It's hard for me to believe D&D 5E is in it's 4th year. My players and myself really got excited with it's launch. We did the Next play test. When basic dropped we played it. When the core books came out we grabbed them up. We like the system alright. We like the way characters advance and how paths give a nice level of customization.
The core three books is where my excitement ends. I've come to the realization that I'm not the target audience for 5E. I don't run campaign books whole cloth but rather mine them for ideas. Full color hardbound art books sold as campaign books are not for me.
I've picked up a couple, namely Curse and yawning. Curse because Ravenloft was my thing back in the day. And yawning anthology format seemed like it could be useful. Also some of those classic Adventures are worth a look. Xanathar's might be worth a look.
As of right now there is no setting books. Sword coast is as close as we have and it's just a players guide to a setting that really doesn't exist yet in 5E.
Rather than have an actual forgotten realms we are just told with every product how to shoehorn it into the realms. Or we are told to use the product in any number of other settings not out for 5E but only fleshed out in older edition products. Not sure how this format is in any way new player friendly. Which is I guess where the campaign books come in. It just feels so empty and soulless. It's just generic fantasy tropes.
At this point Adventures in middle earth by cubicle 7 has been out for less than a years. Yet has more books made or in the works for 5E that I want. More than wizards has that interests me. The Adventures are part of a larger world, the locations are interconnected places. The feel and tone are the same, not a bunch of disconnected campaign books that "can be dropped in any campaign world you like" even though their tone and settings have nothing in common like all the wizards campaign books.
In the end all I can say is that 5E clearly isn't for me. It's not marketed or intended for me. The longer it's out the clearer it gets. I'm pretty sure from here on out I'll be more interested in 3rd party publishers and their products.
All that said the rules are solid and is a staple in my group. I'll continue to run it as long as my players want to play it.
I honestly think you are closer to the average consumer than you think. WotC admitted that one 1 campaign per year worked and they had to learn that. AiME has the luxury of being able to convert several One Ring supplements. If you are deciding about Xanathar, ask yourself if you liked Arcana Unearthed for ADnD or 3.X. For me, the best parts are all of the updated and new DM tools. The Player stuff is cool, but as a DM I was pleasantly surprised at our new toys.
ReplyDeleteAs a retailer, WotC's schedule doesn't overwhelm your average DnD player who makes purchases a few times a year. It might irk the average hardcore gamer, but we are much smaller in numbers than we realize.
But I have no interest in campaign books. I passed on volo's guide. I passed on sword coast. I passed on all but Curse, yawning, hord, and princes. And really found hord and princes useless for mining. I think if I was the average consumer wizards would be in financial trouble by now.
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