D&D General Folks Who Came Back With 5E: Did You Stay with 5E?

[Reynard]

A lot of lapsed D&D plyers returned to D&D with 5E. Some had left for other games (Pathfinder is common) while others had not played any RPGs for many years.

I am interested in the experiences of people who:
Had either left D&D specifically or left the hobby for some measurable length of time (years at least) and who came back to the hobby with 5E.
If you discovered D&D and/or RPGs with 5E, that's awesome but not really what I am looking for. If you continued to play D&D all the way through to 5E, that is less interesting and also not what I am looking for,

With that out of the way: So you rediscovered D&D via 5E. My question is Did you then stay with 5E? Not necessarily exclusively, but just did 5E hold your interest? For how long?
If you left 5E, what did you leave it for? After how long? For what other game(s)?

Thanks.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

I'm not your target demographic, but I have tangential experience.

I played every edition all the way through, through the transition into each next edition. I looked forward to every change, because I felt the pain points of the late-stage of each of those editions, and was happy to try something new.

I hated aspects of 2E (THAC0 and Saving throws and race limitations were nonsense.) I looked forward to the streamlining of 3E (loved the narrative sense of the 3 saving throws, for instance). Then, over time, 3E became a nightmarish, tangled, unbalanced, mess. So when 4E came along I was looking forward to a new interpretation. I enjoyed the stories told, the ideas and concepts that were introduced, and it expanded my horizons. But I was feeling the deep pain points with 4E by the time we hit Paragon tier, and we played 2 campaigns to complete Epic Destinies). The bloat and monotony was inescapable. And when I left 4E to play 5E, I loved 5E. And still love it.

I am glad that the 2024 books are just a tune-up. I'm staying with 5E, and will use all my older edition books as inspiration to develop content for my 5E games.

 

[jayoungr]

Most of the players at one of my tables go back to AD&D but really got deep into D&D in the 2E era. They love 5E (2014) because it reminds them of "2E with better math," and they are sticking with it. They don't even seem interested in the 2024 version.

 

[Reynard]

Most of the players at one of my tables go back to AD&D but really got deep into D&D in the 2E era. They love 5E (2014) because it reminds them of "2E with better math," and they are sticking with it. They don't even seem interested in the 2024 version.

Did they return with 5E?

 

[Hatmatter]

A lot of lapsed D&D plyers returned to D&D with 5E. Some had left for other games (Pathfinder is common) while others had not played any RPGs for many years.

I am interested in the experiences of people who:
Had either left D&D specifically or left the hobby for some measurable length of time (years at least) and who came back to the hobby with 5E.
If you discovered D&D and/or RPGs with 5E, that's awesome but not really what I am looking for. If you continued to play D&D all the way through to 5E, that is less interesting and also not what I am looking for,

With that out of the way: So you rediscovered D&D via 5E. My question is Did you then stay with 5E? Not necessarily exclusively, but just did 5E hold your interest? For how long?
If you left 5E, what did you leave it for? After how long? For what other game(s)?

Thanks.

I began with Basic D&D & 1st edition AD&D in the 1980s. I played 2nd edition extensively for a decade from when it came out in 1989 to the late 1990s. Around the time 3rd edition came out, I had stopped playing D&D, although I still played a little bit of Vampire. I came back to D&D for about 6 months when 4th edition D&D was released, but it failed to hold my interest; some of that may be due to the group with which I played, but it struck me as a combat game and I grew bored.

I came back to D&D with 5th edition when it was released and I have been playing since. I have also gotten other people into the hobby, as I primarily DM.

I still play 5th edition D&D. It's a great version of the game and I am glad that Wizards of the Coast is deciding to stick with it and merely make adjustments as necessary.

My interest in role-playing games is in the storytelling and fun at the table. So, most games will "hold my interest" if the group of players are fun to play with.

 

[darjr]

Yea and sort of. Ran a ton of it at stores and conventions and home games. Still ran a game recently.

Also I’m definitely doing much more of other games. Mostly D&D adjacent or alike.

 

[Reynard]

Yea and sort of. Ran a ton of it at stores and conventions and home games. Still ran a game recently.

Also I’m definitely doing much more of other games. Mostly D&D adjacent or alike.

How long had you lapsed, and did you play other stuff or not RPG?

 

[prabe]

A lot of lapsed D&D plyers returned to D&D with 5E. Some had left for other games (Pathfinder is common) while others had not played any RPGs for many years.

I am interested in the experiences of people who:
Had either left D&D specifically or left the hobby for some measurable length of time (years at least) and who came back to the hobby with 5E.
If you discovered D&D and/or RPGs with 5E, that's awesome but not really what I am looking for. If you continued to play D&D all the way through to 5E, that is less interesting and also not what I am looking for,

With that out of the way: So you rediscovered D&D via 5E. My question is Did you then stay with 5E? Not necessarily exclusively, but just did 5E hold your interest? For how long?
If you left 5E, what did you leave it for? After how long? For what other game(s)?

Thanks.

Came back to the hobby (not just to D&D) with 5e, and it's remained the game I play the most, even as I've experimented with (and learned from) others.

 

[jayoungr]

Did they return with 5E?

From what I gather, they drifted out of the hobby sometime in the 3.5 era due to moving, families, and other "adult stuff." They skipped 4E entirely and got back together again when I started running a 5E game online.

I wasn't part of this original group, but I was friends with a couple of their members, and I started running for just the ones I knew. Then they mentioned this to their old gaming buddies from back in the day, and said buddies asked if they could join our game. So I kind of inherited a group that have been playing together since before I started gaming.

 

[PvtTommyAtkins]

I did AD&D 2e, 3ed and then skipped fourth. I came back with 5th and am leaving again. I came back to 5th because one of my friends had gotten the set during covid lockdown and hadn't played since high school so I agreed to run a game. That game went on for a little over a year and is actively still ongoing. I'm ok with 5e but don't LOVE it. I've found other fantasy systems during my time away and would much rather play those. Or go with completely different genre's /systems such as deadlands, cyberpunk.

The nail in the coffin though was the way Hasbro has handled the D&D property. I decided a while ago I was boycotting the product, though I've still bought 5e compatible products, I'm not buying any more "official" line items which has kind of put a nail in the coffin.