D&D 5E Are we in D&D's Golden Age?

[Ralif Redhammer]

Agreed. At first, coming back to gaming after a long break with 3e, I was so excited about the giant wellspring of creativity. But then, a few years later, I can remember looking at a book and thinking that I really don't need or want any more options. That maybe too much is too much. That's when I started getting into Castles & Crusades

That being said, the systems of 3e and 5e are pretty different, and tolerate expansion and tinkering differently. There's also a world of difference between there being a ton of official content and a ton of 3rd party-produced content.

I always kinda felt like the deluge of both official and third party content in 3rd edition days may have hampered growth? like all you ever needed was a PHB to play (hell I didn't even have that when I started), but I also feel like a huge amount of physical supplements creates this illusion of a barrier of entry. I feel like slow pace of first party supplements and third party material being largely confined to the internet makes for a more welcoming environment.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

That was my initial thought, but then I realized that the game was still not all that accessible as much as it is today, both with paper products and digital products, and accessories. And it was still a game full of white males, with a huge stigma assigned to the players. It felt like a golden age compared to the 70s, but in the bigger picture of the game's history, there were several factors against it.

For the first time, we're seeing the stigma go away. D&D is mainstream. It's not just a game played by pasty white socially inept nerdy boys. Now we've got Critical Role (which is a group of very attractive millennials). We've got hunks like Joe Manganiello talking about it on the Late Show with another player, the host, Steve Colbert. The players are more diverse than ever. Accessibility is more than ever. Options are more than ever.

Actual professional jocks, ie professional wrestlers and NBA stars, play D&D.

Right now absolutely blows the 80s out of the water. D&D‘s never been close to this pervasively popular.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Lol. Whatever

Go search D&D homebrew on reddit. Or tumblr. Or pinterest.

and yes, the majority of DMSguild products are homebrew. The fact some of it is pay what you want or has a price tag doesn’t make it any less homebrew.