[UPDATED] Was the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure League Event a Debacle at Gen Con 2015?

Gen Con 2015 is over and like many people who didn't have the opportunity to attend this year's convention I've been reading dozens of reports from the convention. Among many of the positive reports from the convention one glaring negative became apparent: the Adventure League games were a complete fiasco that left many players feeling as though they wasted their money and were taken advantage of by Wizards of the Coast and their proxy, Baldman Games.

From the start the event was maligned with poor communication issues, mismanagement on every level, and a complete failure to provide the feel of an epic adventure that previous years had accomplished. 

". . . There was absolutely no sense of "epicness" in tonight's (sp) epic. Last year there was a PA system with a master of ceremonies type guy who kept things exciting all night with status reports and count downs and the like. Tables were interacting with HQ and then HQ would (sp) interact with the players. There was a sense that each table really was contributing to something big going on . . . This year, it was just go to your table and play a D&D scenario. No PA, no big story setup, no fanfare, no nothing. Our DM didn't even really know when it officially started as there was no big announcement. He had ot wing it. I saw absolutely nothing to suggest that our table was working to any sort of larger goal. We just played our little scenario like Thu and Fri . . ." (Thu).

". . . [T]here were two epic sessions, season 2 ending and season 3 launch. Neither made a player feel like he or she was involved in something that impacted or was impacted by anything else. In other words, we just blew through a module, hacked some demons and went home. At the end of the first epic, the lights went out in the hall at midnight before there were any announcements (GenCon and the convention center are at fault for this, I'm sure) so I guess I'll be kind and give them a bye for that. But at the end of the Saturday night Epic some BMG captain tried to shout over the noise of thousands of people to the 300 or so participants. Yes, I said shout. He didn't have a microphone. Nobody heard squat . . ." (Neptune0923)

While individuals who paid the modest $40 for the basic package experienced issues that stem directly from Baldman Games mismanagement of the event it was nothing compared to the experience of people who paid the $150 dollars for the VIP Experience with the D&D Adventurers League Epics game. Both tiers of players received the exact same reward for playing in the games. There was no benefit to paying the higher cost. ". . . The level of disappointment in the execution, value, and even appearance that was put forth for not just All Access . . . All access players paid $150/ea when just doing $40 in normal events would have netted the same gear, exp crawl, and entertainment. To be honest, i feel pretty cheated . . ." (Killian Tealeaf). Another commenter on the Gen Con forum stated  ". . . We did get a couple Cetrificates, but none were worth anything. No book, no souveniers, no 2015 commemorative dice, no coupons for future purchases, nothing! I got more swag for ordering a sandwich at Scotty's . . . I myself will never pay for all-access! I may not play D&D at GenCon ever again . . . This year was a complete amateurish operation . . ." (wmgccandless).

Baldman Games is taking a lot of abuse for their handling of the event with even people who knew the Baldman Games crew being unforgiving of their complete mishandling of the event. 

". . . I have many close friends in both DDAL admin and Baldman games. However I do not sympathize with the excuses being thrown out. If you set an expectation on an event and learn that the company that produces the game won't support you and determine that you will just go ahead, (because after all, you didn't actually 'promise' anything) instead of communicating the issue with those that paid for a premium event., you are in essence deciding to screw those people. All for the purpose of covering your expenses . . . So I'm feeling screwed mostly because I was screwed . . ." (joshua.oconnorrose).

As joshua.oconnorrose mentioned it was suggested to several people, who voiced their displeasure and who repeated the accusation in their forum posts, that Wizards of the Coast failed to donate any significant swag for the events so there was no opportunity for Baldman Games to provide a difference in what they did give: certificates for Adventurer's League games. One poster on Wizards of the Coast's forum stated things even more clearly saying ". . . The All-access pass which cost $150 was a complete swindle. It was, effectively, the combination of 4 events. If you purchased the 4 events separately, you paid $40. The difference between the two options last year was that players who signed up received the brand new Player's Handbook and an advanced copy of the Monster Manual (both retailed for $49.99 at the time). This year we received 4 certificates for adventure's league. That is 4 cardboard sheets which many people left on the table. Based on the math, each sheet of cardboard cost me $25 . . ." (Neptune0923)

Time and again the event's poor management has been brought up as a major source of frustration. One commenter on Gen Con's forum stated: ". . . I was so excited to do this event. It sounded like so much fun. Smaller group, one DM through out, one storyline and potential for cool swag. What a disappointment. Every single game started late. Thursday night I showed up at 7:30 for an 8 pm game that didn't start until 9:30 . . ." (IndyGator).

If there is a single complaint that continues to be brought time and again it's the lack of value that players felt they received for the $150 they paid for a VIP Experience:

"If you are going to charge $100 over the ticket price of events for a premium experience you had better provide that value to the customer.  In prior years there were books, autographs, a roped off dedicated area away from other games, a die roll for a magic item cert, etc.

This year?  I can't even identify what I paid an extra $100 for.  We could not even start play until mustering was over and lost close to an hour of play time each session.  The benefit of locking down a GM, players, and a table number is you should be OUTSIDE of the mustering process and have extra game time.

The fact that the company did not overtly share that this years All Access would be drastically reduced, reeks of false advertising.

The "Faire" was also so wide open that my "special time" access was completely irrelevant.  I walked up at a random time and was able to trade items like any con attendee could. We received 4 certificates that bordered on meaningless for most people.  If if I was not comparing this to the excellent job done in prior years, I am wondering exactly what $900 per table went to?  I got the same basic experience that others at Gen Con got for $40." (Bdbrutus)


". . . I thought for $150 I would get some sort of swag (any of the books, dice, dice bag, an exclusive miniature, anything). At this point I think my Gencon money could be spent better elsewhere. I feel like Baldman games stole money from me. . . ."(tserof)

This morning Baldman Games released the following statement in regards to the event:

This year at Gen Con we made some changes to the wildly popular All-Access program that we debuted at the show in 2013. Our goal was to bring it back to a more sustainable long term level while still providing a great value and experience to our players. From the feedback received by myself onsite, and on the message boards over the past few days, we missed that mark with some of you and for that I apologize.

Our goal was to provide a premium gaming experience and while I firmly believe we hit that on some marks, we obviously missed on others. We tried some new things that went over well for some and were viewed as worthless by others. Some valued their great DM’s highly and did not care about additional items while others rated them lower and wanted more ‘stuff’. Others ranked a separated play space with a barrier as the things they valued most and for many the noise of the hall was just too much for any amount of additional perks to overcome. At no point did we intend to deceive, trick, or pull a switch-a-roo. Every year the program has provided different things and the attendees have each valued them in their own fashion. Things change each year on what we can and cannot provide. Many want to know why we could not do this or that, or why something changed. At the end of the day those details do not matter. BMG thought we had a pretty good line-up this year within the framework we had to work in but once again we obviously need to relook at the program from the ground up.

Part of the program has always been the mystery of what you are getting. So players are putting their blind trust that the program is going to be worth it to them. Each year the items were better and better and that is just not a sustainable program. With that in mind I’ve spent most of the past two days brainstorming ways to make it better across the board for all those who choose to put their trust in the program. The one thing that is happened for sure right out of the gate is the mystery part is gone (for any type of event I run going forward). It is not worth it. Each person values their time and resources in their own fashion and should be able to make a 100% informed decision about what they spend their convention time and dollars on. The program will have its own website linked from the event description with all the details on it. Due to the fact I cannot contact those that buy tickets, the website will also contain a mailing list, to allow updates to go to all members if anything were to change. I want to be transparent and communicate as well as we can about exactly what the program is and the player it is aimed at.

Some other ideas we have been kicking around and want your feedback on are:

• A completely separate room away from our play area for the program (players would move back into main hall for Epic event). Could be in the ICC or attached hotel.
•  More of a concierge type service when checking in (small goodie bag, checking name off list, badge ribbon, name plate to claim your spot at a table, etc.)
•  A custom adventure track for the show (written especially for the program by a handpicked elite author for participants of the program only).
•  Snacks (maybe Pizza Day Saturday even) and water station.
•  Special Guests (maybe have Mearls or Crawford visit and hangout at each table for a while).
•  ?????

We have a lot of other cool ideas from our post show meetings but we also want to hear from you. I have received a lot of feedback already but I want to create a central place for those who want to provide it to do so. The form below drops directly into my inbox. I will be reading all the responses and going over them with my team over the next few weeks to formulate a plan that will hopefully bring this program back to where we want it to be.

David Christ
Baldman Games

Personally, I find it hard to imagine that Baldman Games felt that providing the same rewards to players at both the $40 and $150 price tag would be agreeable to anyone but that is their contention. Only time will tell if the trust in them as an organization will be healed or if they will ever be able to provide the sort of services that they've suggested bringing on board.

********** UPDATE 8/10/2015 **********

Baldman Games have released a new press release on August 6, 2015 that states the following:

I first want to thank everyone for the excellent feedback so far. We are gathering comments and discussing ways to improve all Baldman Games’ offerings going forward. We will have further posts this Fall asking for more specific feedback.

Baldman Games and Wizards of the Coast realize that we did not meet your expectations with our All-Access Program at Gen Con this year. The way production schedules lined up, it was difficult for us to provide the new products that had been offered in previous years. But have no fear! We want to make things right. We value your support of D&D and our programs at Gen Con and other shows. To that end, we have some stuff to offer to everyone who played in the All-Access program at Gen Con 2015.

Here’s what All Access Players will get:

• One hard copy of Out of the Abyss, the TRPG adventure in the Rage of Demons story, before it hits store shelves, mailed directly to you
• One code for a digital copy of Sword Coast Legends, the party-based RPG coming out on PC, Mac and Linux, on September 29^th, sent to the email you provide.

If you are an All-Access player from Gen Con, please make sure to fill in the form below completely. The information provided will only be used to ship the book to you, send the code, and/or contact you if we have a problem doing so. It will be destroyed once shipping is completed.

Once again, we apologize for not meeting the expectations of the program this year, and we will work hard in the coming months to build a bigger, stronger, and more transparent program in 2016 and beyond.

David Christ
Baldman Games

UPDATE (08/07/2015): This offer is valid through August 24th at Midnight EST. Please spread the word. Thanks

If you participated in the All Access program, or know someone who did be sure to let them know about this as soon as possible. Time is limited on this offer. 

Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons, Announced and a Look at Other Connected Products that have been Announced.

This morning Wizards of the Coast announced the next storyline being produced for Fifth Edition: Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons. According to the synopsis the adventure takes place in the Underdark where the the Archmage of Menzoberranzan, Gromph Baenre, has torn open a portal to the demonic Abyss; out of the portal came the Demon Lords who are now wreaking havoc in the Forgotten Realms.

It was confirmed this morning by The Newbie DM that Wizards of the Coast has elected to follow a similar strategy to previously published storylines, Tyranny of Dragons and Princes of the Apocalypse, with Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons by working on the latest storyline in conjunction with a third party company, Green Ronin.

@newbiedm @Wizards_DnD We worked with the talented folks at Green Ronin Publishing.

— Nathan Stewart (@NathanBStewart) May 6, 2015

Green Ronin has built up a reputation for publishing fantastic products, consistently high production standards, and award winning games since it was first founded in 2000. Bringing them on board to work on Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons sets the expectations for the adventure at a higher level than the fantastic Princes of the Apocalypse had already set.

This storyline will see the continued expansion of the Dungeons & Dragons game across a wide swath of media including books, a computer and console video game, and of course the tabletop. Some things have been confirmed in the press release:

• The free MMORPG, Neverwinter, will receive a new expansion designed to bring the players deep into Menzoberranzan with Drizzt Do'Urden tentatively titled Neverwinter: Underdark. There are several unique quests that will be written for this expansion by R.A. Slavatore. You can expect the PC version of Neverwinter to receive the expansion first followed by a release for Xbox One.

• Sword Coast Legends will continue themes of this storyline. In the press release it appeared that Drizzt Do'Urden would be playing a major role.

• Demogorgon, Orcus, Graz’zt, and Drizzt Do'Urden have been confirmed to be in the tabletop adventure; however, Dungeons & Dragons Brand Director, Nathan Stewart, added ". . . D&D fans will get their mettle tested just like Drizzt when they come face to face with all the demon lords . . ." (Tayebi). While this appears to imply that all of the forty-nine Demon Lords from D&D's past may make an appearance in the adventure it is far more likely that it will either only be the three specifically mentioned or the three plus one or two additional surprise appearances. Personally, I hope that Fraz-Urb'luu will show up.

In addition to the above confirmed information we also know that Wizards of the Coast has partnered up with WizKids, GaleForce Nine, and Smiteworks to bring enhancements for the tabletop side of things. Most of what follows is guess work based on the companies' previous products.

WizKids

Icons of the Realms, Set 3, is scheduled for launch in August 2015. There are 128 figures to be released with this run and it is my guess that this set will have figures specifically designed to tie in with the Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons storyline - though you will not find any of the Demon Lords. Only one of the figures for the run has been revealed at this time and it's a wicked looking White Dragon promotional figure. As I find out more specifics of the line in the coming months I will have more concrete information.

GaleForce Nine

Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons Deluxe DM Screen and Cards: This is a fairly safe bet as GaleForce Nine has released a Tyranny Of The Dragons DM Screen and have a Elemental Evil DM Screen that was released for the Princes of the Apocalypse.

Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons Spellbook Cards: This too seems a fairly safe bet as GaleForce Nine has released an Elemental Evil Spellbook Cards for the Princes of the Apocalypse. 

Deluxe Demon Lord Figures: GaleForce Nine has been the go to producer for all the deluxe miniatures for Wizards of the Coast for a while now and with the announcement that they will continue to partner with Wizards this seems like a forgone conclusion.

Smiteworks

Exclusive maps, sprites, and online content. With the announcement that Smiteworks's Fantasy Grounds had gotten a license for the Dungeons & Dragons game this appears to be a foregone conclusion.

Out of the Abyss, Rage of Demons will be released on September 15, 2015 to the wider market at a price of $49.95 and will take players from level 1 - 15. While the later street date might indicate to some that Wizards of the Coast will have nothing for Gen Con 2015 I would like to remind everyone that they released books early last year as a Gen Con exclusive so it's likely that they will do so again.

As of this writing no sites have listed the new adventure for pre-order.

A Tale of Three Letters

On Monday, March 23, 2015 Gen Con got a bit political. The Indiana State General Assembly had passed SB 101, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill that would allow businesses to refuse service to anyone based on religious grounds, and it was anticipated that Governor Pence would sign it. That Monday found Adrian Swartout, CEO and owner of Gen Con, publishing a letter that the company had sent to Governor Pence. In the letter Swartout wrote:

". . . For more than a decade, Indianapolis has provided tremendous hospitality and accommodation to our attendees, culminating in an estimated annual economic impact of more than $50 million dollars to the city. Gen Con and its attendees look forward to receiving the same warm Hoosier hospitality throughout the term of our contract.

Legislation that could allow for refusal of service or discrimination against our attendees will have a direct negative impact on the state's economy, and will factor into our decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years . . ." (3/23/2015 Gen Con Letter on SB 101)

For many this was seen as Gen Con taking a stand on behalf of their diverse attendees. And while Swartout didn't outright say that if Governor Pence signed SB 101 that the convention would be out it was implied. On Twitter my feed lit up with people celebrating this brave stand that Gen Con was taking. Then the bill was signed into law and a second letter was sent, this time just to us. What was in store for the future of the convention?

". . . We have a contract with the city of Indianapolis through 2020. Gen Con is an economically impactful event for locally owned businesses in the Indy community which for more than a decade have embraced us as guests. Due to specific dialogue with long-term partners in Indy, we believe that Gen Con attendees not only will receive the same great service and hospitality in 2015, but an even warmer response from the city. For as long as we stay in Indianapolis, we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this community, expand our efforts to bring more diversity to Gen Con, and welcome all . . .

"What does the future hold for Gen Con 2021 and beyond? Planning and bidding for our convention is a long-term process that begins five years prior to contract-term commencement. Discussions, whether to remain in Indy or move elsewhere, have begun . . ." (3/26/2015 Gen Con Letter to Community)

Where was Swartout's righteous indignation? Where was the declaration that Gen Con would definitely be pulling out of Indianapolis since SB 101 had been signed? That they'll be damned if they're going to do business in a state that now allows businesses to openly discriminate against anyone based on religious grounds?

What had originally seemed like a bold stand for Gen Con turned out to be nothing more than a political flag waved in the winds of popular opinion. Some people argued that Gen Con had a contract - they couldn't break it. Except Gen Con is a corporation and corporations break contracts all the time when things become intolerable; and there was that implied threat that this convention with a $50 million impact on the city of Indianapolis would not accept the SB 101's signing into law.

Four days would pass before we would see another letter from Swartout. During that time my Twitter and Google+ feeds were flooded with outrage from Gen Con attendees of old, of today, and of hopeful tomorrows. I can only imagine what Swartout's inbox and social media were like. 

". . . Thank you for your continued communications with Gen Con extending your support for our efforts to fight against discrimination. The passage of Indiana SB 101 into the Religious Freedom Reformation Act (RFRA) law has ignited tremendous passion among attendees as well as across the country. We at Gen Con LLC fully expected that the well-informed and opinionated community that comprises Gen Con would be outspoken, and we are pleased to be able to help in amplifying this signal. This morning Indiana Governor Mike Pence took time to call and discuss Indiana's recently passed RFRA law.

"Governor Pence has stated that he believes the outcry against this law is based upon a misunderstanding. We respectfully disagree with this position. A significant portion of Gen Con attendees identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, and we are reading that some members of our community feel unsafe traveling to Indiana, subsequent to the passage of the RFRA law. We understand this sentiment, and will act to support safety.

"Gen Con 2015 will be held, as planned, at the Indiana Convention Center July 30 through August 2. Gen Con staff are working in partnership with the City of Indianapolis, local businesses, Visit Indy, and other grassroots organizations to ensure fair and safe treatment during this year's show . . .

"We believe that freedom from discrimination is a fundamental human right. Until Gen Con has received legally sound assurances that Indiana will support these rights, we are halting our plans to expand Gen Con into Lucas Oil Stadium, and plans for further expansion into other hotel convention spaces . . ." (3/30/2015 Gen Con Letter to Community)

Gen Con did not stand up to fight discrimination before this letter. Instead they sent a letter telling Governor Pence saying that they might, possibly, move the convention in five years. When the bill was signed they said, "We're talking about where to host the convention in 2021! It might be in Indianapolis, then again, maybe not! Who knows? Not us!"

Now they have actually done something. They've halted a major expansion of the convention that would have brought more attendees to the show, more money into the city and state, and more money into Gen Con's own coffers. But is it really anything substantial? They haven't actually done anything that negatively impacts the city or state as they implied they would in that first letter. Is this just more political grandstanding or is this really Gen Con doing the "right thing?" 

You tell me.

Star Citizen, the World's Largest and Most Boring Game.

Let me begin this with a confession: I love space games. I love the feel of weightlessness that comes along with a really good space simulator and the way that combat can be taken to a whole different level. The trailer promises a game that will deliver an experience that will make the whole industry take notice.

Just looking at that trailer you can tell that this game is going to be beefy and require a lot of your computer just to run. Rumors have been swirling for a while that it could be fifty gigabytes or more when all is said and done. Which is huge, in and of itself, but it was reported yesterday by PC Gamer that the game will actually be closer to 100 gigabytes with updates running nearly 20 gigabytes! So if you're like me and living on a limited bandwidth (because there are no other options than bullshit, satellite internet) then this game is one you won't be playing based on those two factors alone. However there are bigger for this game than just its size and system requirements.

The above video features a little over fifteen minutes of the game's actual play footage and if you made it past the first two minutes than I applaud you. If you watched it to the end as I did then I pity you because this game play is the most boring thing I've watched in years. It's worse than the early Mech games that often consisted of plodding along for thirty minutes trying to find that last enemy unit that was on the other side of the zone while you hoped that your tape wouldn't reach the end of its side. The combat appears sluggish; there is no music; and even the person playing the game appears too bored to do more than suffer through the game. In short, it's terrible.

I realize that the game isn't fully realized yet and that to judge it so early in its life is a bit unfair - but in this case I feel its warranted. According to everything that's been released around this game the core of it is supposed to be the space combat, and that looked boring as hell. From the trailer I had high hopes for it and was actually considering upgrading my graphics card so that I could handle it at its max settings, but the game play killed any such thoughts. 

Unless something dramatically changes before the game's full launch I will not be buying it. What about you?

Princes of the Apocalypse Release Date and Pre-Order Prices Revealed!

Princes of the Apocalypse cover (low res)

Wizards of the Coast has finally released the street date for Princes of the Apocalypse! On April 7, 2015 you'll be able to launch yourselves into battle with the Elder Elemental Eye once again - only this time the battle will be set in the Forgotten Realms instead of the World of Greyhawk. The single volume adventure is designed to take players from level 1 - 15. Alongside new spells the book will also feature the genasi as a playable race.

The book has been developed in association with Sasquatch Game Studio. For those of you unfamiliar with the relatively new studio it's actually comprised of former D&D designers Richard Baker, Stephen Schubert, and David Noonan. Between the three designers they have contributed to more than 200 novels, adventures, and rpg books for TSR, Wizards of the Coast, and Paizo.

The full image of the Princes of the Apocalypse cover

Princes of the Apocalypse has a suggested retail price of $49.95 ($58.00 in Canada) if you wait to buy it at retail stores. However you can pre-order it on Amazon for $34.33, on Books-a-Million you can pre-order it for $49.95, and it is not currently available at Barnes & Noble. As the pre-order prices change over the coming weeks I'll correct the current prices so that you can lock in the lowest rates.

You'll be able to get an early look at what the adventure has in store for you through Wizards of the Coast's D&D Encounters in-store program.

Cleaning Up the AMA with Mike Mearls, Part 2

Click here to read part 1

Mike Mearls answered questions for two days in the Ask Me Anything he began on Tuesday, November 4, 2014. Many of his answers on the second day were hidden behind load more comments links and so much of this may be new to those who have already been reading through the AMA. While I have included most of the questions that received answers there are a few that I skipped because they were either incidental (i.e. Great job Mike!) or the question had already been more fully answered previously.

Classic Settings and New Ones?

Wohoooooooooo!

Providing you're really Mike I simply wanted to say "thanks". 5th rocks. :]

And now, the question: could you confirm both Darksun and Ravenloft coming back? - JesterRaiin

I can't confirm anything, but I can say that we're big fans of the classic D&D settings. When we created the core 5th system, we new that it had to be flexible enough to both cover past D&D settings and have the ability to stretch to cover new ones. - Mike Mearls

[While Mike will not confirm any future plans for the edition it has not stopped other members of the D&D team from doing so. In April Chris Perkins told Forbes "The Forgotten Realms is our flagship setting for the new edition, however we are supporting, or will support, all of our key settings in the future . . .That includes Ebberon, says Perkins, and . . . you are going to see more Ravenloft stuff very soon . . .” (Secrets from the 'Tyranny of Dragons'). Interestingly this is the first time that he's hinted at new settings being brought into Dungeons and Dragons. - Charlie]

Mike, 5th edition is the best D&D I've played. I run an after school Games group and it's what we're playing now, not to mention my two weekend games.
My question is:

When do we get to find out what's going on in the Forgotten Realms!? I feel like I'm going in blind, I have no dates, I don't know what's currently happening or has recently happened in the Realms!

Great job on an awesome product, and thanks! - mutants4life

We definitely want to provide a broad update on the Realms, but nothing to report yet. Sorry! - Mike Mearls

Heya Mike!

What is the timetable for conversion documents for classic settings? I'd LOVE to play Eberron but it needs a lot of moving parts like Dragon Marks, Psionics, etc to work. DarkSun is friendlier, but I still need something for how magic works in the setting. Stuff like that. - mostlyjoe

We looked at each setting and what it needed, and have done some work quantifying the work effort each would need. Sorry I can't be more specific right now, but we are looking at it. - Mike Mearls

General Questions for Mike

Hi Mike,

I hope I'm not too late to ask this - work is busy so it's hard to take time out to write a post. I'm really curious about your thoughts on the design behind (and niche filled by) Paladins and clerics. I don't want to prime your answer by putting my thoughts, but I do see some overlap with things like the 3rd level war specialization on the priest (sorry, no book in front of me) that make it hard for me to distinguish between the two classes. Love 5e. It's been a breath of fresh air and it has definitely rejuvenated my gaming group.

Thank you for all you do! - cirot88

One of the things we tried to do was make paladins distinct by adding in the concept of the oath. A paladin doesn't need to be tied to a deity to wield power, and in a future product we present a paladin who uses spells but has an oath tied to a kingdom or crown, rather than a god. - Mike Mearls

What are your thoughts on the homebrewing of classes? I would love to see some basic class templates or guidelines in the DMG. - TorchedBlack

We'll be tackling that in a future web column. We thought about covering it in the DMG, and did write up some material, but given how the game can evolve we didn't want to have outdated info in a core rulebook in a few years. I'm a big fan of homebrewing - it's part of what makes D&D great. - Mike Mearls

Dunno if you're still looking at this, but:

You guys did a good job on this one...and goes to show that execution is just as important as the mechanics themselves; lots of needless overcomplication that didn't add anything thrown out the window. It almost feels like 3 was 'how can we make the best simulation', 4 was 'how can we bring in new blood from similar hobbies [big box board games / MMOs]' (Edit: Or possibly 'How can we get the tactics without the crunch'), and now 5 is 'screw it. Let's just make a good game.'

As someone trying to teach himself how to do the probability of and in turn create a good underlying model for a game's mechanics: How do you arrive at that original playtest prototype, balance-wise? One of the things I've struggled with is getting the mechanics and math to where I'm happy taking it to a table, feeling reasonably sure it'll play ok and need tweaked, rather than being so far out in the weeds the numbers need redone. I'm sure experience comes into play [other devs have even stated as such], but there has to be a rhyme or reason to it. - foxden_racing

We started with the game design and then focused on the math second because it helps to start by looking at the effect you want a mechanic to have in play.

Think of a mechanic like its own, short story. What story does it tell? What emotions do you want to evoke?

Advantage and disadvantage grew out of that approach. I wanted you to hate that second d20 on disadvantage, or see that second die as your best friend with advantage. If the emotional pay off is strong enough, you can twist your math around to make it work. - Mike Mearls



What's your favorite 5e Rule Variant that DIDN'T make it into the core rulebooks? - Polythello

I've mentioned dice for proficiency, but let throw in another - I liked it when warlock pacts gave you a cosmetic drawback. Like, if you had the ability to see in the dark you had creepy devil eyes, or some such. - Mike Mearls

Hey Mike! I'm an aspiring writer and game developer in NYC, aka I make absolutely no money. Jokes aside, I've gotten into DnD lately, and 5e was my first tabletop rpg I've ever played. After a few sessions I started to think about making something like a DayZ rpg, really focused on the DayZ world and some of the mods too. I know it's a huge question, but where do I get started? What should I think about going in, what kind of mechanics are absolutely key to pin down early? How do I start this massive journey!

Thanks in advance, really loving 5e! - SalubriousStreets

The best way to start is to throw together some basic mechanics and try playing. For something like DayZ, think about the stuff in the game that's important to you. If you were to tell someone the most exciting story you can imagine about playing DayZ, what are the things you talk about?

That stuff is the key to your game - make sure your mechanics support it, and let everything else fall aside from now.

From there, try running a session or two. As GM, take note of stuff you need and stuff that turns out to be bothersome and revise as needed.

If you get stuck in a rut, try this mental exercise - think about stuff that would be absolutely terrible ideas for your game. Then, think about why they're bad ideas. That can help shed light on what your game needs or is missing.

Finally, err on the side of simplicity. It's much easier to start simple and add what you need than wrestle with complex rules. - Mike Mearls

I've been playing DnD since the mid 90's and back then the campaign settings felt more like they were each their own game systems rather than just a couple new races and a different map and feel. Some examples are things like Birthright and Darksun. When 3e came out the settings felt like they still needed to "fit" inside the game system to me. More about small tweaks to generate a feel and less about sweeping changes.

What's your take on campaign setting design? Do you like it when it makes the game almost unrecognizable or do you prefer DnD to have a more stable core? - Sparticuse

I think a stable core is useful, because it makes it easier to focus on the differences. The administrative stuff in a system - AC, hit points, checks, etc. - I'd prefer to remain stable.
With that in mind, I think it's reasonable to ask one of two things from a setting (though a setting can have both):

• What game mechanic does the setting use that I don't see elsewhere?
• What's the one big thing I put on my character sheet for this setting that I don't see elsewhere?

I think the best settings have interesting answers to those questions. That said, something like FR is what establishes the baseline from which other settings deviate. You do need that foundation for everything to play off of. - Mike Mearls

Salutations, Mikey-boy!

What other tabletop/table games do you enjoy playing in your off-time? - IWishIWasATurnip

My wife plays lots of board games, so we have a number of two-player games in our rotation:

• LotR: The Confrontation
• Battle Line
• Lost Cities
• Pecking Order

A few others we play: * Ticket to Ride * Carcasonne * Puerto Rico * Dominion
For more hobby game stuff: * X-Wing miniatures game * Battletech * Car Wars * Ogre * Arkham Horror * Elder Sign

I used to be a huge Warhammer 40k player and collector.

For RPGs, I've played the following in the past year, in addition to D&D: * 13th Age * Dungeon World * Numenera * Call of Cthulhu * Descent

RPGs have been a little thin lately, due to D&D playtesting.

I own and really want to play: * Battle Lore 2e * Combat Commander * Fire in the Lake * Twilight Struggle * Mage Knight board game * Eldritch Horror * Commands & Colors: Ancients - Mike Mearls

Is it too late to ask if I can get a job? ;)

Also, what was the hardest thing to let go of when converting the older (3.0, 3.5, 4.0) rules to 5.0? - VetMichael

Hardest thing - don't sweat the details. 5e is fairly streamlined. Focus on capturing the essence of a monster or magic item, rather than every element of it.

For characters, it'll basically come down to finding the best match for the options you've chosen. We'll talk about that stuff in the conversion docs we're working on. - Mike Mearls

Handling Errata 

When will we, if we will, see official errata or clarifications for the PHB, HotDQ, and subsequent books? Namely the Circle of the Moon Druid. - jmcampbell82

Starting next year, we'll issue surveys similar to the playtest ones to ferret out any issues and vet solutions. - Mike Mearls

Open Playtest

First, thanks for being so active in responding to questions! Great AMA.

I'm also a long term gamer - picked it up with the red box back in 1978. I've played a lot of games (and I'm a Runequest nerd at heart), but I'm very happy to see the new edition. I just picked up the PHB and the MM to join a friend's new campaign! My question is about process... The playtest was fascinating. What feedback surprised you from it? What are some changes you all decided to make that you weren't expecting? - stranger_here_myself

Biggest surprise - people loved complexity out of combat, and generally disliked it in combat. That ran counter to what we expected. I really thought we'd see a big call for a much fiddlier core combat system, but that never happened.

Unexpected change - I love the proficiency bonus, but there were some of us (including me!) who thought that people would not be happy with a single progression. The feedback showed us that people loved it. It was a happy surprise. - Mike Mearls

It seems like Pathfinder development is much more transparent than D&D. They have active Facebook and web blogs. They frequently visit their forums. Further, major releases all have a beta period, they release PDFs of all their sourcebooks and they have open submissions for writers. In contrast D&D doesn't seem to have a face or much of a community liaison. I believe the last Reddit AMA was a year ago. What structure is in place that causes D&D to be so opaque and mired in paper publishing? - Uverus

Bonus points for mentioning licensing character creation software rights to HeroLab.

I don't agree with your premise - we opened up the development of our core system to an audience that is larger than the audience playing any other RPG on the market.

We have over 600,000 followers on our Facebook page and post there regularly.

The core team is active on Twitter and answers rules questions.

Honestly, I think the better question is why do people think we're opaque after we spent two years conducting an incredibly open test driven by rigorously collected and analyzed data? I'm really not sure what else we can do.

IMO, a big drawback we face is that when we say we'll do something, people hold us to it. D&D is an order of magnitude larger than any other tabletop RPG. If we say we're going to do X and then don't deliver, we catch far more grief than any other publisher. - Mike Mearls

Specific System Questions

Hi Mike - probably too late for you to see this, but you never know.

I'm really enjoying 5E, much more than I had expected to given that the only other edition I really enjoy is 4E. In all honesty, the only thing I really miss is the Warlord class - I always thought it was the best addition to the game, and the tiny bits and pieces in, for example, the battlemaster Fighter and valour Bard don't really scratch the tactical itch.

Is it too much to hope for more warlord? - barnardine

Our intent is for the fighter's options to pick up the warlord concept, but as with anything we'll keep an eye on how it's working out in play. - Mike Mearls

The Pact of the Blade Warlock feature seems to imply you can form any melee weapon you want, until you make a pact with a specific weapon, at which time you can only summon that weapon with the pact. Is that correct? Also, is there any mechanical reason that you can't summon two weapons (for TWF) or ranged weapons? Wondering if this pact is limited for flavor reasons or mechanical ones. Thanks! - menkoy

That's a correct reading of the pact.

I'd allow two weapons or a ranged weapon - it's not a big balancing factor. - Mike Mearls

Out of curiosity, why are the Ranger's known spells limited to half-level + 1, while the Paladin is able to prepare spells from the entire list of Paladin spells?

Was also curious about how a Beastmaster functions as a mount. The PHB states that a mount can take the dash, disengage, and dodge actions.

This seems to be at odds with the Beastmaster requiring you to use your action to have your companion take those actions, and makes the archetype improvement at level 7 a bit lackluster. - DakAttak

Paladins vs. Rangers: It's a flavor issue, a nod to the ranger's AD&D links to the magic-user/wizard spell list.

Beastmaster Mounts: I'd allow the companion to act as either per the companion rules, or as per the mount rules each round. At level 7, that would let the beast dash/disengage/dodge with its own action as a mount, then the ranger can use a bonus action for one of the Exceptional Training benefits.

That's IMO, not an official rule. Crawford makes me say that, because he's the official rules expert. - Mike Mearls

The zombie lord Marcel from 2nd Ravenloft adventure "Night of the Walking Dead" has two abilities: one is a vile odor that affects all in 30yds with a con save against random effects, all replicated by 5e except a Weakness spell effect and a Cause Disease spell effect (Contagion is already on the list); the other is a save vs. Death-and-zombification effect. What are appropriate DCs for such effects, and how can I retool the odor? - youareanassmaggot

I'd go one of two paths:

Lower DC but a really bad effect (DC 10 or so), or a higher DC (15) that requires one save per round and has a really bad effect after three failed saves. - Mike Mearls

Are levels meant to determine a relative level of power regardless of class or are they only to determine how powerful a character is in relation to it's own class? I know ideally it's the former, but it feels like the latter. - IWantToFishIt

Ideally the former - though class power is relative to the challenge at hand. - Mike Mearls

Hello! I wanted to know more about the development of the Conjure X spells. Specifically the design behind the Conjuration Wizard. I'm a new-ish DM with about a dozen 6-12hr games under my belt, and I'm finding that the ability to create 8 or more copies of a single creature bogs down combat tremendously, and is preventing me from placing the party in scenarios that feel dangerous to them. The wizard will just summon swarms of ravens to keep multiple enemies at bay. Is there a downside to this strategy I'm not seeing that will allow me to keep combat exciting without feeling cheap?

Thank you! -  LyonArtime

Remember the concentration rule - hit the caster, and the party risks losing all of those summoned creatures. Also, for weaker creatures don't be afraid to provoke their puny opportunity attacks. Finally, remember that larger creatures can move through the space occupied by a creature two sizes larger or smaller than it. - Mike Mearls

I really like traits/ideals/etc and Inspiration, and I like how Inspiration works differently from similar mechanics in other games- I like how it isn't a point economy, and its easy to have it, use it, and award it.

When did you guys decide to add traits/etc into the game, and how did they develop? Ditto Inspiration? - monstermanual

They came in fairly late in the process, if I recall correctly. We knew we wanted to have mechanical support for roleplaying, and it was something we suspected that people would react well to.

The mechanics were inspired by two RPGs, FATE and Pendragon. They gave us some nifty models for adding a system to encourage RP without being heavy handed about it. We knew that the rules needed a light touch, because some people would really latch on to it while others would avoid it.

I'm happy with the end result - it's nifty to see it accepted by so many people. I think inspiration, along with advantage and backgrounds, are the signature elements of this edition. - Mike Mearls

Hey Mike, just a couple quick questions but wanted to get clarification.

1. This came up at the table and I think we got it figured out, but are wizards able to end spells early if they aren't concentration?
2. So, just to be clear, exp earned in combat is still divided amongst all participants instead of each party member getting the full xp reward, right?

Loving 5e so much. This is everything I wanted DnD to be. Well, I am a little sad that rangers are still partial spellcasters and rely on favored enemies, but oh well, fighters can now do what I want rangers to do. Otherwise, it's a lot of fun. - Ryuutakeshi

1    The rules are silent on that, but I'd let a caster end it as a bonus action.

2    Correct. - Mike Mearls

Is there a reason there isn't a spell to summon fiends, like there is with elementals, fey and celestials? Will that be in the DMG? - Twigzy

Fiends are a special case - the nature of the Abyss and the Nine Hells makes summoning them very difficult and at the cost of a sacrifice. It's something that we leave in the DM's hands. - Mike Mearls

I've been playing 5e with my friends for over a year now thanks to the playtests and we've already houseruled a few things back in (expertise dice instead of proficiency to skills for example) but I have two major questions:

1. The Draconic bloodline sorceror adds damage to their relevant damage type. Say we have a red dragon sorceror who casts Wall of Fire. Do they add charisma to each tick of it , or just the damage dealt on cast. Do they also add damage for each individual hit of Scorching Ray?
2. Do teleportation effects like Dimension Door and Misty Step automatically break grapple? What about non-spell like abilities like the Shadow Monks shadow teleportation.

Also, what is your favorite ability from 5e. For me, it's the Bend Luck feature for Wild Magic Sorcerors (lots of fun to make creatures fail their saves). - BlackSol

1. I believe it is the damage dealt on casting.
2. I'd say any teleportation breaks a grapple, unless it brings everyone grappling along for the ride.

Favorite ability: I love the rogue's cunning action. Makes them feel tricky, like they always have something up their sleeve. - Mike Mearls

Will there be an epic tier for 5e (levels beyond 20)? Do you think the straightforward nature of character building in 5e would make it harder or easier to design? Would it break bounded accuracy? - sudsboy

For things beyond 20, I think we'd look at introducing a new mechanic to make characters feel truly legendary. I doubt it would break bounded accuracy - we'd instead focus on really powerful abilities that can alter a campaign world.

As an example, rather than giving you a big bonus to attacks or damage, we might look at stuff a character can use to alter world events. A fighter might be able to turn the tide of a mass battle singlehandedly, stuff like that. - Mike Mearls

You mentioned above about such features as domains and owning business. Can you elaborate what that entails? I attempted to do this with a party back in 4e, and it didn't work out well. - kboy101222

It works through the downtime system and gives you options for spending your time and money between adventures to build up a domain or run a business. Think of it as your character's job when not adventuring. - Mike Mearls

Couple of questions:

What, exactly, are the advantages of bounded accuracy and what does it add to the game?

Where are all the modules we were promised in the Legends and Lore columns?

Why is the DMG release date being pushed back if you had two years to work on it with no product being pushed out the door?

Where are the stealth rules?

As a player and a DM, I value consistency in the game world highly. For example, if my fifth level fighter can drop-kick a guy from a chandelier, I want to be able to use that manuever with another fifth level fighter in a game with another DM. Given 5e's philosophy (as you have stated in this thread) that every DM should change everything from skill DCs to multiclassing rules, what exactly does 5th edition have to offer me? - The_Great_Evil_King

1. Bounded accuracy simplifies the math, speeds up the game, and makes it easier for all characters to have at least a chance of success in most situations. It also simplifies character creation and leveling.
2. DMG.
3. We were still making products during those two years, just not many. Also, the book needed the additional work to hit our quality goals.
4. PHB
5. If you need every DM to run the game exactly the same, 5e is probably the wrong game for you. 5e is focuses on giving DMs the tools and flexibility to run the game they want. - Mike Mearls

Why Convert to 5e

I played and enjoyed 3rd Edition (and 3.5), but 4th Edition left a bitter taste in my mouth. The game felt like a tabletop MMORPG, which is not what I'm interested in. Since then, I've moved on to Pathfinder. Why should I now consider looking at 5th Ed.? - ArthurTrollington

5th is designed from the ground up to account for everything we've learned about RPGs in the 14 years since 3e launched. Those lessons are expressed both in the design in the rules and will be apparent as we start to roll out the product line.

The biggest thing, IMO, is that 5th focuses a lot on delivering similar depth of play as the d20 system with a much more compact, easier to grok, and easier to handle system. For instance, let's take designing NPCs. In 5th, we don't assume that NPCs need magic items. Feats are optional. Skills are either a thing you have or you don't. If you want to make a 10th-level NPC fighter, it takes a sliver of the time as it does in d20 because those details are no longer necessary. As a DM, you can delve into them if you want, but you don't have to. 

That philosophy is infused throughout the system. We've basically taken out hoops you had to jump through or elements of the system that evolved into barriers. As another example - all characters now have a basic competence in two-weapon fighting. We eliminated the default penalties and the multiple feats needed to become good at it. Instead, we simply balanced core TWF against sword & board or two-handed weapons. In essence, the game is built to move quicker, get results faster, and work in a compact manner that makes it much easier to mod or take apart.

Hope that helps! - Mike Mearls

Wizards of the Coast Questions 

& Future Plans

Hi Mike,

I really like how the Players Handbook was an "all stars/best of" D&D and fantasy worlds. All the main classes were there and all the usual suspects in terms of races, elves, orcs, halflings, etc. My question is: what about getting a bit 'out of the box' with some of the races and classes. For example, having a class that's based on a renaissance-style inventor like Leonardo da Vinci or a race seldom seen in fantasy tropes. (You mentioned centaurs in a different question). - FlyBlueGuitar

That's the kind of stuff that will come in as we produce books to support specific campaigns and story arcs. For instance, you could imagine that the githzerai as a playable race would make a lot of sense in a psionics book that supported a mind flayer-based campaign. Fey options would fit into a Feywild campaign, and so on. - Mike Mearls

Is there still plans to write articles for the D&D website providing advice on topics such as Dungeon Mastering? - JesterDavid

Yes, we have exactly that kind of thing planned for next year. - Mike Mearls

Is there any hope of seeing 5e as a video game?

Is there any chance 4e will ever get the turn based tactical rpg game treatment it seems to emulate?

I love both editions for different reasons and I'd rather see 4e digitized than 5e, because 5e is a far more nuanced and enjoyable table game. You guys knocked this one out of the park. - krymsonkyng

Hopefully we'll have some cool 5e-based video games to announce in the near future.

A 4e tactical game is tricky - we couldn't get one into production during the edition's run, and I think the chances of that happening have only gone down since. It'd be cool, but it's tough for digital RPGs and funding these days. - Mike Mearls

:D

:c

:D

Thank you for answering my question, even if the answer hurt a bit. Like i said, I'm a huge fan of your team's work - krymsonkyng

Will D&D Next go more international in the coming years? Us here in the Far East are craving some D&D action, but the decision not to allow localization in Korean/ Japanese / etc. made us very sad.  I'm asking because I saw a screenshot of an official D&D webpage with Korean / Japanese / etc. on it. :D - szp

We definitely want to expand our reach - no plans to announce, but it's something we're working on. - Mike Mearls

Have you thought about releasing paperback versions of the Player's Handbook? - kekker_crane

Formats and such are things that we'll look at as the edition matures, but not in the near term. - Mike Mearls

Coming late to the party, perhaps too late. But nevertheless, I don't see it mentioned anywhere else . . .

Do you think we'll ever see a meta-game math document anywhere? For example, you very obviously have target numbers for damage (incoming and outgoing, with varying accuracy) at each level (or at least certain levels). And you clearly are willing to deviate from them a bit for various reasons. I'd really like to know how to design a monster, class, magic item, or trap. I'm told the DMG is likely to have the basics of monster design, but what about the rest?

Second question. I forgot to cancel it, so my annual DnD magazine subscription renewed for another year. Given that you are continuing to charge for the magazine, is it safe to say that we can expect new issues soon? How do the magazines figure into your avoidance of system-bloat and fewer splat-books? In 4e, the magazines published a lot of material, which was great, especially for niche content. How is this likely to work for 5e? - alficles

The DMG will cover that for monsters. For stuff like spells, that's something that will evolve with time. I'd like to address it via a regular web column.

The magazines will present much less material in 4e, and I do not expect them to be tied to the DDI [Dungeons and Dragons Insider - Charlie] subscription. We'd look more to adventure content and a DM focus. - Mike Mearls

Ooh, this looks fun!

1- Will there be a faster item crafting variant for people who want to be able to make moderately simple items in just a couple days' work? A lot of us think item crafting is fun and wish it were more integratable into the smaller periods of downtime that crop up in the middle of adventures rather than in between adventures. For instance, I have an alchemist character, but spending 5-10 days working on a single-use weapon that is only moderately powerful if it successfully hits the enemy seems like an uneven tradeoff.

2- On a related note, will we get any additional crafting options for the more unusual artisan's tools, like alchemist and tinkerer? There aren't many examples of items they can create, and it's harder to guess what else might be craftable with them. - Fralexion

1.    Not an official variant yet, but really you can chop time down by a lot as long as you account for it in your campaign.

I'd really love to have a robust, interesting crafting system. I was never too into WoW [World of Warcraft - Charlie], but I loved collected materials and creating gear. It's tricky, because such a system can become fiddly, but it's part of the game I'd like to see expanded upon.

[2.]    The rules are vague in that area for now. Definitely have me thinking, though, about how we can expand on them . . . - Mike Mearls

Congratulations on the epic release of 5e. Loving everything about it so far. My gaming group prefers to keep playing 4e, so I found a second group to run a 5e campaign for and I'm going to run Adventurer's League soon too as well. I'm 100% sold.

But a quick question concerning 4e. I know you probably can't say anything about this but is there anything - anything at all - in the future for 4e? A simple yes, no or ''can't say'' will suffice.

Best of luck with all your future RPG work, and don't ever stop living the dream! - UndertakerSheep

We'll keep the character builder and tools running as long as enough people subscribe, but we basically see 4e as a complete game at this point. - Mike Mearls




It seems that WotC will be subcontracting adventure design product, at least in part. What will your team be focusing on, design-wise, after the core books are on shelves? Can we expect splatbooks, or a similar release schedule to 1E & 2E with Deities & Demigods, Unearthed Arcana, et al? - sudsboy

Our main focus is on two areas:

• Quality control of releases, especially making sure they play well with the core rules
• Managing the ongoing maintenance and quality of the core rules, via new design ideas and regularly feedback surveys
• Researching new products and platforms to make D&D more accessible and easier to play - Mike Mearls

Hi Mike. Will the warforged be in he DMG? Will there be support of Eberron in 5e? Many have supported Keith Baker's Eberron charity initiatives. - nicolascarrillos

Warforged are not in the DMG, alas. Cut for space reasons. However, we will be making that material available. - Mike Mearls

Would WotC ever publish an evil campaign? Maybe take some inspiration from GTA [Grand Theft Auto - Charlie]. It would be a good excess to publish a player's book on evil classes too, necromancers, vampires, blackguards, etc. - looneysquash

Probably not in the near term - it's an interesting topic, but the drow-based encounters campaign we did in 4e got mixed reactions. - Mike Mearls

Any reason for the higher price point? - NuclearOops

We wanted a premium product, especially in terms of art and book design, to ensure that the physical book had value as an object when compared to a future ebook. Obviously, that drove the cost up. We also felt comfortable with that direction knowing we'd have a free version of the game available (Basic D&D). - Mike Mearls

What are your plans for D&D in Southeast Asia (SEA)? There's a surprising lack of D&D products and events here. - charlesatan

We're looking at growing to a global audience, but for now we're making plans for translations and perfecting our organized play network primarily in North American before growing further. - Mike Mearls



Will 5e dnd next be the final edition of dnd with continous support or will there be another edition in the future? Do you think it's fair to fans/supporters to have so many editions? - JohnnyMayhem2008

I really don't like doing a new edition. IMO, new editions of D&D would focus on cleaning up trouble spots, applying lessons learned in design, and sticking to the core elements that made a thing successful in the first place. 

Basically, a new edition asks people to re-learn the game all over again. It has to be worth that effort. - Mike Mearls



Hi. I'm a big fan of D&D 5e and I'm from Brazil. I know a lot of people interested in this edition, but some are uncomfortable to get the books in english. However, this time unlike in the past, we have no news about translations. Looking on the internet I came to know that this is being a issue in others countries as well. So, for now, what can you say about translations? - FGarden

We want to adopt a plan that makes it possible for us to deliver new releases in multiple languages at the same time. That requires a lot of work on our end, and also likely ties into digital publishing.

It's definitely something we want, but it might take some time to line everything up. - Mike Mearls



Mike! Huge fan! I wanted to know what are some things people (like myself) who want to work for Wizards should do to set us apart from the pack? I want to work on one of the creative teams and would love advice! I went back to school just to finish a degree so I can qualify for most of the positions. Any help would make a world of difference. Thanks! - Chris Lynch

Big thing would be coming into a job interview with a clear outlook on what makes you unique. It also helps to have done your homework on WotC products and any future plans we've announced. If you show you've done the work to prep for the interview, it speaks well to your work ethic and initiative. - Mike Mearls



Hey Mike, I'm currently a high school student with no idea of what I want to do with my life. I am however, interested in D&D in general, so I was wondering what kind of education or training is necessary to get a job at Wizards? Also, what kind of careers are available for the long-term? - kreol0100

Getting a job at WotC working on D&D is a pretty tough prospect - we have 15 people on staff, so competition is fierce.

In general, for the gaming industry a good mix of skills is useful. Programming is good for getting into video games, but even for analog design it's a useful skill set for learning how to think about rules, their interactions, and building systems.

Math and statistics are useful for understanding the basics of probability. English and communications in general are very useful, especially for working with other people and learning to write clearly.

I'd also strongly recommend you attend GDC, PAX Dev, and similar events if possible. It's helpful to have a sense of the current trends.

Finally, play lots of games and constantly design your own.

In terms of careers, there are a lot of roles you can fill. While game design and programming are obvious paths, project management, production, and so on are all worth looking at. People on the outside don't understand how critical the people who simply make gaming companies function are on a day-to-day basis. - Mike Mearls