Right, so they announced 5.5e will be released in 2024 on that Future of D&D panel thing (something to do with Bell of Lost Souls. Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m kind of clueless about this whole thing). So this thread is so everyone can speculate, rant, give opinions, etc about this almost-kind-of new edition. Share links to articles or videos on it if you know of any!
Not the quote marks. There's almost no information on the 2024 plans yet, and whether it amounts to any sort of '5.5e', a full-up 6e, a 5.25e, or even just a 5.125e that's little more than officially incorporating Tasha's into the core rules. The Bell of Lost Souls thing was an entirely separate article about EN World, a third-party company, doing their own version of 5.5e. it has nothing to do with Wizards of the Coast's own plans.
But yeah. Read that thread with a grain of salt, The Usual Arguments abound in plenty. Sigh.
Not the quote marks. There's almost no information on the 2024 plans yet, and whether it amounts to any sort of '5.5e', a full-up 6e, a 5.25e, or even just a 5.125e that's little more than officially incorporating Tasha's into the core rules. The Bell of Lost Souls thing was an entirely separate article about EN World, a third-party company, doing their own version of 5.5e. it has nothing to do with Wizards of the Coast's own plans.
But yeah. Read that thread with a grain of salt, The Usual Arguments abound in plenty. Sigh.
Oh duh, I didn’t see that *facepalm*. Yay, I haven’t had a good DDB Forum Argument in ages!*
I mean, could always actually have an excited/positive discussion in here, mebbe? I for one am really keen to know what kind of updates we'll be getting, especially given that Madd Hyooj survey they released recently on all the different classes/subclasses. Even just a 5.125 Consolidated Book could make some badly needed edits to older content that doesn't fit the new paradigms anymore, or polish up different class/character features that just suck. A lot of newer feats and some of the new species, like the WBtW fairies, can use any spell slots they have to cast their innate magic; imagine how cool it'd be to open up older feats like Magic Initiate or older species like tiffles with innate casting to do the same thing! I'm really hoping modern QoL features like that get backhacked into the rest of the books, officially, instead of having to convince a DM to let it happen instead of "um, ackshooallee..."ing at you.
And that's just one small but super-cool change that could potentially be proliferated back throughout the entire game by the 2024 redux. I am excite, even if also a little concerned at where DDB will be in all of this.
I don't think it's going to be 5.5 at all unless you consider Tasha's to be 5.5, if that counts as positive? I think the books that came out 10 years ago will be updated with design principles that have evolved since then and can be seen in the most recent 5e products. Tasha's alternate beast companion rules vs. the original PHB's for example.
Think about it. Your 50th anniversary is coming up so you have to do something big, but your current edition is hitting new sales records with each successive year. You do not make a major course change when you're in that situation. That plus their actual language that strongly and explicitly confirmed compatibility and never once included a reference to a new edition indicated that this is not going to be as big a deal as most people are making it out to be.
At any rate, I'm psyched to see what they have in store. I like what little we've heard about the changes to monsters and I like many of the design directions in the latest products, so I expect I'll be happy.
I'd be happy if it was like Tashas. Fixing up some class and subclass issues. For example some of the older subclasses could use a touch up IMO similar to the ranger thing. Add in some new optional rules. Flesh out some areas where 5E doesn't touch or barely touches.
A consolidated ruleset would be in their best interests after ten years of books. Yeah, each new rules expansion is a bestseller, but it also increases the overhead required to play. If you want to use the new rules in Tasha's Cauldron you need to have Tasha's Cauldron, which makes it a little weird when new species use those rules in adventure books like VRG or WBW people may buy without necessarily buying the rules expansions. Having a chance to get all the errata in one place as well, and fixing things that didn't work as well in design such as certain features of commonly underused classes, means they can essentially relaunch 5e and position it to repeat its own success. Yes, there'll be friction and people not wanting new books, but frankly that's going to happen regardless and nothing will invalidate existing books. Original 5e core rulebooks will work just as well as they did before and be just as compatible with most new adventures, there's just this extra layer people who opt in can access now.
It's honestly probably the best answer to the dreaded Splatbook Bloat everyone keeps harbinger-of-dooming over. Incorporate the best bits of previous rules expansions into a new, expanded release of the core three and get many of the benefits of a new edition launch without most of the trauma of abandoning an old edition. As close to "everybody wins" as you can get, really.
I agree that I don't think it will be 5.5e or 6e, but more updating to their new design philosophy from Tasha's onwards. And since it will be backwards compatible, according to them, it shouldn't be such a huge change.
Some want to stay with 5e, if the "new evolution" goes too far. Depending on licensing, maybe DDB could keep the "old" 5e toggleable, kind of like you can choose Critical Role, M:tG, etc, at character creation and you can keep playing that. Or toggle on the "new evolution" whatever they call it, and you can play that version.
I am assuming that new books will need to be bought, you just won't log into DDB one day and your PHB has been updated with all the new content for free. So you could have a PHB 5e and PHB 5.x or whatever they call it. Not that I want to spend more money on more books, but it seems that these changes will require a lot of work and I don't see them updating for free, as if it were some kind of errata, like the changes to Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade.
I am assuming that new books will need to be bought, you just won't log into DDB one day and your PHB has been updated with all the new content for free.
New content for free? Nope. Updates to existing content? That's WotC's call first. So far they've required DDB to reflect the most up to date official rules in their digital versions of WotC's books.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
My tea leaves, which I don't necessarily put a lot of stock into, goes with the "consolidated" or anniversary "packaging" of the existing rules (including expansions) into one set(s). I put plural because I could picture (something similar to what we have with basic/essentials and the hardcover cores, but maybe even more diverse than that) that will allow people to access the game at various price points. As far as the talk "D&D has to do something big and bold for the anniversary" ... I think anniversaries are only really celebrated by people who've bought into the system so to speak, so to "celebrate" by "we're chasing it all again" just doesn't seem to go with business sense for anniversaries. Push out products that celebrate the anniversary, but they're sort of to enhance people's experience of the current state of things in appreciation for their sticking around. Biggest indicator of this is the boxed set coming out this winter. Why redo monster stat blocks stylistically and mechanically (spellcasting) but in a way that's still completely 5e compatible if you're going to do something considerably more different in a couple of years?
That's as far as WotC rules and publications. As for the fate of DDB. I don't know what to make of all the "digital hires" going on supposedly in WotC or even the D&D studio. However, I'm wondering if in a "worst case" scenario where things happen where DDB can't "move on" with WotC but can "hold what they got" ... I could see them opening themselves up to third party collaborations ... I'm predicating that "best case of a worst case" on something I saw some D&D pundit put out there ... that with the 50th D&D will circle the wagons and do everything in house and bar third party access to its "latest and greatest" edition, though frankly I don't think WotC/Hasbro really sees themselves in competition with all those smaller presses and kickstarters, if anything I think we're seeing more and more people from the "indy" side of things trying their hand at working for official D&D in a bunch of recent products, plus their utilization at various official D&D events.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
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Right, so they announced 5.5e will be released in 2024 on that Future of D&D panel thing (something to do with Bell of Lost Souls. Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m kind of clueless about this whole thing). So this thread is so everyone can speculate, rant, give opinions, etc about this almost-kind-of new edition. Share links to articles or videos on it if you know of any!
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
Discussion is already in progress, sort of, here: New Books, "New Edition", "Confirmed."
Not the quote marks. There's almost no information on the 2024 plans yet, and whether it amounts to any sort of '5.5e', a full-up 6e, a 5.25e, or even just a 5.125e that's little more than officially incorporating Tasha's into the core rules. The Bell of Lost Souls thing was an entirely separate article about EN World, a third-party company, doing their own version of 5.5e. it has nothing to do with Wizards of the Coast's own plans.
But yeah. Read that thread with a grain of salt, The Usual Arguments abound in plenty. Sigh.
Please do not contact or message me.
Oh duh, I didn’t see that *facepalm*. Yay, I haven’t had a good DDB Forum Argument in ages!*
*sarcasm.
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
I mean, could always actually have an excited/positive discussion in here, mebbe? I for one am really keen to know what kind of updates we'll be getting, especially given that Madd Hyooj survey they released recently on all the different classes/subclasses. Even just a 5.125 Consolidated Book could make some badly needed edits to older content that doesn't fit the new paradigms anymore, or polish up different class/character features that just suck. A lot of newer feats and some of the new species, like the WBtW fairies, can use any spell slots they have to cast their innate magic; imagine how cool it'd be to open up older feats like Magic Initiate or older species like tiffles with innate casting to do the same thing! I'm really hoping modern QoL features like that get backhacked into the rest of the books, officially, instead of having to convince a DM to let it happen instead of "um, ackshooallee..."ing at you.
And that's just one small but super-cool change that could potentially be proliferated back throughout the entire game by the 2024 redux. I am excite, even if also a little concerned at where DDB will be in all of this.
Please do not contact or message me.
I was gonna delete this thread, but maybe rename it the “Positive 5.5 discussion” thread and not allow arguments or something?
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
Extended Sig
Could try it and see how it works. What's there to lose, after all?
Please do not contact or message me.
I don't think it's going to be 5.5 at all unless you consider Tasha's to be 5.5, if that counts as positive? I think the books that came out 10 years ago will be updated with design principles that have evolved since then and can be seen in the most recent 5e products. Tasha's alternate beast companion rules vs. the original PHB's for example.
Think about it. Your 50th anniversary is coming up so you have to do something big, but your current edition is hitting new sales records with each successive year. You do not make a major course change when you're in that situation. That plus their actual language that strongly and explicitly confirmed compatibility and never once included a reference to a new edition indicated that this is not going to be as big a deal as most people are making it out to be.
At any rate, I'm psyched to see what they have in store. I like what little we've heard about the changes to monsters and I like many of the design directions in the latest products, so I expect I'll be happy.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I'd be happy if it was like Tashas. Fixing up some class and subclass issues. For example some of the older subclasses could use a touch up IMO similar to the ranger thing. Add in some new optional rules. Flesh out some areas where 5E doesn't touch or barely touches.
A consolidated ruleset would be in their best interests after ten years of books. Yeah, each new rules expansion is a bestseller, but it also increases the overhead required to play. If you want to use the new rules in Tasha's Cauldron you need to have Tasha's Cauldron, which makes it a little weird when new species use those rules in adventure books like VRG or WBW people may buy without necessarily buying the rules expansions. Having a chance to get all the errata in one place as well, and fixing things that didn't work as well in design such as certain features of commonly underused classes, means they can essentially relaunch 5e and position it to repeat its own success. Yes, there'll be friction and people not wanting new books, but frankly that's going to happen regardless and nothing will invalidate existing books. Original 5e core rulebooks will work just as well as they did before and be just as compatible with most new adventures, there's just this extra layer people who opt in can access now.
It's honestly probably the best answer to the dreaded Splatbook Bloat everyone keeps harbinger-of-dooming over. Incorporate the best bits of previous rules expansions into a new, expanded release of the core three and get many of the benefits of a new edition launch without most of the trauma of abandoning an old edition. As close to "everybody wins" as you can get, really.
Please do not contact or message me.
I agree that I don't think it will be 5.5e or 6e, but more updating to their new design philosophy from Tasha's onwards. And since it will be backwards compatible, according to them, it shouldn't be such a huge change.
Some want to stay with 5e, if the "new evolution" goes too far. Depending on licensing, maybe DDB could keep the "old" 5e toggleable, kind of like you can choose Critical Role, M:tG, etc, at character creation and you can keep playing that. Or toggle on the "new evolution" whatever they call it, and you can play that version.
I am assuming that new books will need to be bought, you just won't log into DDB one day and your PHB has been updated with all the new content for free. So you could have a PHB 5e and PHB 5.x or whatever they call it. Not that I want to spend more money on more books, but it seems that these changes will require a lot of work and I don't see them updating for free, as if it were some kind of errata, like the changes to Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
New content for free? Nope. Updates to existing content? That's WotC's call first. So far they've required DDB to reflect the most up to date official rules in their digital versions of WotC's books.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
My tea leaves, which I don't necessarily put a lot of stock into, goes with the "consolidated" or anniversary "packaging" of the existing rules (including expansions) into one set(s). I put plural because I could picture (something similar to what we have with basic/essentials and the hardcover cores, but maybe even more diverse than that) that will allow people to access the game at various price points. As far as the talk "D&D has to do something big and bold for the anniversary" ... I think anniversaries are only really celebrated by people who've bought into the system so to speak, so to "celebrate" by "we're chasing it all again" just doesn't seem to go with business sense for anniversaries. Push out products that celebrate the anniversary, but they're sort of to enhance people's experience of the current state of things in appreciation for their sticking around. Biggest indicator of this is the boxed set coming out this winter. Why redo monster stat blocks stylistically and mechanically (spellcasting) but in a way that's still completely 5e compatible if you're going to do something considerably more different in a couple of years?
That's as far as WotC rules and publications. As for the fate of DDB. I don't know what to make of all the "digital hires" going on supposedly in WotC or even the D&D studio. However, I'm wondering if in a "worst case" scenario where things happen where DDB can't "move on" with WotC but can "hold what they got" ... I could see them opening themselves up to third party collaborations ... I'm predicating that "best case of a worst case" on something I saw some D&D pundit put out there ... that with the 50th D&D will circle the wagons and do everything in house and bar third party access to its "latest and greatest" edition, though frankly I don't think WotC/Hasbro really sees themselves in competition with all those smaller presses and kickstarters, if anything I think we're seeing more and more people from the "indy" side of things trying their hand at working for official D&D in a bunch of recent products, plus their utilization at various official D&D events.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.