{"id":17009,"date":"2012-01-15T17:13:31","date_gmt":"2012-01-15T23:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/?p=17009"},"modified":"2012-01-15T17:13:33","modified_gmt":"2012-01-15T23:13:33","slug":"under-the-hood-the-paradox-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/?p=17009","title":{"rendered":"Under the Hood – The Paradox Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Paradox Edition<\/strong>
\nBy The Warden<\/em>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s dark in the house, my office especially. Only the glow of the laptop\u2019s screen and the flicker of a pair of candles illuminate this room, all of them slowly consumed by their own fuel. To my left, a single bookshelf containing every major D&D<\/em> book rests. It seems appropriate to the current situation of the world\u2019s most recognized role-playing game: sitting in the dark, no idea when the power\u2019s coming back on.<\/p>\n

Seeing as I like to keep this column timely, the recent news by Wizards of the Coast and the next edition of D&D<\/em> is fitting for today. Not that it\u2019s the only news out there (Evil Hat just announced their Atomic Robo<\/em> RPG on Tuesday), but it\u2019s by far the largest and most public. When I heard that CNN, The New York Times, and Forbes were in on the original media presentation, I thought there had to be something else going on besides the obvious announcement. It seems in today\u2019s online age, we all have room for ignorance.<\/p>\n

Let me be clear I have no need to get into the particulars of past editions \u2013 one of the only particulars I was forbidden from writing about in this column was the dreaded Edition Wars \u2013 but the time has come for D&D<\/em> to enter another edition. And not just any edition, but one \u201cmeant to be a set of rules that unites all the previous editions, and the players of those editions,\u201d according to Monte Cook, it\u2019s lead designer. A tall order to fill.<\/p>\n

Armies of the Edition Wars
\n<\/strong>New editions have become a staple of RPGs and an equal source of controversy. Whether you see them as a cash grab by the publisher or a cleaner touch-up of the original design, the impending approach of a new edition to our favorite game comes with great risk to its creators, not the least of which is creating an expectation that all previous books are now obsolete. Yet I\u2019m not sure I can think of any other edition in the genre\u2019s history with such a goal as D&D<\/em>\u2019s, particularly when the publisher is the same as the one who started the division they\u2019re trying to mend.<\/p>\n

Two are two types of editions common in RPGs. The first involves what we\u2019ll call the Changing of the Guard<\/em><\/strong> and FASA\u2019s original line-up is the perfect example. Battletech<\/em>, Shadowrun<\/em>, and Earthdawn<\/em> are all former publications of FASA before they threw their hands into the air and moved on to other enterprises. Each has been picked up by their prospective new families (some more than others, as Earthdawn<\/em> sat in the hands of Living Room Games before Redbrick took over the contract) and continues on to this day with great success. As part of the move, these publishers each produced a new edition of the game with their own touches, additions, or inclusions of optional and supplemental material gained from the acquisition. Redbrick\u2019s publication of Earthdawn Third Edition<\/em> stemmed from meeting their partner, Mongoose\u2019s, publication requirements, such as a smaller page count per book.<\/p>\n

The second common edition is the Genesis<\/em><\/strong>, a revised look at an existing brand by the same publisher within 7-10 years of the previous release. A Genesis comes about from years of additional playing, supplemental rules, even events within the setting necessitating a new text for players and GMs to draw from, all of which facilitate the need for an up-to-date edition directed at a new or growing audience. The majority of these changes provide new player concepts and cleaner rules based on community feedback, which is the key to these types of editions.<\/p>\n

Each type has their common ground, including a sense of growth and continuation, while maintaining their own differences. A Genesis can be seen as a money grab by the publisher, particularly with massive changes (the World of Darkness<\/em> games, for example); the Changing of the Guard is rarely seen as such and is heralded like a young knight picking up his king\u2019s banner and charging the field. Just by reading how I\u2019ve paraphrased these types, you can see where I stand on them.<\/p>\n

Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> has been around for close to 40 years, meaning it\u2019s gone through an average update every 10 years. No matter what happened to the D&D<\/em> brand, there was going to be a new edition, especially if Wizards of the Coast sold it off or went bankrupt (not likely at this point and time). Hell, it\u2019s what Wizards did when they acquired the brand. It seems now with the latest incantation of D&D<\/em> \u2013 or \u201cD&D Next\u201d, as they\u2019re calling it \u2013 we\u2019re witnessing a new type of edition. The Paradox<\/em><\/strong>. And after spending a couple of days pondering over how to define this edition, I\u2019ve come to realize it was bound to happen eventually.<\/p>\n

By Paradox, I mean the intention of the edition is to \u201cfix\u201d the divisions created by having so many changes made to such a meaningful and essential game to players all over the world. Despite your own feelings on the game, there\u2019s no denying its impact on the genre as a whole and other forms of modern gaming. When I walked over to my local library to talk about volunteering to run role-playing games, it wasn\u2019t until I said \u201cDungeons & Dragons<\/em>\u201d that the nice young woman knew what I was talking about. Those of us who play the game know it by something different, a sub-category, as it were. AD&D<\/em>, Pathfinder<\/em>, 4th<\/sup> Edition, OSRIC<\/em>\u2026 whatever you want to call it, we are a culture divided as much as someone might proclaim they’re from a particular state rather than \u201cI\u2019m an American.\u201d By that example, the D&D Next team is working on putting an end to this Civil War by uniting all factions into a (hopefully) happy whole.<\/p>\n

Betting the Odds<\/strong>
\nEN World conducted a poll on Twitter and its site asking readers whether they found the concept of D&D Next to be good, neutral, or bad with 60% finding it good, 30% neutral, and 10% bad, all of which translates into a 90% favorable margin. Amongst the good side, many responses proclaimed exhaustion at the Edition Wars and a return to the \u201cclassic feel\u201d of D&D<\/em>. This is what makes the idea of a Paradox edition so unique and uncertain: it\u2019s in response to previously poor decisions. By which I mean the changes brought about by the previous edition \u2013 an extreme Genesis edition \u2013 were too much for many players and backfired for the publisher, no matter how you look at it. Not since the final days of TSR has D&D<\/em>\u2019s position as the top-selling tabletop RPG been threatened. It\u2019s like Microsoft theoretically falling to Apple\u2026 oh, wait. :)<\/p>\n

Putting together such an edition is completely possible given that much of D&D<\/em>‘s\u00a0<\/em>original vernacular and terminology remains today (i.e. Armor Class, saving throws). Seeing the success and popularity of their 3rd<\/sup> edition despite significant changes from the previous edition, AD&D<\/em>, we know tweaks to the core rules of the game can be made without incident. Based on the Legends & Lore column on the Wizards of the Coast website, what remains to be seen is the \u201cintent of each edition\u201d measured by complexity. I think it\u2019s safe to say the next edition of D&D<\/em> will be a tiered difficulty along the lines of Beginner, Expert, and Epic. In the Beginner tier, all characters exist as clones of the TSR days with basic race and class abilities, combat, and spellcasting. By the Expert tier, a more decisive skill system can be added to customize the character, along with kits\/paths\/extended class options. And when you\u2019ve soaked up all you can of those options, the Epic tier presents the ability to build a power-like structure to expand combat, magic, and more. Yet despite it all, there exists an underlying core mechanic shared between each tier, embracing every aspect of the D&D<\/em> past into one cohesive whole simultaneously divided into two parts. It creates a paradox to allow all players to return to the ampersand again as if none of those pesky changes had ever happened. At least, that\u2019s the theory.<\/p>\n

Regardless of how it pans out, I personally have high hopes and eager expectations for the next edition of D&D<\/em> as an avid fan of the genre and as a Dungeon Master. Having Monte Cook at the helm can only boost my confidence and assure me to fork over cash for another edition one more time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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