Critical Role Wildemount has new subraces and reprints a ton of others

[Marandahir]

I doubt they'll do another combined fixed PHB type reprint anytime soon due to the special edition covers released Holiday 2018, but if 5e lasts well through the 20s I could see something coming out in summer 2024, 10th anniversary of the edition.

I too was mostly talking about 6e, which I expect we'll be into by 2030, just due to the nature of how many lessons will have been learned over the years of 5e, and the need to update enough that it's worth printing a new edition. WotC have said they want to stick with 5e as long as possible rather than break the player base, though. I imagine any 6e would be more like how 2e was somewhat compatible with 1e AD&D, or like how Pathfinder is somewhat compatible with 3.5e D&D.

 

[teitan]

I would also point out that 2024 is also the 50th anniversary of D&D making it the perfect time to refresh the PHB ala revised 2e by adding some of the fixes and more popular subclasses etc to the core book with ample lead time so people know they are coming.

 

[Reynard]

I would also point out that 2024 is also the 50th anniversary of D&D making it the perfect time to refresh the PHB ala revised 2e by adding some of the fixes and more popular subclasses etc to the core book with ample lead time so people know they are coming.

Four years is a long time away. People need to remember that while D&D is having a moment, it is just a moment and very likely will fade back to "normal" levels, which will mean WotC (or whoever owns it) will want to shakje things up again. None of us know how long streaming is going to be a thing, or if some other game is going to grab the streamers' attention. Imagine of the Critical Role crew decided to engage in a 2 year long campaign using a different rule set. Would the Critters follow them to that game and leave D&D fallow? Or what if the success of the new animated series means fewer and fewer streaming games happen as the cast members and Mercer spend more and more time doing different kinds of work. Will their fans still be playing D&D 6 months after the last Twitch stream?

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Four years is a long time away. People need to remember that while D&D is having a moment, it is just a moment and very likely will fade back to "normal" levels, which will mean WotC (or whoever owns it) will want to shakje things up again. None of us know how long streaming is going to be a thing, or if some other game is going to grab the streamers' attention. Imagine of the Critical Role crew decided to engage in a 2 year long campaign using a different rule set. Would the Critters follow them to that game and leave D&D fallow? Or what if the success of the new animated series means fewer and fewer streaming games happen as the cast members and Mercer spend more and more time doing different kinds of work. Will their fans still be playing D&D 6 months after the last Twitch stream?

I strongly disagree with this. D&D's moment to me is perfectly aligned with the rise of millenials/gen Z who are the driving force behind properties like Marvel, and are at the same time becoming more skeptical of social media and looking for closer friendships.

I'll agree that D&D is unlikely to maintain it's exponential growth, but I seriously doubt it will return to the much lower play levels that were pre-5e.

 

[Lem23]

I would also point out that 2024 is also the 50th anniversary of D&D making it the perfect time to refresh the PHB ala revised 2e by adding some of the fixes and more popular subclasses etc to the core book with ample lead time so people know they are coming.

Or release 6th ed as a 50th anniversary edition.

 

[Reynard]

I strongly disagree with this. D&D's moment to me is perfectly aligned with the rise of millenials/gen Z who are the driving force behind properties like Marvel, and are at the same time becoming more skeptical of social media and looking for closer friendships.

I'll agree that D&D is unlikely to maintain it's exponential growth, but I seriously doubt it will return to the much lower play levels that were pre-5e.

Pretty much every time D&D has seen a boost, those people either fall out of the hobby within a few years or move on to other games. Millenials that discovered RPGs through D&D are going to go through the same life development points that caused a lot of Gen Xers to have to put it away for a decade or more, and those that stay are going to be just as likely to want to explore other avenues in the hobby as Gen Xers were. It is a difference of scale, not kind.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Don't worry they aren't going to do that.

It's already done. Goblin $1.99.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Pretty much every time D&D has seen a boost, those people either fall out of the hobby within a few years or move on to other games. Millenials that discovered RPGs through D&D are going to go through the same life development points that caused a lot of Gen Xers to have to put it away for a decade or more, and those that stay are going to be just as likely to want to explore other avenues in the hobby as Gen Xers were. It is a difference of scale, not kind.

I'm not disagreeing that this could be a peak time for D&D; it very well could be. But it's not going to fall back to pre-5e levels either, as D&D seems to have reached a level where it would need an absolute crash in play to fall back to where it was.

 

[Reynard]

I'm not disagreeing that this could be a peak time for D&D; it very well could be. But it's not going to fall back to pre-5e levels either, as D&D seems to have reached a level where it would need an absolute crash in play to fall back to where it was.

Online play will help it stick, I think, and I agree that the millennial "board game culture" will likely help hold on to a greater number of those players. But I do think we are in a bubble and expecting it to never burst is a little dangerous.

 

[gyor]

Online play will help it stick, I think, and I agree that the millennial "board game culture" will likely help hold on to a greater number of those players. But I do think we are in a bubble and expecting it to never burst is a little dangerous.

Even bubbles can last years before they burst and by the time this one bursts, another generation will be on the cusp of taking over the mantle.