What Has WOTC Learned from the D&D Next Public Playtest?
Labels:
DnD Next,
GNS Theory,
Microlite81,
musings,
playtest
In the latest edition of Legends & Lore, Mike Mearls talks about what WOTC learned from the public playtest of D&D Next. Here's what Mearls said:
So, what did we learn from the public playtest? In some cases you confirmed things, in others you dispelled some notions that had become lodged in R&D's view of you.
- You like simplicity. You want to jump into the game quickly, create characters, monsters, NPCs, and adventures with a minimum of fuss, and get down to the business of playing D&D.
- You like that every class has the potential to contribute in most situations, but you're OK with some classes being better at certain things if that fits the class's image. You see balance on a larger, adventure-based or campaign-based scale.
- You want rules that make it easy to build adventures and encounters. You want to think about the story or your setting's details, rather than fiddle with math.
- You value flexibility in rules. You prefer an ability or a rule that's easy to adapt or that leaves space for creative applications, rather than rigidly defined abilities.
- You aren't edition warriors. You want the game to support a variety play styles in equal measure. You're not attached to any specific ways of doing things as long as the game works.
There's already a lot of howling from 4e and some 3.x fans over these items -- as many of them are a fairly strong rejection of some of the key features of the editions of D&D which WOTC has developed. Specifically, "you like simplicity" and "you prefer an ability or a rule that's easy to adapt or that leaves space for creative applications, rather than rigidly defined abilities" are pretty much the opposite of what D&D has been under the stewardship of WOTC. Both 3.x and 4e were very complex games that required a lot of upfront work from both players and GMs before play (and before each game for the GM). Both 3.x and 4e were all about long lists of very specific abilities and powers. Seeing balance on a larger than an encounter scale very different from late 3.x and 4e where everything seemed to be designed around carefully-balanced almost set-piece combat encounters.
Finally, wanting the game to support a wide variety of different play styles is a fairly strong rejection of both 4e and the silly GNS game theory it was apparently designed around (which states that a game should be laser-focused on one specific style). Why such laser-focused games may be great for games with a narrow focus (like many of the indie games that are designed around the GNS theory), such a narrow, focused on one or two styles of play, system is a very poor choice for a game that has traditionally supported many, very different styles of play. 4e was a huge success with those D&D players who wanted D&D to revolve long, balanced, detailed tactical grid-based combats loved D&D 4e and generally thought it was the best version of D&D ever. Unfortunately, large numbers of the millions of people who have played D&D over the last almost 40 years were not really strongly interested in that very specific style of play and discovered quickly that 4e did not really support other styles of play very well -- and many were not willing to change to a style of play they did not enjoy that much just to play the current edition of D&D.
I still doubt that I will switch my games to D&D Next when it finally comes out. However, from what I've seen of the playtest, it looks like it will be close enough to the type of D&D I like that I will be able to buy and use D&D Next adventures and settings and use them in my TSR era D&D campaigns without a lot of conversion effort. This is something that I haven't been able to do with WOTC D&D before.
Microlite81 Update: Microlite81 Extended version 0.25 is currently available to donors in the usual area. Microlite81 1.30 should be available to donors later in the week (or early next week) -- leading up to the Microlite81 Public Playtest 2.0 release which is now planned for early September. Donors can download Microlite81 Extended version 0.25 here from Mediafire (with the usual donor password).
The third Sponsor Microlite81 (and Lords & Wizards) Mini-Drive for RetroRoleplaying Cancer Fund is running now. The goal is $500 with the following giveaway items: First Fantasy Campaign (1st Printing), Judge Guild Character Chronicle Cards, Basic Boxed Set (complete including original dice), Expert Boxed Set (complete including original dice), Journey to the Center of the Circle (from Wilmark Dynasty), and The Vampyre's Mirror (also from Wilmark Dynasty). Each $10 donated gives you one chance at one of these items. The top three donors will have a separate drawing for a set of 1st printings of the original three TSR adventure modules (The Giants series as three separate modules: G1, G2, and G3) This is in addition to the usual PDF downloads and other benefits of a donation to the RetroRoleplaying Cancer Fund and sponsorship listings in the upcoming Microlite81 and Lords & Wizards games. To get help us pay our cancer treatment related bills (and to get access to some special downloads and a chance at the above-mentioned items), send a donation in any amount -- small or large -- to me via Paypal. Thank you!As of 19 August 2013, $269 has been donated in this mini-drive, an additional $231 in donations is needed to trigger the drawings for the items mentioned above.
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August 19, 2013 at 3:49 PM
I have to admit I'm concerned about the notion of "campaign-level balance"-- which sounds to me like code for "wizards are one-trick ponies that die in one hit at low levels, until they become completely dominant in the end game, and fighters remain one-trick ponies that die in slightly more hits." I think there's a better solution than that.
August 19, 2013 at 3:53 PM
On the other hand "adventure-scale" balance sounds perfectly cromulent and probably more doable in a traditional D&D format than encounter-based balance ever could have been.
August 19, 2013 at 4:04 PM
Rachel: I have no problem with class balance over the campaign instead of all the time. Of course, "balance" in the more modern sense of the term just is not very important to me.
August 19, 2013 at 4:09 PM
"wanting the game to support a wide variety of different play styles is a fairly strong rejection of both 4e and the silly GNS game theory"
Is it? Although I am fairly critical to the GNS theory, the modes of play it describes actually require different systemic approaches. To rephrase it, one can change the trappings of pseudo-medieval Europe to virtually anything, D&D will still be about looting and killing; it is the system that needs to be adapted to create a new type of game experience.
August 19, 2013 at 9:02 PM
Randall: For sure, I just think the planned obsolescence of martial characters is not balance.
August 19, 2013 at 10:07 PM
Excuse me if it's obvious, but what is 'GNS Theory'?
August 20, 2013 at 1:09 AM
Gamist-Narrativist-Simulationist. Supposedly all RPGs can be classified along an arc between those three categories, except it's a lot more complicated and stupid than that.
August 20, 2013 at 7:50 AM
Rachel: I've been playing TSR-style D&D for ages now and martial characters have never become obsolete at higher levels in my games. They have great saves, high hit points, and by high levels usually have some great magic items (not to mention strongholds and armies). Most high level enemy mages in my games are killed by fighters, not by other mages.
Yes, if you play 3.x and don't put most of the restrictions on spells and casting from TSR D&D back on casters, they are too powerful at higher levels, but that's really a problem specific to 3.x. And really only specific to 3.x RAW. If you house-rule TSR-era casting restrictions back in the problem lessens considerably. Just getting rid of "concentration" so spell interruption works more like it did in TSR D&D can do wonders. Fixing magic saves so that they do not get harder as the caster's level increases does even more wonders. Changing troublesome spells like Rope Trick and teleport so they have TSR-era restrictions does even more.
August 20, 2013 at 8:07 AM
Randall: You're quite right, but I don't think they're likely to do any of those very smart and obvious things.
August 20, 2013 at 7:07 PM
@ Rachel
Actually, the theory categorises the choices players make, not entire games.
cf. "Used properly, the terms apply only to decisions, not to whole persons nor to whole games." (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/3/)
August 21, 2013 at 6:06 AM
Ynas: You're right, my bad.
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