D&D 5E What (if anything) do you find "wrong" with 5E?

[Vaalingrade]

So is it good at supporting fantasy or not good at supporting fantasy?

Fantasy is a supergenre that contains hundreds of genres that also sometimes bleed back into its parent supergenre, Speculative Fiction.

D&D started life as an already hacked together attempt to emulate all of the then-prevalent sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy, sword and sandal, science fantasy, and pulp fantasy. This is why it has LotR's orcs, Conan's Barbarians, Farid and the Grey Mouser's fighter and thief, Elric's alignment, Kung Fu's Monk, and a magic system derived from the very sci-fi dying Earth.

The issue is that, being a game mired in tradition and a passionate fanbase that hates everything, it has been veeeeery slow in changing with the times and integrating modern fantasy. It usually does this in the form of spinning off a new setting to do the heavy work while it remains safely ensconced in its protective Forgottenhawk shell, stubbornly not adopting fresh new ideas, only emerging to devour things decades late.

 

[Malmuria]

The question is if 5e is failing to replicate the fantasy tropes popular with the new players, will many of these new player stick with 5th edition once they become veteran and have other options. Will they stop buying official 5e books and WOTC only get the 50% profit off the DM Guild?

If they put down 5e for a little while and went and played the game specifically designed around the concepts (and IP) of Avatar, both these players and the hobby would be in a better place, I think.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If they put down 5e for a little while and went and played the game specifically designed around the concepts (and IP) of Avatar, both these players and the hobby would be in a better place, I think.

It's also a very narrative game, which isn't to everyone's tastes.

 

[Malmuria]

integrating modern fantasy.

There's lots of "modern fantasy" that still fits within dnd's ambit: the witcher, game of thrones, skyrim, elden ring, etc. If anything, 5e is too overpowered for those settings/concepts (but still can work, I think). And if there are genres and concepts that 5e doesn't do well...that's fine, I think? Maybe instead of more 5e kickstarters, we can get some actual new games

 

[Micah Sweet]

There's lots of "modern fantasy" that still fits within dnd's ambit: the witcher, game of thrones, skyrim, elden ring, etc. If anything, 5e is too overpowered for those settings/concepts (but still can work, I think). And if there are genres and concepts that 5e doesn't do well...that's fine, I think? Maybe instead of more 5e kickstarters, we can get some actual new games

As long as 5e is the big dog, actual new games will a distant second, I'm afraid.

And to be fair, 5e is WAY overpowered for most modern fantasy fiction. You have to restrict the heck out of it to make something like GoT work, for example.

 

[James Gasik]

As long as 5e is the big dog, actual new games will a distant second, I'm afraid.

And to be fair, 5e is WAY overpowered for most modern fantasy fiction. You have to restrict the heck out of it to make something like GoT work, for example.

A Song of Ice and Fire came out in 1996, is that really "modern"?

OTOH, if it is, what about Harry Potter, which has children throwing around powerful spells pretty much at will?

 

[Minigiant]

There's lots of "modern fantasy" that still fits within dnd's ambit: the witcher, game of thrones, skyrim, elden ring, etc. If anything, 5e is too overpowered for those settings/concepts (but still can work, I think). And if there are genres and concepts that 5e doesn't do well...that's fine, I think? Maybe instead of more 5e kickstarters, we can get some actual new games

Well that's just Tiers of play.

There's still stuff like Avatar, WOW, Wahammer, Dragonball, Street Fighter. Harry Potter, Demon Slayer, League or Legends, Frozen, POTC, One Piece, Black Clover, and much of the MCU that is over Tier 1 which could work in D&D.

 

[Minigiant]

A Song of Ice and Fire came out in 1996, is that really "modern"?

OTOH, if it is, what about Harry Potter, which has children throwing around powerful spells pretty much at will?

For D&D it is as pretty much anything after 1990 is barely supported with character and setting rules.

 

[Vaalingrade]

There's lots of "modern fantasy" that still fits within dnd's ambit: the witcher, game of thrones, skyrim, elden ring, etc. If anything, 5e is too overpowered for those settings/concepts (but still can work, I think). And if there are genres and concepts that 5e doesn't do well...that's fine, I think? Maybe instead of more 5e kickstarters, we can get some actual new games

I'll grant GoT, sadness simulator that it is, but trying to do Witcher combat with 5e is going to be... lacking. At the very least, Worst Superman doesn't have to stand there and job while he drinks a potion or tosses an effect; Skyrim has mana-based, at-will magic (would need one of those new classes we're never going to get) and the at-will Shouts, and Elden Ring has magic weapons that make pretty much everything on offer right now with their paltry per day abilities curl up and cry. Also, you can't roll everywhere to avoid damage--and didn't they do a 5e souls that needed new mechanics?

 

[Thomas Shey]

Also, just as an aside, the Potterverse has got a lot more to do with urban fantasy than it does swords-and-horses style fantasy. There absolutely are examples of the latter that have powerful magic (Draegera comes to mind) but they aren't particularly the common thrust of modern fantasy I think.