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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 8783512" data-attributes="member: 6680772">I was going to make a snarky comment about WotC putting out non-backwards compatible editions for so long that no one knows what backwards compatible even means any more. Then I realized that the 3.0 is 19 years old. Good grief.First of all, Wizards has not said that &quot;all 5e material will be backward compatible with the new revision.&quot; That actually doesn't even make sense. The edition will have to be backward compatible with the old material (backward = &quot;going back&quot;). What Wizards has said is that the new rules will be backward compatible with 5e &quot;adventures and supplements.&quot; And all that means is that there will be enough rules overlap, and most important, the same essential PC vs monster math that you can run a 5e adventure with One D&amp;D characters with a minimal amount of conversion work. Just like how you could run Keep on the Borderlands (Basic D&amp;D) or Temple of Elemental Evil (AD&amp;D) with AD&amp;D 2nd Edition characters.Conversely, you cannot run a 4e adventure with 5e unless you convert all the monsters and traps. You cannot run a 3e adventure with 4e unless you convert all the monsters and traps. You cannot run a 2e adventure with 3.x unless you at least convert all the monsters to ascending AC.Backward compatibility has never been about seamlessly running previous edition characters alongside new edition characters. If that can happen, it's a huge bonus, but generally it can be expected that some conversion of the old characters to the new rules will be required.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 8783512, member: 6680772"] I was going to make a snarky comment about WotC putting out non-backwards compatible editions for so long that no one knows what backwards compatible even means any more. Then I realized that the 3.0 is 19 years old. Good grief. First of all, Wizards has not said that "all 5e material will be backward compatible with the new revision." That actually doesn't even make sense. The edition will have to be backward compatible with the old material (backward = "going back"). What Wizards has said is that the new rules will be backward compatible with 5e "adventures and supplements." And all that means is that there will be enough rules overlap, and most important, the same essential PC vs monster math that you can run a 5e adventure with One D&D characters with a minimal amount of conversion work. Just like how you could run Keep on the Borderlands (Basic D&D) or Temple of Elemental Evil (AD&D) with AD&D 2nd Edition characters. Conversely, you cannot run a 4e adventure with 5e unless you convert all the monsters and traps. You cannot run a 3e adventure with 4e unless you convert all the monsters and traps. You cannot run a 2e adventure with 3.x unless you at least convert all the monsters to ascending AC. Backward compatibility has never been about [I]seamlessly[/I] running previous edition characters alongside new edition characters. If that can happen, it's a huge bonus, but generally it can be expected that some conversion of the old characters to the new rules will be required. [/QUOTE]

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