Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition

Save vs. GURPS. New edition to be a "universal rule set". [Link]

“We’re focusing on what gets people excited about D&D, and making sure we have a game that encompasses all different styles,” says Mike Mearls, group manager for the D&D research and development team. “Even if you haven’t played in 20 years, we want you to be able to sit down and say, ‘this is D&D.’”

In its current form, Dungeons & Dragons isn’t a single game that everyone plays the same way; it’s more like several different games descended from a common ancestor. Over its four decade history, the game’s designers frequently changed the rules and republished them; sometimes they did so to fix problems, sometimes just to sell new rule books.

As a result, the fanbase is fractured to the point of making it difficult to play the game, isolating players that don’t know or enjoy particular versions. More worrying, if you’re Wizards of the Coast: A devoted player of 1977′s “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” rules might play your game every single week —even though they haven’t spent any money on it in 35 years.

To solve this problem, Wizards has been looking back at each edition of the game going back to 1974, and identifying core rules that make the game work best. They’re also soliciting suggestions from players via weekly columns on their web site, and through community discussion threads. And in coming months, they’ll host several rounds of playtesting, allowing fans to try out new rules before they’re finalized, and identify what does and doesn’t work.

When completed, that collective wisdom will be used to craft a new engine that will serve as as a sort of “best of” edition —and which should be familiar and fun whether you’re green or a grayhair.

Of course, bringing all kinds of players under one tent isn’t easy when they want different things. To address that, Mearls says the new edition is being conceived of as a modular, flexible system, easily customized to individual preferences.

“Just like a player makes his character, the Dungeon Master can make his ruleset,” says Mearls. “He might say ‘I’m going to run a military campaign, it’s going to be a lot of fighting’… so he’d use the combat chapter, drop in miniatures rules, and include the martial arts optional rules.”

“You can have as little or as much customization as you want,” he says. “It’s about letting people find their own way to play.”

I am more than a little worried this will be less than the sum of it's parts.