D&D (2024) Is the 2024 rules update a new edition? Argue about it here (not everywhere else)!

[OldSchoolGamerGirl]

have been expecting a 5.5 edition. But after the fallout from the ap-OGL-ypse, there seems to be a new commitment to the 5.0 rules of 2014.

I am now expecting 2024 to be the normal 5.0.

one of the guys I play with keeps saying we (as in the whole community not enworld per say) are going to scare them off any major changes and innovations. So I can see it. If we don't see too many changes going forward we will know what we did.

 

[Vaalingrade]

one of the guys I play with keeps saying we (as in the whole community not enworld per say) are going to scare them off any major changes and innovations. So I can see it. If we don't see too many changes going forward we will know what we did.

~looks at the last 10 years~

A-yup.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Please reread what I said, as this is not what I was referring to as rules. That was an example solely of errata that went back several books.

The rule example I said was Hide. If one person at a table has a 2014!PHB that says the rule works one way, and another has a 2024!PHB that the rule works another way, and the DM or table needs to make a call which set of rules they are using, then those aren't the same ruleset, and therefore aren't the same edition.

An actual 2014 PHB has darkness that works backward: if I'm in a 300 yard pitch-black cavern holding up a candle, I can see everything because I'm not heavily obscured, but any bandits hiding out there in the dark can't see me because they are heavily obscured.

This was fixed around, I dunno, late 2015?

If you're differentiating rulesets you need to differentiate WotC 2014 from WotC 2015.

IMO WotC is currently publishing 5.3--there was a clear change in design philosophy after Mearls left, and 5.5 monsters will resemble MPMoM monsters more closely than Volo's monsters, which were arguably the high point of WotC 5E monster design.

 

[Yaarel]

one of the guys I play with keeps saying we (as in the whole community not enworld per say) are going to scare them off any major changes and innovations. So I can see it. If we don't see too many changes going forward we will know what we did.

Something like that.

My impression is.

WotC doesnt want to rock-the-boat, with regard to its current customers. Or at least as minimally as possible.

Since 2014, the timetable for 5.0 publications have been slow and cautious anyway, and this will continue into 2024.

The real shift has been the WotC attitude toward independent publishers. The 5e designers always liked the indies, but now the indies have new clout, and the business side of WotC respects them. WotC wants the indies on board with the 5e gaming system. This is the business model that the OGL innovated way back when, but it is a business model that has proven itself to work. This is where the new commitment to the 2014 gaming rules is coming from. WotC wants the indies to use this 2014 gaming system, specifically the one that is now open via the CC-BY license.

Kyle Brink who heads the 5e design team, values this business model. He views the role of WotC as a high quality contributor to the 5e gaming system − alongside the indies who are also supporting this gaming system.

The image that comes to mind is. 5e is now like a navy, with WotC like the momentous aircraft carrier, surrounded by a fleet of indy warships that support it.

WotC will continue to be slow and steady. The daring and agile innovations in 5e will come from the indies. But with the new clout that the indies enjoy, the 5e gaming communities will seriously explore the experiments that come from the indies. So the "modularity" that many 5e players seek is actually going to happen soon because it will come from indies. WotC platforms like DnDBeyond and DMsGuild and whatever their future incarnations will make an effort to be more inclusive of 5e indy gaming products.

WotC will be the high quality reliable 5e product that integrates innovations only if a majority of consumers demand it. The two-thirds approval rating during playtests (or a percentage thereabouts) is working well for WotC. But now the niche markets from indies will be more accessible.

 

[ChameleonX]

I think they should resurrect the "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" label and just call this AD&D 5e.

 

[Yaarel]

I think they should resurrect the "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" label and just call this AD&D 5e.

Maybe the "Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons" label, AD&D?

 

[Jack Daniel]

WotC doesn't do "new editions" without changing the XP table and the saving throw mechanics.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

~looks at the last 10 years~

A-yup.

Cries Psionically

 

[Blue]

An actual 2014 PHB has darkness that works backward: if I'm in a 300 yard pitch-black cavern holding up a candle, I can see everything because I'm not heavily obscured, but any bandits hiding out there in the dark can't see me because they are heavily obscured.

This was fixed around, I dunno, late 2015?

If you're differentiating rulesets you need to differentiate WotC 2014 from WotC 2015.

Was this errata'd?

If so, then fully updated 2014 is the same as fully updated 2015. The rules don't differ.

Really, with the amount of focus I put on errata, this is a point I've already addressed multiple times. I will try to make it clearer: A rule that says the same thing as that same rule is the same rule. It doesn't matter if one got that way through errata post-printing and another got that way through errata pre-printing so it's printed correctly.

 

[mamba]

A rule that says the same thing as that same rule is the same rule. It doesn't matter if one got that way through errata post-printing and another got that way through errata pre-printing so it's printed correctly.

So if WotC releases a new SRD for the 2024 version with the rule changes then 1DD and 5e are the same too? I expect that for the core rules, e.g. the different conditions etc. The classes always were meant to exist in parallel. So 1DD then is the same edition as 5e according to your own definition.