Take A Look Inside The New Dungeons & Dragons Books!
August 7, 2014 by brennon
Wizards of the Coast have been previewing the innards of their Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition books for the past few weeks over on their Facebook page and as well as some Players Handbook sneak peeks the next crop of previews is going to be from the Monster Manual!
Above is the first sneak peek at it, and that's the inside cover for the book. It shows a rather nicely painted dragon about to no doubt devour a town full of villagers and burn it to the ground. I have to say the artwork, alongside the revamped and well developed game rules, is a big draw for this game. It's utterly astounding.
Above are some of the preview pages that appeared via the Facebook page which showed off the Paladin class, the Tiefling race and one of the backgrounds, the Hermit. Backgrounds are a great addition to the game and they really help flesh out a character beyond the simple 'I am a Fighter, I smash things' archetype that we've been used to seeing. It's a nice carry over from the later additions to 4th Edition.
Gone over all is the feel of it being a 'game' and we're returning to a Dungeons & Dragons that 'feels' right. I have been reading the Starter Set adventure for a campaign beginning this weekend and I am very, very excited.
Have you got a hold of the Starter Set yourself?
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Last time I got a D&D book was 3.5ed, may have to pick up the players manual for 5th
No, but I will be. For me, Dungeons and Dragons has been my very own Games Workshop, that entity you love to hate. For years.. a decade even.. it was the game that I would detest bringing up when I told somebody I liked role-playing because when I mentioned any of the RPGs I was *actually* playing, I just got a blank stare. So I would reluctantly say “It’s like Dungeons and Dragons” and then I would hastily try to pre-empt that particular look, the one that starts off like “Oooooohh” and then quickly turns into a sneer where they… Read more »
Looks good… Heck, looks better than good. But I have other games. It’s sad, but WotC have alienated me quite a bit (with MtG and D&D both). I will see the complete work, whenever that happens (it’s becoming rather like waiting for Godot, or a bad kickstarter… no edition of D&D has such a long-winded debut, counting the playtesting). I will not be teased endlessly : I have lots to do, and to play, already. Life is short, and it already sounds like this edition will be in testing and in promotion for longer than D&D4 existed on its own.… Read more »
I think you’ll find 5th a good deal less “involved” and complex than PF. It seems to have been greatly streamlined and largely in favor of the narrative and speeding up things like combat scenes. I invite you to read some of he reviews. Personally, I find myself leaning towards systems like FATE, Savage, Dungeon World and 13th Age, but 5th seems to have learned a good deal from the trends in the industry too.
Again, I will not be teased. I refuse to take anything into account that doesn’t review the final product, and I only trust my own judgement when it comes to this very personal experience. I have heard this before ! 3rd edition was very much streamlined and more fluid compared to AD&D, for example. Yes, you may be right, but that doesn’t mean we mean the same thing, or like the same thing. And a review is not a game… Inviting me to read one more review, what will it accomplish ? Nothing. I still won’t have the game in… Read more »
Well said, Pathfinder suits me fine and is ludicrously popular and well supported.
I find this the strangest part of the Role-Playing community. Why do you need a new edition of a game? Most Role-players, and especially GM’s/DM’s create and run an entire world in all of it’s complexity, so why do you need new rules? I played D&D back in the “old Clunky” days, with the red, blue, green(or aqua), black and gold boxes, the tried Advanced D&D + 2nd edition advanced D&D. Collected nearly all of the forgotten realms, just missing a few adventures. Then was introduced to Role-Master/MERP. From then on I just used the bits from the games I… Read more »
D&D 5th is I believe the best incarnation of D&D. very streamlined rules will ensure super ease of play. Think this will bring me back to D&D…
I’ve been reading through the new edition Starter Set and I believe you’re right @foxxy – the rules seem neat and streamlined but with plenty of customisation mixed in for developing over time.
Can’t wait to run the adventure this weekend!
BoW Ben
“Haven’t bought a game in twenty years and not likely to.” Of course, any individual can play with/cannibalise/make up rules as they see fit. You are under no obligation to buy anything. However, if everyone did that the industry part of the roleplaying industry would grind to a sudden halt. We need new people to take up the hobby, so I am personally happy to see new editions of game – and entirely new RP games. The kids in the roleplaying club I run at the school where I teach are excited about a new edition – which I’m glad… Read more »
The writing of quality environments and adventures will keep the industry running, all the add-on stuff, as it did in the old days, plus people will blog/post and publish on line, so with or without major publishers the hobby will survive. Many magazines would publish adventures and ideas that were generic, such as the fabled White Dwarf of old. The sick fascination with constantly new rules being rushed through companies such as WOTC to keep turnover and shareholders happy has little to do with RPG’s, you will find that is Tabletop Wargamming. People don’t play RPG’s because the rules are… Read more »
I am not a fan of re-hashing anything just for the sake of it – or to keep shareholders/bean counters happy. But neither am I anti anything new. As you say yourself, good is good – old or new. I’d argue that there has been plenty of good stuff produced in the last twenty years. Plenty of gamers I know employ house rules to modify existing systems, but that is not ideal for new players. They should be able use something straight out of the box – at least until they have a solid grasp of the rules and setting.… Read more »