Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

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ThatGuyWhoLikes The Chili said:
Even setting aside all the woke shit, the 5.5e just doesn't seem all that great. I read the /r OneDnd subreddit occasionally just to see what people are saying, and it mostly just seems like a resounding "Meh". WoTC wasn't willing to take any risks to alienate any of their current player base, while simultaneously not addressing any of the issues they had with 5e, so you just now have a mediocre product that's going to annoy current players, not offer anything new to newcomers and give a gigantic middle finger to the old guard. The only praise I keep seeing from every review and every person who picked up the books is "Well, the art is nice." (In my opinion its the worst its ever been, but people are free to be wrong.) If the most you can say about a $60, 400 page book is "Art Guud" then your product has some major problems. Usually when a TTRPG is successful how good the art is, is just a bonus or an afterthought.
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The worst part (besides the wokeshit) is that now you have two versions of the same books that are both too different and not different enough. It's not different enough to be considered worth purchasing for most players who are used to the original rules, but it's too different to really be compatible mixing the two at your table if someone does buy them. For example, the new classes are designed around various rules changes, so they won't work as well if you're still running 2014. Either everyone has to stick with the old rules or move to the new ones, and for people who already sunk money into even just a PHB, it's a tough ask to tell them to basically buy the same book again but worse.

Besides, you can just lift anything good from the 2024 rules and use it as homebrew. I don't know of anything specific, but I'd heard there were at least a couple things worth looking at. Certainly not enough to justify buying a whole new set of books, though.

Should've just bit the bullet and made 6e, honestly. Ten years is about as long as any version has had before it gets replaced, and it's pretty damn late to try fixing any of 5e's issues now. I get that they didn't want people to feel like all the books they bought were now worthless, but that didn't stop them from making new versions before. Then again, it's modern WotC, so I'm sure it would have turned out just as bad, if not worse.
 
King Dead said:
Should've just bit the bullet and made 6e, honestly. Ten years is about as long as any version has had before it gets replaced, and it's pretty damn late to try fixing any of 5e's issues now. I get that they didn't want people to feel like all the books they bought were now worthless, but that didn't stop them from making new versions before. Then again, it's modern WotC, so I'm sure it would have turned out just as bad, if not worse.
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I do think one of the funniest aspects of it too, is the vast majority of the modern players came in through the 2020-2022 window of the Covid Lockdowns and post Covid interest hype. So most of them have the memories of shelling out anywhere from $50-$200+ on books and dice and minis and other paraphernalia fresh in their memories, so unless they are dedicated whales, shelling out for a new edition is going to be a hard sell. That is if their friend groups are even still playing.

Not to mention the biggest problem of all for all TTRPGS is the DM is the only one who really needs to buy the books, so you're only really selling to 1 out of every roughly 4-6 people who plays your game.
 
ThatGuyWhoLikes The Chili said:
Not to mention the biggest problem of all for all TTRPGS is the DM is the only one who really needs to buy the books, so you're only really selling to 1 out of every roughly 4-6 people who plays your gagame.
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I was having this conversation with a game shop owner not too long ago. He keeps his stock very basic and minimal. Core books for several different games and that's about it really.
The traffic in his shop is pretty high but the only real buyers are DMs.
I know the feeling because I've spent a hefty sum on books myself throughout my life.
My players?
Not so much. Maybe they picked up a supplement book or 2 but the lions share of the buying was done by me.

I'm not going to ridicule the shop owner for playing it smart. Every new edition usually means the previous edition is going to be sitting on the shelves collecting dust until they eventually toss them in the bargain bin.
 
I thought WotC's "official" tabletop thing was their "Roll20 at home" that was through DnD beyond. A buddy hosted a game through it once, and it was the biggest piece of shit I've had the misfortune of using. Laggy and unresponsive on a good day. Comparatively speaking the very rudimentary website a different buddy set up was leagues better.
 
There really wasn't any pressing need for a new edition. Not like every class, monster, and spell in 5e was perfection, but it wasn't a fundamentally broken design that needed a sheaf of house rules to even be playable. What this update is really "fixing" is how racist and problematic D&D is as a concept.
 
ThatGuyWhoLikes The Chili said:
I'm kind of curious to see how this all plays out tbh. It seems like the gaming industry is seeing the beginnings of a pendulum shift. I might be getting too optimistic too early, but with studios like Bioware firing the writing team for games like Vielguard and a lot of DEI initiatives either being flat canceled or going underground, it will be really funny to see WoTC and their new and improved pozzed out the asshole DnD try to survive the next 4 years.
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There is probably no coming back from this for D&D because everyone involved on the creative and business side of it is deeply pozzed. WotC is based in Seattle, and has drawn from the faggiest demographics there for decades. They were woke before woke was a common term, and by now, even those people have been superseded by the most purple haired transdisableds they could find. With every iteration, they have sunk their teeth deeper into the game, and they'd rather see it burn than relinquish it. The only way it could be saved would be a hostile takeover by a determined owner to fire everyone, burn down everything, and start building from the ashes. But that's not going to happen. Maybe if there is complete change in corporate culture at Hasbro, although that's still a big if. But it has to be top down, and it has to start with a major purge.
 
ThatGuyWhoLikes The Chili said:
I really do think BG3 was lightning in a bottle and WoTC royally fucked that up. There doesn't seem to be any plans for future games in the franchise as far as I can tell, and even if there was, their track record for video games was absolutely abysmal for the last 20 years.
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I don't think wotc would profit that much either way.
lot of bg3 players weren't even dnd or crpg players, they were literal normalfags coming to see bearsex and telenovela drama, which wouldn't really translate to increased sales unless they start to DM and buy the books.
more games would only make the brandname more ubiquitous, but for most mainstream casuals dnd is already synonymous with ttrpg, not necessarily more to gain.

King Dead said:
Besides, you can just lift anything good from the 2024 rules and use it as homebrew. I don't know of anything specific, but I'd heard there were at least a couple things worth looking at. Certainly not enough to justify buying a whole new set of books, though.
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considering the amount of lifting you have to do already, it's like selling an upgrade to the previous DIY kit and be surprised people only use some of the screws.
 
The Ugly One said:
There really wasn't any pressing need for a new edition. Not like every class, monster, and spell in 5e was perfection, but it wasn't a fundamentally broken design that needed a sheaf of house rules to even be playable. What this update is really "fixing" is how racist and problematic D&D is as a concept.
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At this rate, I'm just gonna go play that nordic LARPer's racist game or some shit. I ain't playing no Chutes & Ladders D&D edition. In fact, I'm gonna go find some faggy wheelchair goblin and a wet cement sidewalk.
 
Loose Goose said:
The only way it could be saved would be a hostile takeover by a determined owner to fire everyone, burn down everything, and start building from the ashes.
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I would say Elon Musk who could do it for what would be pocket change to him, but while I'm okay with seeing him take over shit I hate and want to see burned to the ground (and I do not even want a replacement I just want it all burned), it's not like he makes shit better when he takes it over.

So I'm great when he takes over Xitter. I still have hope for D&D, at least for old times sake.
 
So, silly question:

What would anyone recommend for a kind of ice age game? Low magic. Maybe they just figured out ritual magic, but it still requires you to hunt the guts and sinew of creatures to perform?
 
Lithos said:
So, silly question:

What would anyone recommend for a kind of ice age game? Low magic. Maybe they just figured out ritual magic, but it still requires you to hunt the guts and sinew of creatures to perform?
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Warhammer Fantasy set in Norsca. It's not low magic, but the magic has a high fucking price, so you can get a lot of temptation moments.

Edit: Just realized you could also change Dark Sun to ice instead of desert and it'd work just as well, with similar magic issues.
 
Lithos said:
So, silly question:

What would anyone recommend for a kind of ice age game? Low magic. Maybe they just figured out ritual magic, but it still requires you to hunt the guts and sinew of creatures to perform?
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I'm going to suggest a game I've never played and isn't a RPG really. Frostgrave.

It's a campaign based skirmish war game where you level up your wizard and their party of mercs. Can be played solo, competitive, or co-op. I've heard lots of good things about it on the internet.

The premise is a frozen city full of magic and treasure is starting to thaw, so you're going in to loot the place before anyone else. The monsters are also thawing out too. At very least, might be worth looking at for inspiration.

I'm also going to suggest a shit tier campaign. Rime of the Frost Maiden. The premise is a small region is isolated and stuck in an endless winter. Again, more inspiration fodder than anything you're looking for.

And most useless. There was some Savage Worlds modules based around this concept. It was a setting where everything is burning up, and they made a spin off setting where everything is freezing. I forget the name, and it might even have been third party.
 
Thanks. I was looking to run some kinda neanderthal or caveman RPG with dinosaurs and shit, but maybe throw in some magic.

I took a peek at Paleomythic, but it seems like the more modern rules-lite, narrative heavy stuff.
 
Lithos said:
So, silly question:

What would anyone recommend for a kind of ice age game? Low magic. Maybe they just figured out ritual magic, but it still requires you to hunt the guts and sinew of creatures to perform?
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You could use Savage Worlds. Hellfrost has rules for surviving the cold and various other books have stat blocks for dinosaurs and shit.
 
Judge Dredd said:
Frostgrave.
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I don't know about the rules/it as a game, but I bought their Gnolls to pad out my pack of bad guys and the minis are pretty good. Decent sculpt variety, good molds, minimal flash.

That story sounds kinda tight and good background for squad skirmish.

Lithos said:
So, silly question:

What would anyone recommend for a kind of ice age game? Low magic. Maybe they just figured out ritual magic, but it still requires you to hunt the guts and sinew of creatures to perform?
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B/X but I would lead into some parts of AD&D; bone & stone weapons are standard but maybe the Big Threat are guys who figured out Bronze so bronze weapons/armor are essentially magic/adamantium items.

For magic, just turn all Spells/Prayers into rituals. For magic users, I'd go an "herbalist" route where they put animal parts/plants into a bag, grind it up, and have basically "magic dust" or such.
For Clerics I'd go a route where they make pacts with various spirits via sacrifice and other rituals (body painting, creating little substitute idols for the spirits to live in). Its basically just doing the prayer/study but more detailed.

For a general take on the religion of the area I'd look at ancestor worship, nature worship, Voodo, and Tengrism.
 
Buckaroo said:
You could use Savage Worlds. Hellfrost has rules for surviving the cold and various other books have stat blocks for dinosaurs and shit.
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That's the one I was thinking of. It appears as if Hellfrost Land of Fire was the spin off with a fire theme.

Lithos said:
I was looking to run some kinda neanderthal or caveman RPG with dinosaurs and shit, but maybe throw in some magic.
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More games I've never played, but would Conan or Hyperboria be a good fit?

Ghostse said:
I don't know about the rules/it as a game, but I bought their Gnolls to pad out my pack of bad guys and the minis are pretty good. Decent sculpt variety, good molds, minimal flash.
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I have some of those. Talked about them in another thread. Them and the cultists are great. They kitbash really well too. There are some issues with them, but my original plan of sci-fi-ing them up almost fell by the wayside as they're so much fun to build.

Ghostse said:
That story sounds kinda tight and good background for squad skirmish.
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I'd like to use it for an old school dungeon crawl, but likely never will.

Another neat thing that might be steal worthy is the schools of magic. There are schools that ally well, those that are okay with each other, and those that hate each other. I forget what they are, but a simple example would be necromancers and healers hate each other. I want to say that chronomancers don't get on with some order/physics related school. It's a neat setting that gives just enough to allow for skirmish games, but allowing lots of rooms for "your guys".

There's the sci-fi setting that is basically Firefly, and a pirate game where, iirc, the premise is you have some kind of special blood that gives you special benefits at the cost of damage. I forget the specifics, but I want to say the PCs are descendants from great people but the bloodline has thinned over the generations, I could be wrong though.
 
Most of WotC's designers are long gone at this point, I doubt they could make a 6e even if they wanted to. So instead they monkeyed around with 5 enough to try to justify selling it a second time, threw in a bunch of race and gender garbage to make the reddit jannies clap, and called it a day. 5.5 is nothing but an attempt to milk the fanbase, such as it is. There won't be any other meaningful content coming, it's all funko pops and $50 dice sets from here on out to keep "the brand" laying increasingly smaller golden eggs.
 
Lithos said:
What would anyone recommend for a kind of ice age game? Low magic. Maybe they just figured out ritual magic, but it still requires you to hunt the guts and sinew of creatures to perform?
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pathfinder2 quest for the frozen flame might work. never played it myself so can't comment on it, but it's a hexcrawl in the north (thus best used with ABP). there's the battlezoo bestiary you can use to add monster parts for crafting: https://battlezoo.com/products/battlezoo-bestiary-pdf
forbidden lands, even has a "snow" campaign with bitter reach: https://freeleaguepublishing.com/shop/forbidden-lands/the-bitter-reach-campaign-book/

since judge mentioned frostgrave, there's 5 leagues from the borderlands, solo/coop wargame so no need for GM. build a character, roll random tables, see what happens and try to survive.

Judge Dredd said:
I'm also going to suggest a shit tier campaign. Rime of the Frost Maiden. The premise is a small region is isolated and stuck in an endless winter. Again, more inspiration fodder than anything you're looking for.
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Ghostse said:
That story sounds kinda tight and good background for squad skirmish.
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rules are pretty solid too with good support and extra stuff. sci-fi version is stargrave.

if you need more models:
 
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