RPG Evolution: The Half-Edition Shuffle

The next edition of Dungeons & Dragons is finally on the horizon, but it's not here just yet. So when do publishers makes the shift?

A Historical Model​

D&D has been through several editions in recent memory, but few match the recent transition between two compatible editions. Although backwards compatibility is often promised, it's rarely delivered. And there's also the consideration of the thousands of small press publishers created through the Open Game License movement, which didn't exist before Third Edition. Of all the edition shifts, the 3.0 to 3.5 transition seems closest to what D&D is going through right now, so it's a good place to start this thought experiment.

Compatible, Sort Of​

Fifth Edition's transition to Sixth involves tweaks to the game. Those tweaks seemed largely cosmetic, at first. With the release of Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse, it's clear that the spellcasting section of monsters is going to be significantly changed. In short, while players may find their characters compatible with the latest edition of D&D, DMs may find their monsters aren't. And that's a problem for publishers. But mechanically, all of these issues can be addressed. What really matters is what customers think. And that's often shaped by branding.

What a Half-Edition Means​

The transition between Third Edition and 3.5 was more significant than many publishers were expecting. You can see a list on RPG Stack Exchange, which shows just how much the new edition changed the game.

This did not go unnoticed by consumers. The OGL movement was still developing but it caught many publishers by surprise, including the company I wrote for at the time, Monkeygod Publishing (they're no longer in business). When we released my hardcover book Frost & Fur, the only identifier was the D20 System logo. Little did we know that it was imperative to identify the book as 3.5-compatible (which it was), because stores wouldn't carry it and consumers wouldn't buy it if it wasn't.

There wasn't nearly as much communication from WIzards of the Coast back then as to how to prepare for the edition change, much less columns from the company explaining their strategy. More communication about the upcoming edition may mitigate its impact on third-party publishers.

Between the DM's Guild and DriveThruRPG, there is now an ecosystem that can more readily update itself without taking up shelf space or clogging up inventory. Digital products can be changed, covers can be rebranded, and newsletters can announce the update. Wizards of the Coast has also given considerable lead time on the coming changes by announcing the edition well in advance and updating books piecemeal so developers can see what changed. But there's still one important piece of the puzzle.

What Do Consumers Think?​

One of the ongoing concerns for supporting publishers of Third Edition was how the Open Game License would be updated and, at least as important, how to identify that compatibility.

Updating the OGL enables publishers to ensure their products are compatible. The OGL doesn't specify stat block structure, so it may not even be necessary to update the license much if at all.

Identifying compatibility will be even more critical. At some point, publishers will start identifying their products as Sixth Edition compatible. And that will happen when consumers shift their spending habits.

The Changeover​

But first, WOTC has to declare that Sixth Edition has officially arrived. Wizards was hesitant to put a number on Fifth Edition, preferring instead to indicate it was simply D&D to potentially head off edition controversy. Failure to do that in a timely fashion (or worse, failure to recognize a new edition at all and continue calling it Fifth Edition) will cause potential confusion in the marketplace, with both consumers and publishers.

At some point the tide will turn and consumers will expect compatibility with the new edition. That change is complicated by the fact that Sixth Edition should be largely compatible with Fifth Edition. But only consumers can decide that for sure; if they don't feel it is, there will be a sharp drop off in Fifth Edition buying habits. For smaller publishers, they'll stay close to the market to determine when that shift is happening and how to transition smoothly without harming their business model.

Getting it right can be lucrative. Getting it wrong can sink a company. The market convulsed massively when 3.5 came out, wiping out publishers and game store stock that were unprepared for the change. Here's hoping with enough foresight and planning, we don't have a repeat of the 3.0 transition.

 

[Cruentus]

I think the changes that are coming in 5.5 (or whatever it will end up being called) will be less significant than the changes that happened between 3.0 and 3.5. So far it's been what, some lore and cultural changes regarding demi-human races and how they're writing a part of the monster stat blocks? If it remains like that I very much doubt 3PP have much to worry about. I think the whole reason we're getting a new 5.5 edition is because somebody higher up decided that the game's been out since 2014. So it's time to get people to buy core rulebooks again. Which, is fine. But doesn't mean that the changes will be particularly significant if you're working back from that decision.

I also think, though, that we have to pay attention to what WOTC has been "testing" via UA, and other tweaks here are there. They've been floating the removal of short rest mechanics, for example. So, does that mean the new edition of the game does that across all classes and abilities? What about Feats? They just did a big survey on that. Classes? Already surveyed. What do they mean? Don't know. But its possible they change quite a bit. If they make a lot of small tweaks like that, it can and will have a knock on effect to other products out there.

And even the monster stat block changes have potentially impacted what is considered a spell for counterspell, and what is now an ability that isn't affected by it. Does that then mean counterspell changes? Is reworded? Removed? Even something simple can have larger impacts.

Now many might be able to adapt and make due, and it certainly won't invalidate older material, but I do think their changes will be beyond monster stat blocks and how racial abilities and scores are handled. And they'll still want to maintain the "accessible" label for DnD, so they're not going to push that work onto DMs and players.

 

[Seramus]

I would like them to stick with smaller numbers unless they are doing a radical overhaul. Something like 5.1 would be perfect, and give them room to grow.

I realize other companies like GW use full number steps without radical overhauls (sometimes). But I'm conditioned to expect huge changes in each full number step in D&D.

 

[Mannahnin]

At what point did we become complacent in expecting new editions for everything? We just accept that the past games we loved and enjoyed are somehow no longer valid or out of date with "modern" standards? And in order to be relevant, we must go along with the new wave and rebuy everything for the rest of our lives because the rules are marginally better than the last time. Yet the publishers continue to milk the loyalists with nostalgia by recycling previous materials and contents to fit the new operating system. It's either the same game, or it isn't.

I don't think people expect new editions for everything. Chess still has one set of rules, though some people are interested in and play variants.

At the opposite end of the spectrum from Chess might be games like Magic: The Gathering, or the Madden NFL series of games, which come out with new versions/expansions/updated content on a regular, constant schedule.

D&D seems to fall somewhere in the middle. No one NEEDS a new edition. Any given edition will serve perfectly well for a lifetime of play. But most gamers do seem to enjoy consuming/purchasing/reading new games, and enjoy some novelty in rules. A new edition of D&D is, I think for many, a chance to freshen the experience of playing our favorite RPG combined with a certain level of comfort and familiarity not present when we try to learn an entirely new game.

I definitely see different editions of D&D mostly as being variants, at this point rather than iterative improvements. Out of the nine or ten different versions of it I've played, probably my favorites are OD&D, B/X, 4E, and 5E, though each with at least a few house rules.

 

[Stormonu]

I'm not ready for 6E, but I've known it will come sooner or later. Back in the '90s, 2E was kept around for too long and got long in the tooth, looking archaic compared to other, new systems that were coming out at the time (like WoD, GURPS and others). We got the player's options for that version, but it was too little, too late - by the late '90s the system was really showing its age, and the game was buried in junk supplements.

Doesn't quite feel the same at the moment, I still enjoy the base game but I'm not on board with the tweaks coming out in the likes of Tasha's or the Mordy book. Feels like there is still a lot of older edition content (and new) they could still draw on without having to touch the base rules much, if at all.

Guess I'm now the one getting old and out of date, though.

 

[Baumi]

I'm not sure if backwards compability even matters. While you could have quite simply used 3.0 Material with 3.5 or 3.5 for Pathfinder, I personally never witnessed someone actually mixing them.

As soon as we started a new Edition, we used the Sourcebook from the new one exclusively. Even old Settingbooks (which are quite universal) are usually ignoried if a Book for the new Edition comes out.

 

[Morrus]

I'm not sure if backwards compability even matters. While you could have quite simply used 3.0 Material with 3.5 or 3.5 for Pathfinder, I personally never witnessed someone actually mixing them.

As soon as we started a new Edition, we used the Sourcebook from the new one exclusively. Even old Settingbooks (which are quite universal) are usually ignoried if a Book for the new Edition comes out.

Exactly. The perception matters just as much as the actual compatibility or lack thereof.

 

[DorkForge]

I'm not sure if backwards compability even matters. While you could have quite simply used 3.0 Material with 3.5 or 3.5 for Pathfinder, I personally never witnessed someone actually mixing them.

As soon as we started a new Edition, we used the Sourcebook from the new one exclusively. Even old Settingbooks (which are quite universal) are usually ignoried if a Book for the new Edition comes out.

I'd wager it matters a fair bit more nowadays: between paper, VTT, and D&D Beyond people can (and a lot do) own multiple copies of the same content. The heavier your investment, the more reluctant you'll be to just let that stuff sit unused.

And that's not considering people that want to use older stuff just because they like it, or because the beginning of a new edition means dearth of content if you use nothing but that edition.

 

[Jer]

Exactly. The perception matters just as much as the actual compatibility or lack thereof.

This is where Wizards marketing will matter more than the actual changes. Will they be promoting this like a new edition or will it be more of a "this is the same game, we're just doing a special book with new art for our anniversary and we're incorporating some errata and some changes in presentation along with it". Selling the changes to races as "changes in presentation" is part of this - you can still use the PHB races alongside the new ones without mechanical issues. If all of their changes are like that, it'll be easier to sell it as "same game, new presentation".

I personally suspect that at this point its actually in Wizards best interest to try to not have this be perceived as a "new edition". Where previously new editions came about when sales were low on core books and the rationale for a new edition was as much economic on the company's part as it was to update the game, Wizards is right now riding an all-time high on their core book sales. Killing that goose with a new edition is a bad idea, and I suspect they know it.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I am very hopeful, that they are doing playtests like they did with 5e. They say they want to and we already may do surveys that are quite exhaustive.
They still do fresh things for 5e which is an indicator that they expect maximum compatibility themselves. Otherwise they would start to do edition agnostic content very soon.

And to be honest. The game needs a slight overhaul to incorporate things they learnt. The sorcerer, 4e monk, PHB ranger got so much flag for being bad (although they are ok balance wise). Kicking them out of the PHB and replacing them with the tasha upgrades would be not a bad move. Same for downtime activities and tool proficiencies.

D&d has been 10 years of success. More than 3.x had and the aniversary will be the best time to do an upgrade. Actually better that they upgrade now, before they do planescape and dark sun, so my purchases will be up to date for longer.

 

[Von Ether]

At what point did we become complacent in expecting new editions for everything? We just accept that the past games we loved and enjoyed are somehow no longer valid or out of date with "modern" standards? And in order to be relevant, we must go along with the new wave and rebuy everything for the rest of our lives because the rules are marginally better than the last time. Yet the publishers continue to milk the loyalists with nostalgia by recycling previous materials and contents to fit the new operating system. It's either the same game, or it isn't.

About 40 years ago?

Funny because it is true. The whole "publish or your dead" runs through the hobby game store industry. The most popular wargames model (pun intended) is just as bad if not worse due to having to push out new minis to collect and paint.

Board games, however, seem to be immune even though many of them have expansions. In fact, their value goes up if a game goes out of print. The same goes for the inde wargame scene where they only have rules to buy and you can use any old minis you have at home.