D&D (2024) Does anyone else think that 1D&D will create a significant divide in the community?

[Lycurgon]

I'm not saying it will but that it could. Part of me thinks that the changes we are seeing will be scaled back due to negative feedback and not be as many big proposed changes that we have seen so far in the playtest material.

But if the level of changes (or something close) that we are seeing go through, the game will be changed quite a bit. It will still have the same basic structure/mechanics but there will be limits to how much mixing and matching can happen between 5e and 1D&D.
Currently you can't use the more powerful Races from 5e (which provide Ability increases) with the Backgrounds from character origins playtest (which provide Ability Increases and a feat) and pick a Class from 5e with a subclass from 1 D&D (or vice versa) that have a different number of subclass features at different levels. And yes they cover the ability score increase in a sidebar and can make conversion rules for other things. But freely mixing and matching will through off the balance of things.

But with the amount of changes we are seeing (if a similar amount make it into the final product) I know there will be groups that don't change to the new rules and am sure there will be groups that will abandon all the old rules and just stick to just the new. Other groups may use a houseruled mix of the 2.

It is possible this with will create a divide in the community where some people are not buying the new material that is being produced by WotC and maybe even being supported by some 3rd party publishers that stick with 5e.

So while there is certain to be a divide, how significant do you currently think it will be? It might only be a small number of groups that don't convert to the new rules and stop buying any new books from WotC. Just like with every edition change some groups will remain with the edition they are used to/like. But will the size of this 5e only community be significant? Could the divide be big enough that 1D&D actually, ironically, creates a need to make a new 6e to reunite the community? (Probably not?)

And with the changes you have seen so far, if they all pretty much make it into the finished 1D&D release, would you and your group change to the new version? What are your thoughts so far about this?

 

[Bill Zebub]

That's a bit like asking if the World Cup will cause a rift in Ukrainian-Russian relations this year.

 

[Lycurgon]

To answer my own questions currently I am thinking that I would stick with 5e rather than change to the proposed changes but would take a few things and use them in my games. One of the DMs I play with says that so far they think they will stick with 5e,they don't understand what WotC is thinking?

 

[MacDhomnuill]

I don’t think a divide is coming but I do think DnD is due for a recession just like the player down turn during late 3.5 and 4e. You can already see some of the hoards of 5e players piling into sub reddits looking for new games as they tire of dnds mechanics. I doubt it will be as big as the 3.5/4 one was but I do think a lot of 5e players will be looking to expand their range of games and the transition to One DnD will provide the opening for that to happen.

 

[leozg]

Wizards calling it a new edition or not, new rules always cause some division. The fact that these new rules are compatible with older ones will avoid a break like 3e to 4e, but there will be groups playing old and new rules and moving from one to another will require some adaptation, not to much different than conversion rules from edition to edition, just a little smoother.
In the end of the day, the new rules will be like a new edition.

 

[Charlaquin]

There are several different questions here.

Will most of what we see in the UA playtests make it into the 2024 core books? No, probably not.

Will the changes that do make it into the 2024 core books be compatible with all characters built with the 2014-2023 rules? No, absolutely not.

Will a lot of players decide not to buy the 2024 core books or play the rules in them? Yes, absolutely.

Will this constitute a significant divide in the 5e player base? Nope, not a chance.

Will I buy the new books and play with the rules in them? Still undecided. It’s much too early to tell if they’re to my liking.

 

[Minigiant]

D&Dis so old it literately has several subtypes of fans of different wants and desire.

Whether One D&D came or not, no one edition edition would provide the needs of even 75% of D&D fans. Division was coming in 5e or OneD&D.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Currently you can't use the more powerful Races from 5e (which provide Ability increases) with the Backgrounds from character origins playtest (which provide Ability Increases and a feat) and pick a Class from 5e with a subclass from 1 D&D (or vice versa) that have a different number of subclass features at different levels. And yes they cover the ability score increase in a sidebar and can make conversion rules for other things. But freely mixing and matching will through off the balance of things.

Sure you can. If you are using a 2014 Race and a 2024 background you just…choose your ASIs. It’s not even a conversion it’s just…if your race and background both provide an ASI, you choose which to use, not both. A new rule to cover a broadening of options. This would fit just fine in an “of everything” book.

The class/subclass does require a minuscule conversion, but it is still a very small amount of text. Ideally, it will eventually be, “if you are using a subclass that lists subclass feature levels that differ from the levels on your class feature by level table, you simply gain your subclass features in order at the levels listed on the table. If you reach such a level and have no more subclass features listed in your chosen subclass, you gain a feat for which you qualify instead.”

So far, they could have snuck everything but the new class writeups as optional variant rules in an “of everything” expansion book, and no one would be calling it 5.5.

I think when we see the 2024 PHB, it will very clearly just be 5e, cleaned up, reorganized, clarified, and fairly mildly revised in the fine details. Closer to a new edition of the 5e rules than a new edition of D&D in the sense wizards has always used the term.

 

[TheSword]

I'm not saying it will but that it could. Part of me thinks that the changes we are seeing will be scaled back due to negative feedback and not be as many big proposed changes that we have seen so far in the playtest material.

But if the level of changes (or something close) that we are seeing go through, the game will be changed quite a bit. It will still have the same basic structure/mechanics but there will be limits to how much mixing and matching can happen between 5e and 1D&D.
Currently you can't use the more powerful Races from 5e (which provide Ability increases) with the Backgrounds from character origins playtest (which provide Ability Increases and a feat) and pick a Class from 5e with a subclass from 1 D&D (or vice versa) that have a different number of subclass features at different levels. And yes they cover the ability score increase in a sidebar and can make conversion rules for other things. But freely mixing and matching will through off the balance of things.

But with the amount of changes we are seeing (if a similar amount make it into the final product) I know there will be groups that don't change to the new rules and am sure there will be groups that will abandon all the old rules and just stick to just the new. Other groups may use a houseruled mix of the 2.

It is possible this with will create a divide in the community where some people are not buying the new material that is being produced by WotC and maybe even being supported by some 3rd party publishers that stick with 5e.

So while there is certain to be a divide, how significant do you currently think it will be? It might only be a small number of groups that don't convert to the new rules and stop buying any new books from WotC. Just like with every edition change some groups will remain with the edition they are used to/like. But will the size of this 5e only community be significant? Could the divide be big enough that 1D&D actually, ironically, creates a need to make a new 6e to reunite the community? (Probably not?)

And with the changes you have seen so far, if they all pretty much make it into the finished 1D&D release, would you and your group change to the new version? What are your thoughts so far about this?

Yes of course we would adopt the changes. They almost all make the game more fun and the ones that don’t aren’t significant enough to even houserule it. I wouldn’t refuse to download a game patch because I like the bugs/features of the current game.

I think the divide will be about as big as the divide between folks who say core only, and those that use Xanathar’s/Tasha’s. That is to say… not much divide.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I think it will create a divide.

I know I am not going to buy the new books, not because of their content but just because I already own so many 5E books and I have no interest in a some update of the rules.

Anyway, I really doubt the new edition will be as compatible as they claim it will be. Their goal is to sell more books. They want people to buy the new core books. Some people will buy them, others will feel forced to buy them. You'll have table refusing to use new content, others not. There's already small divides between people having different opinions about mechanics and content introduced in later books. Hell, there's a divide in the reactions to the changes on this very forum.