D&D 5E How Many 5Es Can There Be?

[eyeheartawk]

I want the half elf back way to early to get upset. I'll save the bitching and moaning (potentially) for the final product.

This is where I'm at too. The Next playtest didn't end up much looking like the final product. I'm going to wait as well, as I'm guessing it'll look much closer to what we have now versus what is in those playtests. In any event, I don't much like hypothetical kvetching, I'm more of a practical kvetcher.

 

[mamba]

Interior design is an entire art form, and an awfully large part of it has to do with subtle color changes or rearranging furniture in am already functional space.

and it follows a cohesive design / established rules, they do not just randomly scatter all tables, chairs, and cupboards across the floor three times and pick the result that looks the best to them out of those three

I am not seeing WotC doing anything that is even remotely in the same ballpark

If you want me to put a positive spin on the approach, it is more like an eye exam. The give you something small to read and then drop different lenses in front of your eye and ask ‘can you see it better now’ and keep doing so until they found the best match. No imagination involved whatsoever.

 

[Zardnaar]

and it follows a cohesive design / established rules, they do not just randomly scatter all tables, chairs, and cupboards across the floor three times and pick the result that looks the best to them out of those three

I am not seeing WotC doing anything that is even remotely in the same ballpark

If you want me to put a positive spin on the approach, it is more like an eye exam. The give you something small to read and then drop different lenses in front of your eye and ask ‘can you see it better now’ and keep doing so until they found the best match. No imagination involved whatsoever.

You've seen the final product?

You're like correct it's more 1E to 2E I think. They're basically rewriting the feats, classes, races and monsters. Not the system as such.

Refinement has only happened 2 or 3 times though depending on how you count OD&D to basic.

 

[Micah Sweet]

As someone who routinely plays with strangers, I don't think this will be an issue. You simply state up front which rule set you are using and if you are ok with mixing and matching and what you are mixing and matching. So, someone wants to use a 2014 monk (as a totally random example) might be perfectly fine, but the DM, before the game starts, simply says, "2024 spells take precedent". It's not like it's a major hurdle here.

Sure, there might be the odd rough patch here and there, but, again, I've been instituting Tasha's changes for a couple of years now and no one seems too terribly fussed about it.

Nothing in Tasha's affects the PCs negatively. It's all more power (or more versatility, which is more power). What reason would players even have to object?

 

[Stormonu]

This may bring up another potential problem at tables. If a player casts a spell like Banishment and the DM gives a save each round, but the player comes back and states he is using the 2014 version of the PHB, who wins? The DM might be playing 2024, but the player only has 2014 and is playing that version.

I know Wizards is saying you get to choose which version to play, but then the DM is supposed to have final authority over his table, so who gets upset and leaves. Granted, this may be mostly a problem in open games and not in longtime groups which will likely take rules like this and go either way, but it leaves holes in play that will be a thread someday next year on the site.

For me, the answer is the DM's authority take precedence every time, no questions asked. That's simply the way it's always been, and the way I believe it should be. If the player can't handle that, they need to go play in another group. If the DM abuses it, they'll quickly find they have no players.

 

[mamba]

You've seen the final product?

I feel you know the answer to that one… I am extrapolating from the playtest, and do not expect as much of a deviation from it in the final result as there was in 2014

You're like correct it's more 1E to 2E I think.

even that had a clearer direction to me, the 2024 is just meandering on a level field, going nowhere

They're basically rewriting the feats, classes, races and monsters. Not the system as such.

agreed, compatibility kinda required that, but the lack of change to this degree is still disappointing. They started out with some bolder ideas I liked (and promptly did not survive), but tests 6 and 7 are utterly uninspiring, to the point where I do not even bother filling out the survey

I started out looking forward to the 2024 version, by now I will likely skip it and am much more interested in alternatives to it than the result itself, great job WotC…

 

[Stormonu]

BTW, the only way I can see WotC getting me to buy the 2024 books would be if they reorganize the DMG in a way that it is a lot easier to find stuff, as long as there is minimal to no mechanical rule changes. The current DMG is just terrible, with worse organization than the 1E DMG.

Overall, the 2024 books don't interest me because frankly I'm tired of keeping up with new editions. Further, what I've seen of the playtest packets so far haven't been in a direction that interests me. And if they just turn out to be a language cleanup (with included errata) and new art they're of no use to me; I already understand the game and pretty new art isn't worth the $60-$75 book tag price.

 

[aco175]

Overall, the 2024 books don't interest me because frankly I'm tired of keeping up with new editions. Further, what I've seen of the playtest packets so far haven't been in a direction that interests me. And if they just turn out to be a language cleanup (with included errata) and new art they're of no use to me; I already understand the game and pretty new art isn't worth the $60-$75 book tag price.

I find that I'm only mildly interested myself. I will likely buy the PHB but hold off on the others unless there is something really there.

 

[bedir than]

As someone who routinely plays with strangers, I don't think this will be an issue. You simply state up front which rule set you are using and if you are ok with mixing and matching and what you are mixing and matching. So, someone wants to use a 2014 monk (as a totally random example) might be perfectly fine, but the DM, before the game starts, simply says, "2024 spells take precedent". It's not like it's a major hurdle here.

Sure, there might be the odd rough patch here and there, but, again, I've been instituting Tasha's changes for a couple of years now and no one seems too terribly fussed about it.

This is a great point.
There are dozens of different rule sets for basketball out there, but you get ten people together on the court they can still play the game

 

[Hussar]

and it follows a cohesive design / established rules, they do not just randomly scatter all tables, chairs, and cupboards across the floor three times and pick the result that looks the best to them out of those three

I am not seeing WotC doing anything that is even remotely in the same ballpark

If you want me to put a positive spin on the approach, it is more like an eye exam. The give you something small to read and then drop different lenses in front of your eye and ask ‘can you see it better now’ and keep doing so until they found the best match. No imagination involved whatsoever.

Umm what?

That’s exactly what they do. When you renovate your home, the company gives you many huge books of color swaths and patterns, you spend hours looking at different ones and mixing and matching then they do the one you like best.