The Middle-Aged DM

I have been following Mike Mearls’ series of articles titled “Legends and Lore” in which he has been waxing poetic about D&D, the game itself, its history and evolution over time and between editions, as well as subtle and fleeting hints about what the future may hold. If you haven’t checked it out yet you should. They are posted on The Dungeon and Dragons homepage and are free content.

One recurring theme that emerges in these articles is that, from his perspective, D&D as a game is defined by the subjective experience and conceptions of the players that play it. This results in the game meaning different things to different people and therefore the style and manner in which it is played is then dependent on these idioms.  In more concrete terms, however you conceptualize the game then determines what mechanical parts of the rule system you choose to utilize or house-rule to better suit your vision. So for example, if you’re Dungeons and Dragons is all about role-playing then you might ignore the skill challenge mechanic or even skill checks and just rely on the narrative. Similarly, complexity would also vary based on conception and desire. So if you just want your fighter to hit things with a big sword really hard then the choice is there for you, but if you want to take that same fighter and build him into the six million dollar tanking, marking, sliding, knocking prone man, than the tools are there for you to do this as well.

I can sort of see this concept in the Essential’s line and the “design philosophy going forward” as we now have 2 styles of characters that are fairly balanced and can play nice with each other at the table, while at the same time appealing to different conceptions, desires, and preference for complexity and tinkering. I know there is a lot of bitching about how they are not supporting the original 4E classes, but honestly how many more options do I really need for my fighter, rogue, or ranger. I already get nauseous opening up the character builder and trying to sort through the multitude of attack powers and feats. I really see the new character themes as way to meaningfully add new options and mechanics for the older classes as well as the new builds, but which are optional and therefore follow the concept of picking the game elements and level of complexity you want.

I have to admit Mr.  Mearls has me a bit intrigued as to what the future of D&D holds and what it might look like under his vision and leadership.