D&D 5E What Makes 5E "5E"?

[Yaarel]

I don't know. The actual meatspace table is pretty resilient even in this age of GenZ and Gen Alpha doing everything online. Once you leave the table behind, you just have an MMO.

Maybe. But I still see the next "edition" of the D&D core rules, being custom made on the spot according to player preferences, by an AI program. There would be as many different version of D&D as there are different custom made minis.

For the sake of one single version that most players can live with − that is pretty much what 5e is.

 

[Reynard]

Maybe. But I still see the next "edition" of the D&D core rules, being custom made on the spot according to player preferences, by an AI program. There would be as many different version of D&D as there are different custom made minis.

It is an interesting idea but it does not make sense to me as a way WotC would want to do it. The shared experience is important, as is the ability to market materials. I can certainly see them leaning into "custom adventures for ytour group" that use AI, as part of a subscription service, but not the actual game rules.

 

[Shardstone]

Maybe. But I still see the next "edition" of the D&D core rules, being custom made on the spot according to player preferences, by an AI program. There would be as many different version of D&D as there are different custom made minis.

For the sake of one single version that most players can live with − that is pretty much what 5e is.

Hmm, I don't think that would be the direction Hasbro or D&D would take. That sounds, to me, like a different company. I think you underestimate how much prestige human-made art will have in the future. Or I overestimate it.

 

[Yaarel]

It is an interesting idea but it does not make sense to me as a way WotC would want to do it. The shared experience is important, as is the ability to market materials. I can certainly see them leaning into "custom adventures for ytour group" that use AI, as part of a subscription service, but not the actual game rules.

Hmm, I don't think that would be the direction Hasbro or D&D would take. That sounds, to me, like a different company. I think you underestimate how much prestige human-made art will have in the future. Or I overestimate it.

I dont think Hasbro/WotC/D&D has a choice.

For example, in response to the ap-OGL-ypse, many players who were dissatisfied with that back then said fine, we will design our own core rules. Creating core rules is an enormous amount of work to do well. It is valuable when Hasbro/WotC/D&D does it for us. They really are the "stewards" of our collective tradition. But when an AI program can do it for us, every player will have exactly the version of D&D that one wants.

Consider the Level Up version of 5e. It is an example of tweaking the core rules of 5e according to taste. Soon AI will make this diversification available for each individual at a single table.

 

[Reynard]

I dont think Hasbro/WotC/D&D has a choice.

For example, in response to the ap-OGL-ypse, many players who were dissatisfied with that back then said fine, we will design our own core rules. Creating core rules is an enormous amount of work to do well. It is valuable when Hasbro/WotC/D&D does it for us. They really are the "stewards" of our collective tradition. But when an AI program can do it for us, every player will have exactly the version of D&D that one wants.

Consider the Level Up version of 5e. It is an example of tweaking the core rules of 5e according to taste. Soon AI will make this diversification available for each individual at a single table.

That is different than saying WotC is going to embrace that. it doesn't make any sense to do so. WotC can't sell anything to anyone playing their custom version of D&D.

And, really, I am not sure how many dissatisfied players "designed their own core rules."

 

[Shardstone]

I dont think Hasbro/WotC/D&D has a choice.

For example, in response to the ap-OGL-ypse, many players who were dissatisfied with that back then said fine, we will design our own core rules. Creating core rules is an enormous amount of work to do well. It is valuable when Hasbro/WotC/D&D does it for us. They really are the "stewards" of our collective tradition. But when an AI program can do it for us, every player will have exactly the version of D&D that one wants.

Consider the Level Up version of 5e. It is an example of tweaking the core rules of 5e according to taste. Soon AI will make this diversification available for each individual at a single table.

It would pretty much kill the game. At that point, they aren't selling D&D, they are selling AI-Build-Your-RPG, and they can't produce any content to build off of that. I just don't see this as a valuable business model for them.

 

[Yaarel]

That is different than saying WotC is going to embrace that. it doesn't make any sense to do so. WotC can't sell anything to anyone playing their custom version of D&D.

And, really, I am not sure how many dissatisfied players "designed their own core rules."

It would pretty much kill the game. At that point, they aren't selling D&D, they are selling AI-Build-Your-RPG, and they can't produce any content to build off of that. I just don't see this as a valuable business model for them.

Personally speaking, I am ok with Hasbro/WotC. Moving the core rules to CC license was an ethical solution. Indies now have that to play with. In the mean time, WotC is still doing the heavy lifting. I love the way 2024 is turning out.

Because Hasbro/WotC is emphasizing "IP" and "branding", these D&D traditions that WotC owns will continue to generate financial revenue regardless of what tweaks players make to the core rules. Meanwhile, DMs Guild will probably still be around as a creative source for D&D gaming.

 

[Yaarel]

Similar to translating a document from one language to an other,

A DM can instruct the AI to translate the latest monster from WotC, such as a new Astral Mithral Dragon, into the custom core rules that the players at the table of the DM are using.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

For clarity, I did not make a judgement about SotDL. I own it and have read it and love it's aesthetic, but unfortunately have never been able to pull together a one shot to test it out. I don't know how close or far from 5E it plays.

I have run a LOT of Shadowdark and it does not run anything like 5E outside of adv/disadv. The characters don't feel the same, the monsters don't feel the same, and the play processes don't feel the same.

I think a lot of people play SD like 5E, and I think they are "doing it wrong."

I didn't mean to put words in your mouth. Sorry about that.

I've played 50 sessions of Shadow of the Demon Lord. Liked it a lot. It's kind of a leaner version of 5E with some 4E elements plus Warhammer-style character progression.

I have only played one session of Shadowdark. I know it plays nothing like the 5E. But, man, it's easy to pick up and learn if you're familiar with 5E. And I think it's a great onboarding to traditional D&D. It's the new Basic set.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I presume there's general agreement that Tales of the Valiant (which I don't own) and Level Up (which I do) are 5E-like?