5E: Too Much

Back in the late 4E days, when there were so many books to read, the game died on us under its own weight. This is where I am at with 5E and also a few entertainment properties, such as the MCU. They are too big; we are expected to consume them all. To "play" or talk about the world, you have to be up on everything, and you have to take everything they give you and make sense of it in their model world and setting.

The game becomes less about your stories and creations - and more about theirs.

The game feels bloated, like a buffet plate overloaded with pounds of low to average-quality food that will likely never be eaten and thrown away. Even with core books (the two gift sets), D&D 5E is a 6-book set with a lot to mix into the default "plane hopper" campaign multiverse. I really dislike multiverse writing, and I feel it is lazy where you can constantly retcon mistakes, come up with a new world, and constantly pull the rug out from under players with a new "thing" or another way for the same old villain to get away with something or reappear next time.

After a while, nothing means anything in an infinite universe.

You can't even be heroes because nothing matters on such a colossal scale.

Multiverses are where good writing goes to die.

I mean this because when you look at the medium of writing, there is a limit - the number of words in a paragraph, page, and ultimately - a book. We have a set limit to work with to tell a story. A campaign world should mirror this model; you have a set place - with a size and scope - and a setting to tell a story. The best thing you can do for any game is to define a limited sandbox and close the doors on it from the story-killing multiverse.

State right out, planar travel is not possible in this setting. There is no contact, no gates, and travelers from other worlds do not come here. If there are associated parallel planes, such as a heaven or a hell, those are in this bubble as well. Then pare down your core book options to a tight subset of choices for heritages, classes, and options. Maybe your world is just orcs and dwarves. Even in a base book 5E game, that sounds cool.

I cut off the multiverse with my Pathfinder 1E game, and this was an excellent, exciting setting for my players. Multiverses are typically horrible settings and very difficult to run, especially for new game masters. And I could never run them right. They are fun for the first few months, and then multiverse games get confused and die.

Get Away to Get Away

This is also why I prefer the reimagined 5E games, such as Level Up Advanced Fantasy. This has a great core set of 5E classes and backgrounds but does not come with forced choices in the expansion books or an assumed multiverse. I can set creative limits and craft a world without starships flying in or gates opening to the next floating planar paradise. I can have them if I want them, but they are not a part of the core rules, so they need to be converted and are entirely optional content.

My game has a built-in firewall, and that is nice.

Still, some of the things 5E does - the game spends a lot of time and effort to do simple things. There are subsystems the game does not even need, and it layers rules on top of those to justify them. The skill list takes over the game. GURPS is a more straightforward system with a unified mechanic, and it still manages to make base attributes essential while keeping the skill system under control. While there are many skills in GURPS, they don't take over the game and limit player choice.

I wish One D&D emphasized this modular design and allowed us to limit everything - even down to rules options and modules such as the skill system. It is like getting a new computer and having 500 pre-installed programs you will never use. If One D&D can simulate a base system such as B/X or the OSR and make the rest of the system optional, that would be a wonderful thing.

Low Fantasy = Fun Fantasy

Even better yet are curated versions of 5E, such as Low Fantasy Gaming. This is a complete stand-alone game, written in a 5E-style, but pared down to tell a specific story for a unique setting. This is almost like a "Fantasy Novel: The Game" written for 5E, and it does one thing incredibly well.

It also tosses out tons of 5E rules and replaces them with fun resource games or "make it up yourself" class additions and exploits. Low Fantasy Gaming is the opposite of Level Up 5E; instead of trying to fix a pile of broken rules and make them fun, this game tosses out the tedium and junk rules and replaces them with fun - in an OSR style of game. This really is remarkable, and it is becoming my 5E game of choice.

I love these "setting-specific" curated stand-alone 5E games since they are a lot like a book that invites you to join the cast and have your own adventures. You get a very focused and immersive experience, and you are not in that generic or planar fantasy setting where anything goes. They do not do everything like a base 5E game, but wow, they provide a fun and unique experience in the sandbox they create and define.

Or the OSR...

The one thing about the OSR is you can find games limited in scope and setting quickly. They play about the same, and there is much less to worry about integrating and putting pieces together. And OSR games are typically about 10% of the complexity of 5E, especially as you level and the interrupt and interlocking mechanics kick in (which are impossible to balance). Then you toss in the tacked-on rules of the expansions, and you have yourself a game that is popular and cool - but playing "rules as written" feels like a chore, and there feels like too much of everything.

It is funny; with core 5E, I feel like I am going to a buffet and getting a little of everything - a lot of low-quality food that just feels like filler. With many OSR games and curated 5E experiences, I am getting a focused meal where I do not have as many options - but everything is of higher quality.