D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

[HephaistosFnord]

I just wanted to note that there alternatives besides 5e and OSR. From early days, game design has shared the motto of gonzo world music band 3 Mustaphas 3: “Forward in all directions!” Take 13th Age and Pathfinder: neither is evolving to parallel D&D development, and neither is evolving to be more like older games. [1] they’re diversifying, going in directions their particular creators find interesting. That, I think, is your space: neither forward nor backward along a line some other games are on.

[1]: You in the back, saying something about Space Opera and PF2. Yes, you. Shut up with that.

AAH! Bruce Baugh! AAH!

Yeah, my setting is definitely a bit more gonzo than standard 5E or OSR (one player described it as "Fallout meets Adventure Time"), but I'm still trying to "find my voice" - a lot of the criticism I get when I try to describe it as "like what Pathfinder was trying to do" is "yeah but you're not Paizo."

 

[HephaistosFnord]

A lot of it is that someone before mentioned that I need to develop a "thicker skin", but I'm not sure where the line is between humility and weakness, so I'm trying to avoid making too bold of claims or defending my ideas too aggressively.

 

[Composer99]

I'd be inclined to just ignore anyone who's only contribution is saying they don't like it or arguing about whether it's "5e-like" enough or not. (*)

Or, at most, thanking them for their thoughts and leaving it at that.

(*) Except insofar as it relates to how you plan to pitch the game. In which case getting others' impressions of how your pitch matches what the game looks like based on reading the rules or how it feels in play is helpful. As long as you don't get lost in the weeds of semantics.

 

[Autumnal]

A lot of it is that someone before mentioned that I need to develop a "thicker skin", but I'm not sure where the line is between humility and weakness, so I'm trying to avoid making too bold of claims or defending my ideas too aggressively.

Lots of us never do feel like we get the balance very right. It is one of the hardest problems in the craft and business of game making.

 

[HephaistosFnord]

So, I suppose I should try and "sell" my thing a little more? Here's some of what I think are the highlights:

- a tighter coupling between "narrative" and "mechanics" than standard D&D, especially as regarding Vancian magic - i.e., deliberately giving the player a better handle on "okay, my wizard has to prepare spells at certain times, and can only prepare so many, but why?"

- faster, more streamlined character creation and advancement than 5E-style D&D, so you can get up and playing in minutes, without making every Thief feel "the same" as every other Thief.

- a stronger sense of balance between open-world exploration and dungeon-crawling, social interaction and negotiation, and combat encounters