D&D (2024) Pulse check on 1D&D excitement level

[OB1]

I think too many people are expecting this to be 6E, which it's not meant to be. This is going to be a revised 5E, using the same sturdy chassis with upgraded add-ons. If you don't like 5E, you're not going to like this. Since I love 5E, I'm loving the playtest.

I, like you, love 5e and don't want or expect this to be 6e. The rub for me is that outside of the species/background changes, everything else has felt like a downgrade to 5e instead of an upgrade. Even the Ranger I would put as even with Tasha's options.

Now, that said, if these changes mean more people playing D&D, then I hope it has all the success in the world. And I am fairly confident that I'll be able to keep using my 2014 core with any new adventures and settings that come out post 2024, so if I don't like what I see in the 5e PHB2, I'll just skip it! If my players want to make PCs using it, they can!

I realize I'm an outlier even in 2014 (I routinely run campaigns into Tier III and IV, love gonzo weirdness, scifi mixed in, etc) so I don't expect WotC to cater to me, I was just hopeful that D&D would stay weird and messy. So far, it just has a very clinical feel to me.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

One of the things that I think needs to be acknowledged more is that D&D, since 2014 has been designed by acclimation. Stuff the designers are definite on are not going to be presented as options. For instance, in the current revision, the new spell preparation method. Stuff that is presented for voting on will result in the game changes being conservative.
The compromises are likely to be not quite to anyones liking. Like much of politics and diplomacy we get some of what we want and the rest we can live with even if not entirely happy.

 

[see]

"Meh - Mostly the right direction. It's different, not exciting. Feels like the playtest will result in a product I like."

It's a fairly mild revision to 5th, which is what I expected, and which inherently isn't exciting.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

And I am fairly confident that I'll be able to keep using my 2014 core with any new adventures and settings that come out post 2024, so if I don't like what I see in the 5e PHB2, I'll just skip it! If my players want to make PCs using it, they can!

It is easy to forget amidst playtests of such vigorous (and needless) class remixing, three or four different takes on inspiration, and that one time they threatened to make critical hits both radically less important and radically more complicated, that it really looks like the core rules are mostly untouched. I think being able to have people at the same table use different PHBs actually sounds more plausible to me now than it did a couple of playtests back.

I have no intention of ever playing OneD&D, but for all the things that irritate or outright offend me about its class redesigns, I don't see anything that I would, as a fellow player of DM, object to some other player bringing to the table, as long as they are a player with high rules literacy who is sharp about policing themself.

Now if it's some newbie who wants me to help them figure out which of the massive, unwieldy list of Arcane spells their OneD&D Bard can prepare.... or that person at so many tables who just can never keep straight basic things like the action economy or what bonus is what... I'm going to gently encourage them to convert the character to the system I understand.

 

[Dustin Cooper]

Here's the thing for me: when they moved from 2e to 3e, they gave us a game that felt fundamentally different and gave us a new way to play. The same happened with the 3.5 to 4e transition, and again when 5e came out. I like having a variety of ways to play, and even if I eventually decide I liked an older version more, the novelty of a new experience is nice and helps me think about how I want to run or play whatever else I decide on. And it's not like your old books go away. Like I liked 5e at first, appreciated some of what it was doing, started getting tired of some things, then went back to running 4e, as I felt it fit what I wanted out of a game better, but still appreciated my time running 5e. When I look at the D&D One playtest materials, my main thought is "if I wanted to play something that felt like 5e, why wouldn't I just play the 5e I already have?" It kind of feels like when you buy a vacuum on Amazon, then it keeps recommending you more vacuums. I already have one of these, I don't need another.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Here's the thing for me: when they moved from 2e to 3e, they gave us a game that felt fundamentally different and gave us a new way to play. The same happened with the 3.5 to 4e transition, and again when 5e came out. I like having a variety of ways to play, and even if I eventually decide I liked an older version more, the novelty of a new experience is nice and helps me think about how I want to run or play whatever else I decide on. And it's not like your old books go away. Like I liked 5e at first, appreciated some of what it was doing, started getting tired of some things, then went back to running 4e, as I felt it fit what I wanted out of a game better, but still appreciated my time running 5e. When I look at the D&D One playtest materials, my main thought is "if I wanted to play something that felt like 5e, why wouldn't I just play the 5e I already have?" It kind of feels like when you buy a vacuum on Amazon, then it keeps recommending you more vacuums. I already have one of these, I don't need another.

I guess OneD&D will be better balanced across all classes, so in that regard it will resemble 4e more than 2014 5e.
It is also more standardized. Could br another reason why many people feel it is less exciting.

 

[Incenjucar]

So far the one really new thing, ardlings, has been shelved. If they want real hype again they need to surprise us with a game changer, like adding back warlords, new kinds of monster abilities, or a new system for exploration.

 

[Xamnam]

Oh, speaking of, I am legitimately excited to see the Bastion system, though I know it could easily be disappointing.

 

[Zardnaar]

Meh/indifferent. Can't even be assedd to download the playtest stuff.

 

[Jer]

I'm meh but also that's actually ok. D&D as the mass market game that is relatively stable and isn't constantly innovating feels about right for a mass market game that has been around for 50 years. It's like asking me if I'm excited about the next printing of Clue - I really probably shouldn't be. If they're radically changing Clue - instead of putting out some kind of variant or whatnot - then they're probably doing things wrong at this point.