D&D (2024) 6e? Why?

[Raith5]

No way. I am not the biggest fan of 5e (I am a weirdo who liked 4e) but the game works well at my table and and has been so successful. I like to see some more "modularity" to create optional rules to push the game in different directions - but this doesnt to require a new edition.

 

[Shiroiken]

Given their current rate of release and popularity, I suspect 5E will survive (including 5.X versions) for at least as long as 3E, and probably longer. Since 5E is by far easily my favorite edition, I hope it lasts for at least another decade.

While "Evergreen" is the goal, eventually the financial needs of WotC will necessitate a new edition (since core books are the primary income of any RPG). Ideally this would come as 5.X versions that are backwards compatible (as 2E was originally supposed to be for 1E), so that non-core books are still relevant.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Do we really need a sixth edition?

I'm certainly not going to keep playing fifth edition forever. Its flaws become more glaring over time.

The quality of the game is very scatter-shot. The basic mechanics work well enough, but there are issues with save scaling and tool proficiencies and many other mechanics which simply don't work, and the magnitude of those changes would necessitate a new edition.

 

[MNblockhead]

With all the other systems out there that I wish I had to try, if I get tired of 5e, I would likely just move to a completely new system. I don't think a new edition would bring me back. That's how it was with 1e for me. I was heavily into 1e and then branched out into other other systems: Gama World, Star Frontiers, Warhammer, etc. When 2e came out, it wasn't compelling enough for me to buy a whole new set of books.

Of course, now I have so little time to play that it will take a longer time for me to tire of 5e and I already have more material than I have time to go through it. There would be no reason for me to buy a whole new edition.

But who knows, maybe when I retire in 15-20 years, I'll have come full circle back to D&D and ready to become excited over a new edition again.

 

[76512390ag12]

The skill will be to have a refresh that is attractive enough to old players to buy but didn't break compatibility.

Unless you need/want a new design philosophy then this isn't too hard.

A Golden Anniversary version, with a remix of classes/races/backgrounds, would make a PHB that would be fun and different enough but not break the compatibility (much.. a little reinterpretation or explication is good).

Maybe the same with MM, but I suggest not so much.

A new DMG could be 50-75% different, it's such an advisory book one could add value and variety.

Refresh the artwork and that's nice.

Oh and don't call them PHB2 or DMG2! That seems to have really caused problems with 4e.

I know the theory was that new edition drives sales but it also loses customers.

Plus.. there are many legal ways to buy all the older editions now, so is there really value in fragmenting the base again?

OS on computers are going the same way, evergreen OSX, I think Win10 might run and run.

If you *really* can't stand a single or multiple rules.. house ruling is the core RPG tradition.. be traditional and use it!

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

While "Evergreen" is the goal, eventually the financial needs of WotC will necessitate a new edition (since core books are the primary income of any RPG).

Or Core books with all-new, special edition covers to get both collectors and new players to buy them?

 

[Flakskader]

I don't believe that a 6th edition is really required at the moment. Perhaps when material is abundant enough or , most likely, once rival companies start showing off systems that compete well with it, they might work on another edition. The only thing I can imagine is that a 6th edition would have a completely different set of gameplay rules compared to the previous editions, a little like what 4th Edition was bringing to the table. I don't think they could do any more work on the d20 ruleset without it just feeling like an unnecessary revamp.

 

[ad_hoc]

While "Evergreen" is the goal, eventually the financial needs of WotC will necessitate a new edition (since core books are the primary income of any RPG). Ideally this would come as 5.X versions that are backwards compatible (as 2E was originally supposed to be for 1E), so that non-core books are still relevant.

Will that happen? 2017 was a stronger year than 2014. While the growth will decline I imagine the customer base to buy new books will be far higher than that of a 6e. Well, at least the risk will be there. Plus it is better to have a stronger brand to support movies which are worth much more than some core books.

Perhaps when material is abundant enough or , most likely, once rival companies start showing off systems that compete well with it, they might work on another edition.

I don't think that is possible. D&D stands alone with no consequential competitors.

Even when Pathfinder 2 comes out D&D will still beat their sales that month. Then the month after they will be back to being a blip compared to D&D.

 

[OB1]

While "Evergreen" is the goal, eventually the financial needs of WotC will necessitate a new edition (since core books are the primary income of any RPG).

I'm not sure about this assertion. Hasbro doesn't put out new editions of Monopoly or Life with changes to the core rules, they just dress them up in a new skin every once in a while. They don't spend money on development, just on marketing and sales. D&D could follow that path, needing only enough sales to new players to cover those costs. As long as they maintained a healthy market share, there would be no reason to create a new edition.

If sales really drop, it wouldn't mean putting out a new edition, it would mean dropping supplement creation down to 1 every year or three. If it's popularity picked back up, they could go back to three or four per year.

If Hasbro wants D&D to be a game played through generations like Monopoly, Risk or Life, they can't keep reinventing it every 5-10 years. And the bottom line is the minor flaws in the current system are vastly outweighed by the ease of use of the system and it's accessibility to casual gamers, who are driving sales year after year after being introduced to the game, having fun playing a Life cleric with a pig and the actor feat and then buying their own PHB.

Ideally this would come as 5.X versions that are backwards compatible (as 2E was originally supposed to be for 1E), so that non-core books are still relevant.

I could see very minor changes made in the future to the core books. Perhaps a feat added or dropped here or an additional version of a class there. Maybe a "Complete" Players handbook that at some point consolidates all of the class and feat options. But no core rule changes. Nothing that would mean that someone with an original PHB wouldn't have the same mechanics for as someone with a PHB printed in 2030.

And they certainly won't call it 5.x on the cover. Sure us hardcore fans will notice and discuss it, but to the public, it will still just be the D&D PHB. They don't even brand 5e on the cover of the core books now.

 

[Flakskader]

Will that happen? 2017 was a stronger year than 2014. While the growth will decline I imagine the customer base to buy new books will be far higher than that of a 6e. Well, at least the risk will be there. Plus it is better to have a stronger brand to support movies which are worth much more than some core books.



I don't think that is possible. D&D stands alone with no consequential competitors.

Even when Pathfinder 2 comes out D&D will still beat their sales that month. Then the month after they will be back to being a blip compared to D&D.

I'm speaking hypothetically, sorry. That said, the fact there isn't a strong competitor, even if Pathfinder 2 is certainly gaining traction, is one of the main reasons there won't likely be another edition for a while.

Besides, I don't think any of us is ready to invest in MORE books and MORE accessories yet! Or have to go through another variation of

"But how does Proficiency Bonus work?"