Even though I invest heavily in my gaming hobby, I still fundamentally think free is good in gaming. I've written multiple times before about the advantages that free systems, like Pathfinder, have over pay-only systems like Shadowrun. Free brings in players. Free enriches the community. Free expands my options. Unfortunately what Mike Mearls announced with free basic D&D is only half free, so far. This is an announcement of free "as in beer", not free as in artistic freedom. We still don't know what licensing will be put out for D&D, either free basic on non-free D&D. Since 3rd party publishers are really the heart and soul of the community, this is a big missing piece. That being said, let's take a look as the free "as in beer" side of things.
Basic appears to be a subset of the rules required to run the main races (dwarf, elf, halfling, human) through the main classes (fighter, wizard, rogue, cleric) to level 20. Sounds good. Just taking a tally from my current campaign, none of the 6 permanent characters in play fall under these character rules. Unfortunate, but I don't think this is a killer.
From the announcement: "As we introduce new storylines like Tyranny of Dragons, we’ll also make available free PDFs that provide all the rules and stats missing from Basic D&D needed to run the adventures tied into the story." There is also some discussion of updating the basic rules as things are released. There is also discussion of releasing eveything as digital copies (i..e PDF). This could indicate an impending nightmare for GMs trying to handle the basic rules. It doesn't say their will be a single version or a single repository of the rules; it says they will release PDFs with rules as needed to support their product releases. Could this mean their basic rules will be spread across a stack of PDFs? I hope this isn't what they are really going to do, but only time will tell.
So why do I care about the basic rules? Can't I just make players have a copy of the Player's Handbook? So keep in mind that the $50 cost of the Player's Handbook is ridiculous, and already has been reduced on Amazon to $30, which is essentially the same price as the Pathfinder Core Book. Given this, I would expect roughly the same amount of players to get the PHB as Pathfinder Core in terms of representation in my D&D 5e and Pathfinder games, respectively. Unfortunately, all the people I play with (me included) are much more likely to use the Pathfinder PRD than any other resource. I would even suspect that half of my players don't even own Pathfinder Core. The PRD as a searchable rule set is perfect at the game table. It allows us to resolve the rules contract immediately in most cases, which is key to having a clean, easy to use rules-heavy system.
So as a GM, this means that half of my players, in all likelihood, either 1) will not play D&D 5e or 2) will try to use the basic rules without having a PHB. Likely, this means I am playing two rule sets at the table. Moreover, this ultimately means that half of my players are going to feel like crap when they play, because they don't have access to half the character options that the other half of the table can use. As a GM, this breaks RULE 0: That everyone should be having fun at the table.
I have faith that hardcore D&D gamers will ultimately flex their muscles and fix these problems. There may be growing pains along the way. We'll see how licensing turns out for D&D 5e. We'll see how the basic rules really get captured. We'll also see how the community fixes the problems of 1st party limitations.
I am still believer that 5e will be better than 4e and will help resurrect D&D. My 3 core books are on preorder, so I am putting my money where my mouth is. How this year plays out will determine what system I try for my next campaign. Will it be 5e, or will it be 13th age, Numenera, Savage Worlds, or even Pathfinder again? Maybe I should roll some dice.
Basic appears to be a subset of the rules required to run the main races (dwarf, elf, halfling, human) through the main classes (fighter, wizard, rogue, cleric) to level 20. Sounds good. Just taking a tally from my current campaign, none of the 6 permanent characters in play fall under these character rules. Unfortunate, but I don't think this is a killer.
From the announcement: "As we introduce new storylines like Tyranny of Dragons, we’ll also make available free PDFs that provide all the rules and stats missing from Basic D&D needed to run the adventures tied into the story." There is also some discussion of updating the basic rules as things are released. There is also discussion of releasing eveything as digital copies (i..e PDF). This could indicate an impending nightmare for GMs trying to handle the basic rules. It doesn't say their will be a single version or a single repository of the rules; it says they will release PDFs with rules as needed to support their product releases. Could this mean their basic rules will be spread across a stack of PDFs? I hope this isn't what they are really going to do, but only time will tell.
So why do I care about the basic rules? Can't I just make players have a copy of the Player's Handbook? So keep in mind that the $50 cost of the Player's Handbook is ridiculous, and already has been reduced on Amazon to $30, which is essentially the same price as the Pathfinder Core Book. Given this, I would expect roughly the same amount of players to get the PHB as Pathfinder Core in terms of representation in my D&D 5e and Pathfinder games, respectively. Unfortunately, all the people I play with (me included) are much more likely to use the Pathfinder PRD than any other resource. I would even suspect that half of my players don't even own Pathfinder Core. The PRD as a searchable rule set is perfect at the game table. It allows us to resolve the rules contract immediately in most cases, which is key to having a clean, easy to use rules-heavy system.
So as a GM, this means that half of my players, in all likelihood, either 1) will not play D&D 5e or 2) will try to use the basic rules without having a PHB. Likely, this means I am playing two rule sets at the table. Moreover, this ultimately means that half of my players are going to feel like crap when they play, because they don't have access to half the character options that the other half of the table can use. As a GM, this breaks RULE 0: That everyone should be having fun at the table.
I have faith that hardcore D&D gamers will ultimately flex their muscles and fix these problems. There may be growing pains along the way. We'll see how licensing turns out for D&D 5e. We'll see how the basic rules really get captured. We'll also see how the community fixes the problems of 1st party limitations.
I am still believer that 5e will be better than 4e and will help resurrect D&D. My 3 core books are on preorder, so I am putting my money where my mouth is. How this year plays out will determine what system I try for my next campaign. Will it be 5e, or will it be 13th age, Numenera, Savage Worlds, or even Pathfinder again? Maybe I should roll some dice.
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