Arcanis and 5th Edition D&D

Just to chime in, I’m an avid fan of Pathfinder, but do not like what WoTC has done with 5e. Far less crunchy than I like my games and with far fewer options. One of the things that has pulled me to Aranis is the tremendous amount of options given to players right from the beginning. With so many different choices at character build and during advancement, each character has a chance to be different and unique. To take that away would be a true shame.

Honestly, people mostly play D&D and 5e for the setting. They want to play Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc. I don’t see there being a huge draw of players from the 5e setting to Arcanis simply because the mechanics match. I know plenty of people who are Pathfinder players who tried 5e and simply didn’t want to play in the Forgotten Realms, which is what their organized play campaign is all about.

If anything, Arcanis for Pathfinder would have the biggest draw as far as a playerbase.

I will chime in on this topic and point at the elephant in the room in regards to the ARG.

As the living campaign approaches Tier 3, more of the books will be used. More unexpected conditions will occur. There are at least a few spells that need to be re-edited to place them more inline with the writer’s intentions.

After the Year 2 book gets completed and before pushing into Year/Campaign 3, the Player’s Handbook and other current materials need to be fully revised with a new version release. I am not saying ARG v2. I am saying ARG v1.1. You have to consider these first 2 campaigns are a full shakedown run. Then there is the errata and its distinct changes.

If you want to keep the ARG alive, we need a fully revised book. It doesn’t mean that players will have to throw away the original player’s handbook, as some will be content with a specially formatted codex of changes to place with the player’s handbook. Some players would be willing to buy the new version. If you add a little extra content, then you can supply the codex of changes as a cheaper paperback book. It is not a bad business plan, and may not require as much work as writing the Blessed Lands campaign book. Essentially, this is performing the regular maintenance items on a car.

Congrats to you guys on both counts!

As many of you know by now we ran a 5e Arcanis “playtest” at GenCon…

3) every player I ran LOVED the world and wanted to know more.. I have a ton of emails

4) the game itself ran well and was rather fun…

I own the ARG and like it. However, with multiple GMs each with their own campaign we unfortunately don’t have the time to master multiple systems.

I would love a 5th edition version of Arcanis. So what’s the chance and time frame of releasing something that could be purchased?

Thanks.

Hello Davout,

I would love a 5th edition version of Arcanis. So what’s the chance and time frame of releasing something that could be purchased?

Funny you should ask.

While I don’t have a firm answer for you, I am looking into that possibility. In fact, we’re hopefully going to have another run of a 5E Arcanis campaign at Winter Fantasy 2016. This will allow me to gauge interest for a full blown campaign with a possible 5E version of Arcanis to run parallel to the ARG system and campaign.

More on this as I have more to report, but even if all goes great, it’ll still be a while before such an animal exists.

5E Arcanis campaign at Winter Fantasy 2016.

Yes, yes, I just saw this on while reviewing the slots available for Winter Fantasy 2016… And I almost immediately signed up for the 4 5e slots. (I did text Matthew however, still awaiting the return text) But I am waiting a minute or 7.

I am very interested in returning to Arcanis (in any incarnation) but 5E would be easier. I just recently got a few friends of mine AND most of my family involved in RPGing (even Gnomie Jr.). If I can easily switch them over to Arcanis, so that they can enjoy this rich world PCI has created… It would make it easier for me to justify purchasing PCI material, go to cons, etc… Because for me it would be a family affair now (which was one of the reasons I left the gaming circles, the others, well, another time and place).

If I can get conversion rules, or a sample gnome 5e character sheet that I can modify to create Gnomie 2.0, I will be at Winter Fantasy with a sign that says “PCI take my money”. And if 5E does indeed take off, I will offer again to write the mods I solo submitted (that were put in limbo thankfully), I will buy the books, I will offer to judge, I will bring in new players, etc.

Needless to say, I am all for the 5E Arcanis. Bring it!

Arcanis 5E: the Gnomie Awakens

“You were my brother Gnomie, you were the un-chosen one!”

Regardless of the system, I’m staying. The greatest strength is the world and the storytelling and I know that will come through regardless of the system.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

This quote serves me fine as well and should serve as the master sentiment bracketing anything else espoused below.

I’m not so entirely fond of the ARG; I’ve found my scant system mastery of it hard-won and similarly now struggle with defining each of my characters mechanically in measuring opportunity costs.

I also find it very hard to end up feeling “satisfied” with a given level of competence in anything. Even with 5+ ranks in a skill actions feel too “swingy,” too over-reliant on the whims of the dice. I know Larissa likes her games, but I cling to my sad little attempts at personal agency all the same.

Passive skill values are nearly meaningless except in the cases of Arcanum and then they’re life-or-death.

While Adaptations are a very clever idea in practice I’ve found it has expanded the amount of knowledge I’ve needed to have about a given spell very noticeably -first I have to know the base value, than I have to know the modified values. In effect I have to know 1.5+ versions of the same spell.

This is far better than 3.X D&D and the godawful paragraphs of memorized spell lists, but it’s still not great.

I can’t remember all those Talents. I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is.

That said I have no real fondness for 5th Ed. either, and readily nominate either of the Crafty Games systems of Spycraft 2.0 or Fantasy Craft as being the superior to D&D in any form.

I detest Pathfinder. I dislike 3.X slightly less.

I actually, sincerely, think 4th Edition D&D is no kind of poor fit for any intended campaign outside of it’s ludicrous amounts of itemization and torrent of spam-worth feats. I think the Dark Sun 4th ed. book’s rules for a “no magic items” campaign and some judicious use of granted Improved Defense feats can rectify these problems, but I also understand (and take no offense in knowing) that nobody besides me cares about 4E and Arcanis.

Nothing said above should be interpreted as any disrespect of the obviously scrupulous care put into the crafting of the ARG, but it is what I “think.” PCI is welcome to consider my issues to be essentially personal flaws; rather like Apple Products it could just be a case of the ARG being “smarter than Zac.”