D&D (2024) Is the 5E player base going to split?

[GMforPowergamers]

In my opinion, if I saw the 5E rules way back in 1981 I would have still recognized it as D&D.

okay, maybe I just have very different experiences with players calling out the things as 'sooooo different' even here on enworld even WITH the time and slow adjustments

 

[TwoSix]

When I switched editions from 2E to 3E it didn't feel like a different game. I was just happy they changed the math to get rid of THAC0 and rolling high for saving throws. At the time discussed how I wished they had done those changes back in 2E. I don't see that much difference between 3E and 5E in the play loop or actual execution.

Skipping 4E, I've always been able to transfer over PCs from one edition to the next pretty easily. The details of the implementation changes a bit but the resulting character is much the same. I can't go back in time of course so it all just comes down to opinion. In my opinion, if I saw the 5E rules way back in 1981 I would have still recognized it as D&D.

I think as long as you have the level, stats, race, and class, you can transfer between any D&D edition pretty easily, although you might have some differences in overall ability. But it's really the character that matters, not the build, so those abilities seem pretty secondary.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

But it's really the character that matters, not the build, so those abilities seem pretty secondary.

yeah and this is why ANY game that lets you customize and has things even close can have your D&D character ported over.

 

[Parmandur]

Sure. My only major point is that while making changes can be risky, staying the same carries its own set of risks. There's no obvious choice where the game will definitely keep growing the way it has been. It's quite possible there's NO choice where the game can continue its rate of growth.

The rate of growth is not sustainable, no, but creating a stable rhythm with multimedia tie-ins is their stated plan. The movie is more important for driving revenue than cleaning up the rules.

 

[Tonguez]

Following the Edition Wars of 2024 Level Up II emerged to become the only surviving Universal RPG behemoth. Its innovative mechanics allow it to run any kind of game as long as its DnD

 

[James Gasik]

I don't know, I have a friend, Guy, who still to this day calls 3e "that horrible WotC edition" and insists that they should have stuck to making a card game. The way he talks, you might think he was somehow personally betrayed by 3e's existence. He still plays and runs his 1e/2e mashup with tons of custom rules, and he seems barely cognizant that we're up to 5e D&D.

When you ask him what the big deal is, he always starts with "why did they change Thac0, there was no reason to do that". He actually likes rolling high to attack and rolling low for ability checks! He likes the random d100 subsystems- I've tried for two decades now to even get him to try a newer iteration of D&D (or even Pathfinder), and he turns up his nose like it's limburger!

So yeah, I don't think you could have seamlessly ported 5e to the 80's. People playing regular D&D would be like "uh, why is everything so complicated and weird?" Also, 5e has demons and devils and let's not forget how that went...

And come on, AD&D without Gygaxian hyperbole and purple prose? Without arcane and profound rules densely packed into the DMG?

Blasphemy! People would riot in the streets saying "where's mah rules, TSR?!"

 

[Vaalingrade]

I for one am just glad that every d20 system game from the early 00's is D&D

 

[Parmandur]

I don't know, I have a friend, Guy, who still to this day calls 3e "that horrible WotC edition" and insists that they should have stuck to making a card game. The way he talks, you might think he was somehow personally betrayed by 3e's existence. He still plays and runs his 1e/2e mashup with tons of custom rules, and he seems barely cognizant that we're up to 5e D&D.

When you ask him what the big deal is, he always starts with "why did they change Thac0, there was no reason to do that". He actually likes rolling high to attack and rolling low for ability checks! He likes the random d100 subsystems- I've tried for two decades now to even get him to try a newer iteration of D&D (or even Pathfinder), and he turns up his nose like it's limburger!

So yeah, I don't think you could have seamlessly ported 5e to the 80's. People playing regular D&D would be like "uh, why is everything so complicated and weird?" Also, 5e has demons and devils and let's not forget how that went...

And come on, AD&D without Gygaxian hyperbole and purple prose? Without arcane and profound rules densely packed into the DMG?

Blasphemy! People would riot in the streets saying "where's mah rules, TSR?!"

Yet still I doubt that a bunch of random kids in 1981 would have trouble understanding that they were looking st a D&D variant.

 

[dytrrnikl]

Idle curiosity about how folks feel. I don't really have a dog in the race and haven't been paying super close attention to things, but it appears that we are in the early stages of a "renovation" of the 5E rules, and we know we have revised core books coming.

So what I am curious about is how folks feel. Do you think that "5.5" is going to split the 5E player base such that there are 2 camps of 5E players -- 5.0 and 5.5? I know that some people felt that way about 4E essentials, and some folks stuck with 3.0 rather than go to 3.5.

What do you think?

Also, be nice.

EDITED for grammar.

If you look at past history, yes, the player base will split. Change is not something that is ever accepted without someone grousing about it. It happened with 1E to 2E, 2E to 3E, 3E to 4E which actually spawned Pathfinder 1E, and 4E to 5E. People like what they like. I still prefer 2E AD&D over other versions. With Star Wars, if it’s not the d6 West End Games version, it’s just not something I enjoy. YMMV.

 

[James Gasik]

Sure they would, the instant they see a 5e Halfling. "What the...that's not a Hobbit!"