D&D 5E Are you buying less 5e Material?

[R_J_K75]

Less adventures. Didnt buy Netherdeep and cancelled my pre-order for Radiant Citadel. I Kickstarted Everyday Heroes, bought the new Midnight campaign setting yesterday so I'm waiting on that to arrive. I plan on buying the Spelljammer set in August. Other than that I have little interest in Dragonlance and minis and the other accessory packs WotC has in the line are too expensive or I dont have any interest. Im definitely being more selective of what I buy moving forward, I even have my doubts abouts on the 2024 core release. I'll probably skip it if its a 5.5E unless they are extremely forthcoming on the content/changes. If its a new edition, 6E then I'll be more inclined to buy it but Im not too interested in yet another half edition.

 

[Shardstone]

This is the edition of quality 3pp imo

 

[Cruentus]

Significantly less WOTC stuff across the board, bordering on none, but I will pick up 3PP books and things that I find interesting, or fit a theme I'm looking for, etc. I'm also very unlikely to buy anything from their 5.5 release, unless they significantly shake things up, which I don't anticipate.

 

[Retreater]

I'm not playing as much 5e these days - only the occasional game with some of my wife's friends who drop by for a couple hours a month for a very casual "learn what D&D is about" experience. When we started several months ago, it was on a whim, so I just made up something off the cuff. Now I'm just making up things a couple hours before they come for the game. Any of the big campaign adventures would take us many years to get through at that rate. Products like Candlekeep Mysteries (one short adventure per level) wouldn't work because they need multiple short adventures at each level.
I also don't feel compelled to buy up everything in the hopes of running it later - I did that in 3.5 and didn't touch the majority of what I bought. We quit playing that system before I could use probably 90% of what I bought (a lot of 3PP adventures).
I think I had a fear back then that I wouldn't be able to find what I wanted once the limited print runs had run out. For most cases, that's not true anymore (especially in the era of PDF distribution).
So there's no actual use of the material now. No need to purchase anything for posterities' sake. Limited space from my years of collecting. Less gaming in person (nearly none). Combine that with a jaded "I've seen everything" mentality, and there's not much to appeal to me. I think that's why I'm purchasing less.

 

[MoonSong]

I voted Buying less, but it is more that there is comparatively less of the things I buy even though it isn't. I buy splat and settings. That's it. We've got like settings and I've got half -the other half I haven't got because of lack of budget not because of lack of want-, I've bought all splat so far. I've been tempted by Ghosts of Saltmarsh, but again, budget. (It doesn't help that I also buy MTG and some stuff n_n)

 

[DEFCON 1]

I bought few products before and buy few products now. Maybe one (or best-case-scenario two) books in a calendar year might compel me.

I guess it really depends on whether we are counting the core three in this equation? That was getting three books within a three/four month span, plus I picked up Hoard of the Dragon Queen too. So if those are counted then yes I'm buying less, because I've never (and will never) duplicate that feat of four books almost all at once. Every year after that initial purchase would be less.

 

[Brotton Goodfellow]

I haven’t touched official WotC material since TCoE, and will likely not be acquiring any thing that has come out recently or is coming out in the near future. It’s nothing against WotC, I just don’t get excited about high fantasy anymore and none of the new setting books jive with my sensibilities.

 

[Burnside]

I bought and used a lot more 3rd party adventures earlier in 5E's run (from DMsGuild and DriveThruRPG), because there was less adventure material in general available for 5E, particularly shorter adventures that were not updates of earlier edition material (which for the most part I don't use, since 1E and 2E adventures don't appeal to me).

Now that the edition is mature, there is more material available than I will ever use, so 3rd party stuff in general now has to be VERY appealing or feel a particular need, whereas in 2018 or earlier, I would pick up 3rd party stuff just because it seemed like it'd be good or was by a designer I knew and liked. I have so much stuff I know I'll never run, both official an unofficial. I also backed several 3rd party Kickstarters and the results were mixed tbh. I will say that some of the best 5E adventure material I've run has been 3rd party stuff, particularly when it comes to shorter adventures.

In terms of WotC stuff, I no longer buy physical copies of splat books (Fizban's and Monsters of the Multiverse I only own on DNDBeyond, for example). The setting books I will probably also start doing the same, but I did pre-order a physical copy of Spelljammer. I own physical copies of all the Magic: The Gathering setting books and tbh I don't need them and in retrospect should have bought those only on DNDBeyond. Official adventure books I still buy both physically and digitally, as those are the ones I'll read cover-to-cover while prepping them and prefer to be able to read the physical book while doing that.

 

[jgsugden]

Early in the 5E era there was far less WotC products to buy. That makes this an odd question.

Here are the core books and campaign guides available for sale by year:

2014: 3 Core (MM, DMG, PHB)
2015: 1+ SCAG (bonus: Free Elemental Evil Player's Companion)
2016: 1 VGtM
2017: 1 XGtE
2018: 2 GGtR, MToF
2019: 2 AI, EBftLW
2020: 3 TCoE, EGtW, MOoT
2021: 3 FToD, VRGtR, SaCoC
2022: 3 MPMotM, Spelljammer, Dragonlance

We've had 2 Campaign/Adventure books per year fairly consistently.

In terms of physcial purchases, I bought everything through 2018, then about 1 book per year for the last few years.

However, I have purchased all of the above (through the 2021 materials) on D&D Beyond. A lot of these books are fun to have on D&D Beyond, but I will not miss not having them down the road when Beyond closes shop (which I assume it will - although it would be great if they gave the books to us on pdf at that point as encouragement to go with them for the next edition). I may buy some of them in used book situations in the future, but I hardly crack my physical books now, and I imagine I will move on from 5E when 6E comes unless it takes a 4E style right turn.

For 3rd party, I have only 3 in the 5E era, and 2 of those are Critical Role which is a psuedo WotC as you get. The last was a purchase I made to use up some store credit before I moved - Courts of the Shadow Fey.

However, as I see them 'playtesting' changes in the mechanics in recent products, much like they did at the end of 3.5E and 4E, I am hesitating to buy materials these days. Buying a product in 2017 when I thought 5E had at least 5 more years to go was a good deal... but as I think the edition has less than 5 years less, I am less likely to buy it now as it has less use - and it is competing with more stuff that I already own.

 

[TheSword]

Ouch. 65% of people are buying less 5e stuff from WOC.

I used to buy and love everything. Up to and including Rime of the Frostmaiden. I feel that the last two years have been a real disappointment and they’ve strayed from the winning formula for me. Nothing I’ve seen looks like they’re coming back to it.

3pp or different systems altogether gets my money now. Or maps and tokens for VTT.

I’m not sure what would make me buy something now? Of the likely possibilities only Dark Sun would really catch my attention. Or a tight adventure book that property developed a place and set of characters. Perhaps another Tasha’s if it wasn’t too weird.