D&D General 6e guesses

[Tessarael]

A key question is where they're making most of the money going forwards. Is it core rule books? Adventures (doubtful)? DM's Guild long tail sales of 3rd party products? Computer game licensing? One way or another, it looks like the focus is going to be increasingly digital.

Simpler mechanics that are reasonably straightforward for virtual table automation and use in video games would be a good move for 6E. Minimize the need for ongoing saving throws to speed up combat. Simpler spells that can be summarized in at most a couple of lines for the core mechanics. Fix the Ranger class properly. It can still be backwards compatible to 5E adventures, monsters, et al.

 

[TwoSix]

I'm also curious why anyone would want radical change to the current system. It's obviously working well for a huge number of people, if you want something similar but a bit different there are tons of great options (Pathfinder, Level Up, etc.), and if you want something different at a systemic level but still in the fantasy genre, there are also a ton of great options (Daggerheart, etc.). So what's the upside to breaking 5e?

Because there’s only one company doing RPGs at the scale that WotC is. I would rather see those production values turned towards novelty than towards continuing to till the already fallow design field of 5e.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My guess is 5.5e runs out of steam in 2030. 6e is announce late 2030 and published 2032.

Two years before the 60th anniversary? If they get that close, I'd assume they milk the last two years with a public playtest, etc., for a release in 2034 (ideally getting all three books out during a single year this time).

 

[Clint_L]

Because there’s only one company doing RPGs at the scale that WotC is. I would rather see those production values turned towards novelty than towards continuing to till the already fallow design field of 5e.

But that won't ever happen. They're the behemoth; as soon as they do something, it isn't novelty, and the same folks who complain about the current system will complain about the new one. Radical innovation is basically impossible for the market leader, especilly when it is as dominant as WotC in this field.

What is far more likely is that one of the many small innovators comes up with a killer app that WotC then buys/copies/steals and incorporates. Kinda like DnDBeyond.

 

[Minigiant]

Two years before the 60th anniversary? If they get that close, I'd assume they milk the last two years with a public playtest, etc., for a release in 2034 (ideally getting all three books out during a single year this time).

60 isnt a big number (in the USA). 60th anniversaries of products is something you reconfigure and redesign product schedules around.

 

[TwoSix]

But that won't ever happen. They're the behemoth; as soon as they do something, it isn't novelty, and the same folks who complain about the current system will complain about the new one. Radical innovation is basically impossible for the market leader, especilly when it is as dominant as WotC in this field.

What is far more likely is that one of the many small innovators comes up with a killer app that WotC then buys/copies/steals and incorporates. Kinda like DnDBeyond.

Fortunately, I’m not required to want or advocate for things that are practical.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

I suspect 6e will happen at some point, but not any time soon. The amount of work it will take to redo the character builder part of DnDBeyond for 5.5e makes me think that they're going to focus on this edition for a while.

If a new edition does come out, I hope they provide options for lower power levels for characters. I prefer the 'farmboy to hero' narrative, and not the 'superhero to demigod' narrative. However I think this is unlikely as most people already can't stand playing anything below level 3.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

60 isnt a big number (in the USA). 60th anniversaries of products is something you reconfigure and redesign product schedules around.

If you are in marketing, and you get a big round number to promote and maybe nudge sales up in a noticeable fashion, you do it, even if you wouldn't make a deal about 60th wedding anniversary or something.

 

[...m...]

...based upon historic product life-cycles, D+D will be due for a brand refresh in 2031, just in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of B/X and mystara...

...the next edition will just be called dungeons & dragons (again), no version number, but a six will be buried somewhere in indicia under the hood...

 

[Marc17]

A key question is where they're making most of the money going forwards. Is it core rule books? Adventures (doubtful)? DM's Guild long tail sales of 3rd party products? Computer game licensing? One way or another, it looks like the focus is going to be increasingly digital.

Simpler mechanics that are reasonably straightforward for virtual table automation and use in video games would be a good move for 6E. Minimize the need for ongoing saving throws to speed up combat. Simpler spells that can be summarized in at most a couple of lines for the core mechanics. Fix the Ranger class properly. It can still be backwards compatible to 5E adventures, monsters, et al.

I suspect that the income will be D&D Beyond subscriptions as it will bring in more than book sales. Baring some sort of hail mary play to save a dying game, the next D&D will probably just be D&D Revised or something that doesn't quite match the currently dot system. Powers and abilities will be brought more in line with what can be done in DDB, problematic things will be replaced, to make the VTT play more enjoyable and smooth.