ONE D&D To Rule Them All! (Ep. 274)

Professor DungeonMaster analyzes the ONE D&D trailer provides expert analysis.

"Fury of the Dragon's Breath" by Peter Crowley

[Escorpius]

Gary Gygax :
"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules."
#Homebrew4Life

[SSkorkowsky]

Not as much about the video topic, I'm currently wrapping up Ben Rigg's book "Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons" which covers the most detailed account of TSR's fall. It's got some great stuff I've never heard or only head partial stories on. One of the interesting things it talked about was senior management kept sales numbers secret from everyone outside their circle. So the game writers and designers had no idea what was selling and what wasn't. They were just pumping out books and box sets and management was going "Great! Give us more." So the designers naturally assumed that meant the products were a hit. So things like 'Ruins of Undermountain' they didn't necessarily know were selling any better than the other sets at the time.

[paulkearnes]

I started playing DnD in 1975. Theater of the the mind was how we played. Time passed and it moved into using minis and some sort of terrain. Now we have full 2D or 3D terrain with minis. I believe that this is the way to play. Face to face, with all the fluff of terrain snd minis and all that come with that. Playing via internet platforms seems to take away the intent and personal touch that the game originally intended.

[BobWorldBuilder]

Lol gotcha by like 30 minutes 😁 But I was far from the first. Great to hear your thoughts on it!

[jason]

There is absolutely nothing that will ever beat 4 to 6 friends sitting around a table rolling dice

[Ixnatifual]

Perhaps the only thing that can surpass One D&D is going to be Two D&D.

[watchdog]

I’ve played 1st edition AD&D but started with Moldvay and haven’t seen anything since that basic set came out that would entice me to change. The Moldvay basic / expert is a simple yet brilliant game system that doesn’t bog down the game but allows the players and DM to play with intuitive choices. Both the basic and expert rules come in at 124 pages - for every rule, be it player or DM. Imagination is what drives the game not the gimmicks that the game has now become.

[JamesEck]

I predict that this will get me to spend at least 10 times as much on WotC stuff as I did last year...which is still $0.

[TheGuidermichael]

Not a fan of everything going digital but I like it's convenience. I miss the days of everyone loading up to go to little Caesars and kinkos for a night at the table with pizza, actual paper character sheets, rolling real dice and moving poorly painted minis on butcher paper with crude terrain marked on it... and dying.

[ChuckThorin]

I got the feeling it's going to be like renting a house in a gated community with an HOA that's run by a bunch of Karens. That being said, go out there and support all those little indie creators and FLGS's.

[michaelgunn]

This reminds me of Neverwinter Nights. I remember when I first saw that game presented on TechTV on their show, Screensavers. The BioWare Doctors were mainly talking about the toolset they released with the game that allows players to create their own adventures. They even published some fan-made adventures later on.

I was 12 years old when that came out and I enjoyed making up dungeons, monsters and NPCs with their toolset. If One D&D works out, I could definitely see the younger players enjoying it, especially since it's a lot easier to connect with people online today than it was back at the turn of the century.

As for me, I'm happy with the old school way.

[hallking]

I don't need a fancy 3D virtual table top that pulls me away from an in person game. I just want campaign settings (new and old) with more epic adventures set in those places.
If I wanted to play video games I'd just play Warhammer.

[krispalermo]

" May all your rolls be twenties."
I said it before and I say it again, some of the best moments in stories is when someone rolls a 1.
Dramatic failure of OH Szhit moments are the most remembered.

[chrishall]

I would advocate for the disclaimer of, "All these rules are optional. The judgment of the Dungeon Master supersedes all of them, " to be at the front of the PLAYERS' HANDBOOK as well as the DMG. The players need this message directed at them even more.

[corbanhos]

Love these videos!
@3:17 "the Dungeon Master's guide should have a page at the front where it says all these rules are optional and the Dungeon Master judgment supersedes all of them"
I bring you page 4 of the DMG: "As a referee, the DM interprets the rules and decides when to abide by them and when to change them."

[lilcwa]

I think you are 100% right about everything you’ve said in this video. And it does not bode well for the RPG hobby.

[concretmixer]

I'm old school D&D. I drew, wrote, and planned probably 95% of my own dungeons. Rarely did I use premade dungeons. My fear is that you're going to lose that induvial flare that each dungeon master brings to the game. They will all look the same and all have the same restraints. That being said, it also would take me a week or more to plan, draw, and write a dungeon. I don't see kids spending that much time anymore to do that. Plus, most of my writing was to explain what the characters were seeing. Now they can just see it. My hope is that they have enough items to choose from to make each dungeon look unique, and not just cut and paste. Digital is the future I have no doubt, I just hope it doesn't lose the individuality that each DM can bring to the table.

[jwkrayer]

I completely agree that there should be a page saying all these rules are optional and the DM's judgment supercedes all of them but I think it should be at the front of the PHB.

[kirktate]

One D&D to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Ecosystem, lock out of 3rd party content from their digital tools, limits on homebrew if you use digital tools, micro transactions, subscription fees...
Wonder if 3rd party publishers will be limited to "old 5e" by the old OGL under the justification that everything is backwards compatible.

[allenopperman]

Seems like the new D&D playtest materials are further stacking the deck in favor of the PCs. I see a lot of folks in favor of no monster crits because they are only trying to challenge their players and assuming they will win without ever killing characters. I don't think you can meaningfully challenge players without allowing them to fail. Its definitely not for me but I am happy everyone can play a game in the style they enjoy, and I am thankful for the OSR community.