D&D (2024) Are you going to buy the new 2024 D&D Core Books

[TheSword]

For me, it was a matter of expectation. If I say I like tacos and you promise me the best tacos in town and then give me Taco Bell taco supremes, yeah they are better than their regular tacos and I'll eat still them, but it's a let down compared to what was teased.

I get that. It’s still worth switching if they’re good tacos but I get being bummed about it.

The "new swimming center" not opened down the road, in fact it's only one of the four being built and still across the street from a 5th that was already built. The OGL fiasco started a lot of engines, some of them are already in motion while others are still in the works. I too was promised the most supreme tacos & hinted at maybe even getting an option for tacos al pastor only to be redirected to a cold taco bell taco supreme from uber eats/doordash/etc while being told those services are the most popular.

All of that is important because While wotc is bending over backwards to limit change to de minimis We already have the 2014 books for that. Plus we already have levelup & maybe tales of the valiant* with more significant efforts being made by the CR folks with two new ttrpgs aiming for a specific niche (with real mechanical changes & new design philosophies) and MCDM is likewise making something to aim for a different niche they are willing to excitedly talk about.
* I stopped following it's alpha/beta too closely when it seemed to be aiming at a 2014 5e/levelup niche competitor, not really sure how much it's diverging so far

I don’t think the 2014 books are enough anymore, it still looks like there will be a fair old number of changes that are very popular - changes to feats for instance. Were you promised supreme tacos or did WotC say what do you think of these tacos were thinking about, and then they got feedback that some of those tacos weren’t that popular - even if you did like them. The tacos are either better or they aren’t. If you think they’re worse then clearly switching is a bad idea… though that will probably leave you out cold.

I just don’t see Level Up as an alternative to 5e. It represents a drop in the ocean and their ‘improvements’ are very different in many respects to how it seems the playtest is going. That divergence will only increase with time as I said in my earlier post until people have to make a choice.

Level Up is a good example because for me the level up changes just weren’t substantial enough to make it worth making the switch… too much jiggery pokery required on Roll20 to make it all fit together. So I get where the feeling comes from. The difference is that 5e was still there pumping out content and supporting whereas come 5.2 and beyond that won’t be the case.

I'm not sure I follow the analogy.

In any case, even if the changes are "good" if they amount to errata, a $100 reinvestment may be too much for some folks to justify -- especially if the people trying to sell them books are saying they aren't necessary.

I just don’t get the financial argument. Most people will only need a PHB $30 over the edition length, is what 50c - $1 a month? If your a DM $1-3 a month. It’s not like you have to buy them all in one go, and there will probably be a basic set or starter set as well as a cheaper alternative.

It feels like because a few things have been pushed back (things that people couldn’t agree on) spell lists, standardized class progression levels etc that all the other good stuff we’ve been talking about for 6 months has been forgotten. I don’t really get it.

 

[Corinnguard]

I just don’t see Level Up as an alternative to 5e. It represents a drop in the ocean and their ‘improvements’ are very different in many respects to how it seems the playtest is going.

It's cool. I backed Level Up when it was Kickstarted because it made improvements to 5e that I found to be pretty appealing.

 

[tetrasodium]

I get that. It’s still worth switching if they’re good tacos but I get being bummed about it.

I don’t think the 2014 books are enough, it still looks like there will be a fair old number of changes that are very popular - changes to feats for instance. Were you promised supreme tacos or did WotC say what do you think of these tacos were thinking about, and then they got feedback that some of those tacos weren’t that popular - even if you did like them. The tacos are either better or they aren’t. If you think they’re worse then clearly switching is a bad idea… though that will probably leave you out cold.

I just don’t see Level Up as an alternative to 5e. It represents a drop in the ocean and their ‘improvements’ are very different in many respects to how it seems the playtest is going. That divergence will only increase with time as I said in my earlier post until people have to make a choice.

Level Up is a good example because for me the level up changes just weren’t substantial enough to make it worth making the switch… too much jiggery pokery required on Roll20 to make it all fit together. So I get where the feeling comes from. The difference is that 5e was still there pumping out content and supporting whereas come 5.2 and beyond that won’t be the case.


I just don’t get the financial argument. Most people will only need a PHB $30 over the edition length, is what 50c - $1 a month? If your a DM $1-3 a month. It’s not like you have to buy them all in one go, and there will probably be a basic set or starter set as well as a cheaper alternative.

Tacos are not something known for doing well sitting in a delivery driver's car for tens of minutes. I can only guess that they don't have taco bell in your corner of the world. Even fresh & in store it is not known for "good tacos". I didn't know what the difference between their taco & taco supreme was & surprisingly it has a wiki page explaining "Supreme is a stylistic upgrade to many Taco Bell products, meaning the item has been complimented with sour cream and diced tomatoes." A taco supreme that's become extra soggy via doordash is likewise not a "good taco"

 

[dave2008]

I'm not sure. I am definitely picking up TOTV, and Level Up (again) if it's rereleased under a different license.

FYI, Level UP is already under several licenses:

Which license will we use?​

We are already publishing the A5ESRD under Creative Commons, the Open Game License, and the Open RPG Creator (ORC) license.

 

[Blue]

Poll needs: Maybe, if the group I play in changes and it really is a new edition.

At this point I'm pretty 5e'd out. Just finished running a 3 year campaign, shortest I've run since D&D 3.0. It's still my favorite edition of D&D, but like certain other editions the flaws are too in-my-face for me to want to run it more. Fundamental things, like the class balance requiring a much larger number of encounters per day than I regularly run to give one example among many. And the 2024 books don't look like they are changing any of those fundamentals.

So I'd like to wait for the next major turning of the crank of D&D to a full new edition before running it again. Probably won't happen, I've got players who enjoy it a lot, and there's not even a hint an actual edition change in the air, rather the opposite. But I've got plenty of other games I can run if my players are up for it. Not saying better, but am saying ones with different feels or focus.

So, in a perfect world I would not buy 2024 books to run, so the only question is if the group I play in adopts 2024 books, and if I can continue to use my 2014-2022 books exclusively without problem, relative power loss vs 2024 books, nor reduction in options since "they are the same edition", or if that's just marketing spiel and I am forced to purchase them to continue playing.

 

[mamba]

I’m a little confused… if the changes that are being made are largely positive. Why does the volume of changes affect whether you would start using the new edition or not?

Just speculating here, but I assume the factor is cost. Do the improvements justify the pricetag.

 

[R_J_K75]

Possibly but doubtful. I've moved on from 5E and quite frankly I'd have liked to have seen a new edition rather than an update. I agree with some people who have said that what we are seeing now (and the rest of the playtest) doesn't necessarily mean this is what the finished product will be. I think that by putting a limit on the number of playtest packets and time frame for release doesn't bode very well. I'd rather that they took an approach that the books will be play tested and not released until we are confident that we've put together the best revision possible. I'm not convinced that this revision is enough to move the game forward in a new and innovative direction. Although I hold out a little hope that I'm wrong and depending on the price my curiosity may get the better of me.

 

[Reynard]

It's a good book that improved the Monster designs.

I don't feel this to be substantially true.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm not sure I follow the analogy.

In any case, even if the changes are "good" if they amount to errata, a $100 reinvestment may be too much for some folks to justify -- especially if the people trying to sell them books are saying they aren't necessary.

Yeah this is the issue WotC have created for themselves.

They've gone out of their way to say this isn't a new edition, and isn't necessary, and you can keep using your old books just fine BUT also here's $100-$150 of "updated" books you "probably should" buy.

My feeling, based on 3.5E is, with that sort of messaging, a lot of people just won't or will only gradually pick up the new books. The advantage this has it's after 9 years of release, not 3-4, but an awful lot of people only got on-board with D&D in 2017 or later, so for them it's a much shorter period.

I suspect to Dan Rawson and the upper echelons of WotC, that's not a major concern, because they see the future of D&D in distinctly digital terms and I don't think the long-term intention is that book sales are the primary part of that. They may well have a deal to upgrade on Beyond or where if you subscribe to the 3D VTT, you get the 2024 content for free as long as you stay subscribed or something.

 

[mamba]

Also, remember that the primary audience for new books isn't veterans, but teenagers. They are going tonsell hard to kids who don't have books yet, but just got their middle school graduation gifts in Summer 2024.

Not sure how much difference in sales that would make compared to still having the 2014 books on sale, sounds like they would have bought one or the other anyway in most cases. Do we have any data on that?