D&D (2024) The 2024 Core D&D Rulebooks Are Coming In May

21st May 2024 is the official release date!

Update--WotC has taken down the promo image and replaced it with one without a release date. See more here.

 

[Maxperson]

Judging from the playtest and its survey results:

2024 continues to be 5.0.

2024 has important cleanup, clarification and calibration. But nothing in it is beyond the scope of a Xanathars or Tashas update.

I mean, it literally can't be 5.0 unless there are zero changes. We already know that there are a crap ton of changes to how things work, but it retains a good amount of compatibility(not perfect regardless of claims), so it's a .5 like we got during 3e.

 

[tetrasodium]

I mean, it literally can't be 5.0 unless there are zero changes. We already know that there are a crap ton of changes to how things work, but it retains a good amount of compatibility(not perfect regardless of claims), so it's a .5 like we got during 3e.

There needs to be enough changes to warrant a .5 moniker before getting one. Back when pathfinder came out it got dubbed 3.75 despite what were arguably more class & rules overhauls than the 2.24 version appears to be targeting. TCoE may have added a lot, but core+TCoE still just 5.0. 2024 needs to step up quite a bit to be warmly referred to as .5. or even .5.25 rather than something like an exasperated eyerolling 5.01 or 5.001 that throws the disappointment of what could have been straight out to center stage in discussion.

You can see that with the clarity of a thousand blazing suns just by looking back at how fast discourse switched on a dime from an eclectic mix of terms like 5.5 6e onednd & so on to an almost unified 2024 reference at almost the very moment a wotc video mentioned calling them the 2014 & 2024 editions internally for clarity. You can look back at that near whiplash speed of term acceptance because at that point there simply were not enough changes to justify it deserving much of anything & that is still relatively unchanged

 

[Maxperson]

There needs to be enough changes to warrant a .5 moniker before getting one. Back when pathfinder came out it got dubbed 3.75 despite what were arguably more class & rules overhauls than the 2.24 version appears to be targeting. TCoE may have added a lot, but core+TCoE still just 5.0. 2024 needs to step up quite a bit to be warmly referred to as .5. or even .5.25 rather than something like an exasperated eyerolling 5.01 or 5.001 that throws the disappointment of what could have been straight out to center stage in discussion.

You can see that with the clarity of a thousand blazing suns just by looking back at how fast discourse switched on a dime from an eclectic mix of terms like 5.5 6e onednd & so on to an almost unified 2024 reference at almost the very moment a wotc video mentioned calling them the 2014 & 2024 editions internally for clarity. You can look back at that near whiplash speed of term acceptance because at that point there simply were not enough changes to justify it deserving much of anything & that is still relatively unchanged

Pathfinder was called 3.75 because it wasn't a whole new edition and you couldn't add .5 to .5 without getting 4e. So they gave it a ".5" moving it halfway between 3.5 and 4e. It wasn't because it was only a .25 change.

5.5e drastically alters every base class, every base subclass, most if not all feats, changes how feats are gained, makes feats mandatory, changes how skills are used, changes combat, and more. Being able to say that you can fight 2014 monsters with a 2024 class or vice versa doesn't keep it 5e.

 

[Vikingkingq]

5.5e drastically alters every base class, every base subclass, most if not all feats, changes how feats are gained, makes feats mandatory, changes how skills are used, changes combat, and more. Being able to say that you can fight 2014 monsters with a 2024 class or vice versa doesn't keep it 5e.

I agree, I'd just add weapons and spells to that list, and monsters are as well, plus if the DMG has any other new systems like Bastions.

I don't like "5.5" as a label, but it's certainly enough of a change to be worth the bother.

 

[Maxperson]

I agree, I'd just add weapons and spells to that list, and monsters are as well, plus if the DMG has any other new systems like Bastions.

I don't like "5.5" as a label, but it's certainly enough of a change to be worth the bother.

One D&D is too gimmicky for me to use and it's certainly not remaining 5e. I use 5.5e for lack of anything better to use.

 

[tetrasodium]

Pathfinder was called 3.75 because it wasn't a whole new edition and you couldn't add .5 to .5 without getting 4e. So they gave it a ".5" moving it halfway between 3.5 and 4e. It wasn't because it was only a .25 change.

5.5e drastically alters every base class, every base subclass, most if not all feats, changes how feats are gained, makes feats mandatory, changes how skills are used, changes combat, and more. Being able to say that you can fight 2014 monsters with a 2024 class or vice versa doesn't keep it 5e.

Overhauling the classes & feats is an incredibly low bar. I' have multiple dead tree & pdf 3pp books that notably meet or exceed that bar & can't think if any that deserve a 5.5 label

I agree, I'd just add weapons and spells to that list, and monsters are as well, plus if the DMG has any other new systems like Bastions.

I don't like "5.5" as a label, but it's certainly enough of a change to be worth the bother.

Remember that a lot of your list there is mostly unknowns that are assumed. This is the same playtest ruleset that couldn't even manage to hold firm on updating Eldritch blast to fix the dip issues the 2014 version creates, it might be premature to put too much faith in those unknowns.

 

[Parmandur]

One D&D is too gimmicky for me to use and it's certainly not remaining 5e. I use 5.5e for lack of anything better to use.

".5" is just as much a gimmick as OneD&D, but neither is being used at any rate.

D&D'24

 

[Yaarel]

I mean, it literally can't be 5.0 unless there are zero changes. We already know that there are a crap ton of changes to how things work, but it retains a good amount of compatibility(not perfect regardless of claims), so it's a .5 like we got during 3e.

The shift from 3.0 to 3.5 proved to be ultimately noncompatible.

2014 5e to 2024 5e appears to be compatible.

The species and class calibrations are comparable to Xanathars and Tashas, plus the several settings that start with an extra feat. The monster math calibrations are like Mordenkainen.

I view 2024 as 5.0 errata update.

 

[Maxperson]

Overhauling the classes & feats is an incredibly low bar. I' have multiple dead tree & pdf 3pp books that notably meet or exceed that bar & can't think if any that deserve a 5.5 label

None of them do, because they aren't the core rules. You might think that drastically changing the core of the game is a low bar, but I very much disagree with that sentiment.

Remember that a lot of your list there is mostly unknowns that are assumed.

Perhaps, but it's not really a stretch given that every playtest packet has engaged in changes to those things. It's highly unlikely that they are going to get by unchanged. The changes might not be what we've seen, but they will be changed in some manner. Especially when you consider that if they don't drastically alter the core rules, sales are going to flop. People aren't going to shell out hundreds of dollars en masse for a couple of minor changes.

The only real assumption is that it will be drastic changes that we've seen. Not that there are going to be drastic changes.

 

[tetrasodium]

None of them do, because they aren't the core rules. You might think that drastically changing the core of the game is a low bar, but I very much disagree with that sentiment.

Perhaps, but it's not really a stretch given that every playtest packet has engaged in changes to those things. It's highly unlikely that they are going to get by unchanged. The changes might not be what we've seen, but they will be changed in some manner. Especially when you consider that if they don't drastically alter the core rules, sales are going to flop. People aren't going to shell out hundreds of dollars en masse for a couple of minor changes.

The only real assumption is that it will be drastic changes that we've seen. Not that there are going to be drastic changes.

If you were around in the 3.5 days & recall the first time you came across a 3.0 book that made you sau "huh?... wut?..." for being less compatible than even the more extreme 3pp d20 rpgs*. So far 2024 is notably less of a shift than 3.5 to some d20 RPG that was required to rebuild from scratch a lot of the stuff you are pointing at as notable changes in 2024
.
* or vice versa if you were notably involved with 3.0 stuff first.