D&D (2024) Is 5th edition too big for there to be a 6th edition?

[Enrico Poli1]

Nothing is too big to fail, eventually old age takes over.
5e is so good that, I hope, it will last many years, 15-20 or even more.
WotC has to avoid the error(s) made with the passage from 3.5 to 4e. It was too early to change, 3.5 had entered it's mature age and had much more to offer. In fact, Pathfinder 1e covered the second half of life of that edition. 2000-2019 is almost 20 years!
5e is young, strong, it's in int juvenile phase, and had much much more to offer.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm thinking more like 2030. At the rate they've put out material they could make each of those books into a splat book and stay afloat on splat alone till then. And we still wouldn't be close to the level of splat in 3.5e

Anything's possible if we get 2 or 3 years of declining sales we'll get 6E about 2 years after that. 10 to 12 years is more likely IMHO.

6E 2024 if things slow down, 50th anniversary tie in or new cover art 50th anniversary tie in.

 

[Charlaquin]

Short answer: no.
Long answer: noooooooooooooooooo.

There will be a 6e. It probably won’t be for a good long while, and it will probably be pretty backwards-compatible with 5e. But it will come eventually. There will be a 7e too. No system is timeless.

 

[Eric V]

Short answer: no.
Long answer: noooooooooooooooooo.

There will be a 6e. It probably won’t be for a good long while, and it will probably be pretty backwards-compatible with 5e. But it will come eventually. There will be a 7e too. No system is timeless.

I'm not sure it's a "system" anymore, though, as opposed to simply "a game." A game like, as someone posted above, Clue, Risk, or Monopoly...and those don't change.

 

[Morrus]

One of the fundamental truths about this world is that nothing ever lasts. The Roman Empire, MySpace, cassette tapes, Westerns. I see no reason why D&D would be immune to that.

It won’t disappear, but it’s popularity will change over time, just like everything else does. We should enjoy it while we’re riding the wave! And hopefully the wave will last a nice long time.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

5e will last as long as there are enough people are still interested in it. And by "enough people", I mean a customer base that is continuously growing and demanding for products they can purchase and make each quarter more profitable than the last. This trickle of product releases has actually succeeded in keeping everyone satisfied with enough usuable content to make them happy while keeping them hungry for the next new thing.

D&D has evolved from an elephant to a gorilla and now a juggernaught that is becoming a kaiju. Unstoppable.

 

[Ogre Mage]

Times change and it will for D&D as well. That said, 5E D&D has reached a level of mainstream success I never would have thought possible back when I came of age in the 1990s. A combination of the most gateway-friendly rules D&D has ever had, judicious product releases and the popularity of livestream plays has produced the broadest audience for D&D that I have observed during my lifetime. I could never have foreseen that playing/talking about D&D could create Internet stars. That teachers would organize after-school D&D clubs. But here we are.

25 years from now, I think 5E will be seen as a watershed for D&D, a game which was exactly right for its particular moment in time.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm not sure it's a "system" anymore, though, as opposed to simply "a game." A game like, as someone posted above, Clue, Risk, or Monopoly...and those don't change.

I’m sure it is.

 

[robus]

I posted this over in the other 6e thread, but it's just as relevant here I think...

The rules are finally "good enough and simple enough" IMHO. They support the goals of a successful D&D game which is everyone having fun participating in a fantasy adventure without having to be an expert, which is why the player base is exploding and pulling in people who aren't particularly nerdy but love the escapist fun that a TTRPG can provide.

I know I certainly enjoy getting away from my computer and sitting around a table with real people and telling wild stories (not to take anything away from those who play via computer, of course, but I don't think that's the majority?).

To majorly mess with this success, just to "refresh" the ruleset, would be a big mistake IMHO. There's a gritty crunchy option available to those who want it (in PathFinder 2, or other RPGs). D&D needs to keep its grip on being the most popular RPG, and that means a stable rules base that people can become familiar with (and eventually expert).

The way to keep things fresh (IMHO) is to, slowly, expand the available classes, introduce new spells & monsters and settings to go with them. And of course adventures.

And finally a book they should absolutely produce is a more friendly guide to DMing. The DMG is terrible for new DMs, IMHO, and D&D needs more and more DMs. "How to become a great DM" or some such.

Edited quote for clarity

 

[Morrus]

There's a gritty option available to those who want it (in PathFinder 2, or other RPGs).

Pathfinder is not gritty; it's very much high fantasy.