D&D 5E D&D New Edition Design Looks Soon?

WotC’s Ray Winninger has hinted on Twitter that we may be seeing something of the 2024 next edition of D&D soon — “you’ll get a first look at some of the new design work soon.”.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

There does seem an uptick. I wonder what is driving it? Did newer players discover it and add it to the conversation? Is there a push for a retroclone I am not aware of?

I think the edition wars have died down enough that those who dislike 4e can generally say "eh, it wasn't for me" and those who liked it can be brave enough to talk about what they liked, in the hope that some elements that were honestly good can return to the game without "guilt by association". (If that makes any sense).

 

[teitan]

ironicly as much as i push for MORE change... I agree. If they had kept to what the designer hired by paid for by and doing interviews for WotC (notice I did not say WotC so don't argue) promised and did dials and optional packages this would still be THE evergreen edition...
need to fix X and Y, have vocal majority or minority asking for Z... put out a new book of options.

Yep. They shouldn’t be publishing essentially the same race every book with iterative changes and saying “new standard going forward”. If they were going to make changes they should have rolled them out in a MotM style approach but not MotM. That should have been almost all new material and not just reprinting of ToF and Volo. Those should have been updated after the revision came out.

 

[darjr]

There a lot of people discovering 4e new. For instance a TON of MCDM fans seem new as did his crew that was playing it. They had the luxury of a great DM steeped in the history of D&D, much better digital tools than was available for much of 4e, and a 4e being run with a ton of hindsight and fixes, like the monster math.

 

[darjr]

The fact remains that 2e was mechanically very similar to 1e, but had just as much of a philosophical shift as the new "still 5e but not really" does with 2014's 5e. They were different editions then and should be different editions now. It makes it much easier to separate them in your mind if you use proper terminology, and you can dismiss the one you don't like if you have a preference.

If your saying that current 5e and 2014 are different enough to be different editions as a FACT, I think your opinion has led you astray. An opinion sure, fact? Strongly disagree.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

IF the 50th Anniversary stuff is going to be fully (or near-fully) backwards compatible, then the big room for innovation comes in presentation. If you will indulge me: I'd like to talk a little about what I'd like to see in that area.

I think the no. 1 thing (rules all being the same, or same-ish) that the game could use is presenting complex rules subsets (such as spells, feats, and some class abilities) TWICE officially. Once, for the full, complex rulings, which could include discussions of corner-cases and how the elements interact with other parts of the game, and 2nd, in a concise "character-sheet friendly" format.

If that's not clear, here's a homemade example:

(Current PHB version, which would be type 1 in the above, though they could add more to it, if it was a spell more complicated than this example is):

Detect Magic
Concentration Ritual
LEVEL 1st
CASTING TIME 1 Action Ritual
RANGE/AREA Self (30 ft )
COMPONENTS V, S
DURATION Concentration 10 Minutes
SCHOOL Divination
ATTACK/SAVE None
DAMAGE/EFFECT Detection
For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any.
The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.

(My version 2)
Detect Magic (R)(VS). For 10 min (C), you can use your action to sense the presence (& school) of magic within 30 ft. of you if it is not blocked by 1' stone, 1 ft. metal or 3 ft. of wood or dirt or hidden by invisibility.

Heck, they could ditch that last bit about what blocks it if they just make a common standard for what typically blocks divinations.

These "V2" rules could be used on Monster Stat-blocks and Character Sheets, for quicker reference. I don't think that it would be a waste of space and would (IMO) vastly improve the game's playability if it were built-in. I mean, sure, we can all make up our own, but to have a consistent, accepted version? Much better.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

There does seem an uptick. I wonder what is driving it? Did newer players discover it and add it to the conversation? Is there a push for a retroclone I am not aware of?

I did this...

Okay not really, I wish I could take credit for it, but it seems to me like others did it around the same time (and I got it from a tic tok my preteen niece shared with me) when they started talking about updates (in that case Tasha's having class features) we need to talk up what we like. Not just a little either. I did it for a while then dropped it but now I (and I have seen others) are full court press.

I am introducing new players to 4e concepts. I am at stores and online (and next week at my first con for a while) talking it up.

In my case it is 4e with everyone having less hp but with some 5e innovations is what I really want. The more we talk about it the more WotC hears about it the more new players try it the more WotC hears about it... and maybe we get change.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If your saying that current 5e and 2014 are different enough to be different editions as a FACT, I think your opinion has led you astray. An opinion sure, fact? Strongly disagree.

It's an opinion. But I stand by it.

 

[darjr]

Also the 2e designers inetention was to make a whole new edition, they pick no bones about it.

It isn’t the same now. At least up to this point.

 

[Reynard]

There a lot of people discovering 4e new. For instance a TON of MCDM fans seem new as did his crew that was playing it. They had the luxury of a great DM steeped in the history of D&D, much better digital tools than was available for much of 4e, and a 4e being run with a ton of hindsight and fixes, like the monster math.

I forgot Coville was running 4E on stream. Good catch.

 

[darjr]

Also also also, the 5e designers and managers know what happened to sales of D&D 2e and longer term 3.5 and do not want to kill the golden goose.