D&D 5.5e, will you get it?

[John Lloyd1]

I'll keeping playing with my old books at the games store with players and DMs using the new books. No worries.

 

[Parmandur]

This thread nicely captures the dilemma for WotC:

If it is too little I won't buy it. If it is too much I won't buy it.

I guess it always comes down to hitting the sweet spot. But will they?

On the other hand, the overwhelming favorite in the poll st the moment is "yes," and that's mostly sight unseen at this point, other than "it's going to follow Tasha'sand Monstersof the Multiverse".

 

[Li Shenron]

Poll question based on the Ray Winninger thread and statements within.

Do you plan on buying the 5.5e versions that are coming out for the 50th anniversary?

I tend towards not buying the anniversary edition and not DMing it either.

Let's say at the moment I have a 10% chance of buying the new core books, and 20-30% chance of allowing players to use those books in my game even if I don't buy them. It all depends on what they actually change, of course.

Things I am OK with:

• they add options, either character material that you can choose in place of something else (subclasses, feats, spells, variant class features)
• they generalize some rules, like the one we already know about racial ability modifiers, meaning that there are essentially new possibilities, but the original 5.0 default still exists as an option within the new general rule
• they modify narratives such as anything race- and alignment- related (because anyway these will be overwritten by any specific fantasy setting own defaults)
• changes to DMG rules, because everything is still subject to "rule 0" which makes these rules always more like guidelines than strictly enforced
• changes to monsters stats because IMO they are not that holy, and I anyway vary individual monsters by myself as I see fit

Things I am NOT OK with:

• free character buffs, which make the original 5.0 classes/races/backgrounds inferior
• changes to PHB rules

Right now, I think they will largely do both the things I am not ok with, so I tend to think I will stick with running 5.0 indefinitely. Of course as a player I am not necessarily going to turn down a 5.5 game if I like the people I will be playing with, but I am not going to run it at least for now, and I will advise my players not to buy the books either.

If they only do the things I am ok with, or those I am not ok are done really only in very small amount, then I can make the switch. I do not however know if it would still be worth buying the books.

 

[Aldarc]

Maybe, but I'm skeptical that I will. It's less a matter of whether I consider the changes in 5.5e as an improvement over 5.0e or not; instead, I think it's more an issue of my personal time for gaming.

I have played a lot of 5e. It's fun. It's good. However, I haven't really been buying D&D 5e's latest products for the past few years as none of them have really interested me all that much. I'm also not sure if I want to fall down the rabbit hole of playing more 5e. I want to make a concerted effort to play other roleplaying games other than 5e D&D. I have a giant back catalogue of non-D&D games that I have been dying to run/play: Vaesen, Blades in the Dark, The One Ring 2e, WWN, Stonetop, Paleomythic, etc.

 

[Imaculata]

I don't know yet. I only just bought the core 5e books, since I've been playing 3.5 for most of my life. I may just upgrade to LevelUp instead.

 

[CleverNickName]

By recent accounts, it sounds like I already have it. I already own (and use) Xanathar's, and Tasha's, and Fizban's, etc., and I write my own lore for humanoids in my campaign. So...probably not.

 

[Baldurs_Underdark]

No, I won't buy it. I'm having fun with 5E, so I am currently doing it right.

If I buy the 5.5E books as the DM of our group, I pretty much force all players to also buy at least the new 5.5E PHB. Since some bought their copies of the PHB quite recently, I don't think we will convert to 5.5E.

Also, I probably cannot be bothered to read through all those new books to find the differences. Seems like a waste of time.

 

[GreyLord]

Poll question based on the Ray Winninger thread and statements within.

Do you plan on buying the 5.5e versions that are coming out for the 50th anniversary?

You need an "I don't know yet" option.

 

[Yaarel]

Depends on peoples reception to them and what's in them.

If they get a ton of praise and people love them, then I'll get them. If it's just piles of complaints, then I guess I'm sticking with 5e (or pathfinder 2e if I can convince my group to move).

Heh kinda my attitude for a new version of a computer operating system.

I am enthusiastic about "50e". I will get it.

 

[akr71]

At this point, I have no plans to buy any further WotC books. I have been pretty unimpressed by their offerings lately. I think LevelUp & MCDM are putting out more interesting material and attempting more interesting game design.

I reserve the right to change my mind and buy Greyhawk and/or Dragonlance for purely nostalgia reasons.

 

[Arilyn]

No idea yet. Will wait and see what the version looks like.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

It is not only a lot of money to be spent, but also I had to await several years to can buy the translated edition. For my own eyes 5e arrived little time ago, and I don't feel like to start again. I bought a lot of books of 3.5 Ed, and I love my collection, but the space in my bedroom has got a limit, and my money.

 

[Blue]

In terms of just buying it, yes. At the very least to see what they thought they had to change, and if it really is fully compatible to have all the changes together in one spot.

As for playing it, 5e is my favorite edition of D&D so far, but only my second favorite D&D-like game. What brings me to play my #2 instead of my #1 is that there are plenty of people to play it with. So if groups I'm with move to it, there is no question I will to.

As for the campaign I've been running for the past two years, that's another question. I had generally positive results moving a game from 3.0 to 3.5. Again, depends on if my players will be in Anniversary Edition games and want to consolidate on a single ruleset.

 

[Bravesteel25]

Yes, I'll buy them. 5E is what my scene plays, so that's what I run. I don't see that changing with the advent of 5.5.

 

[Mark Craddock]

I and my group are fully invested in D&D Beyond and if the material isn't better we might stick with 5E. I don't think we will but I'm almost 50 and I'd rather play games I know really well and don't have as much time for mastering a new version of something.

 

[GMMichael]

D&D 5.5e, will you get it?

I mean, I don't even get 5.0. Hoping 5.5 makes more sense.

 

[TheSword]

It depends how good it is. If it’s just a collection of rules that are already in play, then what’s the point. That’s not a new edition nor is it good value for money.

VTT has changed everything. I’ll not easily cast away £500 of book investment on Roll20

 

[akr71]

At this point, I have no plans to buy any further WotC books. I have been pretty unimpressed by their offerings lately. I think LevelUp & MCDM are putting out more interesting material and attempting more interesting game design.

I reserve the right to change my mind and buy Greyhawk and/or Dragonlance for purely nostalgia reasons.

OK, having just watched the interview with Jeremy Crawford (found here), I have renewed faith in what WotC is planning for 2024. I guess the UA documents over the coming months will do a lot to cement or further shift my expectations.

 

[Stalker0]

I've never understood the desire to say yes or no to something sight unseen. All the talk in the world, but until we get some concrete mechanics laid out for us, who the heck knows!

 

[Faolyn]

At the moment, no. I have 5e and I have Level Up. I really don't need the same thing in a somewhat different system. If they come up with a brand new setting, I might get that.