D&D (2024) I have the DMG. AMA!

[DEFCON 1]

Except we don't know that they will not be republished. As I have said over and over again the past few days: I am hopeful they will release a UA/Xanthar's/Tasha's style book that will include variant and optional rules (among other things). Such a book seems likely to me, I just don't know if it will include variant rules or not. But I am hopeful that it does for those who want them.

And if they don't... then that's fine too!

Experienced DMs KNOW OLD RULES. This is why they are Experienced DMs. They can add, subtract, edit, refluff any rules they wish into their game. None of them NEED this new rulebook to include any of it. Because they ALREADY KNOW the rules they've played with and enjoyed in the past, and can just bring those rules forward IF they are choosing to play the 5E24 D&D game.

If they don't WANT to bring those old rules they liked forward... then they can just choose NOT to use those old rules, OR they can choose to NOT play 5E24. It's entirely their decision! And no one cares whether they do or not. If anyone here says they are sticking with 5E14... that's fine! They are free to do so. If anyone doesn't want to buy the new books, they don't have to! Completely up to them. But WotC isn't going to change their choices and their strategies because some DMs want the rules they want to use to get printed in the books they are choosing to buy. It doesn't work that way.

Would it be nice? Sure. Is it by all means necessary? Not even a little bit. All these Experienced DMs can just use their experience. That's the whole point and benefit about being experienced. Use that experience to create the game you want... or use that experience to know that you don't feel comfortable creating the game you want and thus just use whatever game you choose to play "as-is" with no changes made. Both are fine.

 

[Emerikol]

No they will be play 7th or 8th edition, as WotC, or whoever owns the company then, would want.

Or the tabletop game is wound up, and D&D only exists as a video game franchise.

It's not that they won't like WOTC. It's that D&D won't hold that special place. It will just be some game they played as a young adult. I think D&D players of the 1980's got a lot more out of their games than the players of 2024. And this board is not a good example. The die hards are here.

 

[dave2008]

It is a cheap hobby. This is why WOTC seems to eternally struggle. If they could monetize the real value, they could have 10% the players and make far more money. In fact there is a market for them to support every edition of D&D as if it were live, if they could monetize it correctly.

I don't know about your numbers, but I agree it seems like there is a path to make a lot more money with D&D.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You could be correct; however, IIRC, they already said there will be a Xanthar's/Tasha's style book that comes out fairly soon after the core books

Sure, but it will focus on rules for currently popular playstyles, and pilot new ideas for the future. It’s not going to be a retrogaming book.

 

[Emerikol]

I don't know about your numbers, but I agree it seems like there is a path to make a lot more money with D&D.

Let's suppose D&D was as profitable as golf. A golfer very easily spends 150 dollars a month on his hobby. If D&D made that it would be like every month was a new players handbook, DMG, and monster manual. And I'm not saying they can get to the level of golf. 10 dollars a month would be a vast improvement. Why do you think they are working on D&D beyond so hard.

 

[dave2008]

It's not that they won't like WOTC. It's that D&D won't hold that special place. It will just be some game they played as a young adult. I think D&D players of the 1980's got a lot more out of their games than the players of 2024. And this board is not a good example. The die hards are here.

That could be true, but isn't that inevitable with so many games available now? I mean when I grew, the local hobby store where I found D&D, only had D&D. There were no other options. It wasn't until I found my local gaming store that I realize there was a world outside of D&D. So yes. D&D hold a special place for me because it was "the" game that brought me to TTRPG.

However, IMO, 5e is a lot more interesting and fun to play than 1e / BECMI, with a lot more access. So maybe 5e does still hold a special place in people's hearts.

As a final note: I taught my children to play D&D with 4e. However, they didn't know what edition it was and just know they played D&D. The special place it holds for them exists beyond editions: it is D&D.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Agree with your point. I think this is why I quit play D&D and went to other D&D like games. WOTC just doesn't give a flying fig about me or my playstyle. They wouldn't put one word in the DMG to make me happier. In fact, if they knew I really wanted that word they'd probably remove it. They are pushing a different style of game with D&D flavor but not really D&D experience. They will churn through players but will new 5e players today still be playing 5e2048? I doubt it.

Great! You quit! Good for you! Exactly what you should have done!

And you are right... WotC does not give a "flying fig" about any specific individual. Not at all. Not any one of us. Each of us are not going to be catered to by Wizards of the Coast. And no one should be foolish enough to think that they would be.

You know who will cater our game to us? Ourselves. We know what we like. Whatever ridiculous, silly, esoteric, one-in-a-billion game style and gameplay method we need our game to be... we will have to make it ourselves. Because nobody else could even hope to guess what it would be like. Certainly not WotC. Not when they have several million completely different people with completely different game styles to try and make stuff for.

So that means that yep... some people are going to be left behind. They were left behind when TSR made AD&D out of Basic... they were left behind when TSR made 2E out of AD&D... 3E out of 2E... 3.5 out of 3E... 4E out of 3.5... Essentials out of 4E... 5E14 out of Essentials... and now 5E24 out of 5E. And it will continue on. And each player can just choose for themselves what game they wish to play... any one of them, or something that isn't even D&D. WotC will just continue to make the game THEY want to make, and hope that players buy it and play it.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I think D&D players of the 1980's got a lot more out of their games than the players of 2024. And this board is not a good example. The die hards are here.

That's ridiculous. Are you really going with the "Back in MY day..." argument?

 

[Remathilis]

Well even if 50% are new, the other 50% aren't. It seems like it was a small amount of space to give something to players that play a certain way. Not that honestly we need it but it is nice to not be dismissed as one of the styles of play in D&D.

So let's take a hypothetical. We have 10 DMs. Five DMs are new to D&D and don't use those rules. Two DMs aren't new, but still only use the default rules. Two DMs use one or two variant rules, and one DM goes whole hog and uses multiple non contradictory systems. Those 10 pages are useless to seven plays, mildly useful to two and important to one. Is that worth 10 pages of real estate?

 

[TiQuinn]

Well for sure inside the dungeon you are probably tracking it closer than when the group is in downtime. I need to know when "The present" is though because the Duke is getting assassinated on the timeline. You see I work out events in my world that will occur unless the PCs stop them. But sure we may just say a week passes as the group has downtime after an adventure. I'm not marking every turn in that week.

Sure, but that’s a situation where having a timeline matters. Not every campaign has that race against time necessity.