5e options beyond core?

[gadren]

So, when 5e first came out, I took a quick look and wasn't terribly interested. I enjoyed the wealth of options I had in previous editions, and going back to the handful of options in the new core did not appeal to me.

"I'll check back in a year and see what they've got", I thought.

So, it's been about a year, and it seems there've been no splatbooks so far. I read that's intentional?

Are there many other options for 5e beyond the core? Where are they?

As a player that liked having a huge range of options, should I just stick to Pathfinder and 4e?

[ImSAMazing]

So, when 5e first came out, I took a quick look and wasn't terribly interested. I enjoyed the wealth of options I had in previous editions, and going back to the handful of options in the new core did not appeal to me.

"I'll check back in a year and see what they've got", I thought.

So, it's been about a year, and it seems there've been no splatbooks so far. I read that's intentional?

Are there many other options for 5e beyond the core? Where are they?

As a player that liked having a huge range of options, should I just stick to Pathfinder and 4e?

Unearthed Arcana offers some various options that are published, but still in the playtesting-phase. The options are nice, but sometimes a bit unbalanced. For example:
- There is an Unearthed Arcana about Psionics & The Mystic
- There is an Unearthed Arcana about Storm Sorcerors, Genasi, Goliaths, Minotaurs and even Swashbuckler!
- There is an Unearthed Arcana with some updated Eberron stuff.

[Ralanr]

There's a splat book coming out in November, and the elemental evil players guide has more spells and races.

5e loses a competition in splat quantity. Quality is a different competition.

[Vortling]

So, when 5e first came out, I took a quick look and wasn't terribly interested. I enjoyed the wealth of options I had in previous editions, and going back to the handful of options in the new core did not appeal to me.

"I'll check back in a year and see what they've got", I thought.

So, it's been about a year, and it seems there've been no splatbooks so far. I read that's intentional?

Are there many other options for 5e beyond the core? Where are they?

As a player that liked having a huge range of options, should I just stick to Pathfinder and 4e?

The low amount of extra character options has been confirmed as intentional by the designers on a few occasions. There are some options beyond core in the Elemental Evils player handbook. Additionally if you don't mind stuff that is still in play testing there is the Unearthed Arcana articles. Over all if you like having a wide range of options I would recommend sticking with Pathfinder or 4e as 5e isn't going in that direction.

[Thrudd]

It has not even been a whole year since the PHB came out, the DMG only came out last winter. There are two large adventures released so far. They can only write books so fast, especially if we expect them to be quality tested to any degree. 3.x had 8 years to build up all the splats that were published, and a lot of them were garbage. 4e had four years of development and publishing. If you want a game with multiple years of development and published materials available, yes, you need to stick with previous editions.

[JoeJ]

I think you may be greatly underestimating the number of character creation options in 5e.

In Pathfinder, combining the Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, and Advanced Race Guide (I didn't include Advanced Class Guide because I don't have it), there are a total of 37 races and 21 classes, or 777 basic combinations.

The Players Handbook for 5e has 10 races, 12 classes, and 13 backgrounds, for a total of 1,520 basic combinations. The Elemental Evil Players Companion adds an additional 4 races, bringing the total to 2,184. Having meaningful backgrounds (in the sense that they provide mechanical differences in the characters) makes for a huge increase in options.

Note that I didn't count subraces, which both games have, and subclasses, which 5e has. Nor did I count that, by RAW, players can create their own background, making the variations essentially unlimited.

[gadren]

I think you may be greatly underestimating the number of character creation options in 5e.

In Pathfinder, combining the Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, and Advanced Race Guide (I didn't include Advanced Class Guide because I don't have it), there are a total of 37 races and 21 classes, or 777 basic combinations.

The Players Handbook for 5e has 10 races, 12 classes, and 13 backgrounds, for a total of 1,520 basic combinations. The Elemental Evil Players Companion adds an additional 4 races, bringing the total to 2,184. Having meaningful backgrounds (in the sense that they provide mechanical differences in the characters) makes for a huge increase in options.

Note that I didn't count subraces, which both games have, and subclasses, which 5e has. Nor did I count that, by RAW, players can create their own background, making the variations essentially unlimited.

I think you are trying to make the math back up your opinion instead of making more objective calculations. You only count races and classes from PF, but count in a third variable in 5e's favor. Pathfinder has traits, archetypes, and many other options, not to mention more spells and feats to choose from, etc.

I'm not knocking 5e, I'm just saying I like having lots of options, and was confirming that this edition is intentionally avoiding that before I blow it off.

[Toadkiller]

Yes. That is how they are differentiating 5e from Pathfinder. Making it the more streamlined version. I prefer it as it gets the rules further out of the story. Others don't, it's awesome that both games are in active development.

That said, I may use pathfinder for an upcoming campaign. I think the players might prefer it, we will see.

[JoeJ]

I think you are trying to make the math back up your opinion instead of making more objective calculations. You only count races and classes from PF, but count in a third variable in 5e's favor. Pathfinder has traits, archetypes, and many other options, not to mention more spells and feats to choose from, etc.

I'm not knocking 5e, I'm just saying I like having lots of options, and was confirming that this edition is intentionally avoiding that before I blow it off.

I counted backgrounds for 5e to make a point. The basic framework of a character depends on choosing 2 elements in PF, and 3 in 5e. That increases the number of options substantially.

That said, if you're the kind of player who enjoys spending a lot of time on your character's build, carefully avoiding trap options and trying to tweak every last detail to get the closest possible match to your vision for that character, then 5e is probably never going to be your game. Character creation was made much simpler on purpose, and a lot of options that PF gives you during character creation are, in 5e, options available during play instead. Things like tripping, grappling, and using a finesse weapon don't require a special build to be effective. I like that aspect a lot, since I find much of the character creation in PF to be a chore. You might feel differently, however, in which case I'd recommend staying with PF.

[charcoalninja]

I counted backgrounds for 5e to make a point. The basic framework of a character depends on choosing 2 elements in PF, and 3 in 5e. That increases the number of options substantially.

That said, if you're the kind of player who enjoys spending a lot of time on your character's build, carefully avoiding trap options and trying to tweak every last detail to get the closest possible match to your vision for that character, then 5e is probably never going to be your game. Character creation was made much simpler on purpose, and a lot of options that PF gives you during character creation are, in 5e, options available during play instead. Things like tripping, grappling, and using a finesse weapon don't require a special build to be effective. I like that aspect a lot, since I find much of the character creation in PF to be a chore. You might feel differently, however, in which case I'd recommend staying with PF.

Please, factoring backgrounds in 5e's favour is like giving Pathfinder a new character count for each skill point you can theoretically spend on Craft(basketweaving) to make your seamstress of Steel come to life. The claim that 5e has even remotely the character diversity in even Pathfinder Core alone is insane.

[gadren]

Well, on the plus side, the simplicity will make it easier to eventually roll into my hybridized 3.5/Pathfinder/4e rules.

[Ouranos]

Comparing 5th, which hasn't been out a full year yet, to PF or 3.5 is laughable. PF was built off 3.5 material that had already been out for years, making PF Core HUGE. You want a fair comparison? Compare 5e to 3.5 Core ONLY. Maybe Core and a campaign book or two. Let it mature some before saying it doesn't have anything. After all, while there were several books released shortly after 3rd, it didn't take off until 3.5 came out over 2 years later, and even then the takeoff didn't hit full swing until 3.5 was 2 years old.

[gadren]

Comparing 5th, which hasn't been out a full year yet, to PF or 3.5 is laughable. PF was built off 3.5 material that had already been out for years, making PF Core HUGE. You want a fair comparison? Compare 5e to 3.5 Core ONLY. Maybe Core and a campaign book or two. Let it mature some before saying it doesn't have anything. After all, while there were several books released shortly after 3rd, it didn't take off until 3.5 came out over 2 years later, and even then the takeoff didn't hit full swing until 3.5 was 2 years old.

We were getting a splatbook roughly every other month in the 3.x days. Whether that was a good or a bad thing is open to debate, but 5e clearly wants to give fewer options, most likely for the sake of simplification and balance. There's nothing wrong with that.

[JoeJ]

Please, factoring backgrounds in 5e's favour is like giving Pathfinder a new character count for each skill point you can theoretically spend on Craft(basketweaving) to make your seamstress of Steel come to life.

Um... no. It's not remotely like that at all.

[Hawkstar]

We were getting a splatbook roughly every other month in the 3.x days. Whether that was a good or a bad thing is open to debate, but 5e clearly wants to give fewer options, most likely for the sake of simplification and balance. There's nothing wrong with that.They're also trying to avoid oversaturation. D&D 3 and 4e's books cost more than they made. 4e was only profitable because of strong core sales and D&D Insider subscriptions. D&D 3e was only 'profitable' because it was in the same moneyspace as Magic: The Gathering.


Um... no. It's not remotely like that at all.Eh... Pathfinder's traits and Starting Feats are easily the equivalent of D&D's Backgrounds.

[Spacehamster]

The way I see it is while 3.x, pathfinder and 4e have loads more classes and races a vast majority of them are garbage and will v rarely be used while 5e does not have a single class that is far behind other classes so they are all useful options. That's my 5 cents anyways. :)

[Demonic Spoon]

OP, when you say "options" - are you looking more for mechanical options, or character types (flavor)?

3.x/PF indisputably has a larger variety of mechanical options simply due to the volume of splat. Most of the options were crap, of course, but you had a lot to work with. I don't think the intent is for 5e to ever get to this level.

In terms of the types of characters you can create - if you were strong at navigating splatbooks, 3.x/PF still probably win here, but not by as much as you'd think. Individual classes in 5e tend to be much more flexible in terms of what kind of character you create with them than others. For example, in 5e, you can easily emulate a Scout from 3.5 by using a bow-based rogue with Expertise in Survival.

[charcoalninja]

Um... no. It's not remotely like that at all.

Backgrounds give players skills and a unique benefit to help flesh out their character.
Skills in PF can easily match the character combinations available in 5e's background system. Combining it with traits and feats, which are gained at 1st level more than match that.

Rather than just being contrary, provide HOW the 5e background system is giving so many more options. Because the backgrounds to me, are literally you now have proficiency in these skills, and you have some RP hook that may or may not ever amount to anything entirely depending on your DM (ex: Hermit Discovery). How is that any different than me taking Fighter, and putting a rank in Survival to describe my character as a woodsman (combining it if I want with a trait to make it a class skill) and then putting another rank in Profession (Lumberjack)?

[Magikeeper]

You could check out this site's homebrew section? There is, in fact, a 5E Homebrew Compendium (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?396519-D-amp-D-5e-Homebrew-Compendium). Some of it is quite good!

Also, unlike the books you can easily talk to the creator directly and suggest feedback / slight wording changes / etc if something isn't working out!

[KorvinStarmast]

3.x had 8 years to build up all the splats that were published, and a lot of them were garbage. Amen to that last point, part of why that version of the game was removed from the shelves of my game stuff closet.