D&D 5e: Monster Manual Quick Critiques

Let me start this article like I've started all my Quick Critiques...

I love 5th Edition. Everything about it so far has been a breath of fresh air. For me, it really has combined all of the best parts from AD&D, 3.x and 4e. It's not perfect, but in my opinion, its the best version of D&D in its 40 year lifespan.

That said, now I'm going to nit-pick the s#!t out of the Monster Manual (Buy it now!Have it in time for Christmas!) over stupid little stuff that likely doesn't matter to most people... It's just what I do, but at least I name it for what it is up front.

D&D Basic Demands Print-On-Demand

It's time for Wizards of the Coast to get into the Print On Demand business... or rather, partner with a company that offers it.

Why? Because it's really apparent that people are looking for low-cost ways to print D&D Basic (as evidenced by lots of pics and posts around the net) and Wizards is missing out on valuable revenue because of it.

D&D 5e: Player's Handbook - Quick Critiques Part 2

Artist: Daren Bader

In my last critique post, I discussed my issues with the art of the new Player's Handbook. In this article, I'm going to discuss some observations I noted related to character generation.

To be clear, I’m loving 5th Edition… I saw some jokingly refer to it as 2.5, which seems fitting. It “feels” like AD&D 2nd Edition (before Skill and Powers destroyed it)… It feels like what 3rd Edition should have been instead of the complex beast 3.x became. This is how Feats should have worked when they were added to AD&D.

Most of my critiques are more minor observations about things that annoy me. They’re subjective as any critique or review is. I won’t go too much into system analysis since there has been a lot of this since Basic D&D was released, but I’ll quickly note what I like before getting into the (hopefully constructive) criticism.

D&D 5e: Player's Handbook Art - Quick Critiques

Disclaimer: This started out as a general critique of the Player’s Hanbook, but the art seems to have gotten under my skin, so this article focuses mainly on the artistic oddities in the PHB. Your mileage may vary.

In general, I’ve liked the art direction of the new edition. However, on paging through the book for the first time, there are number of foibles that really bother me. (Further disclaimer: I actually love quite a lot of pieces in the book... but it's always the stupid little stuff that annoys me to no end).

Basic D&D is a game changer.

Wow... so Wizards dropped a bomb on the interwebs this morning and it should really change the conversation of the D&D haters (or perhaps not... Haters gonna hate.) D&D will be free (as in beer).

D&D Basic is a game changer. Both metaphorically and literally.

D&D Starter Set Fiasco

EDIT 05/27: This post was originally posted prior to the D&D Basic announcement. Some of the commentary loses strength based on this new revelation. However, some of my critique becomes even stronger in the face of this new knowledge (such as the lack of map and tokens). Let me know what you think in the comments.

I was having some Google+ conversations about the D&D Starter Set and thought I'd expand my thoughts here. I have concerns that Wizards of the Coast has not put enough content into their starter box to create even a reasonably good product. "Fiasco" may be a strong description, but it probably caught your eye.

On Starter Sets

What are the goals of a Starter Set?

Looking at the business goals, one would want to provide a low barrier-to-entry way for new players to get hooked on your product. This in turn grows the player base and creates new revenue from the sales of players "upgrading" to the larger product line.

In order to do this though, I also believe that there are game related goals (non-revenue related) a Starter Set has to attain in order to do the best job possible at achieving the business goals.

What I consider required for a starter set:

New D&D Cover Artwork

So the interwebs are abuzz today.

The publish dates for the new D&D books were released this week. Today, higher resolution versions of the cover art for the core books are making their rounds.

First impressions... Mixed at best.