D&D General How has D&D changed over the decades?

[Jer]

in 1e and 2e the caster NEEDs the fighter more then in 3e and 5e, but I think dating back to the circle of 8 D&D has it's roots in caster protected by and working with... but not really even (except 4e)

I mean, from what I've read about the original game everyone had a wizard and a cadre of henchmen fighters as characters. Their fighters really were there to protect the wizard.

I'd say it would be an interesting game to have one player play a wizard while everyone else is playing their bodyguard, and then rotate between different parties with different players as the wizard of the party from week to week. But now I'm just describing the basics of troupe play for Ars Magica ...

 

[Casimir Liber]

I mean, from what I've read about the original game everyone had a wizard and a cadre of henchmen fighters as characters. Their fighters really were there to protect the wizard.

I'd say it would be an interesting game to have one player play a wizard while everyone else is playing their bodyguard, and then rotate between different parties with different players as the wizard of the party from week to week. But now I'm just describing the basics of troupe play for Ars Magica ...

From playing the game back then, it was like "we need the thief to open locked chests and doors and detect traps, we need the cleric to heal (or we're screwed), we need the magic user to cast spells and fighter to protect everyone" (though clerics could too as they could wear plate))

 

[schneeland]

D&D, in contrast, feels very vibrant and bight, and is very high magic. D&D currently feels more like World of Warcraft to me; the fantastical elements are normal parts of everyday life. Certainly it can be run and played differently (and I try to run it so myself), but I definitely get the impression that the implied setting is extremely high fantasy, high magic, low “realism,” Mos Eisley Cantina world.

For me, this is a large part of what changed in D&D. When I started playing (just under 30 years ago), the typical group of heroes would consist of human, elf, dwarf and an occasional halfling. And for many people I played with for the better part of my time at university, the Jackson Lord of the Rings was THE fantasy movie (along with lingering stuff from the past like the Schwarzenegger Conan). Nowadays, the culture references seem to have shifted to something else (intuitively, I would say superhero movies, but then I don't really know much about those ). I guess you could say that D&D is still made for 20 somethings, but unfortunately I am much older now.

The other factor is that I have been exposed to so many other games by now (especially in the last 7 oder 8 years) that my willingness to deal with the idiosyncrasies of D&D and to spend time hacking the game has dramatically gone down, while at the same time my understanding of what I want from RPGs has become much clearer. I consider this a good thing in general, but it also took away the naive joy that was there when I played (a bit of) 2e and (a lot of) 3e.

So effectively it's a "it's not you, it's me" situation for me. I simply cannot get as much enjoyment out of D&D as I used to (I still play, but the main reason is people, not the system).

 

[Helldritch]

Another thing that changed, at least for me, today people want to play their character with a personality and background. Sometimes emulating an actor or at least putting on an accent and playing to a certain predefined alignment or world view.

Back in 1e days all my friends just played their character with their personality. Sure the paladin played lawful good but in general everyone was just themselves transported into their characters bodies. There was nothing elven about their dual wielding longsword fighters out to carve up monsters.

The upside was that they CARED deeply about their character and they did everything in their power to make sure that character never died, and collected as much gold and magic items as possible.

It was exactly like that in the '80s. But there was a difference.
People were playing with the group in mind and knew that without the group, they wouldn't go very far. Now, people think what will the group bring them. The group is there for them. The average player of today is much more centered on "his" fun than the fun of everyone at the table. Characters went from zeroes, to little better than zeroes to heroes then to super heroes in 5ed. And yet, I have killed more groups and characters in 5ed than in any other editions combined! I still wonder why it is so since I am not the only DM experiencing this.

 

[LordEntrails]

Sounds like you're implying that a focus on combat is a sign of immaturity.

Base it on 'maturity' or not. Ageing certainly changed my emphasis away from combat.

 

[Micah Sweet]

even being a glass half empty guy I am living in hope

I seem to recall someone saying that this was just a temporary shift in focus, and we weren't going to see stuff like Witchlight and Strixhaven as the standard from now on. WotC wouldn't call something out as optional, then immediately turn it around and say they are going the "optional" way as standard moving forward. Would they?

 

[darkwillow]

It was exactly like that in the '80s. But there was a difference.
People were playing with the group in mind and knew that without the group, they wouldn't go very far. Now, people think what will the group bring them. The group is there for them.

I mean massive different between the 80s and now is that people back then played with their friends or friends of friends.

Now people are playing with random strangers, and that is a crapshoot, but add on top that you want to play over the internet? Good luck having anything close to our childhood experience.
(Obviously many people do play with friends).

 

[beancounter]

A discussion about changes to D&D over the years can't be complete with mentioning Critical Role and the "Matt Mercer effect".

Critical Role's "Mercer Effect" Explained (& How It Hurts D&D)

The "Mercer Effect" takes its toll on Critical Role fans.

screenrant.com

It has definitely widened the audience, and brought in people who prefer narrative over combat. In addition, WoTC is trying to make the game more kid friendly as well. As a result, the game is trending toward a "softer" feel relative to 1E/2E.

 

[beancounter]

I've seen more player character deaths in 5e than in any other edition.

More deaths relative to 1E/2E?

Back in the day, when you reached zero HP, you were dead. In 5E you have 3 death saves, and many ways to heal, stabilize or resurrect a PC.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Over time the game has moved in expectation from adversarial GM to neutral GM to troupe GM play as an expectation of a normal table.

PCs are baseline more heroic.

OOC solved puzzles are almost nonexistent and traps are moving that direction.

The game is moving toward a much bigger variation of PCs. Someone playing a bad@$$ 1' pixie riding on the shoulders of a cuddly 9' neon blue wendigo would work in even some published adventures.

The game is getting more streamlined over time. While 3e had more volume of rules than 2e, they were technically written better so as to be more cohesive as a whole. 4e removed a lot of crunch but still had a fairly technical combat structure. 5e has removed even more rules exceptions and has been pretty adamant about avoiding adding in more complexity over time.