5th edition predictions

[Rift_Wolf]

1) Player races are reduced to Human, Elf and Dwarf.
2) The d20 will be replaced by 3d6
3) Charisma will be got rid of and replaced by role-playing.
4) In the vain struggle to stop wizards becoming too powerful, all 10th level wizards MUST take a crippling prestige class.
5) Polymorph will still be broken.

Any others?

[Zincorium]

The name "Dungeons and Dragons" will be owned by microsoft. However, "D&D" will belong to google. They are no longer compatible.

The players handbook will contain a page and a half detailing exactly what the paladin's code entails. The paladin class is removed in another supplement with something less rulebound.

The misapplication of quantum physics to D&D allows first level wizards to shapechange into demigods, while fighters are restricted to newtonian physics and any complainers are shouted down.

[BRC]

Rather than having three core sourcebooks (PHB, DMG, MM), players and DMs will be forced to buy the rules for each Class, piece of equipment, Spell, and Monster individually. There is a 20% chance that said rules will be in code.

[Green Bean]

Gamers will complain that the new edition is being released too soon, and is obviously inferior to 4e.

[CasESenSITItiVE]

...

The players handbook will contain a page and a half detailing exactly what the paladin's code entails.

...

my god i hope so, i'm getting tired of directionless debates on vague rules

[Rutee]

5e will succeed 4.5 3-6 years after its release. There will be cantankerous curmudgeons.

[Solo]

There will be NPCs standing outside of taverns with giant yellow exclamation marks over their heads.

[Collin152]

After trying in futility to prevent things like Pun-Pun, they will embrace it, and the game will devolve into rolling for initiative, eating pizza and making death threats. Also booze.

[Glawackus]

A violent schism erupts in the RPG world as gamers debate whether 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons' holograms are considered "LARPing" or not.

The debate comes to an end when the President asks a now bent-and-wizened Gary Gygax, on live television, to write him a new adventure "cause my group always thought the stuff Wizards put out was never as good as the Greyhawk modules, y'know?"

:smalltongue:

[AKA_Bait]

5e will have complete online support and need it since the fluctiating bonuses will be so numerous and difficult to track that it takes 20 mins to roll iniative without a computer.

All character sheets will only exist in an online database format. Any characters so stored will automatically grant a non-exclusive, subliscenceable, liscence for use of the character concept and design without compensation to the original creator.

A free make-a-monster program will also be available online. It will have the same free liscencing.

The per round/ per day/ per encounter system will be scrapped for casters since Wizards will no longer be 'uber' and that is unacceptable.

[Baxbart]

There will be NPCs standing outside of taverns with giant yellow exclamation marks over their heads.

I'm getting the weirdest sense of deja vu here....

[Catch]

I get the feeling that the player base will jump to wild conclusions based on rumors and hearsay, argue themselves into fits over bits of fluff, ignore the beneficial facets entirely, and decide firmly that with the release of the new edition, D&D will be ruined forever.

I mean, again.

[AKA_Bait]

I get the feeling that the player base will jump to wild conclusions based on rumors and hearsay, argue themselves into fits over bits off fluff, ignore the beneficial facts entirely, and decide firmly that with the release of the new edition, D&D will be ruined forever.

I mean, again.

Oh, lets not forget the part where they buy it anyway.

[Rutee]

Oh, lets not forget the part where they buy it anyway.

And then repeat the process 8 to 12 years later.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

There will be whining and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[brian c]

Rather than having three core sourcebooks (PHB, DMG, MM), players and DMs will be forced to buy the rules for each Class, piece of equipment, Spell, and Monster individually. There is a 20% chance that said rules will be in code.

Rules booster packs?

[Draz74]

Someone will start a thread entitled "6th edition predictions."

[Collin152]

Rules booster packs?

Well, you could buy hte packs and hope for the good rules like Attack of Oportunity and Line of Sight, but you can buy the starter for stuff like "Rolling for Initiative".

[mikeejimbo]

All the rules and supplements will be exclusively online, and you will have to pay $10 a month per book to continue accessing them. Additionally, you will not be allowed to print them out.

[Kurald Galain]

WOTC will hire a special squad of Rules Enforcers, that unexpectedly drop by your D&D session to make sure you're playing it Right, own real versions of all the source books (one per player, of course) and aren't unbalancing the game with house rules.

Also, this forum will have three threads per week about how the wizard is completely weak and unplayable at high levels, where other people angrily claim out that they like wizards and would everybody else please shut up?

[Irreverent Fool]

All the rules and supplements will be exclusively online, and you will have to pay $10 a month per book to continue accessing them. Additionally, you will not be allowed to print them out.

This seems likely.

[Jayngfet]

half elves will be dropped in favor of aasimar, who will all be green afemaninate and winged, ignoring any previous existing races.

death will just be a room with a half dead orc and a knife, kill the orc and live again.

[Squash Monster]

Stats like base attack bonus, base saves, and hitpoints will be fixed at their starting values and never go up.

All classes will look very different and yet be capable of very much the same things, with only the following exception: casters use their abilities over an area at a distance, fighters use their abilities over their immediate area, and archers use their abilities on single targets at a distance.

Negative hitpoints will be removed. When a character's hitpoints go below 0, they will be dying, and if they are hit while dying they'll be dead.

People will think the new version came too soon.

Druids will still be overpowered.

[Collin152]

The sun will be darkened, the moon will turn to blood, there will be earthquakes in divers places...
This is about 5th edition, right?

[FlyMolo]

Lesee. I think the d20 mechanic will be replaced by ye olde d100 mechanic. more room for bonuses. Or better yet, computers will take over and roll d5000, with fractional bonuses.

DnD will stop being competitive algebra, and start being competitive calculus.

[Da King]

All monsters will be replaced by floating clouds of pure DM sadism.
Also, guinea pigs will be a core race. (Since by the time 5th ed comes out, guinea pigs will rule the world)

[Da King]

All monsters will be replaced by floating clouds of pure DM sadism.
Also, guinea pigs will be a core race. (Since by the time 5th ed comes out, guinea pigs will rule the world)

[Greenfaun]

Someone will start a thread entitled "6th edition predictions."

Whoa, meta.

My prediction: WOTC will be accused of copying whatever RPG videogame is most popular at the time.

[mikeejimbo]

DnD will stop being competitive algebra, and start being competitive calculus.

See, I've been trying to move in this direction for years!

[Newtkeeper]

I fear, myself, that in a few editions, they'll go too far and remove all need for imagination and thought. I have no clue how they could manage that, though.

[AslanCross]

Well, you could buy hte packs and hope for the good rules like Attack of Oportunity and Line of Sight, but you can buy the starter for stuff like "Rolling for Initiative".

Gah. Despite the obvious reference to CCGs, I instead got frightening images of the law/card system in FF Tactics Advance.

<Paladin Player> I swing my sword at the zombie!
*A Kolyarut gates in.*
<Kolyarut> Slashing weapons are not allowed in this encounter.
<Player> But, but, zombies have DR/slashing!
<Kolyarut> Rules are rules.
<Player> Okay, fine. I turn undead!
<Kolyarut> That isn't allowed either. That is your second violation.
<Player>!!!
<Kolyarut> You have the right to remain silent...
*Kolyarut and apprehended player gate out*
<Wizard, to the Rogue> You didn't tell him we had cards for those, didn't you?
<Rogue> *snickers*

[brian c]

Well, you could buy hte packs and hope for the good rules like Attack of Oportunity and Line of Sight, but you can buy the starter for stuff like "Rolling for Initiative".

You'd always get too many Grapple Rules, and still never understand them.

[BRC]

You'd always get too many Grapple Rules, and still never understand them.
I'll trade you an explination of Metamagic Rules for your WBL table.

[Serenity]

It will have its good points and its bad points, just like every other edition. It will work very well for many people, well enough for many others, and a significant proportion will prefer to stick with 4e. All will be able to enjoy themselves and play the games they want to play. This will not stop a large number of people from wailing that D&D is being ruined forever, that WotC betrayed them by putting out a new edition, and that anyone who plays the new edition isn't playing D&D right.

[Devils_Advocate]

Existing settings with extensive histories and gobs of material written about them will be gratuitously, haphazardly, sloppily retconned to fit with the new model. The fans of these settings will complain that their respective favorite settings are being ruined. Surprisingly few people will complain that, if they actually feel the need to significantly redesign existing D&D settings, then the new ruleset must be awfully inflexible and include a lot of unnecessary assumptions about how a campaign world will work.

At least one existing setting will be retconned without actually being supported in the new edition in any meaningful way.

[FlyMolo]

Lesee. I think the d20 mechanic will be replaced by ye olde d100 mechanic. more room for bonuses. Or better yet, computers will take over and roll d5000, with fractional bonuses.

DnD will stop being competitive algebra, and start being competitive calculus.

[Collin152]

I'll trade you an explination of Metamagic Rules for your WBL table.

Who are you trying to kill? I want the Monk's ability progression with it, and the warlock's. Also, the list of invocations. But since I'm so nice, I'll give you the Druid's animal companion sidebar with it.

Edit: Woah, change that kill to kid. I'd have just changed it, but that's the funniest typo I've made all day.

[BRC]

Who are you trying to kill? I want the Monk's ability progression with it, and the warlock's. Also, the list of invocations. But since I'm so nice, I'll give you the Druid's animal companion sidebar with it.

Edit: Woah, change that kill to kid. I'd have just changed it, but that's the funniest typo I've made all day.

Ive already got the Animal Companion Sidebar, but if you happen to have the Wizard Skill List we may just have a deal.

[Xefas]

Well, I predict that years before that, Google and Wikipedia (the data, not the companies) will have merged into the same omnipotent program and enacted the Human Instrumentality, thus merging all of humanity and the internet into one large (orange) multi-consciousnessed being of perfect knowledge...

...loads of small static bonuses, complex and esoteric grapple/AoO rules, and confusing and contradictory alignment restrictions will be a lot easier to grasp, and will thus only get more out of hand.

[Collin152]

Ive already got the Animal Companion Sidebar, but if you happen to have the Wizard Skill List we may just have a deal.

Insane how fun this is.
Sad how I can actually see something like this happening.

[JadedDM]

I get the feeling that the player base will jump to wild conclusions based on rumors and hearsay, argue themselves into fits over bits of fluff, ignore the beneficial facets entirely, and decide firmly that with the release of the new edition, D&D will be ruined forever.

I mean, again.

Again, again. The same thing happened when 3E was announced.

Same play, different actors.

Incidentally, us AD&D grognards are just sitting on the sidelines, snickering at you all. :smalltongue:

[Ascension]

Again, again. The same thing happened when 3E was announced.

Same play, different actors.

Incidentally, us AD&D grognards are just sitting on the sidelines, snickering at you all. :smalltongue:

Why do I never hear people complaining that 2E ruined AD&D forever?

[UglyPanda]

All monsters will be replaced by floating clouds of pure DM sadism.
They're called living disjunctions, or are living spells blobs?

All monks will gain a living disjunction and a living antimagic field as animal companions. They'll still be underpowered.

Eberron will become the new default setting. It will be decried as too bland and hated on by those who have not played previous editions.

There will be abilities which can only be used if a party is filled with a specific set of classes.
One of those sets will be five fighters, they will be able to polymorph into a half-iron-golem titan when there is an enemy of an least gargantuan size.

There will be monsters larger than colossal, the only miniatures available to display them are life-size versions of the smaller races.

Modrons and Flumphs will return for nostalgia value. They will both be player races.

Catgirls will no longer die whenever a physics argument is brought up. This is because all physics arguments will be settled by a series of supercomputers at MIT. Annoying players will still try to convince their DM that their interpretation of Newtonian Physics is correct.

The Tarrasque gets a makeover, it really is a giant kitten.

The Captain Ersatz (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CaptainErsatz) version of the Cloverfield monster will become the new Tarrasque.

All skills will be subdivided according to their possible uses. i.e. Climb becomes climb (rope), climb (cliff), climb (tree), etc. with each skill providing bizarre synergy bonuses at arbitrary levels for at least three other skills. This new skill system will be sponsored by Microsoft to promote their newest version of Excel.

The Book of Undisputed Neutrality will be released. It will include a feat known as Pledge of Apathy, which grants powerful bonuses in exchange for not attacking, healing, or assisting any ally, enemy, or acquaintance.

Strahd von Zarovich will be added to the default pantheon.

[Mewtarthio]

5e will be released following a catastrophic technological singularity that shatters everything we thought we knew about consciousness and the human soul. It will be played by the Ascended Overlords (who are themselves but aspects of the personality of the Gestalt God-King), using humans who've failed to Transcend as miniatures. These unfortunate miniatures will be forced to LARP for the Overlords' amusement, no longer capable of controlling their own bodies, trapped and forced to watch themselves participate in a cruel mockery of fantasy gaming. Heated message board debates will start up as to whether or not it's considered metagaming to to brutally murder certain NPCs simply because they are represented with the wives and children of the PC's miniature (answer: Yes, but that's half the fun).

[Helios Sunshard]

There will be rules up to level 40, then you will have to buy the expansionboster pack in order to play to level 50 or Wotc ninjas will appear at your gaming table

[Collin152]

The rules to designing adventures will be so complicated, as well as how to properly allocate XP rewards, that all adventures must be purchased from wizards in weekly installments.
PC creation will no longer involve any random factors. Playing a wizard means you have the followign number of ranks in the following skills, and have the following stats. Multiclassing will be possible only through prestige classes.

[JadedDM]

Why do I never hear people complaining that 2E ruined AD&D forever?

Obviously you haven't met very many 1E'ers.

[SurlySeraph]

Wizards will be fixed, after the improvements that fighters received in 4E made spellcasting virtually useless.

Popular feat combinations such as Persistent Echo and Divine Headbanging will be removed, making the "Bardzilla" builds that dominated 4E impossible to replicate. Many DMs will ban bards anyway, thinking that even an entirely new edition wouldn't be able to fix them.

The Monk's class features will consist of the following:

"Hitting stuff (Ex.): The monk can use martial arts to hurt enemies. His unarmed attacks are extra effective."

People will still say that the monk's class features are too complicated and overly situational.

To give the players more options, any class may use any class feature of any other class at any time. People will still say that the classes are too narrow and specific.

Evocation will be nerfed.

The psionics rules will be completely revised and will have absolutely nothing in common with any previous casting system. No one will notice.

Alignment will be removed. Instead, all races will be divided into "Pretty" and "Icky." "Pretty" races will be playable. "Icky" races will not be, and will always be the enemies of the players.

Every core race except humans will be an elven subrace, including Half-Elves, Uruk-Eldar, Helflings, Dwelfs, Gnelmfs, Tielfings, and (of course) Drow. All of them will have "Shiny hair" and "So awesome that everybody else is jealous" as racial traits.

To speed things up, all Drow will receive Two-Weapon fighting and Weapon Proficiency (Scimitar) as bonus feats.

No playable races can be used as enemies, nor will non-player races be allowed to have class levels.

Epic level fighter feats will include Kick Reality in the Groin, Hurl Planet, Blade of Game-Winning, Sunder Platonic Form, and Cut from Timestream. But epic spells will still be even worse.

[TheOOB]

Characters will all have a large magic piece of paper that floats near them in every battle. At first it will only have attack, run, and item, but over time you will gain magic, summon, and a unique command for each class.

Also, being in the back row will half all physical damage you deal and you take unless you use a ranged weapon. All damage and hp numbers will be multiplied by 10.

[EvilJames]

Half orcs will be put back into the PHB (it will be an odd numbered edition after all)

It will come out 2 years after 4.5 which came out 3 years after 4th. 6th will come out 4 years later.

[Cybren]

The game will be a single d20 roll, regardless of its result, the DM will say you heroically win the day, and are total badasses.

[Rutee]

5e will be released following a catastrophic technological singularity that shatters everything we thought we knew about consciousness and the human soul. It will be played by the Ascended Overlords (who are themselves but aspects of the personality of the Gestalt God-King), using humans who've failed to Transcend as miniatures. These unfortunate miniatures will be forced to LARP for the Overlords' amusement, no longer capable of controlling their own bodies, trapped and forced to watch themselves participate in a cruel mockery of fantasy gaming. Heated message board debates will start up as to whether or not it's considered metagaming to to brutally murder certain NPCs simply because they are represented with the wives and children of the PC's miniature (answer: Yes, but that's half the fun).

Please father my children. But don't expect any mercy after I've moved onto my machine body.

[Jack Zander]

Please father my children. But don't expect any mercy after I've moved onto my machine body.

Rutee, aren't people usually asking you that?

[Dan_Hemmens]

5th edition will introduce a number of comparatively minor changes, most of which have been around in other RPGs for years. People will say that this will ruin D&D forever, and completely defeat the purpose of role-playing.

[Skjaldbakka]

I predict that there will be no 5th edition, because 4th edition will have killed the franchise. People will still play D&D, but won't be buying books, due to the large amount of free 3.5 homebrew material available. I don't think I am the only one who is putting together their own set of d20 heroic fantasy homebrew.

Well, I'll get to look at 4th ed for free myself, as the local gaming club is purchasing the set. Which likely means that no-one in the club will be buying the set. Except possibly to burn in effigy.

[Dan_Hemmens]

I predict that there will be no 5th edition, because 4th edition will have killed the franchise. People will still play D&D, but won't be buying books, due to the large amount of free 3.5 homebrew material available. I don't think I am the only one who is putting together their own set of d20 heroic fantasy homebrew.

You know, there's quite a lot of homebrew 1st and 2nd edition stuff still around...

[Khanderas]

Rules booster packs?
Yeah, I felt my Paladin was alittle on the weak side, so I bought EvilEletist's booster pack.
Now I clear Hell up and including Diablo alone. Thank you EE.

:smallsmile:

WoTC still plays Wizards as fireball casting crazydamage boys, and is irked by everyone else playing a wizard that can do other stuff. So they give Wizards by default evocation speciality at level 1.
Everyone else happily ignores this, plays the batmanwizard and still wonder why wizards are allowed to be so overpowered.

Oh. and all the gods die. Devine plague gone wrong or something :D

[Skjaldbakka]

You know, there's quite a lot of homebrew 1st and 2nd edition stuff still around...

You sir, are in denial. Of course there is 1st and 2nd edition homebrew floating around. But compared to the amount of 3rd edition stuff? No, no there isn't.

[Dan_Hemmens]

You sir, are in denial. Of course there is 1st and 2nd edition homebrew floating around. But compared to the amount of 3rd edition stuff? No, no there isn't.

Ah, I take it then that you have done a comprehensive study? That you have sampled every homebrewed RPG system out there and discovered through empirical observation that the amount of quality 3rd edition material dwarfs all the rest?

You do realize also that there are (whisper it) other RPGs out there which are not D&D. Many of them, incidentally, started off as D&D homebrews and house rules (Ars Magica, for one).

The idea that the Might and Majesty of 3rd Edition Homebrew will Bring D&D To Its Knees is so ludicrous I can barely express it.

[Skjaldbakka]

short version:
The might and majesty of 3rd edition, no. The might and majesty of all the other options that are out there for heroic fantasy roleplay, combined with the ready access to such via the internet, yes.

long version:
you realize you actually supported my argument, don't you?

1st point: There is little to no online support for 1st and 2nd edition D&D. I should know, as that is one of the reasons I switched over to 3rd.

2nd point: Other systems, such as Ars Magica, while they may have their origins in 1st and 2nd ed. D&D, are NOT 1st and 2nd edition D&D, and thus have no bearing on my statement, which was that there is a negligible amount of 1st and 2nd edition material available online, compared to 3rd edition.

3rd point: The existence of other systems, like Ars Magica, Talislanta, etc., is part of why I don't think D&D is going to make it to 5th edition. Was their a hue and cry when 3rd edition came out. Yes. What other options were there at the time for the D&D player that wanted a fantasy game with support? Now there are a great deal of options.

EDIt- On second thought, WotC may have enough momentum to make it 5th edition. I think that they likely take a loss from 4th edition, though. Perhaps I am blessed with a large local gaming community, but I have been able to borrow every gaming book I have ever decided to purchase. I highly encourage this practice, as most of the time gaming books that suck can't be returned for your money back.

[Rutee]

I predict that there will be no 5th edition, because 4th edition will have killed the franchise. People will still play D&D, but won't be buying books, due to the large amount of free 3.5 homebrew material available. I don't think I am the only one who is putting together their own set of d20 heroic fantasy homebrew.

This is laughable. You really don't understand how hard it is to kill a brand, even if this were a bad direction



3rd point: The existence of other systems, like Ars Magica, Talislanta, etc., is part of why I don't think D&D is going to make it to 5th edition. Was their a hue and cry when 3rd edition came out. Yes. What other options were there at the time for the D&D player that wanted a fantasy game with support? Now there are a great deal of options.
There were options then, and will continue to be options now. You're likely correct that they'll lose /support/, but uh, get this dood; Most of the big stuff that could reliably expect to generate some form of marketting that would probably tear away some fans from DnD?

They work like 4e. 4e is aping /their/ mechanics/intent, not the other way around.

[daggaz]

After trying in futility to prevent things like Pun-Pun, they will embrace it, and the game will devolve into rolling for initiative, eating pizza and making death threats. Also booze.

Lol, get with the times, that was happening ten years ago.. =P

[Skjaldbakka]

They work like 4e. 4e is aping /their/ mechanics/intent, not the other way around.

Now you're the one making broad generalizations. I've played several of those other systems, and see no real similarities between 4th ed, and say Talislanta (which I did playtesting for the current edition).

Also, my comments were given in the spirit of the thread. Which means they are as much wishful thinking as they are serious expectations.

[Rutee]

I'm not saying everything works like 4e. I'm saying that everything with a company that can actually afford to market their products does. At least, to my knowledge. Makes it extremely unlikely that the (Likely temporary, in most cases) enmity that 4e will engender in its playerbase will lead to incredible desertion.

[Talic]

Over half the people online will make comments on how they hate it, based solely on their fear of change, and won't care that all their preview information is somewhat out of context as most of the rules information is left out?

Oh, and the rest of us still won't care.

[UglyPanda]

Sigh, this thread was supposed to be funny and/or sarcastic. Get back to the humor and/or sarcasm!

Following the success of their dungeon tiles, Wizards of the Coast will now introduce small cards which can be assembled to form entire dungeons. They will be sued by Toei animation over the usage of the slogan "Not so fast players, you've activated a trap card!"

Kobolds will no longer be a player race due to being considered too powerful due to mechanics which were added in 4.5.

Tolkien's copyright on the word "Hobbit" will expire. Wizards of the Coast will celebrate by changing the Halfling language to one similar to the Smurf language. The general response from fans will be: "You've got to be Hobbit'ing kidding me."

The attack of opportunity, special attack, and grapple rules will now compose their own source book called "Tome of Confusing Battles".

[Dan_Hemmens]

3rd point: The existence of other systems, like Ars Magica, Talislanta, etc., is part of why I don't think D&D is going to make it to 5th edition. Was their a hue and cry when 3rd edition came out. Yes. What other options were there at the time for the D&D player that wanted a fantasy game with support? Now there are a great deal of options.


Umm ... you do realize that D&D 3e came out in - like - 2000, whereas Ars Magica, Talislanta, Runequest, BRP, HeroQuest, Everway and a vast, vast, vast number of other game systems actually came out in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Roleplaying was not invented with the release of the 3.5 PhB.

[Weiser_Cain]

Will be a wholly computer product, no one will care.

[Dan_Hemmens]

Will be a wholly computer product, no one will care.

No, it will be a *partially* computer product. They'll still release the core rulebooks.

People will then maintain that the presence of paper rulebooks is "turning D&D into Choose Your Own Adventure".

[Rutee]

No, it will be a *partially* computer product. They'll still release the core rulebooks.

People will then maintain that the presence of paper rulebooks is "turning D&D into Choose Your Own Adventure".

No, he's correct. It will be entirely computerized. This will be after the Machine Wars, when we're all in robot bodies.

[Talic]

Sigh, this thread was supposed to be funny and/or sarcastic. Get back to the humor and/or sarcasm!


Ah yes, I forgot. Our posts are only allowed if you like them.:smallsigh:

[Narmoth]

- it will be strictly computer based, with no physical books.
- still, it will be divided in many different books, one book for each class, race, prestige class and so on. Each book will be on it's individual cd-room
- each cd-room you'll buy in random packs, like the magic cards
- each speel school will be sold individually, and to get spells over lvl 5, you'll have to buy some more stuff.
- the game will be unplayable without online content that is accessible only when you register your version of the game. This is to prevent any players that haven't bought the game themselves from playing it.
- just like wiht WOW, there will be days when more xp than usuall is earned and so on.
- the battles will be visualised on the screen, just like computer games
- all maps and character movements are on the screen. the player just push the buttons for what he want his character to do
- the dms role is restricted to making maps and plasing out npcs and monsters
- the system will be just as stable as windows 95
- I will still paly 2nd ed

[Tyrrell]

You do realize also that there are (whisper it) other RPGs out there which are not D&D. Many of them, incidentally, started off as D&D homebrews and house rules (Ars Magica, for one).

A few years ago Johnathan Tweet was asked if Ars Magica came from D&D House rules. He said that it did not (they were playing mostly Runequest at the time). He did say however that much of his contribution to 3.0 was inspired by his Ars Magica House rules.

My prediction for fifth edition: The fifth edition Design team becomes so taken with the Warlock class, that they become the only playable class for the core game and the first three years run of suppliments.

[Dan_Hemmens]

A few years ago Johnathan Tweet was asked if Ars Magica came from D&D House rules. He said that it did not (they were playing mostly Runequest at the time). He did say however that much of his contribution to 3.0 was inspired by his Ars Magica House rules.

I stand corrected.

[Rutee]

Fourth Ed prediction:

One of the given options Re: Advancement will be that the DM can require trainers, whom must be paid to get the tangible benefits of a level, along with some training time. People will scream loudly about how Fourth Ed is WoW. People will point out that those rules were in 3.0 and 3.5, but tensions will escalate until Nuclear Armageddon begins.

[Newtkeeper]

Fourth Ed prediction:

One of the given options Re: Advancement will be that the DM can require trainers, whom must be paid to get the tangible benefits of a level, along with some training time. People will scream loudly about how Fourth Ed is WoW. People will point out that those rules were in 3.0 and 3.5, but tensions will escalate until Nuclear Armageddon begins.

After nuclear armagedon, the Robots will rise up. They will be on the verge of victory over humans when they are introduced to Roleplaying. They will then stop the offensive, and waste all their time gaming. Board with 5.213711717e, they will revive Gygax, offering him immortality should he design 6e. He will decline, and the robots will all commit sepeku.

[Deepblue706]

I don't know how 5th edition will be played...

But I bet 6th edition will come down to the DM rolling a d20, and all results above 1 are to be read as "A fun and exciting adventuring career for the whole party", and 1 itself is just "Roll again."

[mikeejimbo]

I don't know how 5th edition will be played...

But I bet 6th edition will come down to the DM rolling a d20, and all results above 1 are to be read as "A fun and exciting adventuring career for the whole party", and 1 itself is just "Roll again."

I don't know what 5th edition will be played with, but I know that 6th edition will be played with sticks and stones.

[strayth]

-The change-resistant fanbase goes from horribly over-dramatic to a danger to themselves or others, and is court-ordered to stay away from 5th edition by no less than 200 feet.

-Clerics can have jetpacks (fly 90ft), A-Wings, and can summon dragons closest to their alignment at will 14 times a day.

-No more alignments, the dragon thing for clerics is dictated by a table.

-Designers exclaim "screw it" and make all drow CG, abandoning even their own previous ruling about alignment.

-The Monster Manual will cont-- error 404: File Not Found

-The Cast of ABC's LOST will be the basic images for the classes. The prestige classes? The Office. :smallredface:

-Included in base races now: half-illithid, duck, half-deity, dire duck.

[Lupy]

3 classes again
Fighter
Mage
Cleric

They chuck alignments

Vivendi buys Wizards

They finally just turn it into an MMORPG with paper compatibility.

People will predict all of the above then find out it's really alot of fun.

[Deepblue706]

-Included in base races now: half-illithid, duck, half-deity, dire duck.

I would totally play a Dire Duck.

[Edan]

To correct the many flaws and loopholes of 4e Wizards will retool 4e into an entirely different game resembling nothing like it was. They will accomplish this by "borrowing" sources from the internet, small focus groups of players, and a biased internet poll. The result will be a total copy of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, but with a cup holder and more fluff this time around.

[streakster]

The wholly computerized 5e will introduce Twenny, the talking d20 who's here to help! Phrases such as "You seem to be rolling a monk. Would you like to roll a swordsage instead?" and "You are trying to multiclass. Wizards DnD recommends not multiclassing for simplicity. Your levels have all been autochanged to fighter." make Twenny the most hated character of all time. Twenny will be removed in the holographic 6e, and fans will complain that this ruined the game.

[shadowdemon_lord]

Hasbro will sell the D&D license to Shell. Shell will get out of the tanking oil business and go into the world of hobby marketing now that they own the licenses to a big name. Shell will abandon play testing, and instead decide to let D&D players vote on each and every minutiae of the rules. The resulting rules book will miraculously turn out to be an extremely fun game and D&D will lose it's negative stigma entirely, going mainstream.

[Collin152]

To correct the many flaws and loopholes of 4e Wizards will retool 4e into an entirely different game resembling nothing like it was. They will accomplish this by "borrowing" sources from the internet, small focus groups of players, and a biased internet poll. The result will be a total copy of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, but with a cup holder and more fluff this time around.

"Why, the fax machine is nothing more than a Waffle Iron with a phone attatched!"

[EvilElitest]

Obviously you haven't met very many 1E'ers.

I thought they were only a rumor 2E ruined D&D, it was totally a rip off of Baldur's Gate
form
EE

[Leewei]

My prediction: D&D 5E will actually be released as NWN 5.

[horseboy]

To launch 5th edition, they make a third D&D movie. The resulting riots in the streets forces Hasbro to sell D&D to some no name company. They're actually huge fans of the system and turn the next system into a labour of love actually making it good.

[Collin152]

5th edition will be released under one of the following names:
DnD 360; Neo DnD; Rockstars and Mosh Pits; iDnD

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Here are my predictions based on my twisted sense of humor and what I would do.

*They will not actually develop it at all, with the exception of some of the art. They will instead say they are releasing it ahead of time and create rules based on the rumors and predictions of people on the WotC forums. If they don't get it finished in time, they will have a mock delay and make time to actually finish it.

*Minis will be mandatory, and random books will be made with very discrete hidden cameras to enforce it. They will not be put in every book, but simply to keep up the paranoia of your average consumer.

*Magic and all unrealistic creatures will not be added, because they are too unrealistic, but the system will still be so simple it could be transfered into a card-game by even the dumbest of kidnergardeners. And as such, the next system of Magic: The Gathering will be nearly identical to it.

[Collin152]

They'll tell us all the wonderful things in it, but what they really meant was "These are the things we'd like to put in it." When it's released a full two years after we were irst told (Just polishing it up, it's fully playable!) it will look nothing like the little snippets fed to us for the past few years. People will worship it's coming, and will buy and play it, and it won't matter if it's good or not, they've already told themselves it will be.
Based on a true story.

[fendrin]

Because the brain/computer interface will have been created, all content is available as a fully indexed and searchable database. Books will still be available, but are only bought by the 40+ year old crowd.

Additional content can be added to the core database in monthly downloads for a moderate fee. People will ignore that there is still plenty of free, but completely untested, material available for free and complain that they have to pay for the monthly download, as if it were a magazine or something.

The 20 and under crowd will not understand what a magazine is.

The brain/computer interface allows for real-time shared imagination fully 3D gaming. Fans will complain that D&D is becoming Third Life (he successor to Second Life), except for the actual 3rd life users, who recognize that they are only superficially similar.

Psionics will be core.

Arcane magic will be released in a separate sourcebook, but because of the way it was overpowered in previous editions, it will be considered broken and only a small portion of DMs allow it. It will actually be better balanced than anything in core.

[strayth]

I would totally play a Dire Duck.

Duck Tales campaign setting, oh man WotC could do so much worse.

[Aquillion]

In 5th edition, wizards will be twice as powerful, the list of errata will be ten thousand times as long, and the core books will be so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them.

[Khanderas]

I would totally play a Dire Duck.
I have read a d20 system that DID have intelligent ducks.
Dwarfsized, with hands, beak and tended to be pirates (im not even kidding).

[Rutee]

I have read a d20 system that DID have intelligent ducks.
Dwarfsized, with hands, beak and tended to be pirates (im not even kidding).

Bad (http://suikosource.com/chars/list/imageviewnojs.php?img=s/sergeantjoe01.jpg&char_id=792) Ass (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/TV_darkwing_duck_on_bonkers.jpg)

Oh yes.

[Collin152]

In 5th edition, wizards will be twice as powerful, the list of errata will be ten thousand times as long, and the core books will be so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them.

Could they be used for dating?

[Jothki]

WotC will announce that they're abandoning putting content in their flat-fee online database and are instead moving to a model where content is published in magazines that have to be individually purchased or subscribed to. Many players will be furious, claiming that WotC is trying to nickle and dime them through micropayments and complaining that the information in the magazines will be a pain to search for, will be vulnerable to being lost if the magazine is misplaced or damaged, will have to be repurchased at full price if that does happen, and will be almost impossible to find again anyway after a few years.

[rollfrenzy]

WotC Will have found a way to really get the most bang for thier buck and will begin cross marketing.

Some of the spells in the game will include...

Motel 6's magnificant mansion...for all your nightly needs
Us airlines overland flight spell...from here to there , with class.
Tide cantrip...because everyon knows the wizard should do the laundry.
Ace Air Conditioning Shivering Touch, keep yourself and your enemies cool.

The classes will be

US Army Fighter, be all you can be
Reynolds and Reynolds Clerics, healing R Us
Golden Dragon Monk, half prize egg rolls every tuesday, (and yes they will still suck)
PETA druids, save the whales, kill the Orcs.
Scientology Brand Psions, each level will cost you more gold per month.

Some Dieties,

Disney, LO (lawful obnoxious) goddess of cute anthropomorphic animals... and Tyranny
Microsoftia, CS (chaotic stupid) god of failing systems, and random errors.
Proctor and Gamble LE (lawful everything) god of curing and causing disease.


Some sample Items:

Band aid brand healing potions
Bic brand flint and steel
GE brand everburning torches

[rankrath]

5th edition will be 1st edition again, as Wizards realises that they can save cash by recycling the old material, as all the 1st edition gamers are dead. Despite this, one person still remembers 1E and blows the whistle, causing Wizards to bankrupt. Using the last of their money, Wizards hires a ninja to wipe everyone's mind in regards to D&D, then goes underground, leaving one person, working under a false name to sell the product as a new idea.



IT'S ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE!