While almost everyone in the OSR seems to be working up a lather about the upcoming 5e, I’m feeling rather “meh” about the whole thing. I followed the D&D Next play test for a while, but I can’t say I was overwhelmed. Mostly “meh”.
Looking at my bookshelf I see:
- Moldway/Cook B/X
- Rules Cyclopedia
- Black box D&D
- Mentzer BE
- AD&D 1e
- AD&D 2e
- S&W Core
- S&W Complete
- Labyrinth Lord/AEC
- Blood & Treasure
- Fantastic Heroes & Witchery
- Crypts & Things
- LotFP
- Pathfinder
- Plus a lot of modules, supplements, world books etc. for all these various systems.
- Plus a lot of other game systems and their respective world books etc.
- And now we’re not counting the PDFs, where there’s even more.
So do I really need a new D&D game engine? No.
Is the new game cool enough to motivate a purchase anyway? I don’t think so.
Will I get it anyway? Yes. The free PDF that is.
Free Basic 5e is a great idea, and I will probably use it to easier convert 5e worldbooks and modules, as there surely will be some cool things on that front.
But as a new game? No.
Honestly, I think that Blood & Treasure or Fantastic Heroes & Witchery are better options if you want a more modern game. But that’s just my opinion.
And I really hope that the OSR crowd keep churning out cool stuff for the old versions, instead of going 5e. I also hope that 5e stuff will be easily backwards compatible.
But in the end, 5e is corporation made for profit. OSR is fan made for fun. No way Wizards are going to release weird, gonzo or generally edgier stuff, as they have a responsibility to stock holders, parent organisations and what not.
And here’s another take on the 5e thing
So, I guess I’m staying true and go the Way of the Old School Guerrilla Badass Ninja! Or that’s just a sign that I’m old and grognard-y 😉
So you talk the talk.
Do you walk the walk?
Nerd-O-Mancer of Dork 
I think 5e looks pretty good and I plan to give it a try in a few months,. Don’t know how it will work out but thats OK.
In between we will be playing a little B/X which should be fun.
Basically with D&D (save maybe 4e with my group) its all good
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Yeah, I guess it’s quite ok. Never played 4e, but I play in a Pathfinder game, and it’s darn fun, if a bit fiddly on the rules. I’m happy to play PF, but I would never GM it, as I think the rules overly bloated and complicated in the wrong way. I’ll probably try out 5e also, as the other GM in our group thinks OSR style games are “too simple”. Me, I play OSR games because they are simple and lend to a special style of playing. If I want something more “serious”, I prefer d100 games like OpenQuest and RuneQuest. Or Warhammer, which I’m new to, but like a lot. Thanks for commenting!
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