back to article Dungeons & Dragons relaunches with 'freemium' version 5.0

Dungeons & Dragons is BAAAACK – and it's brought a freemium business model with it. The venerable game was re-released yesterday, with a new Starter Pack reaching retailers and offering a rulebook for players, an “adventure book” for dungeon masters plus a handful of dice to get things going. The $19.99 kit is not, however, …

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  1. sawatts

    make a nostalgia saving throw

    No doubt I'll add this (D&D5) PDF to my collection.

    The heyday for me was AD&D in the 80s. There was so much material in the rule books that it could play very differently if, for example, took note of the material components required for spells. Of course, we developed our own house rules based which actually used information in the rule books - an initiative system suddenly split fighters into plate & greatsword tanks vs leather & rapier swashbucklers, as a role choice without disadvantage to either.

    I was going to list some of the other (obscure) RPGs we played during the 80s and 90s - but frankly the list is just too long, and would repeat what has been said in a lot of places.

    Often, we just made up RPGs for settings, and rolled with it. There was a great long standing campaign set in the 1640s - started as a Musketeers game, and ended up in England during the Civil War. It was always the obsurd million-to-one chance occurances which stick in the memory - in the latter case one character who still used a bow managed a multiple-critical to take out a cannon.

    On the other end of the "playability" scale was a WWI game - 30 minutes to roll up a character, detail their background, choose possessions, etc - and 1 minute in play to fail a saving throw when "going over the top"...

  2. Santa from Exeter
    Happy

    Systems

    I used to play Runequest for 'serious' roleplaying and Tunnels and Trolls for 'back from the pub and skin up' fun. I still fondly remember my T&T character going around with his testicles in his pouch looking for someone to sew them back on (he'd missed spotting the broken chair when jumping into the pit full of Troll shit)

  3. sisk

    It's gotta be better than the piece of garbage that is 4th edition. If I wanted to have the limitations needed to make a computerized RPG viable I probably wouldn't be playing a pen and paper game.

    Still I don't see myself or any of the rest of the group I play with switching back from Pathfinder any time soon.

  4. Deadlock Victim

    Sign me up for the Traveller game

  5. Triggerfish

    Close to the truth for an average game.

    Worth a read,

    http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

  6. Tim Mills

    Anyone for Bushido?

    Now there's a role playing game :-)

  7. Neil B

    Guys, D&D edition wars are so 2010, didn't you hear? Play what you like, leave everyone else to do the same.

  8. RayvenUK

    Wow Traveller

    I haven't played Traveller in years (sounds of rustling through boxes digging out old rule books).

    This poatser has the Paranoia rulebooks if anyone fancies a game!

  9. Omgwtfbbqtime
    Boffin

    I have a near mint red and blue boxes D&D (basic and expert)

    Offers please.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Laserburn or Paranoia!

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