Over the last few months there has been a lot of
excitement in some parts of the nerdosphere about the release of the new
edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Old pros call it 5th Edition (or 5e), but Wizards of the Coast, who
are producing the new books, simply call it Dungeons
& Dragons without any numerical designation.
Now, I haven’t really played D&D in a couple of
decades, but I have watched with interest from the sidelines as various
incarnations of the game have come and gone. I grew up with AD&D (1e),
thought 2nd edition was terrible, marvelled at the sheer scope and
breadth of 3rd edition, and finally mourned when 4th
edition wrecked it.
Probably the most interesting point in the history of Dungeons & Dragons came in 2009,
right about the time 4th edition was released. It was then that a
schism developed among the D&D
players. Some carried on to the new edition, but most turned instead to a new
game called Pathfinder. In one of the
great marketing backfires of all time, WOTC had created a situation where
another company was able to come in and essentially repackage Dungeons & Dragons 3e under a
different name. That name was Pathfinder,
and it quickly rose to become the most popular role-playing game of them all, slowly
pushing aside D&D 4e.
I’m sure that’s all pretty confusing to those who didn’t
watch it happen.
What is interesting to me, however, is the number of
people I have heard in various blogs and forums who want to return to Dungeons & Dragons. It is not
because they have grown dissatisfied with Pathfinder; quite the contrary,
people still seem to love the game. Yet, something seems to be calling people
home...
Is it really just the name, Dungeons & Dragons? Is it the association with many ill-spent
college nights rolling dice and eating pizza? Why do people care if their game
is called Pathfinder or D&D? Surely it only matters which
game is better?
Why do I, who haven’t thrown rpg dice in anger since
D&D books were printed in black and white also feel the call?
Because you know, deep down, you want to run a D&D campaign for us. Do it. Do it.
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