Quote from: Marleycat;755091Come on now it's been completely possible to play a good aligned drow since 3e.

Since 1e, with Unearthed Arcana.


That said, any time someone says they want to play a drow, I roll my eyes a bit.  But OK, I'm a fair guy.  Most players seem to think they get the benefits without any of the in-game handicaps though.  Imagine what reactions will be when a drow walks into town?  Yep, that's right.  Players may think I'm a dick, but I'm just playing out NPCs as they would normally react.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;755096Since 1e, with Unearthed Arcana.


That said, any time someone says they want to play a drow, I roll my eyes a bit.  But OK, I'm a fair guy.  Most players seem to think they get the benefits without any of the in-game handicaps though.  Imagine what reactions will be when a drow walks into town?  Yep, that's right.  Players may think I'm a dick, but I'm just playing out NPCs as they would normally react.

THATS RACIST!!   :rolleyes:

Quote from: Exploderwizard;755098THATS RACIST!!   :rolleyes:

That's Oerth

Quote from: Sacrosanct;755096Since 1e, with Unearthed Arcana.


That said, any time someone says they want to play a drow, I roll my eyes a bit.  But OK, I'm a fair guy.  Most players seem to think they get the benefits without any of the in-game handicaps though.  Imagine what reactions will be when a drow walks into town?  Yep, that's right.  Players may think I'm a dick, but I'm just playing out NPCs as they would normally react.

I know all about it one of my favorite characters was my Drow Sword Dancer in 3e. All the hassling and negative NPC reactions made for a myriad of opportunities for roleplaying.

Drow are so last decade.

Quote from: Marleycat;755101I know all about it one of my favorite characters was my Drow Sword Dancer in 3e. All the hassling and negative NPC reactions made for a myriad of opportunities for roleplaying.

Forget hassling and negative reactions.  I'm talking about the town militia coming to kill you.  Or them hiring a party of adventurers to track you down in the same way most towns hire adventures whenever goblins or orcs are in the area.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;755103Forget hassling and negative reactions.  I'm talking about the town militia coming to kill you.  Or them hiring a party of adventurers to track you down in the same way most towns hire adventures whenever goblins or orcs are in the area.

Like I said...opportunity knocking why do you think women love clothes and makeup so much? With the right ensemble the above is a petty concern.

Quote from: One Horse Town;755078More insider information via a Mike Mearls interview below.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/tabletop/11554-Inside-the-Launch-of-the-New-Dungeons-Dragons-With-Designer-Mike-Mearls

Lots of good, solid information. Highly recommended for anyone interested in 5E. Some highlights:

On the release schedule: As I expected, it's a matter of resources and collaboration. It's pretty much impossible to edit, lay out, and proof three 320 pages books at the same time unless they are staffed as separate projects. And that means no collaboration between the teams, which is a bad idea for core RPG books.

On the Basic set as PDF vs book: If the basic rules are published as a hardcopy, it will be later in the game life cycle. If the whole idea is to promote D&D with a free basic set PDF, it's dangerous to put it out initially in hardcover as well. What happens when someone buys it for $35 off the shelf, and then find out he could have got if for free online? Again, makes sense.

On the content of the Basic set: Mearls basically went through the Moldvay Basic set and mirrored the content. Good news.

On using pre-gens in the Starter Set: Mearls comes out and says they want people to be able to buy it and start playing, the same way they would a boardgame. It's for players entirely new to D&D and RPGs, and getting them up and running as fast as possible is the purpose of the set. Also, the pre-gens are written up with hooks and ties into the adventure setting. They want to highlight what's different about RPGs from boardgames - the centrality of living PCs who are a dynamic part of the world around them. Backgrounds and hooks help with that. Again, makes sense considering the target market.

Monster Manual content: They want to make sure people can use the Monster Manual with basic without buying the DMG, so the rules for monsters, like Legendary Monsters, will be in the MM. And unless they're a spellcaster, monster stat blocks will include everything needed to run the monster.

DMG content: Will include dungeon and adventure design utilities, along with rules for creating new spells, monsters, and classes.

Quote from: Endless Flight;755081Wasn't 4e a lot more friendly to DM than 3e as well?

Yep. But in many other ways a radical departure from traditional D&D.

I know it's tempting to denounce 4E now that's been discontinued. But just because 4E did something doesn't automatically make it a bad idea of a failure. Compact and easy to use stat blocks? 4E had those, so it must be a terrible idea.

Quote from: One Horse Town;755102Drow are so last decade.

Sure doesn't feel that way in my circles, but that's anecdotal I guess.

Quote from: Haffrung;755108On the content of the Basic set: Mearls basically went through the Moldvay Basic set and mirrored the content. Good news.

Ok so there WILL be simple chargen in the box. Good news.

Quote from: Exploderwizard;755111Ok so there WILL be simple chargen in the box. Good news.

Basic is not in a box. Starter is the thing in the Box, Basic is the PDF thing.

Quote from: Haffrung;755108On the Basic set as PDF vs book: If the basic rules are published as a hardcopy, it will be later in the game life cycle. If the whole idea is to promote D&D with a free basic set PDF, it's dangerous to put it out initially in hardcover as well. What happens when someone buys it for $35 off the shelf, and then find out he could have got if for free online? Again, makes sense.

I don't quite get how it's 'dangerous'... these days I assume that most rulebooks have a PDF online and that it's cheaper if not free. If there was a hardcopy Basic I'd surely buy it, despite the free PDF.
Who are these hypothetical people who wouldn't know that but would then suddenly discover it and be angry about it?
How are they going to promote the free PDF vs. having an actual book on the shelves? Is the Starter the only way to discover it without prior knowledge of D&D?

It seems more like the concern is having a cheaper entry product that might serve as terminus, rather than the Starter which leads directly to the 3 corebooks. A bit of a railroad.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;755110Sure doesn't feel that way in my circles, but that's anecdotal I guess.

Yeah, I think Tieflings ate their lunch as the go-to "misunderstood guy" race.

Quote from: Simlasa;755115I don't quite get how it's 'dangerous'... these days I assume that most rulebooks have a PDF online and that it's cheaper if not free. If there was a hardcopy Basic I'd surely buy it, despite the free PDF.
Who are these hypothetical people who wouldn't know that but would then suddenly discover it and be angry about it?
How are they going to promote the free PDF vs. having an actual book on the shelves? Is the Starter the only way to discover it without prior knowledge of D&D?

It seems more like the concern is having a cheaper entry product that might serve as terminus, rather than the Starter which leads directly to the 3 corebooks. A bit of a railroad.

It's better to be safe then sorry because believe me there are the kinds of people out there and many love nothing more then to have the chance to complain about it on the internet. I figure they will see the demand is there quickly so it will be done in a reasonable amount of time.