Wednesday 7 November 2012

Second (third, fourth and fifth) Bites

On Thursday last week I received the latest edition of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy in the post. I really look forward to this magazines delivery and in particular the regular columns by the likes of Rick Priestly and Dan Johnson. Ricks article this month is all about second chances and in particular new editions of well loved games. This Gaming Life - A second bite was of course talking about the news that Warhammer 40,000 has been re-launched for the sixth time - but his article struck a cord with me because I immediately thought of the imminent 5th Edition re-boot of the Dungeons and Dragons Roleplaying game rules. 

The central premise of the article is that while it is almost inevitable that games designers and publishers might want to update, revise and improve on successful rules systems this process nearly always fractures and divides the existing community of players. Warhammer 40,000 appears to have bucked this trend but I suspect this is more to do with the business model of GW and its relentless supply of teen and pre-teen players feeding into the hobby and moving on as they get older (yes, I know this is a stereotype and probably inaccurate, but its my perception of the business). But for games like D&D, which have always had a broader audience of players the result of each subsequent re-boot has been the inevitable and painful division of its core player base. Old farts like me hanker for the game they knew in their youth while newer players are brought into the fold by the latest glossy edition of the rules.

There are still players out there that have resolutely stuck with the Basic Rules, or AD&D or 3rd Edition etc. With the possible exception of 3rd Edition (which introduce the popular d20 system) every other reincarnation of these rules has had a painful birth that has left some players behind. Ever since the acquisition of D&D by Wizard of the Coast many players have been suspicions of the over commercialisation of the brand. WoTC are essentially a publishing house and they make money by selling books, so it was no surprise when supplement after supplement began to be churned out for admittedly eager players and GM's. As a player during that period it sometimes felt as if there was a storm of reference works being published, many by companies other than WoTC. So while the D20 system arguably revitalised the brand it also sowed the seeds of its own demise at the same time. 

The problem with supplements - especially the 'unofficial' ones, is that with each new set of the rules the flaws in the core rules became more and more obvious. A common complaint during that period (and still today) was "the maths are broken". Thus the pressure for a new edition (beyond the need of a publishing house to publish another book) became inevitable, resulting in yet another splinter group undermining the core fan base of the game. This cycle is being repeated once again with 5th edition. I've read a lot of pro-5th edition rhetoric about how this version is inspired and developed by the fans and will usher in a new golden age for the game. I've been around long enough to have heard it all before. Sooner or later a new set of supplements will start to be published and the whole downward spiral will start again. And in the meantime a few more players give up, move on or abandon the 'new' version for the one they prefer the most.

I should state that I don't subscribe to the rather pessimistic view that 'real' D&D is dead. Although I have my preferences regarding which edition of the rules are best (duh! Basic of course!!) I don't see the splintering of the games player base as a necessarily bad thing. We are all essentially playing the same core game, with the same principles of co-operative storytelling that Gygax and Arneson forged way back in 1974. Ok so the rules systems have diverged with each edition but when you put the rules to one side its clear that the respective systems have more in common than they have in conflict. If you put two D&D players together its not the rules they tell anecdotes about its the 'adventures' they had with their characters.

So will I be buying 5th Edition D&D? Probably, but only out of curiosity and not because I expect to play the game. And if my group decides to return to the best RPG in the world I expect it may be using an earlier edition... with a healthy dose of house rules thrown in. At the end of the day the rules are unimportant; the adventure's the thing that really matters. 

14 comments:

  1. I hadnt realised that D&D was still in production. Still have my original Basic (Red), Expert (Blue) & Companion (Greenie) edition rulebooks tucked away safely. AD&D was always but its been 20yrs since I played either

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    1. As far as I know it has never been out of print, which is quite some achievement.

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  2. I always used the rules as a reference point not the last word. I finally went away to MERP using the rolemaster tables and companion books. Still have them and still want to get back into it

    Ian

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  3. I'm pretty sure my Basic/Expert/companion set got thrown out at some point. Still have my AD&D books somewhere, along with Runequest and Traveller (LBB and Mega-)

    Surprised no mention of FoW which is on its 3rd edition isn't it?

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    1. I lost/gave away my original copy of the Red Book basic, but managed to pick up a mint condition second hand copy some years later. I still have my original AD&D, 3rd, 3.5 and 4th Edition books as well.

      FOW 3rd editon should probably be called 2.5 because the rules haven't changed a huge amount. The rulebook is just easier to read, with better illustrations and layout.

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  4. Some good points here. I started with D & D Basic (Red) but quickly moved on to Runequest and MERP. After MERP it was Rolemaster or RM2 and companions, which I believe is now referred to as Rolemaster Classic. Tried last year to return to RM2 but the group and not the rules no longer function in the same way. Would love to capture the mood and entertainment of RM2 in the late 80's but I think that will sadly have to remain in the past. NOw hankering after the good old days as they say. Cheers, Ross

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  5. Everything you said there Lee, is a big 'Yup!' from me too, from the following the columns from WSS to the re-boot of D&D (I've been getting the beta downloads of the new rules), and yup I'll probably never play the rules but will no doubt buy them anyway. Adventure on!

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    1. I'm intrigued by some of the chatter about 5th edition but I'm too much of a cynic (or perhaps realist) to think this will somehow please all of the players, all of the time.

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  6. I have to say that I loved 3.5. When 4.0 came out and I was just starting with a new group, we switched to Pathfinder so that we could stay with 3.5 and yet have new players with access to new Players' Handbooks. I started with the original basic set (when it was blue, not red) and went to AD&D and second edition. What they fixed for me in 3.5 is a consistent tactical combat system. I am happy where I am and have little motivation to move to 4.0 or 5.0.

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    1. I liked 3.5 and as a group (the Delvers) I think we preferred it over 4th Edition. But our needs as a group have also changed. We are all getting older, have more commitments and less time than we did in previous years and playing long extended campaigns is proving very hard to maintain. We need a simpler rules system that facilitates shorted stories and quicker game-play.

      We are exploring systems like the Marvel Heroic RPG or the Hollow Earth Expedition RPG as an alternative to D&D. The irony is that the sort of game we envisage with these new systems are basically D&D style fantasy adventures which are rules-lite and emphasise role-playing and storytelling.

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    2. Very good point. We actually ran into this problem in my current group. When everyone shows up, there are 7 players and 1 DM. Standard 3.5/PTF can too slow to run a tactical combat simulation, where you count hexes and standard actions. We've invested too much to change systems at this point, so I have had to modify what we do. Simplify the initiative process and try to abreviate the combats. I try not to be so nitpicky about placement. We'll see if it works.

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  7. Certainly have fond memories of the basic set, then expert, then AD&D... then exams at school became too serious... tried to get back into it a while back with 3.5e but it didn't come to much...

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    1. Oh yes, playing D&D instead of revising...been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

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  8. Ah, memories...
    I still have my 1st edition books, and take them out now and again. nearly fallen apart after all the use and abuse they've been through. Actually GMing 3rd/3.5 edition now for my kids. Great fun, and as I have so much material I will stay with it. 4th ed simply wasn't my thing, and I will probably not touch 5th

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