D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Jul 12, 2014 11:22:23 GMT -8
"Hey Mister...What is the Old World of Darkness all about ?"
"Puppies and rainbows kid. Puppies and rainbows."
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Post by HourEleven on Jul 12, 2014 11:31:05 GMT -8
"In my day elf was a class, not a race. And that's the way we liked it!"
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Jul 12, 2014 13:00:58 GMT -8
"Kid, you just put down that fancy iPad you got there. This here is what we used to call a book, and this here is a pencil..."
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daniel
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 217
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Post by daniel on Jul 13, 2014 13:56:30 GMT -8
Honestly i dont think the 5e DnD beginners set is very.. useful.. just from information of whats in it and how its set up. Its basically just so much redundant paper once the phb comes out.
I have to say i really kind of dislike the cover art for all the books, i taught i might kind of get use to them but i still hate it at first sight
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Post by rickno7 on Jul 13, 2014 15:30:55 GMT -8
I liked when you could tell the edition by the art style you see. It doesn't look like they made an effort to change art styles since 3.0, but that's a personal preference and a little nitpicky I guess. The starter set, to me too, looks like an missed opportunity. I guess with the Basic set being free, they did not want to spend extra money on cramming stuff in a box that people can get online from them anyway. Still, they should have looked at their competition or even their past on how to do basic sets.
I know the old Metzer/Moldvay Basic was essentially a different game, but it still has its following.. and holy crap did it have a great intro with the player's guide. To this day I want to kill Bargle.
ALEENA YOU SHALL BE AVENGED!!!!
EDIT: I haven't read the intro adventure for the starter set... so maybe I'm judgeing prematurely. It looked quality, and they say you get a lot of adventure out of a booklet that size.
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Post by HourEleven on Jul 13, 2014 16:15:14 GMT -8
I know the old Metzer/Moldvay Basic was essentially a different game, but it still has its following.. and holy crap did it have a great intro with the player's guide. To this day I want to kill Bargle. ALEENA YOU SHALL BE AVENGED!!!! When the wife said she had never played actual D&D, I ran her through that adventure so she could have the experience we all did. When it was done she asked what adventure comes next where they get to kill Bargle. I said "congratulations, you are officially a D&D player. You can never kill Bargle. In fact, you can buy t-shirts about how much you want to, and you now share a cultural experience with generations of gamers - it's like a rite of passage."
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Post by ayslyn on Jul 13, 2014 21:04:22 GMT -8
Honestly i dont think the 5e DnD beginners set is very.. useful.. just from information of whats in it and how its set up. Its basically just so much redundant paper once the phb comes out. The starter set, to me too, looks like an missed opportunity. I disagree. As has been pointed out elsewhere, the Starter Set isn't for people that are already going to investigate D&D. It's for bringing in people who weren't sold on it already, or don't really know much about it. And for that, it's pretty well put together. Not too much, so as not to overwhelm, but enough to really get the point across. It seems as though the default for 5e is going to be more theatre of the mind, so no minis or big maps to lay out. Nice, straightforward character sheets to showcase some things, but not complicate it too much. A decent length adventure to play in. Pints has the right idea. Grab a set, some brand new players, belt out a session of rollicking fun, and let them have the box to tell their friends, and their friends, and.... ^.-
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argoyle
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 53
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Post by argoyle on Jul 14, 2014 16:02:03 GMT -8
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Post by shadrack on Jul 15, 2014 8:53:10 GMT -8
Visually, I think they made some interesting choices.
1) The art direction seems to be more 'realistic' as opposed to 'comic book' at least on the cover. (5E compared to Pathfinder and 4E) 2) The 'D&D' is way less emphasized as compared to 'Pathfinder' or even 'Player's Handbook' (comparing 5E to Pathfinder core book and 4E PH) - I find this interesting from a graphic design perspective, of which I know next to nothing. It seems to be trying to imply, 'this is The Player's Handbook, that is Pathfinder'
3) Thank goodness they aren't going with that tired 'looks like an old book' schtick they did for 3.x
I think they made some clear choices to distinguish 5E from their past and their competition.
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daniel
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 217
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Post by daniel on Jul 15, 2014 9:20:25 GMT -8
1) The art direction seems to be more 'realistic' as opposed to 'comic book' at least on the cover. (5E compared to Pathfinder and 4E) See my problem with it is not that its dark, its grim dark and dirty, from any distance it look like a rusty blur and this is by far the better of the 3 books, the other two just being dark splotches. I was not a huge fan of the 4e art, i like most of Pathfinder If you look at the image its not hard to guess what they are going for But i think the art it self is badly chosen for the 5e cover and maybe just badly framed, i kind of like most of the high quality 2e stuff the problem in the case of the 5e cover is there is no framing the giant just cluters up way to much of the screen and i dont find it particularly appealing I think the intent of the art is to show a hero defying a big monster, like this but if thats the case i feel the art fails again. I am not.. outraged over it or anything, this is not a table flip i am not pissed i just feel like its kind of a let down of something i otherwise am genuinely interested in. PS: i really hope the images load otherwise this looks silly
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Post by shadrack on Jul 15, 2014 10:04:55 GMT -8
Your first link was broken, but I get your point. (edited to add: probably just broken for me at work) I was trying to avoid personal preference, and just highlight that they're trying to make this edition distinct from their own past and Pathfinder. Personal preference wise, I probably prefer Pathfinder, I enjoy the Pathfinder comic, so that's not a shock to me. But I think they're shooting for distinctive, and I kinda like it (it'd be nice to see a copy IRL). So, for me it's more of a 'meh' thing.
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Post by ironnikki on Jul 17, 2014 10:34:40 GMT -8
I got through Basic DnD not too long ago. I played a lot of 3/3.5 and Pathfinder, along with other non-d20 games, so that's what I was comparing this to as I read.
Overall, I like the direction the designers are going quite a bit. I really like the simplicity of proficiency, advantage and inspiration. That being said, I still don't foresee myself reaching for 5e when planning a new game. I'm happy with Savage Worlds, GURPS, Fate and PbtA.
However, I still plan on picking up the PHB for one particular reason: transitioning. 5e feels like a sort of intermediate between games like Fate and Pathfinder. I've previously had trouble transitioning groups straight from Pathfinder to Fate, and I think that this would be a nice stepping stone to get them to start thinking in the right mindset for these other games.
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Post by ayslyn on Jul 17, 2014 20:57:59 GMT -8
PbtA?
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on Jul 17, 2014 21:26:57 GMT -8
Powered by the Apocalypse
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Jul 17, 2014 22:01:20 GMT -8
I'll definitely second daniel's point. From a graphic design perspective shouldn't there be a desire to emphasize "The Greatest Roleplaying Game..." with Dungeons and Dragons at the top...in great big bold font D&D seems like an after thought. And yeah that front image is less than bold and iconic. But this is all moot points I imagine. Its just got us all a flutter when our hobby pushes into the mainstream like this release will do...Starter sets on the way! Forty fuckin' years old! Me and D&D draggin' along.
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