All I want from 5e is...

This is what happens when you type
"D&D 5e" into Google Images

The blogosphere is abuzz with the announcement that WotC are going ahead with development of the next iteration of Dungeons and Dragons.  Rather than fuel the fires of the edition wars, which would be pointless as I don't play 4e and I don't play Pathfinder either, I thought I'd just throw up a list of what I would like to see in 5e and what would make me as an old skool gamer fast approaching 40 part with cold hard cash for what is essentially a new version of an old game.


1.  Simple Rules to Start With - The concept of a basic game which as you level up gets increasingly complex makes good sense both from a new player/DM perspective and from a sales perspective.  Everyone needs the basic rules to begin with but not everyone needs the Expert/Immortal rules right from the get go (notice how I didn't use those new fangled Heroic/Paragon/Epic Tier names, that's because it's a conceit and it sucks, what's wrong with calling something "an adventure for 5-6 characters of levels 10-15" anyway!!).

Face it, it takes years to become a good DM, there are no short-cuts or training courses you can go on.  We've all put the years in to a greater or lesser degree and the focus of any pen and paper based game should be on DM arbitration.  Too many rules to begin with overloads the casual or newbie DM and makes the game drag for players.  If you want to entice more younger gamers into D&D to replenish the ranks of the old and bold then this is a must.

2.  D&D needs to be cross platform - There are 2 major consoles (3 if you consider the Wii which actually outsells both of the other 2) which are more than upto the task of running an MMORPG / VTT game.  There's also the traditional Mac and PC platforms, which even if you can't put together a full 3D HD Wizzy MMORPG such as WoW, it shouldn't be too difficult to put together an HTML 5 web app which will run on almost anything from the lowliest console to the latest spec kit.  Hire an expert company like Zynga or their competitors to do the dev, they do it day in, day out.

Let's face it the world has moved on even from the 4e release only a handful of years ago.  There are potentially more iPod/iPhone/iPad and Android users in the world than there are console gamers or any other platform specific community and it's getting bigger every day.  A character builder is something that can  feasibly be built for next to nothing and can even be given away as a free mobile app to entice new and old players alike.


Want to support the Organised Play / D&D Experiences / Living 5e communities, fine, let authorised DMs add XP and other adventure rewards online.  These can then be reflected on your character app almost instantly.  Couple it with a web based VTT as above for which you charge players as an in-app purchase to go on adventures and you've got a new funding model for a digital age (this should keep HASBRO happy).

Ultimately choice of OS should not be a barrier to enjoying a D&D online experience.

3.  Miniatures with RFID/Bluetooth - The recent Wii hit game Skylanders has pushed technology that little bit further with their RFID enabled miniatures, do the same for D&D miniatures.  No collectibility, just offer them for sale.

4.  No Subscriptions Please (were British) - I know that PC and console gamers are going to object to this, but I'm afraid that the subscription model of charging for gaming is a bit of a dead dog.  It works in an MMORPG sense as you tend to collaborate online with people you don't know, but in a sit around the table VTT sense I'm not sure it will work as I'm sure nobody wants to tell one of the Players to get their VISA card out or they can't join in.

I don't think I'd be able to convince "Her Indoors" that a subscription for a game I may only play once a week is value for money, but I also don't want, and can't afford, to invest the sort of time one needs to in an MMORPG style game in order to recoup my cash investment.

Ultimately, if the likes of major newspapers like The Times or the WSJ  can't get paywalls to work for them, I can't see how WotC can get it to work for D&D.

5.  Print Pubs with Online Extras - This is already happening in the indie scene as more and more publishers supplement purchases of the dead tree version of their games with a free PDF version.  We're not stupid, we know that you sent the book to the printer as a PDF, don't try to rip us off with overpriced e-books.  Whilst you're at it, give us some promo codes for extras which are only available if you buy the dead tree adventure modules (that are allegedly hard to sell).  Look at the sterling work being done by Worlds of Wonder with their bordgame promo codes.

If a tenth of this ends up appearing in the final release edition of 5e, I may be enticed back, maybe...

Judge Dredd: New Crazes Part 1

The unemployment rate continues to peak at 87%, and so in our latest column were going to look at some of the newest crazes to sweep the streets of in Mega-City One.  Let's just hope they don't end up in our readers being swept off the streets.

Anti-Grav Base Jumping

Most of you will have one of those boring old Anti-Grav Chutes in a closet somewhere in case of a fire in your block.  Well the kids down at Keanu Reeves Heights have been putting them to good use with their new extreme sport of Anti-Grav Base Jumping.  They just strap on a chute and hurl themselves off the top floor of the block.  Spotters below track their progress and jumpers score points equal to the Block level number that they pass when they pull their chute.  The jumper with the lowest score wins, but don't forget to pull your chute or you'll be painting the ped-ways red.

Scratch-n-Laff

Those crazy guys at Channel 666 have come up with a new Tri-D comedy show called "Die Laughing" which promises to be the latest hit in really real TV.  Participating viewers use the patented Scratch-n-Laff cards at the indicated points in the show and if your chuckle volume beats the score on the Chuckleometer then you win big prizes.  Guaranteed to be a hell of a show, so make sure you sign up with the 666 team and get your Scratch-n-Laff cards today.

Moviewatch: Looking forward to 2012

I know that this is a little "off topic" but who doesn't use movies as inspiration for their games...?  Here's a list of movies I'm looking forward to in 2012

MOVIEWATCH: LOOKING FORWARD TO 2012 

JANUARY

• The Divide - 13th January (USA) - A bunch of survivors are holed up in the confines of their apartment building's basement after a nuclear war.
  
  
• Haywire - 18th January (UK) - Steven Soderbergh directs this story of a female Black Ops soldier who seeks revenge after being set up during a mission.
  
  
• Underworld Awakening - 20th Jan (UK) - Kate Beckinsale dons the leather catsuit again for another outing as Selene in the 4th Underworld movie.

FEBRUARY

• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - 3rd February (UK) - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson leads his girlfriends family to a mysterious island in the search for their grandfather.
  
  
• Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - 17th February (UK) - Nicholas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze.

MARCH

• John Carter - 9th March (UK) - Disney adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian hero John Carter.
  
  
• The Hunger Games - 23rd March (UK) - Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) directs this adaptation of the Suzanne Collins novel of a dystopian future. 
  
  
• Wrath of The Titans -  30th March (UK) - Sam Worthington returns as Perseus to battle Hades and rescue Zeus.

APRIL

• Iron Sky - 4th April (FIN) - Nazi flying saucers leave their secret moon base to invade Earth.
  
  
• MS One: Maximum Security - 13th April (UK) - Guy Pearce stars in this outerspace prison break movie written by Luc Besson. - Update: In the UK this was titled Lockout
  
  
• Battleship - 20th April (UK) - Liam Neeson tries to see off an alien invasion with his trusty naval fleet
  
  
• The Avengers - 27th Aril (UK) - Thor, Iron Man, Capt. America, Black Widow, Hawkeye and The Hulk appear in 2012's most anticipated superhero slugfest.

MAY

• The 25th Reich - 10th May (AUS) - Time travel, Nazi Robot Spiders, what's not to like?
  
  
• Sinbad: The 5th Voyage - 18th May (US) - Patrick Stewart narrates this low budget Sinbad tale.
  
  
• Men in Black III - 25th May (UK) - Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return as agents J and K in this time travelling sequel. 

JUNE

• Prometheus - 1st June (UK) - Ridley Scott directs this Alien prequel which covers the events of an earlier expedition to LV426.
  
  
• G.I. Joe Retaliation - 22 June (UK) - Sequel to the family friendly action movie featuring Channing Tatum backed up by Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson and Ray Stevenson

JULY

• The Amazing Spider-Man - 4th July (UK) - Andrew Garfield dons the lycra in this reboot of the spidey movie franchise and faces off against classic super-villain The Lizard played by Rhys Ifans.
   
  
• The Dark Night Rises - 20th July (UK) - Christain Bale returns as Batman to face off against Bane

AUGUST

• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - 2nd August (UK) - Dominic Cooper and Alan Tudyk feature in this adaptation of Seth Grahame Smith's novel.
   
• Total Recall - 22nd August (UK) - Colin Farrell stars as Doug Quaid in a remake of the classic Phillip K Dick short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"

SEPTEMBER

• Resident Evil: Retribution - 14th September (UK) - Milla Jovovich makes another outing as Alice in the latest installment in the war against the Umbrella Corporation.
  
  
• Para Norman - 14th September (UK) - The team behind Coraline and 9 return with this animated tale of a boy who can see speak with the dead.
  
  
• Dredd - 21 September (UK) - Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd in this big screen outing for the 2000AD hero, which will hopefully blow away all the bad memories of the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version.
  
  
• Looper - 28th September (UK) - Sci-Fi thriller where mob hit-man Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets hired to kill his future self.

OCTOBER

• Hotel Transylvania - 12th October (UK) - Genndy Tartakovsky directs this animated tale of a boy falling for Dracula's daughter in an upmarket holiday resort for monsters.

NOVEMBER

• Red Dawn - 2nd November (US) - Chris Hemsworth stars in this remake of the 80s classic as a group of American teenagers attempt to save their town from a North Korean invasion.

DECEMBER

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - 14th December (UK) - Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in the first part of Peter Jackson's adaptation.
  
  
• 47 Ronin - 14th December (UK) - Keannu Reeves stars in this true story of 18th Century Japanese samurai who take revenge for the death of their master.

SCHEDULED FOR SOMETIME IN 2012

• War of The Worlds: Goliath - Animated steampunk movie sequel to HG Well's War of the Worlds produced in association with Heavy Metal Magazine.  This one has been threatening to come out for a while, hope it doesn't turn into vapourware.
  
  
• Paradox Alice - A rescue mission is despatched to Europa to fetch water for a dying earth but something puts the mission in jeopardy.
  
  
• A Little Bit Zombie - An HR manager turning zombie trys to keep his life together and marry his fiance.
  
  
• Polypore - A young man's hunt for answers to his newly found gift of telepathy uncovers a web of corporate intrigue.
  
  
• Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie - Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong's animated movie based on their Grammy Award winning albums.  Probably has nothing useable from an RPG stance but I like a bit of Cheech and Chong now and then.
  
  
• Vehicle 19 - Paul Walker stars as a foreign tourist who unwittingly picks up a rental car and is drawn into a scheme of corrupt local police.

Happy New Year and 2012 Resolutions

Happy New Year to all of you out there in RPG Blogging land, especially to those members of the RPGBN and RPGBA who have been along for the ride over the past 12 months.

RPG Resolutions for 2012

1.  Be a Player and not a GM - In 2011 I spent most of my time (33 weekly sessions) GMing my C&C campaign which took up most of my freetime.  I don't know how other bloggers manage to fit two or three campaigns into a year, but one was enough for me.  Playing games rather than running means that I have more time to put thoughts onto paper (or screen) and develop ideas for future games.  I suspect that I'm no different to a lot of other gamers in this respect, I need a playing sabbatical in order to recharge my batteries.

2.  Read More and Play Apps less - I have been seduced by a number of really cool app games over the last year which have taken over my daily commute and turned me into an iOS zombie.  I used to read on the train but now I can be found playing drawrace or some other equally addictive timewaster.  I have a huge stack of books beside my bed which I really ought to get through.

3.  Re-skin the blog - Although this blog is cool it looks pretty scruffy and amateurish in comparison to other blogs, my day job is in the web so it's actually quite embarrassing at the same time that I've not done anything about the CSS or branding on the site at all.  This year I hope to smarten things up.

4.  Publish more - becoming a self publisher has been a blast so far and I have a number of projects which are in several stages of completion.  This year I really must pull my finger out and get them published.

2011 in Review

2012 is almost upon us and its time to set some goals, but first I have to review 2011.

2011 Resolutions Progress

Last year saw me start blogging in earnest and for the first time in ages I made some New Year Resolutions:


1.  Take More Notes (5/10) - I'm counting this as a partial success.  I created the Lands of Dual website to act as a repository for session reports and to store all my campaign notes and maps.  I also began using record cards to take notes, but still relied far too heavily on players notes than I would have liked.  This became particularly troublesome when calculating the XP earned by individual PCs so I must come up with a better solution.

2.  Weekly Blog Series (5/10) - Another partial success as I managed to create two of the weekly blog series ideas I spoke of in my original resolutions article.  Unfortunately they petered out within a few articles.

• Monday Motivations - was an attempt to compile a list of mini-backgrounds for fantasy characters along class lines.  I managed to write 12 articles before the juices ran dry.  There's plenty of life left in this series though and I did promise to publish it as a collected series which will clearly need to be expanded upon.
  
  
• Citymorphs - Following in the footsteps of the Geomorphing community I successfully created 29 citymorph tiles over the course of 7 articles.   In retrospect I should probably have reduced the number of morphs per article and eked it out over more posts as the pressure to create 4 morphs per week quickly exhausted my creative juices.  However, I did manage to get them added to Dave's Mapper so you can play with them to your heart's content. 
  
  The focus for Geomorphs seemed to shift towards the Dungeonmorph Dice project founded by Joe "Inkwell Ideas" Wetzel but there were casualties along the way and the inspirational Dyson Logos has apparently gone off line for the forseeable future.
  
  I liked the concept a lot and as my attention drifts away from Fantasy (in the form of my current OSR clone Castles and Crusades) towards Sci-Fi (namely Judge Dredd) I think there are options for this in the future.

This was not theend of the story and a couple of other series ideas sprang forth.

• A to Z of 80s UK RPG - Was an attempt at nostalgically recording my gaming inspirations but stuttered at "I is for ....".  I intend to continue this series as I have written further articles along the line which have yet to see the light of day and it would be a shame to end it after only 8 articles.
   
• Mapping Tools - Was a little 4 part series investigating the state of free cross platform mapping solutions at different scales.  I enjoyed making this series and it led to the discovery of the sweet little tool TILED which I have now used on a number of occasions to construct classic blue style dungeon maps such as The Ruined Tower of The Archmage.

3.  Blog in Advance (3/10) - I have come to the conclusion that scheduled blogging really only works if you have an ongoing series combined with enough inspiration to easily create articles for it in advance.  This lack of inspiration has really been my issue and I don't want to end up with quality suffering for the sake of quantity.

Other Achievements in 2011

Blog Performance

2011 has seen Roleplay-Geek hit the 20,000 pageviews mark (woot) and I've written 96 articles.  I've even tried mobile blogging with limited success, if anyone has any suggestions for free iOS apps for mobile let me know in the usual way. 

 The top 5 articles of the year (by pageviews) are:

1. Minions My OSR take on the one hit wonder (697pv) - High interest in this article probably due to being picked up in Tracy Hurley's Festival of Lights article on the official D&D website.  I must namedrop 4e concepts a bit more...
   
2. Make: 3D Dungeon Tiles Pt 1 - The Design (193pv) - Where I set out the design to produce a cheap as chips and, more importantly, a useable 3D dungeon set.
    
3. Make: 3D Dungeon Tiles Pt 2 - The Build (189pv) - Building the rooms with foamcore.
   
4. RPG Mapping Tools Part 1 - Battle Maps (183pv) - Part one of my 4 part series exploring free cross platform mapping tools.
   
5. UPDATE: RPG Google mapping with MAPLib (159pv) - An update to my article on using MAPLib for your campaign map needs.

Top referrers are of course RPG Bloggers Network  and RPG Blog Alliance, thanks for all the visits guys.

Roleplay Geek Publishing

In April I became an RPG publisher and over the course of the year managed to create a total of 7 products which are currently available for download on RPG Now.  All the advice I gleaned from the various blogs I read forewarned me that this wasn't going to make me a millionaire, but I have enjoyed the experience so far and have been pleasantly surprised with the results so far.

Item	TOTAL SALES	TOTAL EARNINGS
Item Cards - Adventurer's Gear	57	$ 36.68
Item Cards - Potions	44	$ 26.18
Item Cards - Animals	32	$ 18.48
Paper Minis - Animals	28	$ 18.90
GM Aids - Decision Deck	18	$ 25.20
Item Cards - Free Sampler	391	$ 0.00
Paper Minis - Free Fungaloid Lurkers & Brain Vine	130	$ 0.00
Grand Totals	627	$ 124.44

RPG Now is a fantastic way to publish but consequently there are some 15,436 products available to download and standing out from the crowd is extremely difficult. Most of my sales occurred soon after products were added to RPG Now and so featured in the Latest Products list and I haven't worked out a marketing strategy yet.

PDF pricing seems to be a bit hit and miss, Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor recently wrote a neat article revealing his thoughts and research into pricing his own products.  It doesn't seem to be any easier for the DIY print publisher either, Chris Tregenza has started a new thread on his blog detailing his progress towards making a profit for the 6d6 RPG and I will be watching this with interest.

My philosophy with my PDFs is that I'm producing them for my own games anyway, so the personal effort involved isn't factored into the profit equation.  I'm under no illusion that I'm going to become rich as a result, but if I can gather up a few dollars along the way to buy the odd bit of swag then it's a success.

Miniature Painting

I returned to miniature painting and finally completed my Harlequin Giant Forest Troll and am part way through painting a Ral Partha Djinn and Efreet.  As I get older I have begun to have issues with painting under electric light (or it could be those god awful compact fluorescent bulbs we now have to use) so this restricts the time when I can comfortably paint to a small window on a Saturday morning.  I have a stack of minis which need a bit of colour so I need to ramp up production in 2012.


All in all a mixed year, stay tuned for the New Year Resolutions post.