D&D 5E Is One Year Old!

Today is the one-year anniversary of the first official physical D&D 5th Edition product - the D&D Starter Set! A boxed set containing a rules booklet and the adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver, along with a selection of pregenerated characters and a set of dice, the D&D Starter Set was launched in preferred stores (it hit other stores 11 days later) and was pretty solidly well received. To this date, it has a certified 86% rating right here on EN World. It has won a couple of awards, and is up for two ENnies this year in the Best Family Game and Best Production Values categories (people love boxes!)

So, Happy Birthday D&D 5th Edition! You're one!

Image courtesy of Hero's Emporium
​

 

[Louis Brenton]

Still no OGL and overpriced hardbacks.....

I agree regarding the OGL...I'd like to see that happen. But I guess "overpriced" is a subjective term. I've been very satisfied with what I've gotten out of all the books so far.

 

[Louis Brenton]

Oh... And a question for the WotC parents of our little one year old 5e: at what age will 5e be allowed to use the Internet? Because I'm still waiting for it to come out and play and be available in PDF!!!

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I would LOVE to have all 3 core books in legal, high quality pdf form.

 

[graves3141]

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I would LOVE to have all 3 core books in legal, high quality pdf form.

I don't know why we can't have the core 5E books along with all the reprint books in pdf format too.

I know the 3E reprints are available in pdf format on dndclassics but where's the other stuff and why is there a holdup? Like most things, the answer must be tied either directly or indirectly to $$$

 

[Fralex]

I must say, of all the versions of D&D I've played (3.5, 4, 5) this new edition has given me more fun than anything else in recent memory. And as an aspiring game designer, I really like how easy it is to homebrew stuff.

 

[Curmudjinn]

Happy belated birthday, D&D5e. It's good to see such a great rendition of the rules as well as the warm reception and large following it has already.

I've played them all and this is, in my humble opinion, the best.

 

[Saplatt]

Happy Birthday and many, many more!

 

[AlphaDean]

My Group has yet to reach 5th level either. It's that real life thing. We only meet once a month for the last 6 months. We do have a blast though. I really thing 5E is on the right track, it deserves all the accolades

 

[AlphaDean]

I must say, of all the versions of D&D I've played (3.5, 4, 5) this new edition has given me more fun than anything else in recent memory. And as an aspiring game designer, I really like how easy it is to homebrew stuff.

Home Brew is where its at... I always Homebrew and this Edition harkens back to the days of old where building ones own world and game was the what we all lived for... Now its easy again

 

[joshinminn]

What a dope, a year and a few months ago I bought all the 4e Essentials stuff, and then didn't do anything with it until I realized 5e was out and getting great reviews. Now I'm getting all the 5e stuff and actually digging in. Loving it, may of my playing was BECMI and 2e. Happy birthday!

 

[Mistwell]

I forgot to mention earlier that the final Core rulebook (the DMG) came out on December 9. 2014, so the full set of Core books is now over a year old. And, according to all reports, the number of players (at least based on measurements from online gaming platforms that have players for a variety of RPGs) continues to increase. Amazon and Barnes & Noble sales numbers also remain high, even on the Core books.

As of this moment (January 8, 2016) on Amazon

PHB:
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,181 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#1 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming > Dungeons & Dragons
#30 in Books > Teens
[For comparison, Barnes & Noble lists it as Sales rank:520]

MM
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars (461 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#3 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming > Dungeons & Dragons
#80 in Books > Teens
[For comparison, Barnes & Noble lists it as Sales rank:7,045]

DMG
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars (460 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#2 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming > Dungeons & Dragons
#57 in Books > Teens
[For comparison, Barnes & Noble, lists it as Sales rank:1,349]

It's also ranked #1 on both Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds digital tabletop platforms (in both quantity of games being played and quantity of players), and #1 in game store sales by ICv2.