve been periodically checking Wizards of the Coast’s website for news on this new edition and avoiding any online discussion of it because those discussions turn into whining and bitching and edition wars faster than I can blink. So what would I like to see?
First off you may recall that I said I’m a fan of the 4th edition character sheet, and I’m sticking to that statement. WotC need to keep character creation easy and not have it get bogged down in a billion tiny details like 3rd edition did where everything on the character sheet had to be printed in 5 point font. I quite enjoyed being able to get all the basics of my character set and done in less than a day.
I would also like to see WotC create some new settings, and really mix it up a bit. One of the things I always loved about Dark Sun was how it took the standard races and changed them from the standard cliches. I’ve said it time and time again that I hate the bog standard Tolkien inspired cliches that everyone seems to cling to like it was right out of God’s mouth. Create a new setting and don’t be afraid to shake things up a bit. Don’t let the cliches and tropes control you, WotC, don’t be afraid to experiment or rattle the cage of tradition a little bit. Give us a Bronze Age type setting with a not-Rome, or an ancient Egypt style setting with all sorts of cool stuff to work with. Hell; I’ll shoot you the setting I’m working on if it’ll help!
Don’t pull a Games Workshop and just release the same books over and over again. So when 5th edition comes out don’t just release the same settings that you released in 4th edition; bring back some of the classics. Give us a new Spelljammer, Al-Qadim or Ravenloft. Don’t give us the same settings over and over again without touching on some that are, shall we say, less loved.
Maybe tone down the dependence on miniatures and a map during combat? I know I said it wasn’t as bad as everyone made it out to be before, but toning it back can’t hurt either. Or, at the very least, make it an optional thing? That kind of entails a double set of rules, but if done right it can provide the best of both worlds for people to pick how they want to do things. Both a visual and an entirely mental system work equally well.
Lastly, for the love of god, change the Dragonborn into something cool if you insist on keeping them. Dragon people is fine and dandy in a fantasy setting, but the way they were handled in 4th edition was kind of crap. They weren’t very interesting, they didn’t look fierce enough, and why did the females have breasts? They’re lizards, and as such probably don’t nurse their young like humans.
So those are what I’d like to see. Hopefully some of this gets implemented, and hopefully this new edition won’t lead to the same idiotic complaints from the people who whined endlessly about the last edition. Maybe, just maybe, the fanbase will grow up a bit and let people play what they find enjoyable.
