D&D 5E (2024) Predict WotC's 2026 D&D releases

[tetrasodium]

Sure, I've already seen 6e, and it's called Daggerheart.

I think it's more like draw steel or crows but dagger Heart has a solid place among them for its niche

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think it's more like draw steel or crows but dagger Heart has a solid place among them for its niche

Daggerheart is very much the direction of the mass market, and therefore the direction WotC have to follow. If WotC had put it out instead of a smaller company it’s what everyone would be playing now. Simple loose rules, with the emphasis on story and role play is what the mass market wants. Fantasy small unit tactics remains as niche (and male) as it was in the 1970s. There is a direct correlation between the simplicity of your rules and the number of people willing to play.

 

[tetrasodium]

Daggerheart is very much the direction of the mass market, and therefore the direction WotC have to follow. If WotC had put it out instead of a smaller company it’s what everyone would be playing now. Simple loose rules, with the emphasis on story and role play is what the mass market wants. Fantasy small unit tactics remains as niche (and male) as it was in the 1970s. There is a direct correlation between the simplicity of your rules and the number of people willing to play.

I've run both dh and ds in public/open games at a flgs. "Story and roleplay" is great sure, especially in a made for profit live play with a cast of professional voice actors but the average mass market player doesn't give a fig about roleplay beyond their own nose and just wants the ttrpg equipment of isekai anime author/viewer self insert power fantasy a couple hours a week. What you cute as a "mass market" of roleplayers is more than a little an over hyped echo chamber fueled by the ROLEplay vrs ROLEplay crowd.

Dh has a place yes, but that place is not the next d&d

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I've run both dh and ds in public/open games at a flgs.

People who turn up to such events are very self-selecting to be hardcore serious tabletop gamers. The mass market is made up of people who wouldn't be seen dead at a FLGs (even if they had one, most people don't).

 

[tetrasodium]

People who turn up to such events are very self-selecting to be hardcore serious tabletop gamers. The mass market is made up of people who wouldn't be seen dead at a FLGs (even if they had one, most people don't).

Funny I've never heard anyone say that about similarly posted and run AL games. Quite the opposite in fact, the draw of AL tends to get held up as a big deal thing for d&d. Both games were run on multiple days with totally different groups of varied trrpg experience.

Are you really claiming that a game posted to a flgs's AL facebook group and mentioned across multiple of those AL tables by their respective GM's is somehow going to be limited to "hardcore serious gamers"? It's ok for a system to be certain about it's niche and devote itself to heavily focusing on servicing that niche, but not every niche applies to every need.