D&D (2024) What Improvements Would You Want with 6E?

aco175 · Oct 20, 2019

I can see having skills be dependent on 2 attributes, this means that overlap is less and it makes each stat more valued. I'm not sure on adding both together or just picking the higher of the 2. An example would be perception where you could use intelligence or wisdom. Maybe adding both to get your bonus would work as well by changing the needed roll- making a check of 20 a average skill.

FrogReaver · Oct 20, 2019

Tony Vargas said:
The broader fantasy genre isn't real-world-plausible.

Can a non-magical fighter just walk through walls? Step on air till he walks over top of the wall? Take 2 steps and be wherever he wants to be? Transform into an eagle?

If not then there's definitely quite a few elements in this fantasy genre that are real world plausible. The notion that it's a fantasy setting doesn't mean ALL elements should be real world implausible.

Tony Vargas · Oct 20, 2019

FrogReaver said:
Can a non-magical fighter just walk through walls? Step on air till he walks over top of the wall? Take 2 steps and be wherever he wants to be? Transform into an eagle?

Can a wizard do any of those things in the real world? No.
The whole genre in not real-world-plausible.

Doc_Klueless · Oct 20, 2019

If this thread has taught me anything, it's that other people's improvements are not something I view as an improvement.

And vice versa.

heh.

FrogReaver · Oct 20, 2019

Tony Vargas said:
Can a wizard do any of those things in the real world? No.
The whole genre in not real-world-plausible.

Fantasy is a genre that is a mix of fantasy and real world. The fantasy elements are explicitly spelled out. Since resting isn’t spelled out the. It needs to be real world plausible. Imbue resting with magical power and it can do anything - but I do think a setting with that much fantasy would be appealing to most.

That’s why wizards can do non plausible real world things and be fine.

Tony Vargas · Oct 20, 2019

FrogReaver said:
Fantasy is a genre that is a mix of fantasy and real world.

No, the 'urban' fantasy sub-genre is.

Parmandur · Oct 20, 2019

FrogReaver said:
Why did they make a new edition with 3.x? Why did they make a new edition with 4e out? Ergo - there is and always has been a point to new editions.

Their plan was to make money, which worked in the short term but failed quickly in all four cases before descending into heads rolling and layoffs: 3.0 lasted three years, 3.5 did get five years, but straight 4E was replaced after about two years by Essentials and both were out of print within four years of the initial release.

As I said, WotC has learned their lesson, and has found that evergreen is the way to get the green.

FrogReaver · Oct 20, 2019

Parmandur said:
Their plan was to make money, which worked in the short term but failed quickly in all four cases before descending into heads rolling and layoffs: 3.0 lasted three years, 3.5 did get five years, but straight 4E was replaced after about two years by Essentials and both were out of print within four years of the initial release.

As I said, WotC has learned their lesson, and has found that evergreen is the way to get the green.

4e wasn't changed to 5e for more money - I mean more money was important - but it was changed because it wasn't working.

I can't speak with as much certainty about why 3.x was changed to 4e.

So ultimately the evidence is a little shoddy that new editions were simply done to achieve more money - they are done for that - but at least some 4e to 5e were done because the previous edition wasn't working.

Parmandur · Oct 20, 2019

FrogReaver said:
4e wasn't changed to 5e for more money - I mean more money was important - but it was changed because it wasn't working.

I can't speak with as much certainty about why 3.x was changed to 4e.

In both cases, it was money. It's always money. 3.5 happened after 3.0 sales started crashing hard, and 4.0 happened after 3.5 cratered.

The way that 4E "wasn't working" was also money: the game worked fine for people who liked it, but the financials were not good enough to go on.

As such, we can predict that 6E will happen when 5E ceases to be financially satisfactory in a major way. However, if it is a successfully evergreen edition, with a rotating player base (people enter 7th grade every year), that might not happen as such.