Play Test New D&D 5th Edition
Dungeons & Dragons is officially mainstream now, the New York Times just did an article about the upcoming release of D&D 5. Yeah.
Yesterday Wizards of the Coast released a statement about “developing the next iteration of D&D”. The next edition is supposed to be all inclusive of previous editions and so forth. But the big to-do is that WotC’s development team is actively seeking out player feedback for the RPG’s next overhaul/iteration/edition/thing.
For that reason, we want your participation. The goals we have set for ourselves are by no means trivial or easy. By involving you in this process, we can build a set of D&D rules that incorporate the wants and desires of D&D gamers around the world. We want to create a flexible game, rich with options for players and DMs to embrace or reject as they see fit, a game that brings D&D fans together rather than serves as one more category to splinter us apart.
After you sift through all the marketing-speak it all boils down to the development team includes Monte Cook and they’re doing active play tests for the 5th Edition (or whatever they end up calling it in the end).
And where can you do this play testing? They haven’t quite said, but the announcement has a big button at the bottom to sign up for news and info about the play testing. Other than that, you can play test D&D 5th Ed at their official fan convention, The Dungeons and Dragons Experience.
For those wishing to attend, The Dungeons & Dragons Experience is scheduled for January 26-29, 2012, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Which apparently has a bit of a snow issue according to the blurb on WotC’s page about the gaming event. Baldman Games appears to be organizing the event because their site has all the event details.
I couldn’t find any actual pricing or ticketing information on either WotC or Baldman Games so no idea what the D&D Experience will run you. But parking is apparently $7.
Baldman Games took over the convention several years ago. Yes, Ft. Wayne has real problems with snow in January and February. The first two years I went I drove through incredible snowstorms to get there.
The convention can be found at:www.baldmangames.com. If you click on the top header, D&D Experience 2011, it will take you to the convention information. The bottom option, registration takes you to the actual place to register on line. At least it did. Online registration is now closed. Onsite registration is available. Slots are $8 for single games, $16 for two-round slots. I believe the badge is around $25 for the weekend.
Parking at the garage connected to the hotels and convention center is $7, but the last time I got a room there, they validated the parking every day.
Hope this helps.
Geri Cochrane