D&D (2024) Dungeons and Dragons future? Ray Winninger gives a nod to Mike Shea's proposed changes.

[Parmandur]

Its undeniable, however, that a fair number of people here would like changes that are in advance (by a little or a lot) of what that model would ever be able to accomplish.

What is a "fair number"? If 90%+ of customers are happy playing 5E, and a stable ruleset continues to sell to younger customers with a tiny refresh...why should they ever pursue sweeping changes?

 

[Parmandur]

okay. I will assume going forward wotc does not need or want our money.

It's nice to have, not central to their busses.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

It's nice to have, not central to their busses.

Okay. I apologize. I have admitted I was wrong.

 

[dave2008]

It is obvious to me that they never intended for those changes to be optional. They just wanted people to think they were at first.

Do you mean option for '24? Because they are 100% optional now. We don't use them. Of course, even if they are the default in the '24 edition they are still optional. We will not use them in our games and it will still work wonderfully.

 

[Parmandur]

Sure. But that just adds cruft to the game. It doesn't work as intended so they add more rules to make it work as intended.

Or, they could simply make it explicit in the first place. That seems like the cleaner, more clear design route to take.

Obfuscate the intend behind rules that the referee can possibly misinterpret, then patch things to remove that potential for misinterpretation...or simply be explicit in your design in the first place.

It's not possible.to be 100% clear at all times. That's why iteration is helpful. Some people misunderstood the rules, so they provided a patch to help tableproof the Rogue and other Classes.

 

[darjr]

okay you win

It is possible that a smaller fraction of those folks buy the new book. At a certain level it could be bad. How many previous PHB buyers are not paying attention to D&D marketing now and won’t know if a new PHB drops?

But if they can maintain current levels of PHB sales or close to it it’ll be a success.

Note I dint think the above is a certainty.

 

[dave2008]

This never happened.

@Yaarel is predicting it will happen in the '24 edition. I think they are probably correct that "race" will be dropped, but I am not sure the replacement will be "species."

 

[Retreater]

I was talking to my friend (a PF1 player) at GenCon that a new edition or update is likely in the next couple years. His comment, "it seems a little soon for that."
I explained to him that time moves differently now that we're adults, and that 5e has already been out longer than many other editions. He has lamented not even really delved into this edition, that he was waiting to introduce his group to it until it had "settled in."
I know this anecdote isn't really relevant to the current conversation, but I found it amusing. And it's also worth noting that gamers who don't buy stuff are obviously not the target audience.

 

[dave2008]

I was talking to my friend (a PF1 player) at GenCon that a new edition or update is likely in the next couple years. His comment, "it seems a little soon for that."
I explained to him that time moves differently now that we're adults, and that 5e has already been out longer than many other editions. He has lamented not even really delved into this edition, that he was waiting to introduce his group to it until it had "settled in."
I know this anecdote isn't really relevant to the current conversation, but I found it amusing. And it's also worth noting that gamers who don't buy stuff are obviously not the target audience.

I think it is at least relevant in that the '24 edition my be considered "settled in" to your friend and his ilk.

 

[Parmandur]

LOL. No one in any of your games has every multiclassed? You're lucky.

That it's not a house rule is the point. Every player so completely assumes that multiclassing is standard that I had to exclude it as a house rule. That speaks to the other poster's point. If it's in the PHB it's standard. That's how players treat things in the PHB, even when they're called out as "optional."

Not in 5E, not since 3.x really. Amd no, multiclassing and Feats have never come into play in my experience for 5E.