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5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons Announced

Posted by Soulskill on from the roll-for-fan-support-initiative dept.

New submitter lrsach01 writes "Wizards of the Coast has announced a 'new iteration' of their Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Early information says the game will be more inclusive, with a basic rule set that 'builds out.' This Spring, WotC will be 'conducting ongoing open playtests with the gaming community to gather feedback on the new iteration of the game as we develop it.'"

11 of 309 comments (clear)

  1. exponential version growth by nitehawk214 · · Score: 5, Informative

    1974 - First edition
    1989 - Second edition
    2000 - Third edition
    2008 - Forth edition
    2012 - Fifth edition

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    1. Re:exponential version growth by wurp · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm running a 1st edition game for my 16 year old and five of his friends >:-)

      Shockingly, somehow one of the major factors in me being derided as a nerd in HS has turned me into "the cool dad" now that my kid's in HS.

    2. Re:exponential version growth by SJHillman · · Score: 5, Funny

      And being the cool dad has turned your kids into nerds :-p

    3. Re:exponential version growth by operagost · · Score: 5, Funny

      In my day, we played the Zeroth Edition. In those days we created characters on parchment made from jaguar hides and used dice carved from the femur of a wooly mammoth. By the time I took the wooly mammoth with my trusty spear ("Katharina", I used to call her... although her real name was "Agnes"-- but that's another story), I was dead tired and needed a nap. By the time I woke up, the First Edition was out and I had missed my chance. I blame Richard Nixon, although I suspect James Knox Polk could also be implicated in this disaster.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    4. Re:exponential version growth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      As a high-school parent, doing anything that insures your teen's celibacy (like D&D) is advantageous.

    5. Re:exponential version growth by tilante · · Score: 5, Informative
      Umm, actually...

      1974 - Original D&D
      1977-9 - First Edition AD&D
      1985 - "Unearthed Arcana" - extensive changes and expansions to AD&D - arguably "AD&D 1.5"
      1989 - Second Edition AD&D
      1995-6 - "Skills & Powers", "Combat & Tactics", "Spells & Magic" - arguably "AD&D 2.5"
      2000 - Third Edition AD&D, "A" is dropped for marketing reasons
      2003 - 3.5 Edition AD&D
      2008 - 4th Edition AD&D
      2010-1 - "D&D Essentials" - arguably "AD&D 4.5"

      However, during the 80s and early 90s, TSR also kept developing "D&D" as a separate system, separated for legal reasons. This version is often called "Basic D&D".

      1977 - First Edition BD&D
      1981 - Second Edition BD&D
      1983-5 - Third Edition BD&D
      1991 - Fourth Edition BD&D

      Thus, new D&D rule sets came out the fastest during the late '70s and early '80s, but the average time period between new rule revisions has been 5 years or so. AD&D now moves faster, thanks to the dropping of the "BD&D" line in the '90s. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th edition AD&D were all announced 2-3 years before they actually came out. I'd expect to see 5th edition actually coming out late in 2013 at earliest.

    6. Re:exponential version growth by bigredradio · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why is it reading your post, the voice I hear in my head is the comic book guy from the Simpsons. Just saying.

      --
      Flexible bare-metal recovery for Linux/UNIX
    7. Re:exponential version growth by Ihmhi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      2009 - Pathfinder

      Pathfinder (which was created by Paizo, the guys who used to do D&D Magazine) is called "D&D 3.75" by a lot of people in the community. It seems to take all of the good stuff from 3.5, get rid of a lot of the bad stuff, and keep the game very interesting without dumbing down any of the rules.

      Pathfinder is what should have happened to 4.0.

      In all honesty, can't they just make plenty of money off of campaign settings and miniatures? I don't really see the need to reset the rules every few years. You'd think they would have this shit down after 35+ years of D&D. =|

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  2. Translation. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wizards of the Coast has announced they need more money because everyone who plays d&d has already bought all their old books.
    So now it's time to obsolete everything again and make them start over.

  3. Re:Nice to see it's still alive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Started playing again recently after a long (15 year) break from gaming, and I have to say it has been a lot of fun.

    So....how's the divorce going ....

  4. Re:Nice to see it's still alive by NabisOne · · Score: 5, Funny

    Haha. She is OK with it. Probably because there is no fear of other women being involved....