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

[Audiomancer]

I started playing in 1982, with the B/X box sets and then AD&D. I found some other players at school, and we played 1E for several years. Occasionally, we’d also try out other systems—Marvel Super Heroes, Traveler, Champions, and such. But D&D was our go-to.

By senior year (1986-87), we were too busy to do much gaming, and the group broke up. I do remember buying the 2E PHB and DMG when they came out. I think there was talk of getting a game going among some of my college friends, but nothing ever came of it. So I never actually got any table time with 2E or subsequent editions.

Then when 5E came along, I started seeing Internet articles all saying some version of “There’s new edition of D&D, and it’s actually worth checking out.” So I ordered and read the core books. Found a game that started in 2015, fell apart, and rebooted in 2016 with a slightly different mix of players. If my math is right, 2015 minus 1987 means I played no D&D for 28 years.

I moved my playing online, but I’m still enjoying 5E. I’ve probably used less than half of the officially-published character options, so I could get almost another decade out of the books I already own.

I personally don’t need a revised 2024 edition. 2014 D&D checks all the boxes for me. And the campaign I’m in now is likely to run at least another six months, if not a year. I do plan to pick up the new rules at some point, but whether/when I switch over will be determined by the group(s) I’m playing with.

 

[Voadam]

I think i am in the demographic here.

I did not take up 4e when it came out, I continued playing 3.5 then did Pathfinder Beta then full Pathfinder 1e with the same group and same world, just the slightly different rules.

I eventually joined a new group that played 4e and I learned it and enjoyed it. Then the rest of the group decided they were sick of 4e so we switched to Pathfinder and other games (BESM, Mutants & Masterminds, Vampire, Shadowrun, d20 modern, home brew systems) when I was DM I ran Pathfinder.

We did a session of 5e play test but were not immediate adopters of 5e but once we tried the full game it has been our mostly go to for fantasy and I have DMd it and I am still playing it with occasional other games like Honey Heist and Kids on Bikes and home brew systems.

When I DM 5e has been my system of choice for years now and would be for a new campaign if I were the DM.

I like the balance of builds better in 5e over Pathfinder and I like the less fiddly skill system and death saves and full rest healing too.

Not as well balanced as 4e but better than Pathfinder and good enough for my tastes.

No WotC alchemist or witch or warlord, but enough decent options.

 

[Stormonu]

I played from Holmes basic to late 3.5E, tried 4E (and hated it) and then switched to Pathfinder. After about a year of Pathfinder, I found myself playing more non-fantasy RPGs - Savage Worlds, Vampire (which I had played back in the 90's) and Star Wars (D6). Even did Savage Worlds for fantasy games at one point.

5E did bring me back, mostly because I was able to play with my family, my brother (and his wife) and even my parents (who were in their 70's). I'm still playing it, but I have no desire to migrate to the 2024 version as I feel it is slipping back into many things I disliked about 4E and away from many of the things that brought me back to 5E in the first place.

 

[The Sigil]

Started around 1983 with BECMI and 1e.

Transitioned to 2E for AD&D but still played a lot of BECMI.

Super excited when 3E came out.

Got away from 3E in about 2005 or 2006 due to fatherhood.

Missed 4E entirely due to being a dad.

Came back to 5E thanks to my kids taking an interest in it around 2018, really picked it up around 2020.

Liked some of the things it did (heightened spells solving the geometric caster, simplified bonuses in the form of advantage). Disliked others (dropping 3E's weapon differentiation like Critical Threat Range, Crit Multipliers, etc.). On the fence over Bounded Accuracy. Also not a fan of inspiration dice, Bless dice, and other minor effects, it's just a more complicated +X bonus.

Found PF2E around 2022. Like the multiclassing system and feat trees there in terms of customizing characters. Still like the relative simplicity of BECMI better but I don't think we're going back to that world.

Have tried getting a couple of games going lately but the campaigns haven't "stuck." So right now not doing as much playing as I like. Among modern versions, I'd be happy to run either 5E or PF2E, though my preference is PF2E between the two and I'd really love a proper BECMI game, but I think that ship has sailed; most players today want to spend a lot more time in character build choices and not roleplaying choices and BECMI doesn't have a lot of that.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm sorry Reynard but it seems as we have a combination of reading comprehension failure and no one actually fitting the description.

Mod Note:

Nice phrasing of an insult is still an insult. Stop it.

 

[GrimCo]

Well, i started with 3.5, when 4th came out, we stayed for some time, then switched to PF1. There was period of about 2 years where we ditched D&D and played only 7th sea, after that about year and a half of only WoD. When Next playtest came, we switched our relativley new 2ed ad&d campaign to Next, then to full 5E. Here we are, 10 and a half years, still playing almost exclusively 5e (2014 rules). In this 22 years of playing ttrpgs, about 6 years total were when we either didn't play anything, or at best half a dozen session in a year. Last big pause was mid 2020 till late 2021.

While D&D never was and never will be my first choice ( WW era WoD/CoD will always have that spot), 5e is solid and does it's job. It has just enough of 2e simplicity mixed with 3e complexity.

 

[TiQuinn]

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 left D&D shortly after 3.5 debuted due to life changes, and wasn’t interested in 4e when I checked it out, and got into 5e around 2017. I’ve enjoyed 5e a lot and rank it next to 2e as my favorite edition. We only stopped playing it last year because our DM was getting burnt out on it, and we were all amenable to trying new things, though I gotta admit I’d like to switch back to 5e but perhaps keep a tight lid on the subclass options or look at something like Tales of the Valiant.

 

[Emerikol]

I don't have a problem with the creative side of 5E (even if I am not a big fan of the art direction recently).

Creating your own game is a sure fire way to only ever get support you make yourself.

I've always created my own world and many of my own modules. I'm sure any game I designed would allow for easy adaption of most adventure modules. It would also allow for fairly easy adaption of monsters.

 

[Piperken]

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)?

Roughly:

1. Rediscovered D&D 5E (2014)
2. Discovered A5E, using rules in it for 5E (2014)
3. Reading about OSR (NSR) style/principles
4. Gradually introducing OSR (NSR) intentions to 5E

I'm currently running a duo-Vaesen game as well.

 

[radiothief]

I really started with 5e, and in my mind it was going to be the only game i was going to play, until i discovered Stars WIthout Number, and that opened the door way to SOO many other RPGs that i have bought and read and loved, but came back to D&D because, as a GM it allows me the freedom to do what i really love, which is world building, its also accessibly, everyone knows it, its what my friends want to play, and it just makes it easier to run, and that just makes it more enjoyable for me.