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

[DarkCrisis]

Played every ed at this point. Started with 2E though.

Dropped D&D for a while during 4th Ed because it was more WoW than D&D.

Loved 5E at first but got tired of it's player power level. It was rarely a challenge (using official adventures).

Moved onto OSE and Shadowdark. Currently running an OSE game and having a blast.

I know I'll play more 5E (5.5) because that's where the majority of players are at. Sadly.

 

[Velderan]

So most of my table fits your description.

I started with BECMI, but AD&D 2e was really where I fell in love with the hobby. Around 2002 or so my life circumstances changed to where I was no longer able to play and aside from a couple attempts to get into 3e and PF 1e that fell through because of my work schedule, I was basically out of the hobby until 2016 when one of the guys I used to play 2e with asked if I wanted to try 5e out. I ended up playing in a year long Curse of Strahd campaign before starting my own table, which was mostly made of people who started in 3e, bounced off 4e, and came back when 5e was something they wanted to play. We played a few full campaigns together, which was enough for me to see as a DM that 5e wasn't really a system I enjoyed running. I didn't hate it, but I started looking around to see what else was out there. Around this time the OGL debacle hit and PF2e was talked about a lot more which got me to buy the Beginner Box to see what the game was about and how was it different from 5e. I found it did things in a way I really enjoyed and a quick conversation with my table later we decided to switch. We've since also given Call of Cthulhu a try and play one shots in that from time to time, as well as some of the Starfinder 2e playtest scenarios so there's some nice change of pace for themes available if we need it.

So all said and done I played 5e for around 6 1/2 years, both as a player and a DM. It served it's purpose of being a good entry point back into the hobby and I would definitely play it again if someone else was DMing, but since I usually DM for my group and they're more than happy to play whatever I want to run, PF2e it is. I might consider the 2024 edition once the Monster Manual is out and I see what changes were made there because my biggest complaint was how boring monsters usually were to run compared to PCs.

YMMV, IMO, IME, etc.

 

[Velderan]

Played every ed at this point. Started with 2E though.

Dropped D&D for a while during 4th Ed because it was more WoW than D&D.

Loved 5E at first but got tired of it's player power level. It was rarely a challenge (using official adventures).

Moved onto OSE and Shadowdark. Currently running an OSE game and having a blast.

I know I'll play more 5E (5.5) because that's where the majority of players are at. Sadly.

Are the players in your OSE game the same as the ones you ran AD&D 2e for awhile back? If so, do they seem to like it more or less?

 

[DarkCrisis]

Are the players in your OSE game the same as the ones you ran AD&D 2e for awhile back? If so, do they seem to like it more or less?

Some of them.

It's easier to play while having basically the same power level. Plus some house rules so the early levels aren't such a meat grinder.

 

[Emerikol]

I'm sorry Reynard but it seems as we have a combination of reading comprehension failure and no one actually fitting the description. I'd give you my story but it doesn't fit your request and why pile on?

 

[Reynard]

I'm sorry Reynard but it seems as we have a combination of reading comprehension failure and no one actually fitting the description. I'd give you my story but it doesn't fit your request and why pile on?

Some certainly do. Some don't. I'm not a cop. You do you.

 

[prabe]

I know that I was pretty sure I'd lost the hobby, at least on its own merits: I was still playing in a weekly PF1e game with long-time friends, but that was primarily a social thing for me, I didn't really care about it (or really particularly enjoy it) as a TRPG.

 

[Distracted DM]

I have a couple players that started DND in the 70s and early 80s, stopped after a few years, and didn't play again until a several years ago with 5e- they have little interest in anything but 5e. Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone, but that's my personal experience.

They see any other ttrpg as "I know DnD5e and this other fantasy ttrpg isn't it, why would I want to play it?"

 

[Burnside]

I started with BECMI in 1986, switched to 1E in 87, switched to 2E when it launched in 89, and continued with that until I graduated from high school in Spring 1994. I then basically didn't play at all except for a few abortive attempts at 3E after graduating college, which never went beyond a handful of sessions in the early 2000s. I drifted away completely and totally missed 3.5, 4E, the rise of Pathfinder, and the start of 5E.

I was reintroduced to the game in 2016 and immediately fell in love with 5E and have played it pretty intensely since then, as well as experimenting with other variants and systems (particularly Level Up: A5E, but have also played DCC - which I enjoyed - and Pathfinder 2E, which wasn't for me).

My interest in 5E has not really waned during the 8 years I've now been playing it. However, I have very mixed feelings about the 2024 rules changes & updates, especially Weapon Expertise (I do not want added complexity, and I do not want slower combat, nor do the vast majority of my regular players, who number about 40 people).

I'm a pro DM now and I will be more or less obliged to run the 2024 rules for at least some clients (though I'm not doing so in long-form campaigns until the Monster Manual is published). And maybe I will eventually become more enthusiastic about them, but the truth is that 5E as it was, particularly with the Tasha's options, was working very well for me and I view the 2024 rules as a largely unneeded change.

So at the moment my feeling is that I do still enjoy 5E, which is the edition that brought me back to the game, and in fact, all things being equal, would probably prefer to stick with it as it is - particularly since the 5E SRD is now in Creative Commons and effectively belongs to everyone, while it remains to be seen what will happen with the new ruleset (preemptive note on this point: please don't bother telling me what WotC has "committed" to do with an updated SRD; until they actually do it, they haven't done it and nothing is guaranteed beyond what we already have).

 

[Gorck]

Yes. I started with 3e, left shortly after 4e was released, and now I’m back with 5e and I’m here to stay.