D&D 5E Do you think we'll see revised core books in 2024? (And why I think we will)

[Sithlord]

To me they would be stupid not to do a minor point upgrade on their 50th anniversary and not include at least some new cool class.

personally I think they should do a mega adventure that planehops from toril to Oerth to mystara to Krynn to athas to sigil to Eberron to cerillia to nentir vale and throw in oz and wonderland to boot. An adventure that spans the d&d worlds throw in the starship warden and gamma world if they think they are badass enough along with gothic earth

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I don't think it will be called 5.x or 6e, but we will see something along the line of 5.3.
Afew moderate changes, some consolidations here and there, probably a few revision. (TWF comes to mind, lineages).
You can atill use everything from before with minor to no tweaks:
Let me iterate: TWF with a bonus action sounded like a good idea in 2014, but from today's point of view, it does not scale well. There might be a different option. All character will still work, but can chose to use the new rules. NPCs never used bonus actions for an offhand attack.
Lineages will replace the races. You can still play your standard elf, but you can alao use the culture + physical differentiated lineages.
Maybe we will see something like point blank ranges (i hated it in 3e to be honest, but I reintroduced it in 5e because ranged combats from 150 ft away is boring...)

But we will see. And I can make up rules myself, but I like it when people do it professionally in a coherent fashion, and I am more than willing to pay 50 dollars for an upgrade to a 10 year old game...
If it was a computer game, nobody would complain that they have to spend another 50 bucks for gameX 2 where you just get better Graphics, a new storyline and a few upgraded mechanics.
Actually there are games that do this each year (Sports Game 2020, 2021, 2022 etc...)

 

[Charlaquin]

Not only a new edition would need a previous playtest, but the last years of a edition would be useful to risk testing new things, for example new classes with special class mechanics.

What do you think Tasha’s was?

 

[Charlaquin]

I absolutely believe they will have big plans for 2024 for the 50 year anniversary. However, I don't think it's likely to be core rules changes.

Personally, I am not looking forward to 6e in spite of the (fairly small) issues that I see with 5e. I think the rise of streaming and VTTs will so fundamentally alter the business plan for RPGs that there's a very good chance that the way 6e is produced and sold will be totally unrecognizable from prior editions. I think it's very likely that the next edition will be more hostile to player (meaning customer) control of the game. I think they will be encouraged to do the same digitial lock-in they did with 4e, only now they have learned from that and they're less likely to fail. We can't rely on WotC continually flubbing their digital offerings being the primary reason for the game staying open and not becoming a de facto subscription-based "live service" where "playing D&D" is totally inseparable from paying WotC $20/mo.

I think if they did this, a huge portion of the player base would just stick to 5e.

 

[Oofta]

I think if they did this, a huge portion of the player base would just stick to 5e.

Considering how successful 5E is, I think a large chunk of players would stick with it no matter what changes they did. Different people will always want different things, coming up with a new edition that broadly appeals to enough people to not split their core audience and risk pissing people off? Just not sure I see it.

Of course, I can't get anyone to take me up on my wager, so we'll see.

 

[Quartz]

Possibly the updating of more 1/short rest abilities to prof bonus/long rest.

I really hope they reverse this. Rather, they should expand the use of the short rest by giving long-rest classes improved ability recovery on a short rest and diminished recovery on a long rest. For example see this.

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

Not necessarily true. In fact, that can be the safest time to take a risk, since your success can insulate you against potential losses if the shake-up turns out poorly.

I don’t think 6e is coming in 2024, but “they’re doing better than ever” isn’t necessarily a reason not to shake things up.

Small shake-ups and experimental products, yes
Changing your entire product so, in the event of failure, you seriously damage the brand, no
The risk-to-reward ratio is far too high

We don't need WizCo to make a New Coke of DnD

 

[Charlaquin]

Considering how successful 5E is, I think a large chunk of players would stick with it no matter what changes they did. Different people will always want different things, coming up with a new edition that broadly appeals to enough people to not split their core audience and risk pissing people off? Just not sure I see it.

Of course, I can't get anyone to take me up on my wager, so we'll see.

Well, I chose the word “significant” over “large” intentionally. I think a large portion of the player base will always stick to the edition being replaced. But so far, only once has that large portion been significant.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Were you guys around for the 30th anniversary?

How about the 40th anniversary?

So...what is the thinking that the 50th is going to be any different?

They're more successful and they're a prominent part of every earnings call now.

If you work in corporate America, you know: The better you do, the better you're expected to do.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You don't do a major shake-up when you're the unquestioned market leader

In the early 1970s, CBS famously cancelled their entire line-up of rural sitcoms, like Green Acres, which were all ratings leaders, because they saw that demographic change was about to make the suburbs and city living the focus for most of American life. They shifted to shows like All in the Family and its 10 million spin-offs and dominated the next decade's ratings once again.