D&D Next Aims to Make the DM's Job Easier

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

D&D Next Aims to Make the DM's Job Easier

Simple rules and clear instructions in the next installment of Dungeons & Dragons should make running a campaign less intimidating.

Being a Dungeon Master is no easy task. Creating campaigns, improvising when your party members stray from your carefully planned quests, and keeping track of various rules and stats can make it too harrowing a job for some D&D players. However, the developers of D&D Next hope to appeal to potential DMs by making running a campaign simpler and more accessible.

"Our goal with D&D Next is to make running and creating a campaign and its adventures easier than ever," senior manager of the D&D research and design team Mike Mearls stated in a recent blog post [http://wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20140421]. As such, Wizards of the Coast has attempted to simplify the rules of the game, as "simpler rules make for easier prep." According to Mearls, "the entire D&D Next system can be summarized as a series of d20 + ability modifier + proficiency bonus rolls," which allows for a flexible but focused approach to gameplay.

There are several other ways D&D Next makes DMing easier: NPCs can be created like player characters or monsters; the magic system is more inviting for high-level casters; and monsters will be grouped together by challenge rating instead of level. "To create a monster with a minimum of effort, you simply pick the boilerplate stats at your target challenge rating. Then add a few abilities that match that challenge rating's typical attack bonus, damage ranges, or saving throw DCs, and you're done."

Mearls offers even more examples in his Legends & Lore blog post. Anyone who's played a regular tabletop RPG knows it can be tough to find a group of friends willing to learn the complex rules and get together regularly; in D&D, good (and willing) DMs can be hard to find. By simplifying many processes and providing "copious tables and step-by-step instructions" for players, hopefully D&D Next can achieve its goal of making it easy to be a Dungeon Master.

Source: Wizards of the Coast [http://wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20140421]

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[BrotherRool]

In some ways I'm sad that it's D&D which is the most famous RPG systems. So many newbies will try to start with it and get swamped by the complexity and half hour - hour character creation.

If something a lot more narrative based, like Apocalypse World, was peoples entry into pen and paper RPGs it'd be a lot more easy to get straight to the fun stuff and then D&D Infinity Go w/e would be a great system to transition into.

I know they've spent a lot of time trying to solve that problem, but D&D has too much baggage to be fixable. Players don't want preset characters, they want a system that's fundamentally quick to make characters. The things they implement are just slipshod patches trying to serve too many masters

 

[Fasckira]

kind of why I like Pathfinder more.

Pathfinder suffers the same fate as D&D for being quite complicated and detailed, enough to turn off potential players. My first game was Vampire which I found very easy to drop into but even after a few sessions of that I was still less than willing to try D&D 3.5 as it just appeared to be numbers everywhere.

Gun to the head though, Pathfinder is more preferable to D&D 3.5, though I personally found 4 quite slick for quick resolution. Im looking forward to seeing just streamlined 5/Next is.

 

[Ftaghn To You Too]

Hah! As if I don't make up everything on the spot when I DM.

 

[BrotherRool]

But sometimes a group just wants to hurry up and play, so I dont see how pre-made characters are a bad thing, to be honest.

I don't mean that premade characters are bad in general. I mean they're bad way of solving the newcomer to D&D is confronted with hour of paperwork before they can start having fun problem.

The reason is it's already skipping over the most fun and unique aspects of a pen and paper RPG. If you want to introduce someone to a game and get them to experience how amazing it is, but then don't have them create their own characters...

For regulars who want a quick game without filling in forms, pre-made characters are great. But if you want to introduce a newbie then you want a system that allows them to create their own characters but in a really quick and simple way.

I was watching a Let's Play of apocalypse world and everyone made their characters on-screen in like 10 minutes. My jaw absolutely dropped, I hadn't even realised that was possible in pen and paper RPGs.

 

[Falterfire]

Glad to see the response here isn't LOL THEY IS DUMBING DOWN THE GAME NOW IT WILL SUCK.

Because honestly, when a game has not one but three large rulebooks it's insanely intimidating. The main reason I never pulled a D&D group together is that I could never be bothered to read all the rules and didn't have an established player to show me the ropes.

Anything that lowers barrier to entry so that new groups can get up and running without spending forever just trying to figure out how to make a basic Wizard is awesome.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

But sometimes a group just wants to hurry up and play, so I dont see how pre-made characters are a bad thing, to be honest.

I don't mean that premade characters are bad in general. I mean they're bad way of solving the newcomer to D&D is confronted with hour of paperwork before they can start having fun problem.

The reason is it's already skipping over the most fun and unique aspects of a pen and paper RPG. If you want to introduce someone to a game and get them to experience how amazing it is, but then don't have them create their own characters...

For regulars who want a quick game without filling in forms, pre-made characters are great. But if you want to introduce a newbie then you want a system that allows them to create their own characters but in a really quick and simple way.

I was watching a Let's Play of apocalypse world and everyone made their characters on-screen in like 10 minutes. My jaw absolutely dropped, I hadn't even realised that was possible in pen and paper RPGs.

The pre-mades are designed for quick and easy play, though, whether you are a new player or a veteran.

For instance, at Encounters (the official recruitment apparatus of D&D) we offered a stack of pre-mades that anyone could grab. If you wanted to be Thrangar, elf wizard of Winterhaven and artifact collector, and not worry about balance or anything else, just grab the right sheet and tell us about the character. A lot of people "in it for the story" preferred this, because there were enough options that they could have a wide variety of characters. We were also willing to sit down with new players and help them build a character from scratch if that was what they wanted, but if they chose that we knew they were probably more interested in the math.

I love AW and the fact that anyone could grab a sheet and start going, but that's because it's already taken care of the hard parts: All you need to do is pick your look, gear, HX, and moves, which is about 10 choices in total that mostly have more fictional than mechanical weight, because you've already chosen the equivalent of class/race, which is where most of the math comes in for D&D.

D&D and it's ilk allow you to build from scratch if you like, which is the equivalent of writing a new playbook; I find most premades are generic enough that the few choices the player makes can really impact how the character plays.

 

[Folji]

d20, modifier, bonuses and that makes up most of the game? Reminds me a bit of Dungeon World! Which, personally, I'd think of as a kinda nice thing. Got a regular group of friends I play tabletop games with, and between all the different RPG systems we've tried from time to time it seems Dungeon World is the one the group likes the most as it's all just... built to be easily managed and on the go. Really fun to be a Game Master in, too, but if D&D Next is going in a similar direction I'm definitely curious myself! Fair enough that there's a lot to get into when you're a Game Master, it's kind of expected, but it's also one of those fields where, honestly, more streamlined and less work just sounds appealing. Right?

 

[Zeren]

After 4th Edition's horribleness, I wont be buying this edition either, especially after reading that. The complexity of the game is the only thing that keeps me interested in it. If they simplify things too much, I can't see myself enjoying it.

 

[Colt47]

d20, modifier, bonuses and that makes up most of the game? Reminds me a bit of Dungeon World! Which, personally, I'd think of as a kinda nice thing. Got a regular group of friends I play tabletop games with, and between all the different RPG systems we've tried from time to time it seems Dungeon World is the one the group likes the most as it's all just... built to be easily managed and on the go. Really fun to be a Game Master in, too, but if D&D Next is going in a similar direction I'm definitely curious myself! Fair enough that there's a lot to get into when you're a Game Master, it's kind of expected, but it's also one of those fields where, honestly, more streamlined and less work just sounds appealing. Right?

Would be good if someone could send that memo to Palladium books... Great settings, horrible system to try and DM.

 

[Sarge034]

Had a group of friends that tried DnD Next and were very meah about it. They said overall it plays like the previous iterations but the random encounter codex is fucked up pretty bad. It pulls from all enemy types regardless of the party level. One person got insta-gibbed in the first encounter because of it.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I haven't even read all of the rules and this is my second campaign as DM. I just work with the situations, work off of knowledge more veteran players know, and add that to my own information. I look up stuff from time to time, but often I just find myself rolling with things. It's worked perfectly fine for the past 8 weeks (Plus 12 for the first campaign I've run).

It is also a 4th ED campaign. I wish people would stop bashing it. Find it too simple? Throw in elements that make it like the others. Based too much on numbers and moves? Encourage thinking outside the box and RP during combat to allow different situations, like I do. Bunch of whiners >.> Next should be interesting if it makes things simple enough. Maybe then I'll get into reading all of the rules myself

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I am still busy being drawn in by Numenera myself. I found that rule system to be far more intuitive and about as easy on a DM as it can get. I like the focus on narration and the setting is very interesting.

 

[nuclearday]

I guess I never saw D&D as all that terribly complex. Growing up, if I wanted to dig into lots of rules I'd run GURPS or a GDW game or something. I've always seen D&D as the archetypical entry-level anyway, I guess.

Still - I'm all for streamlining the system in this case. Like I said, I've always seen D&D as a pretty basic "don't let the rules get in the way of the game," system. I've been having fun with the beta test this past year, as well. Looking forward to see where some of this lands in the final release.

 

[Callate]

the magic system is more inviting for high-level casters

...When was the magic system not inviting to high-level casters?

...Fourth edition, maybe, I guess...?

It always seemed to me, though, that the bigger problem was that a high-level caster was likely to sweep equivalent non-caster classes off the map in the first few rounds of a combat, and cause non-magical characters in their own party to feel largely superfluous. Even outside of combat, spells involving scrying, polymorph, and creation could render hours of other party members' skill use unnecessary.

I'll be curious to hear if "Next" has come up with any workable solutions.

 

[Visulth]

I just started learning Pathfinder and DMing for a group. It's amazing how "brevity" and "clarity" are lost on the writers of D&D resources (people tell me Pathfinder is simpler; having only played 3.5 once I can only imagine it is substantially more long winded).

Simple questions for the most part go unlisted merely because the answers are second nature and implicit for people who have been playing D&D for decades whereas newcomers like myself and my group are left scratching our heads (e.g. it took me a legitimate few days to figure out that initiative was rolled via a d20; plenty of guides told me what bonuses to add to it and how, but the crucial first step was implicit).

EDIT: I wanted to add an example of overly complex writing. Here's one from d20pfsrd on Gnome Sorcerer Favoured Class Bonuses:

Select one bloodline power at 1st level that is normally usable a number of times per day equal to 3 + the sorcerer's Charisma modifier. The sorcerer adds +1/2 to the number of uses per day of that bloodline power.

which can be distilled down to,

Can add ½ uses to a 1st level Bloodline Power. (The bloodline power normally has [3 + Charisma modifier] uses).

To seasoned D&D players it might not seem like much, but for newcomers it makes a significant difference.

 

[Folji]

d20, modifier, bonuses and that makes up most of the game? Reminds me a bit of Dungeon World! Which, personally, I'd think of as a kinda nice thing. Got a regular group of friends I play tabletop games with, and between all the different RPG systems we've tried from time to time it seems Dungeon World is the one the group likes the most as it's all just... built to be easily managed and on the go. Really fun to be a Game Master in, too, but if D&D Next is going in a similar direction I'm definitely curious myself! Fair enough that there's a lot to get into when you're a Game Master, it's kind of expected, but it's also one of those fields where, honestly, more streamlined and less work just sounds appealing. Right?

Would be good if someone could send that memo to Palladium books... Great settings, horrible system to try and DM.

Palladium, don't they basically do apocalyptic everything RPGs? From what I understand of them, they've got some of the most aggressively anti-adaptation attitudes in the business. Don't think I've ever seen an RPG company as fiercely against content adaptation as Palladium, least of all one that goes after its own users for adapting to and from other systems.

 

[Bke]

I don't think I'd be breaking any NDA by saying this, but the majority of my feedback during the play test for DnD next mainly involved making the mechanics smoother. Actually it's still not simplified enough to my liking, but is a lot better than 4th ed.

My philosophy is such: the very nature of role playing games means that there's effectively infinite content; we make our own adventures etc etc. so when you come up with a new edition it's not like the old editions suddenly disappear and stop getting support. Indeed, they are superior to computer based games in this regard. With this in mind it behooves you to shake things up when releasing new versions of a role playing game. Otherwise you could simply release new content for the current set ad nausium. So it made me sad to see that they were still sticking with something that involved more than one mathematical operator. A simple dice roll + skill would sit well with me.

My main counter example was world of darkness, which used 9 generalized skills (mind, body and social, with these three having "attack", "defend" and "interact" sub categories). This made gameplay decidedly more fluid. While there were weapon or specific skill modifiers, they were rather ancillary to the core mechanics, and the game could be played without their use. Finally all these things decided was how many dice you would roll. After being cast you simply looked for a success or not, no adding afterwards or anything.

Looking at the thread I don't think anyone would disagree with this perception too greatly but I do feel dungeons and dragons needs a really big rethink in the way actions are carried out. It's still such a clunky system and I really want to see it done with ease of play in mind, rather than creating depth through unnecessary complexity.