D&D General 6e guesses

[Scribe]

Continued increase in complexity, but its behind the curtain of Beyond/VTT/AI/Code.

 

[Clint_L]

Then again, the fact they resigned to calling the new books a half-edition does seem to imply they can't simply make a 2034 edition of 5e with further changes anymore. they painted themselves into a corner as 6e seems to imply far greater change than 2024 had.

Not really. Their statement makes it clear that WotC's position hasn't changed and emphasizes the word "evolution" for the umpteenth time since they announced "OneD&D." All they announced is, to paraphrase, that "this is what the fans have settled on calling it, so fine." Edit: probably because 3PP were asking for clarification for marketing purposes, which makes sense.

The underlying, immovable object of D&D is now DnDBeyond. Nothing will be published that breaks it, which means you aren't getting radical change.

 

[Greg K]

It will be better, the same, or worse than 5e in terms of quality.

 

[bsss]

I think a 6e would try to fix whatever they feel ails 5e. In my opinion, from a system perspective, I think that's power creep, how they structure the adventuring day, and making a CR/XP/encounter math system that doesn't feel like the wheels have already fallen off. My guess would be that they dial back the space options work within a bit (to address power creep, or at least slam a big reset button) and provide more guidelines or system levers to avoid the "players rest, players go nova on the boss, players rest again" anti-pattern.

Unfortunately, I think those system issues will be overshadowed by the gradual moves to create a living subscription game, so whether or not they call it a new edition, I think books will become secondary to an ecosystem they control, so I would expect to see a(nother) big push for new tools, new stuff in DDB, and other such business decisions driving a new thing.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't think current trends matter, because the next edition I expect to see will be in 2034, for the 60th anniversary of D&D.

If 5E is still doing well, then it'll be like the 2024 edition and just incorporating errata, tweaks to match current tastes and reflect the desires that the folks running the show at that point want to include.

But that's eight years away and I think any predictions beyond that aren't going to be meaningful, since so much can change in gaming, fantasy, who's in charge at WotC and in the entertainment industry generally between now and then.

The 2034 prediction, though, is one I feel comfortable in.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

we had a thread about what we hoped for recently, not going to rehash what I would like it to be.

As far as what I expect it to be, unfortunately I expect more of the same in the next release. Timid tweaks to the base game in the name of compatibility to the back catalog.

For a true 6e, sales have to tank, until then they will just keep on polishing the surface / putting new lipstick on the same old pig, depending on how much you like 5e.

Spot on—-curious less anout hopes and more about what to expect.

I wondered if folks thought less crunch more story…but so far sounds like mostly more of the same.

If it does stay the same I wonder if they will change flavor at all. I kind of lost hope for a bit rougher.

I just don’t see — shadowdark—-any leaning into harsher in tone or play. I am more that ok with the d20 base and flatter math. I am guessing that stays.

 

[Remathilis]

Not really. Their statement makes it clear that WotC's position hasn't changed and emphasizes the word "evolution" for the umpteenth time since they announced "OneD&D." All they announced is, to paraphrase, that "this is what the fans have settled on calling it, so fine." Edit: probably because 3PP were asking for clarification for marketing purposes, which makes sense.

The underlying, immovable object of D&D is now DnDBeyond. Nothing will be published that breaks it, which means you aren't getting radical change.

I would've agreed with you a few months ago. But I don't know how far they want to stretch the notion that 14 to 24 only constitutes a half change. Will 34 be 5.75? Will 44 be 5.9666 repeating? How much has to change to qualify as 6e?

That's my biggest problem with going back to the .5 moniker.

 

[AlViking]

Not really. Their statement makes it clear that WotC's position hasn't changed and emphasizes the word "evolution" for the umpteenth time since they announced "OneD&D." All they announced is, to paraphrase, that "this is what the fans have settled on calling it, so fine." Edit: probably because 3PP were asking for clarification for marketing purposes, which makes sense.

The underlying, immovable object of D&D is now DnDBeyond. Nothing will be published that breaks it, which means you aren't getting radical change.

That kind of depends on how well the revisions to DndBeyond work. If they can build a more flexible system than they can make pretty major changes if they ever wanted to do so. While that flexibility is not simple, it's not impossible either. The 5.5 version may have been limited to what DndBeyond could do and may be part of the impetus to rewrite much of it.

So I don't think that is necessarily the limiting factor, the limiting factor is coming up with significant changes that will increase profitability. I think we'll only see anything truly new for D&D if sales and subscriptions start to tank - something people outside of WOTC have little way of knowing. There are other possibilities as well such as a spin-off of DndBeyond using the same core engine to support other games such as Exodus or even supporting other game systems if they think it's more profitable. But that's true speculation and nothing I'd bet a dollar on actually happening.

 

[AlViking]

I would've agreed with you a few months ago. But I don't know how far they want to stretch the notion that 14 to 24 only constitutes a half change. Will 34 be 5.75? Will 44 be 5.9666 repeating? How much has to change to qualify as 6e?

That's my biggest problem with going back to the .5 moniker.

I agree that calling it 5.5 probably isn't the best label but I also don't think the label is going to be a major decision point. They'll release something, call it a compatible revision and then wait to see what people start calling it.

 

[dave2008]

The underlying, immovable object of D&D is now DnDBeyond. Nothing will be published that breaks it, which means you aren't getting radical change.

While I generally believe you are correct, I will point out that they are completely rebuilding Beyond to make easier to change (I think). So it could be easier to move Beyond to a new core system in the future possibly.