D&D (2024) I think we are on the cusp of a sea change.

[Mercurius]

Did I miss something? Has a "five point five" edition been announced?
(serious question, not trolling.)

Evidently you did. A couple months back they announced 50th anniversary core rulebooks, which seem to be revised to some degree. More than "5.1" but probably less than "5.5."

 

[Mercurius]

D&D is not just a toolkit though. It's also a fandom.

Yes, but there's always going to be sub-groupings. I mean, not everyone loves Strixhaven, and not everyone is an Eberron fan.

 

[cowpie]

As I said in another thread, the vast majority of people want D&D to be basically the same except for the few things they personally would really like to change.

...now if we could just somehow reach a consensus on those few things!

I think in the US right now there's a lot of unhealthy polarization in society, and this is sadly, being reflected in the RPG hobby right now. IMHO D&D is like fly fishing. There is no one way to be a fly fisher--anybody can pick up some gear and do it. If some of the fly fishers start fighting over the "one acceptable way" to be a fly fisher, it will damage the hobby. The fly fishing industry would be well served to welcome everybody to the table, if only to survive as a business, and not take sides in the fighting.

 

[Mercurius]

Well yeah, why not?

they do Harry Potter stuff. Whatever. I buy out of the abyss. They do x y z. I don’t care. I don’t like most of the new stuff but I still have my core books.

now they start screwing up its the basic ideas of the game and move away from traditional play. They have my attention but will be hard pressed to get my dollars.

I was a whale—-probably some thousands in minis, lots of books. How quickly they forget. It’s ok I guess. I can still explore dungeons and have wars with what I have. But they are really discouraging me from adding to my collection.

I like situations to adapt to and overcome, not stories I write that the DM has to accommodate and cater to.

It’s cool you have a story line and some ideas that would be interesting, I appreciate that. But we still want to kill monsters win teasures and conquer things to.

it they want to write divergent books for interested parties, fine. But total shift? Not down with all of this.

Yes, I hear you - which is why I'm suggested that they should (and hopefully will) keep the core game still "traditional D&D," which is part of what made 5E so successful. They shouldn't forget that.

 

[CleverNickName]

Evidently you did. A couple months back they announced 50th anniversary core rulebooks, which seem to be revised to some degree. More than "5.1" but probably less than "5.5."

Ah, right. I remember that announcement; I was just curious if something a little more specific had been mentioned.

I'm sure there will be updates, but I didn't get the impression that it would be a major rewrite, let alone a new edition.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I do tend to think treating D&D like the all purpose power tool is, well, a take. There are absolutely things that while, technically it can do, its like using a wrench as a hammer.

 

[MGibster]

I'll be frank, my biggest problems with D&D over the years has been with how boring I think player races are. For the most part, it doesn't seem to matter whether that Wizard is an elf, gnome, or a human because it really isn't going to have as significant impact on the game. And now they're working harder to make player races even more irrelevant.

 

[Mercurius]

Ah, right. I remember that announcement; I was just curious if something a little more specific had been mentioned.

I'm sure there will be updates, but I didn't get the impression that it would be a major rewrite, let alone a new edition.

I've only been coming in and out of this forum and don't follow the meta-conversation closely, so it is hard to tell what is fan speculation and what is based on actual statements by WotC. But I think the actual statements imply that it is more than just a re-skinned 5E, but less than a "5.5." So the conversation is talking about what "5.2 to 5.4" means in light of recent stuff (e.g. Tasha's, racial ability bonuses, alternate approaches to races, etc).

 

[Rune]

I don’t think the mechanics are going to change much. But WotC likely are going to pursue (and frankly already have been for a while) a different demographic than when 5e was in development.

And that makes sense. Likely a huge chunk of their audience (players and viewers) weren’t even around when 5e was in its open playtest.

Sure, we’re going to see changes that reflect a shifting society. And we’re also going to see changes that reflect what fantasy looks like these days.

But I think we’re seeing another thing, too. I think we’re seeing the transition of D&D from hobby to entertainment.

 

[Mordhau]

It will be interesting to see whether 5e or 5.5 look the more dated in another 10 or 15 years.