Mixed tables are a disingenuous way to measure compatibility and you know it.
no i don't.
if Mcdonalds came out and said "Our burgers are 100% compatible with steak" they would be correct, nothing stops me from going and buying a steak from the store, cooking it and eating it with my big mac. HOWEVER, if no place sells stakes, then while it is technically true that they are compatible, in practice you can't eat a steak and a big mac because there are no steaks.
I find it MUCH more disingenuous to look at the highest of high over views "Roll D20 you want hight" or two steps down "The basic D20 system" and call that compatible.
Mutants and Masterminds is a D20 game. Star Wars saga is a D20 game. D&D 3.0 is the origin (the mother of) the d20 system. in 'theory' all are compatible. I can even tell you from personal experience it is possible with a bit of work (more then converting that 2e mage to a 5e monster I might add) to make them all work at a table together... but that THEORY doesn't hold up when less then 1% of tables running 3.5 will look at any of the characters made with those books and say "Okay, sit down and play" and I am willing to bet in order to get close to any real measurable % of tables you have to limit it to 3.0 and even then the discussion will be "just update it to 3.5"
Ravnica guild backgrounds give bonus spells added to the spell lists. No other backgrounds do that. Anyone who takes Rakdos Cultist has an advantage over the entertainer in the PHB. Ravnica is D&D 5.1.
and ask around. If the tables running 5e in the realms, if the tables running adventure league, and if the tables using home brew but backgrounds from the PHB "If I show up with a Ravnica background that's cool right?"
for the record given time and enough asks, I do believe you WILL find tables that say "Sure, that's cool" but they will be rare. every powercreeping change makes those numbers worse.
Theros gives free divine gifts to PCs. They are roughly equal to a free feat. D&D 5.2.
and go to your next session 0 for a non theros game and just take one and tell me what the DM says.
Ravenloft has Dark Gifts and Lineages.
I am going to spread these out... dark gifts (unless I am miss remembering) are things the DM gives or tempts you with not part of character creation so as a player I'm not sure how that matters...
and Lineages already are having people moan (it was the start) but I will admit most if not a large minority then will let you play one... so again those actually are the most compatible of the examples so far.
Strixhaven backgrounds get free feats.
you know since I have gotten this book I have joked at least a dozen times about taking that background... see above it's like Theros like Dragonlance AU and like Ravnica... if you USE that book they are great, but trying to claim those things in a PHB only game isn't going to work so well.
Xanathar and Tasha were 5.5 and 5.6, respectively. Monsters of the Multiverse is 5.7.
Tasha and MotM are really what I am going off of saying that these changes wont be small
Dragonlance's free double feats are looking like 5.8.
so we are on the same page I DID SAY they were making these small changes now to make the later changes more palatable (like slowly heating the water to cook the live lobster)
In theory, a Theros PC, a Ravnica PC, a Ravenloft PC and a PHB only PC could play at the same table.
as long as you add in Theory (and you did) I agree. in theory that table could also have a 4e warlord and a 2e wizard and a Mutants and Masterminds superman... in slightly crazier theory someone in a glitter boy, a dog boy, and a jedi
In reality, the three setting-specific PCs have abilities more powerful than the PHB one and thus aren't comparable.
yes. that is my point of view.
By your logic, each is using a different edition of D&D.
not really they are settings. Theros PCs are not comparable to Realms ones (and back in the day darksun characters rolled 5d4 instead of 3d6 for stats) but they aren't diffrent editions... but they also aren't really being played at the same table either.
I don't know yet what they will call the 2024 PHB (and neither does anyone on these boards) and none of us can be sure what will or wont change. I can say between alignment, monsters, races, and classes we have already seen moderate to major changes (much more then minor) and while I could make a 2014 D&D campaign even in 2030, I could also make a 2e campaign or a basic campagin in 2030, that doesn't make any of them the same as a 2024 campaign useing that book.
there will be overlap. Maybe a human fighter from 2014 PHB who took champion will look exactly like a human fighter from the 2024 PHB... a Mtn Dwarf rogue I am 98% sure will not.
if (aas we have batted around in other threads) all backgrounds are more filled (with feats or feat like things) then even that human fighter will have to update to the newest version of his background 99% of the time.
just like if I went to a 3.5 game and made a sorcerer with 3.0 haste I think the DM would 98% of the time tell me "Oh they updated that, here is the new one" not "Well Wotc said it was compatible so go ahead and use the more powerful one"
