So, the release of 5th
Edition inspired my ill-conceived return behind the screen. After
getting tentative committals from enough people to make a group
(happily, mostly people I’ve never gamed with), the next question
becomes: Are we actually going to be throwing down on 5th
Edition?
The preview
stuff for 5th looks phenomenal. The art is better and has
more character than anything in 4th (and, let’s be
honest, than some of the stuff in 3.X). Everything we’ve seen so
far is geared more towards flavor than mechanics (Backgrounds even
give you abilities that grant you no particular mechanical benefit,
just storyline ones. That is amazing). I haven’t yet seen
any of the monster entries so I don’t quite know how those work
(and I may not get the opportunity until the Monster Manual
drops next month), but from what I gather of the combat system it
looks like it flows smoother and moves faster than 4th
did.
Still,
Pathfinder is looking pretty good at this point. For those of
you reading who might not be familiar, Pathfinder is the game
that came out after Wizards of the Coast ended Dungeons &
Dragons’ 3rd (and 3.5) Edition series. My previous
DM job was Pathfinder, and it has a couple of big benefits:
it’s been out for several years and its full rules are available
for free on the Interwebs.
Pictured: under consideration.
Those two items
work in a very close tandem with each other. While the books are
always better (and WotC, take note: Paizo sells cheap, brilliantly
put together PDFs of their new releases on their website), we still
have the option of using six years of character options and
customizations for nothing. This could be huge when for getting
everybody I’d like together to rock this campaign: most of us are
on opposite sides of the country and getting everyone together to
share a book simply isn’t an option.
So that brings
us to Dungeons & Dragons. As of this writing, I’ve only
had the chance to peruse the Basic Rules. The Player’s
Handbook drops this week, but money may be a barrier (and as much
as I love that they did the Basic Rules as a free download,
that puppy is not going to satisfy me or my group, I don’t think).
Then we have to wait a month for the Monster Manual to
release. We have the monsters released with the Hoard of the
Dragon Queen, but those are without fluff and a little incomplete
in places. It’s going to cost money and time (I’ve never been a
“run the adventure out of the module” guy).
Pictured: under consideration.
Having discussed
this with a couple of my players, we’re going to start off with
D&D. We really want to support a good quality game, and it
looks like 5th Edition is. I’m willing to let WotC win
me back.
I’m just glad
nobody wanted to play 4th Edition.
Pictured: Nnnnnnope.
Discussion
Question: Holler back at me, humans. What game are you planning
on playing after 5th releases? Making the jump to 5th?
Ready to give me a good talking-to over my jokes about 4E? Sticking
with 3.5 or Pathfinder? Are you more of a GURPS sort of
person? Do you like something else? Lemme know, guys and gals.