D&D (2024) So IS it a new edition?

[Maxperson]

The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.

That's why I'm so against marathons.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

That's why I'm so against marathons.

Take your laugh, and feel terrible for it!

 

[Minigiant]

And I fall, narrowly, on the side of "yes" if I am absolutely forced into a binary.

If I were allowed a more nuanced answer, which the poll does not permit, I would have said "sort of." It is sort of a new edition, a new "version" as I would prefer to call it, but it is not completely a new "version."

That's the main reason the poll is so narrowly tied. The actual answer is "kind of, but not entirely" or "kind of, but not really", and those two get forced into being "yes" and "no" when you have an enforced black and white binary.

And I fall, narrowly, on the side of "yes" if I am absolutely forced into a binary.

If I were allowed a more nuanced answer, which the poll does not permit, I would have said "sort of." It is sort of a new edition, a new "version" as I would prefer to call it, but it is not completely a new "version."

That's the main reason the poll is so narrowly tied. The actual answer is "kind of, but not entirely" or "kind of, but not really", and those two get forced into being "yes" and "no" when you have an enforced black and white binary.

And that pretty much is what the issue is.

The 2024 version of D&D is not different enough from 5e to call it 6e.

That isn't how it works. Things don't cease to be what they are just because some people aren't willing to acknowledge them for what they are. An unwillingness to increase the number doesn't keep it from being a new edition.

That's exactly how it works.

When D&D gets a new addition the number increases.

Very few are willing to call this 6e.
Even if you take WOTC out the equation, few would call it 6e.

Even if you believe it a new addition you have to call it something. And that's the issue No one is willing to call it something and proclaim it as a new edition in name They are just willing to say it's a new edition.

Because that's never been the standard. D&D fans have always believed in addition change was a major shift that you can believe and see that the game has changed. The change between the 2014 version and the 2024 version It does not meet the standard that the majority of the fan base sees as a new addition who have experienced a new addition of D&D.

While some people might think that the changes are major. The majority of the fan base doesn't. This is especially true because D&D is a game built around house rules

The 2024 version of 5V does not separate itself far enough from the old 2014 version of it that it feels like more than old 5e with house rules.

 

[Maxperson]

I like the DMG! It has all the stuff I want and need. I don’t even think it’s disorganized!

I mean, I've been a supporter of the 5e DMG and the information in it as well, but I've never called it well organized!

 

[Maxperson]

And that pretty much is what the issue is.

The 2024 version of D&D is not different enough from 5e to call it 6e.


That's exactly how it works.

When D&D gets a new addition the number increases.

Very few are willing to call this 6e.
Even if you take WOTC out the equation, few would call it 6e.

Even if you believe it a new addition you have to call it something. And that's the issue No one is willing to call it something and proclaim it as a new edition in name They are just willing to say it's a new edition.

Because that's never been the standard. D&D fans have always believed in addition change was a major shift that you can believe and see that the game has changed. The change between the 2014 version and the 2024 version It does not meet the standard that the majority of the fan base sees as a new addition who have experienced a new addition of D&D.

While some people might think that the changes are major. The majority of the fan base doesn't. This is especially true because D&D is a game built around house rules

The 2024 version of 5V does not separate itself far enough from the old 2014 version of it that it feels like more than old 5e with house rules.

A revised edition is still a new edition. It's literally not the old edition any longer. It doesn't matter what they want to call it(or not call it), it's still a new edition of the game. D&D 2024, 6e, Revised 5e, Goonygoogoo, 5.5e, etc. are all just names for the new edition.

I will agree, though, that few think the changes are drastic enough to warrant being called 6e.

 

[Minigiant]

A revised edition is still a new edition. It's literally not the old edition any longer. It doesn't matter what they want to call it(or not call it), it's still a new edition of the game. D&D 2024, 6e, Revised 5e, Goonygoogoo, 5.5e, etc. are all just names for the new edition.

I will agree, though, that few think the changes are drastic enough to warrant being called 6e.

But the question is not about whether it's a revised edition.

The question is "is a new edition?"

The crux of the matter is a question of whether or not the 2024 version of 5E is still 5e.

If people saying it's a new addition is a revised version of 5e then it's still 5e.

A revised edition of 5E is still 5e.

 

[Maxperson]

But the question is not about whether it's a revised edition.

The question is "is a new edition?"

The crux of the matter is a question of whether or not the 2024 version of 5E is still 5e.

If people saying it's a new addition is a revised version of 5e then it's still 5e.

A revised edition of 5E is still 5e.

At best it's a new edition of 5e, which is a new edition. And since you can't keep the same name, they've renamed that new edition.

 

[Daztur]

But if you can run a 0e adventure, surely you can see that using older sublcasses will be really easy?

Sure. It can be done pretty easily if DMs want to. But will DMs want to? They didn't with 3.0 and 3.5e content or with 3.5e and Pathfinder 1e content despite mixing and matching stuff between those games being pretty damn easy. WotC can't just declare stuff "backwards compatible" or not and there's no objective measure of "backwards compatibility." It all comes down to "will DMs allowing a mix of 5e and 5.5e content become the new norm?" and that's unknowable now and all depends on human interactions, not the rules themselves.

Personally I find the "people mix and match 5e and 5.5e freely ends up as the standard at most tables" scenario pretty unlikely. What's more probable for me is either:

1. 5.5e buries 5e as @FitzTheRuke predicts and he knows this naughty word better than I do and 5e mostly goes down the memory hole with 3.0e. Especially after a few 5.5e splats come out.

2. There's enough of a backlash against 5.5e that 5.5e doesn't become the default and there's a big split between 5e, 5.5e and non-D&D tables much like there was a big slit between 4e, PF 1e, and non-D&D stuff during the 4e era.

 

[mamba]

Personally I find the "people mix and match 5e and 5.5e freely ends up as the standard at most tables" scenario pretty unlikely.

when it comes to character options, I agree, I see no reason why e.g. Curse of Strahd or Tomb of Annihilation would not work with 2024 however, without any changes that go beyond what you have to do anyway (encounter balance for your party)

 

[Remathilis]

when it comes to character options, I agree, I see no reason why e.g. Curse of Strahd or Tomb of Annihilation would not work with 2024 however, without any changes that go beyond what you have to do anyway (encounter balance for your party)

I'm going to generally agree, with some expansion in this.

The "... Of everything" books are the ones that have the least compatibility and probably will be first to be redone and then abandoned.

Monsters of the Multiverse will probably see some of the races/species redone, but I feel the monsters part will remain viable for a while.

Most of the setting books vary. Sword Coast and Eberron could really use a mechanical update. Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Spelljammer and Planescape all will work fine enough with the new book. I don't think there is enough drive to redo Ravnica, Strixhaven and Theros. Wildmount is it's own beast.

Most of the other supplements (like the Guides to Dragons and Giants or the Book of Many Things) are perfectly fine. Monster design was already improving by the time those books came and the subs should still work with minimal fuss...

And the modules and anthologies will work fine with a few fixes here and there, assuming you're using the new MM.

At best, you have the two PC option books, a few species and one and a half- setting books in need of revision. That's still a goodly chuck of 5e that works fine with 5.24.