D&D 5E (2024) Out with the old, in with the new?

[cbwjm]

If I go back to my old campaign world to run something in it for friends, I'll likely stick to the old books if not switching to a new (or old) system completely. If friends run something with the new books then I'll play one of the updated classes.

 

[demoss]

I find this fascinating. Have you done tht with any previous books? Seen them published but only allowed the use of them bit by bit? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone doing that.

Saying "we're using the this stuff, not that stuff" is IMO the most common thing in the world, so I'm not sure what you mean?

Seeing something published doesn't mean (1) I've bought it and (2) read it (3) liked it and (4) decided to using it is worth the effort required to change things. Money, time, and effort are all limited resources.

If I were to read the next edition, I might well decide I like it better, but I'm honestly not super interested in reading another D&D rulebook this year, let alone several. I haven't really heard anything about the coming edition that makes me think spending time reading it isn't better spent thinking about the campaign or worldbuilding.

If I do read it, and the I have a 5e game running. I'm 100% not going to do a reset of any kind, but introduce the stuff that seems like it would improve my game piecemeal.

If I do read it, and I don't have a 5e game running, and I decide I like 5.5 better, and the campaign I'm want to run is sufficiently compatible (How compatible is say Ptolus 5e with 5.5? I don't know!), it will be 5.5e... but that's not a reset either, just a new game.

Honestly, the idea that someone would "reset" a running game because a new edition came out, unless they were deeply unhappy with their current ruleset is just alien to me. I can transitioning as smoothly as possible from eg, "rules I have problems with" to "rules that seem clearly better". I don't understand a reset, especially if the rules don't seem broken in your game.

EDIT: for clarity - I don't currently have a 5e game going. I'm considering running Ptolus using either Cypher or 5e once one of my current OSR (Macchiato Monsters) games finishes.

 

[GrimCo]

Pick and choose. As in, wait till update comes out, read through, look at changes and go from there. If updated stuff is better or i like it more, than i'll use updated stuff, if i like old stuff better, i'll use old stuff. Same thing that happened with 3 and 3.5 ed. We used 3ed splatbooks normally in 3.5 games.

All 3 of us that DM experiment with house rules and home brewed stuff heavily already, so I look at this update more like a list of potential "house rules" some else made.

 

[TerraDave]

yeah -- that's why I said player-facing stuff.

But you did not actually say that.

 

[el-remmen]

But you did not actually say that.

But he did in the very first post!

(For now, I’m just thinking of player-facing material.)

 

[Charlaquin]

Basically going to keep any old material that isn’t reproduced in the new books, and get rid of anything that is. Essentially, the rule will be “the most recently printed version of any option takes precedence.”

 

[Clint_L]

Yes, of course. I'm thinking more about keeping things in play once PHB 2024 is out. I am not convinced that they will keep the older books in print (both physically and in the DDB) and that will obviously affect things.

I think they for sure will NOT keep the older books in print. This has already happened on DDB: they stopped selling Volo's and Tome of Foes when Monsters of the Multiverse came out. However, if you already owned those books, nothing happened. Then when I eventually added MotM, I gained an option to toggle the older books on or off. I left them on, so now when building an encounter I can choose between the different versions of monsters (I prefer the older spell blocks).

I think it very likely that the same will happen with the 2024 updates: nothing will change on DDB until you buy a new version of one of the books, and when you do, you will get options. I'll be interested to see how granular those options are, like will I just have a choice between having the 2014 book on or off, or will I be able to toggle specific sections.

 

[TerraDave]

But he did in the very first post!

In parentheses at the bottom of the 2nd para does not count. In the wording of the poll or maybe the first few sentences would count.

 

[el-remmen]

In parentheses at the bottom of the 2nd para does not count. In the wording of the poll or maybe the first few sentences would count.

It's his fault you didn't read fully. Got it.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I find this fascinating. Have you done tht with any previous books? Seen them published but only allowed the use of them bit by bit? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone doing that.

This was basically done by everyone I know during the transition from 1e to 2e.

"I like the new level caps for non-humans, but it will be a cold day in the Nine Hells before I allow caps on spell damage dice!"
"I'm glad they simplified bards, but I'm not giving up assassins or half-orcs!"
"I love all the new dragon types, but I'm going to call devils devils and demons demons, and not some other weird names they're trying to assign them"

And, honestly, it really didn't cause any real mess at the time.