I live in Japan and don’t have access to physical books at a reasonable price. I decided a few years ago to purchase the Legendary Bundle, and have bought everything else that has been released since then. I have been disappointed by some of the current content, but it is what it is.
However, with announcement of OneD&D, I am wondering if this investment is about to become less valuable. Is OneD&D really going to be backward compatible? Will I be able to use all the rule books I have? I also wonder if D&D Beyond will facilitate using ALL of my old content for character and content creation moving forward.
I am hesitant to continue purchasing and supporting until I have a better idea of how this is going to play out. Anyone have insights?
They said in the initial video that everything would be backwards compatible. Nobody will know how true, or rather accurate, that statement is until they reveal it in its mostly complete form. We also don't know if it will be its own gaming portal, and they will keep this one, or if it will all be merged. We will have to wait and see. Hopefully, it doesn't take away from players that have already invested, but from the perspective of someone that's played since 1978, there is an almost certainty that we, the players and customers, will be required to buy things all over again. As they say in the funny pages, this is the way.
Realistically, it's two years away. If there's something you want to buy that will enhance your game now, do what I just did, and buy it.
Certainly appreciate that perspective. It's like waiting to buy a computer until the newest one comes out... always a new one just a few months away. I am just wondering how things will be compatible with all the changes they are making to classes, races, etc. I could see the adventures being usable, but Players Handbook, DMguide, etc, not sure how they will pull it off. I guess I hope they have a switch that allows people to stay 5e or upgrade to new content, like they have with "Show Legacy Content" in the character builder.
if they treat it like they did with the new Mordekainen's, anyone that owns the older versions of Volo's and Mordekainen's will still have options to use the older material. It will simply have the Legacy tag on it, but it will still be usable. I get the impression that may have been a sort of test run going forward.
Obviously, making the adventure modules, both 5e and OneDND compatible across both edition sourcebooks is probably the higher level of focus. But when you think about how the game is played, one could argue you could take almost any adventure from any ruleset and find a wya to make 5E rules stick with just some extra work. Hopefully reasonable extra work.
I agree with the previous sentiment though, we're at least 2 years away. I think current purchases can still be made to have considerable value before the OneDND takes full root. So if you want something now, then go for it.
Looking at the latest playtest stuff the bard has been nerfed into a complete disaster. The new version is terrible, and so different to the current bard that there is no way it can be backwards compatible.
Looking at the latest playtest stuff the bard has been nerfed into a complete disaster. The new version is terrible, and so different to the current bard that there is no way it can be backwards compatible.
I don't think I agree with you there while some things have been nerfed others have seen massive boosts. The only thing I see as a massive nerf is limited to lore bards.
Inspiration will never be wasted on a character who doesn't doesn't use it in 10 minutes and can be used to heal an ally as soon as they go down
While Magical secrets comes later being able to change the spells each day is a huge buff, for example on a day you are in a city where the wizard can look for information in the library you could prepare find greater steed so you can have a pegasus, if the party has a ring of spell storing you can give a greater steed to other members of the party. The wizard finds out you need ot go to the othe rside of the continent so the next day you prepare transport via plants and then when you are expecting to go into combat you prepare wall of force and revivify.
Similarly Font of barding inspiration while coming on later gets a boost (effectively 12.5% more uses)
Overall I think the new Bard is more powerful than the od one but that is what play testing is for. I think the intention is that a one D&D character will have a similar level of power as a 5e character of the same level. I agree the sorts of changes we are seeing are massive, but is smaller than the difference between an artificer and any of the other classes in 5e. (Clearly a 5e Bard / One D&D bard multiclass doesn't make sense but having the new bard as being equally powerful but completely different doesn't prevent being able to play one D&D with either (or even one of each in the same party)
WotC have said One D&D will be compatible with 5e I am sure you will be able to play One D&D with the likes of Volo's and Tasha's but there wil be some issues that restrict you where the mix which means you may not want to. For example going by the play test character creation wil be completely different. Say you want to play a Grave Cleric, the sub-class is based on being build around the 5e Cleric class and a 5e background and race. It appears that subclass features will be at different levels so a grave cleric will have to use the 5e cleric base. If you pick a One D&D race and background RAW you get two sets of ASI increases the table would have to decide how the two mesh together, alternatively to just stick to 5e character creation. If the monsters don't get critical hits (as in the play test) you lose your level 6 feature you can still play like that but it is disappointing so you may get your DM to home brew something else.
Moving Bardic inspiration to proficiency bonus means you are getting 2 uses per day until 5th level where it becomes 3 (instead of potentially 4 and changing to per short rest at 5th level) that’s horrendous! Whilst on paper it looks like the feature is better due to the addition of healing, in reality it’s not going to get used because it has become such a precious resource that it will be hoarded for that worst case ever situation and then likely you will finish the day without using it and wishing you had. Being able to prepare spells daily is an awesome boost but you can now only chose from Divination, Enchantment, Illusion, or Transmutation schools which is severely limiting and also lose access to divine spells like cure wounds. Which over all is actually a massive nerf.
Putting font of inspiration back 2 levels just makes bardic inspiration even worse, its not much netter than a ribbon feature now, magical secrets going back a level would be bad for everyone except a lore bard normally but of course lore bards have now lost magical secrets as their level 6 ability so they get double wammied. Moving jack of all trades from 2nd to 5th is again a hideous nerf.
All these changes mean you literally have 2 completely different character classes and couldn’t have both in the same party, likewise excluding all of the other magical schools means scrolls, and spells and things are no longer backwards compatible. Over all it is a disaster for the bard class. The point is, we shouldn’t need to homebrew things to make a brand new character class work in the new system that has been completely rewritten to fit the new narrative that WoTC want to sell to newer generations of players.
Supplements may need a bit of work if you want to do things like use the old Bard but use the new subclass. They'll mostly work, but when you start trying to push the two together, it'll take work and some effort and allowance from the DM.
Obviously the rules will be a mess to merge, but if you're sticking to one, then that will work.
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Supplements may need a bit of work if you want to do things like use the old Bard but use the new subclass. They'll mostly work, but when you start trying to push the two together, it'll take work and some effort and allowance from the DM.
Obviously the rules will be a mess to merge, but if you're sticking to one, then that will work.
From what I've seen in the UA I doubt you will be able to use the old bard with a new subclass or vice versa, especially if the new classes get subclass features at different levels as is the case in the UA. Having a new race and and old class / subclass might require a bit of work with the DM but should be managable and multiclassin an old class and a new class might work. There will also be some issues to agree using the new rules on old features. For example does a 5e variant human get to choose any feat, any "old" feat, or a level one feat?
I suspect reality will be like 3.5 and pathfinder. They were designed to be compatable and technically they were but in reality everyone either stuck with 3.5 played pathfinder without incorporating anything from 3.5.
I think this thread is pointing out that at least the proposed Bard and other ideas floated out in the One D&D UA question how strong the "backward compatibility" claim between 5e and One D&D. It's worth saying again, who knows what it will look like? But it does seem from a balance perspective there will be some compatibility issues that if not addressed will make tension when using 5e sources and adventures and One D&D sources and adventures.
Does that make current D&D Beyond "investments" unusable? That depends. I wrote a bit about in a thread asking almost the identical question less than a week ago, and will just reproduce my response on that below, the question was also concerned about their 5e material "auto updating" to One D&D:
Mord's Monsters of the Multiverse (MMM) was supposed to be a sort of "preview" of what to expect in whatever they'll call One D&D (hopefully CD WOTC PROJEKT D&D GOLD 2024). Prior to MMM, D&D Beyond would update monsters based on iterations expressed in new official WotC content. I can't think of anything specific but I think Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade got some revision between books. These updates were automatic whether you had the new book or not and there was no access to prior expressions of the content.
MMM introduced the concept of "legacy" content for player races and monsters that were collected and revised in MMM for folks who owned the content with prior expressions of those monsters and races. The "legacies" are not available for purchase by DDB users who didn't have them already (to some grumbling by folks who feel ... deprived of something).
I think this legacy division or preservation is probably the best a "legacy" user of DDB in 5e can hope for. It does look like character generation is leaning to be a little "different", race choice will lose some significance, background choice gains considerable significance. So the question is as whatever DDB evolves into it as presumably follows One D&D, will it maintain the present 5e manner of "legacy" character generation. I don't believe it would be hard to do so, since it already exists, but I don't have the background in the dev skills that would provide a more accurate speculation. Also begs the question of a "legacy" generated characters compatibility with "New D&D feats and what not".
Another hints from One D&D to date that does make one wonder: magic works a bit differently too, at least in the way it's organized, so we'd also need a "legacy" organization of magic at least in terms of spell lists. I don't know but could imagine that means we may well have "legacy" spells and "new D&D spells" sharing names.
This might be frustrating to some users (there's some, not much, noise about "legacy" content organization as it is) I think it may be that if you're a dedicated 5e player, there may be some minor frustrations in working in the space of whatever DDB becomes in the One D&D future.
Homebrew might get weird too.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
So, off the post I just wrote, the question will be whether D&D Beyond will continue to support a subscribers investment or content purchased once the official edition of D&D becomes whatever One D&D will be named. I don't think anyone here really knows and stuff written by staff can be interpreted/extrapolated to make cases for and against.
I wouldn't surprise if there's a dip in D&D 5e materials, especially new stuff, over the next two years, and I'm imagining D&D Beyond will probably get hit harder than physical products precisely because there's concerns over what may happen to 5e content purchases on the "official" digital platform for "official" D&D once 5e is no longer "official". The "legacy" move with the content MMM "replaced" is promising, but the fact is currently 5e is still the official rule set so the legacy content. I'm sure DDB is hoping whatever One D&D Becomes it can be supported by the DDB engine as is, but I don't think the design team is prioritizing "preservation of D&D Beyond" as they develop the next iteration of D&D. If One D&D does require a entire revamp of DDB, that wouldn't bode well for the perpetual support/availability of ones 5e material on DDB.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Supplements may need a bit of work if you want to do things like use the old Bard but use the new subclass. They'll mostly work, but when you start trying to push the two together, it'll take work and some effort and allowance from the DM.
Obviously the rules will be a mess to merge, but if you're sticking to one, then that will work.
From what I've seen in the UA I doubt you will be able to use the old bard with a new subclass or vice versa, especially if the new classes get subclass features at different levels as is the case in the UA.
You can use new subclasses with the old Bard. The UA even tells you this and how to do it. But as I said, it would take work and effort.
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Supplements may need a bit of work if you want to do things like use the old Bard but use the new subclass. They'll mostly work, but when you start trying to push the two together, it'll take work and some effort and allowance from the DM.
Obviously the rules will be a mess to merge, but if you're sticking to one, then that will work.
From what I've seen in the UA I doubt you will be able to use the old bard with a new subclass or vice versa, especially if the new classes get subclass features at different levels as is the case in the UA.
You can use new subclasses with the old Bard. The UA even tells you this and how to do it. But as I said, it would take work and effort.
I don't think that is what they said, but actually the other way around. They encourage using the new class chassis with old subclasses if you want to try out a subclass other than Lore, Hunter, or Thief. I don't think there would be any reason to try one of the three new subclasses with the old class chassis.
I misremembered what they said, but the point still stands - the claim was that you can't do it either way, when you can do it at least one way, and there are even instructions on how. Still, if you wanted to do it the way I suggested, you could, it would just take some effort.
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I have the feeling that many players will probably pick and choose what new features from One D&D to use while mostly sticking to 5E - me and my group have already decided this as we feel that a lot of the veriety and lore has been taken out of the races and classes and some mechanics changed for no reason at all. The new stuff is way too simplified now, especially for players who are still making their way through the campaign books they brought out just before One D&D was announced. I think it would quite stupid for them to make the older stuff no longer useable considering this.
The thread is not about whether you can port One D&D content into 5e games in D&D in general. Of course you can do that. You can import mechanics from any system into your game if you want. The question is whether the 5e content people have bought access to on D&D Beyond wlll be supported and accessible (most likely as legacy content) when whatever the work in progress presently called One D&D becomes the official rule set. That is will there be a "legacy" section for the 5e books much like there's a legacy access for "owners" of Volo's and Tome of Foes in the wake of MMM. The fact that the "legacy" happened in that instance is promising. However, when D&D "evolves" into the new rules, how will "legacy" 5e books Hasbro/WotC has no interest in selling at that point be supported if at all?
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I live in Japan and don’t have access to physical books at a reasonable price. I decided a few years ago to purchase the Legendary Bundle, and have bought everything else that has been released since then. I have been disappointed by some of the current content, but it is what it is.
However, with announcement of OneD&D, I am wondering if this investment is about to become less valuable. Is OneD&D really going to be backward compatible? Will I be able to use all the rule books I have? I also wonder if D&D Beyond will facilitate using ALL of my old content for character and content creation moving forward.
I am hesitant to continue purchasing and supporting until I have a better idea of how this is going to play out. Anyone have insights?
It means that fifth edition adventures and supplements will work in One D&D. For example, if you want to run Curse of Strahd in One D&D, that book will work with the new versions of the core rulebooks. Our goal is for you to keep enjoying the content you already have and make it even better. You’ll see this in action through the playtest materials, which you will be able to provide feedback on.
I suspect that this does not apply to the 2014 core books, but the bulk of what you had purchased in your Legendary bundle will still be usable without issue.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form| Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock | He/Him/They/Them
The OP specifically asked “Is OneD&D really going to be backward compatible?” So yes, we are on topic.
That is part of the OP's overall concern but to claim vindication for all digressing from the overall concern is misguided cherrypicking. The question isn't really is One D&D going to be backward compatible with 5e, but whether the OP's D&D Beyond _investment_ mentioned in the title of their post will be compatible with however whatever OneD&D becomes will carry over as D&D Beyond evolved into whatever it will be to support the new official rules.
To that point, have you used the One D&D UA on DDB? Right now you can't play the One D&D Bard, Rogue, or Ranger on D&D Beyond, unless you do a homebrew that reminds the user to ignore or delay a lot of content of the base class, to the degree that such an exercise renders the whole point of using D&D Beyond over paper moot. While not unanimous, game designers I follow who've run through these new UA classes have expressed concerned that the "backward compatibility" at least as seen through the proposed Expert classes is actually very unbalanced to the point that "backward compatibility" seems to be more of a superficial feature than a mechanically functional one in terms of balance between 5e and 1D&D. I don't believe backward compatibility is a primary directive at all for the design, it's a marketing claim so that 5e sales don't cliff dive over the next two years while folks wait for a system with presumable official support longevity. My guess is there will be some sort of conversion document between the editions, and those tend to be half-baked in TTRPGs period, not just D&D. Will those conversion notes be implemented between D&D "Beyonds", some spokespeople claim yes, but I think a 5e owner wanting to engage what will be their "legacy" content with whatever One D&D calls itself are probably in for more hand tailoring than seamless experience. Compatibility does mean doable" more than "guaranteed done for you" in more sense than not.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I hate to say it, but I strongly doubt your stuff will be usable.
I'm sure they're going to take a page from Sony and keep up the 5e stuff for a few years, choking it off until enough people have moved to 6e for them to say, "Nobody uses it anymore, so we're going to repurpose those servers."
Get a real book or a PDF whenever you can.
As for comments about the simplification of OneD&D, I strongly suspect there are some new mechanics we haven't seen yet that require the simplifications we've gotten. They'll add that complexity your missing. I could be wrong, but this is from the company that discovered Lenticular Complexity, so I've got some faith in their rules depth.
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I live in Japan and don’t have access to physical books at a reasonable price. I decided a few years ago to purchase the Legendary Bundle, and have bought everything else that has been released since then. I have been disappointed by some of the current content, but it is what it is.
However, with announcement of OneD&D, I am wondering if this investment is about to become less valuable. Is OneD&D really going to be backward compatible? Will I be able to use all the rule books I have? I also wonder if D&D Beyond will facilitate using ALL of my old content for character and content creation moving forward.
I am hesitant to continue purchasing and supporting until I have a better idea of how this is going to play out. Anyone have insights?
They said in the initial video that everything would be backwards compatible. Nobody will know how true, or rather accurate, that statement is until they reveal it in its mostly complete form. We also don't know if it will be its own gaming portal, and they will keep this one, or if it will all be merged. We will have to wait and see. Hopefully, it doesn't take away from players that have already invested, but from the perspective of someone that's played since 1978, there is an almost certainty that we, the players and customers, will be required to buy things all over again. As they say in the funny pages, this is the way.
Realistically, it's two years away. If there's something you want to buy that will enhance your game now, do what I just did, and buy it.
"Pinkertons are NOT law enforcement."
Certainly appreciate that perspective. It's like waiting to buy a computer until the newest one comes out... always a new one just a few months away. I am just wondering how things will be compatible with all the changes they are making to classes, races, etc. I could see the adventures being usable, but Players Handbook, DMguide, etc, not sure how they will pull it off. I guess I hope they have a switch that allows people to stay 5e or upgrade to new content, like they have with "Show Legacy Content" in the character builder.
if they treat it like they did with the new Mordekainen's, anyone that owns the older versions of Volo's and Mordekainen's will still have options to use the older material. It will simply have the Legacy tag on it, but it will still be usable. I get the impression that may have been a sort of test run going forward.
Obviously, making the adventure modules, both 5e and OneDND compatible across both edition sourcebooks is probably the higher level of focus. But when you think about how the game is played, one could argue you could take almost any adventure from any ruleset and find a wya to make 5E rules stick with just some extra work. Hopefully reasonable extra work.
I agree with the previous sentiment though, we're at least 2 years away. I think current purchases can still be made to have considerable value before the OneDND takes full root. So if you want something now, then go for it.
Looking at the latest playtest stuff the bard has been nerfed into a complete disaster. The new version is terrible, and so different to the current bard that there is no way it can be backwards compatible.
I don't think I agree with you there while some things have been nerfed others have seen massive boosts. The only thing I see as a massive nerf is limited to lore bards.
Overall I think the new Bard is more powerful than the od one but that is what play testing is for. I think the intention is that a one D&D character will have a similar level of power as a 5e character of the same level. I agree the sorts of changes we are seeing are massive, but is smaller than the difference between an artificer and any of the other classes in 5e. (Clearly a 5e Bard / One D&D bard multiclass doesn't make sense but having the new bard as being equally powerful but completely different doesn't prevent being able to play one D&D with either (or even one of each in the same party)
WotC have said One D&D will be compatible with 5e I am sure you will be able to play One D&D with the likes of Volo's and Tasha's but there wil be some issues that restrict you where the mix which means you may not want to. For example going by the play test character creation wil be completely different. Say you want to play a Grave Cleric, the sub-class is based on being build around the 5e Cleric class and a 5e background and race. It appears that subclass features will be at different levels so a grave cleric will have to use the 5e cleric base. If you pick a One D&D race and background RAW you get two sets of ASI increases the table would have to decide how the two mesh together, alternatively to just stick to 5e character creation. If the monsters don't get critical hits (as in the play test) you lose your level 6 feature you can still play like that but it is disappointing so you may get your DM to home brew something else.
Moving Bardic inspiration to proficiency bonus means you are getting 2 uses per day until 5th level where it becomes 3 (instead of potentially 4 and changing to per short rest at 5th level) that’s horrendous! Whilst on paper it looks like the feature is better due to the addition of healing, in reality it’s not going to get used because it has become such a precious resource that it will be hoarded for that worst case ever situation and then likely you will finish the day without using it and wishing you had. Being able to prepare spells daily is an awesome boost but you can now only chose from Divination, Enchantment, Illusion, or Transmutation schools which is severely limiting and also lose access to divine spells like cure wounds. Which over all is actually a massive nerf.
Putting font of inspiration back 2 levels just makes bardic inspiration even worse, its not much netter than a ribbon feature now, magical secrets going back a level would be bad for everyone except a lore bard normally but of course lore bards have now lost magical secrets as their level 6 ability so they get double wammied. Moving jack of all trades from 2nd to 5th is again a hideous nerf.
All these changes mean you literally have 2 completely different character classes and couldn’t have both in the same party, likewise excluding all of the other magical schools means scrolls, and spells and things are no longer backwards compatible. Over all it is a disaster for the bard class. The point is, we shouldn’t need to homebrew things to make a brand new character class work in the new system that has been completely rewritten to fit the new narrative that WoTC want to sell to newer generations of players.
From what I've seen:
Your adventures will be fine.
Supplements may need a bit of work if you want to do things like use the old Bard but use the new subclass. They'll mostly work, but when you start trying to push the two together, it'll take work and some effort and allowance from the DM.
Obviously the rules will be a mess to merge, but if you're sticking to one, then that will work.
Want to play D&D? Try the following resources first (each section withing vertical bars is a clickable link to find the resource).
|The free Basic Rules.|
|Some free short adventures| and |some more here too.| |Here is a series of encounters, some of which link together form a mini-adventure|.
You've played a few games and now want to buy materials? |Here's my guide on what to buy next|.
From what I've seen in the UA I doubt you will be able to use the old bard with a new subclass or vice versa, especially if the new classes get subclass features at different levels as is the case in the UA. Having a new race and and old class / subclass might require a bit of work with the DM but should be managable and multiclassin an old class and a new class might work. There will also be some issues to agree using the new rules on old features. For example does a 5e variant human get to choose any feat, any "old" feat, or a level one feat?
I suspect reality will be like 3.5 and pathfinder. They were designed to be compatable and technically they were but in reality everyone either stuck with 3.5 played pathfinder without incorporating anything from 3.5.
I think this thread is pointing out that at least the proposed Bard and other ideas floated out in the One D&D UA question how strong the "backward compatibility" claim between 5e and One D&D. It's worth saying again, who knows what it will look like? But it does seem from a balance perspective there will be some compatibility issues that if not addressed will make tension when using 5e sources and adventures and One D&D sources and adventures.
Does that make current D&D Beyond "investments" unusable? That depends. I wrote a bit about in a thread asking almost the identical question less than a week ago, and will just reproduce my response on that below, the question was also concerned about their 5e material "auto updating" to One D&D:
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
So, off the post I just wrote, the question will be whether D&D Beyond will continue to support a subscribers investment or content purchased once the official edition of D&D becomes whatever One D&D will be named. I don't think anyone here really knows and stuff written by staff can be interpreted/extrapolated to make cases for and against.
I wouldn't surprise if there's a dip in D&D 5e materials, especially new stuff, over the next two years, and I'm imagining D&D Beyond will probably get hit harder than physical products precisely because there's concerns over what may happen to 5e content purchases on the "official" digital platform for "official" D&D once 5e is no longer "official". The "legacy" move with the content MMM "replaced" is promising, but the fact is currently 5e is still the official rule set so the legacy content. I'm sure DDB is hoping whatever One D&D Becomes it can be supported by the DDB engine as is, but I don't think the design team is prioritizing "preservation of D&D Beyond" as they develop the next iteration of D&D. If One D&D does require a entire revamp of DDB, that wouldn't bode well for the perpetual support/availability of ones 5e material on DDB.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
You can use new subclasses with the old Bard. The UA even tells you this and how to do it. But as I said, it would take work and effort.
Want to play D&D? Try the following resources first (each section withing vertical bars is a clickable link to find the resource).
|The free Basic Rules.|
|Some free short adventures| and |some more here too.| |Here is a series of encounters, some of which link together form a mini-adventure|.
You've played a few games and now want to buy materials? |Here's my guide on what to buy next|.
I don't think that is what they said, but actually the other way around. They encourage using the new class chassis with old subclasses if you want to try out a subclass other than Lore, Hunter, or Thief. I don't think there would be any reason to try one of the three new subclasses with the old class chassis.
I misremembered what they said, but the point still stands - the claim was that you can't do it either way, when you can do it at least one way, and there are even instructions on how. Still, if you wanted to do it the way I suggested, you could, it would just take some effort.
Want to play D&D? Try the following resources first (each section withing vertical bars is a clickable link to find the resource).
|The free Basic Rules.|
|Some free short adventures| and |some more here too.| |Here is a series of encounters, some of which link together form a mini-adventure|.
You've played a few games and now want to buy materials? |Here's my guide on what to buy next|.
I have the feeling that many players will probably pick and choose what new features from One D&D to use while mostly sticking to 5E - me and my group have already decided this as we feel that a lot of the veriety and lore has been taken out of the races and classes and some mechanics changed for no reason at all. The new stuff is way too simplified now, especially for players who are still making their way through the campaign books they brought out just before One D&D was announced. I think it would quite stupid for them to make the older stuff no longer useable considering this.
The thread is not about whether you can port One D&D content into 5e games in D&D in general. Of course you can do that. You can import mechanics from any system into your game if you want. The question is whether the 5e content people have bought access to on D&D Beyond wlll be supported and accessible (most likely as legacy content) when whatever the work in progress presently called One D&D becomes the official rule set. That is will there be a "legacy" section for the 5e books much like there's a legacy access for "owners" of Volo's and Tome of Foes in the wake of MMM. The fact that the "legacy" happened in that instance is promising. However, when D&D "evolves" into the new rules, how will "legacy" 5e books Hasbro/WotC has no interest in selling at that point be supported if at all?
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
The OP specifically asked “Is OneD&D really going to be backward compatible?” So yes, we are on topic.
Borrowing a quote from another thread:
I suspect that this does not apply to the 2014 core books, but the bulk of what you had purchased in your Legendary bundle will still be usable without issue.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock | He/Him/They/Them
You can try DDB for free using the Basic Rules, free adventures, MCV1:SC, and homebrew. Answers about physical books, purchases, and subbing.
What is it like to be on the forums.
That is part of the OP's overall concern but to claim vindication for all digressing from the overall concern is misguided cherrypicking. The question isn't really is One D&D going to be backward compatible with 5e, but whether the OP's D&D Beyond _investment_ mentioned in the title of their post will be compatible with however whatever OneD&D becomes will carry over as D&D Beyond evolved into whatever it will be to support the new official rules.
To that point, have you used the One D&D UA on DDB? Right now you can't play the One D&D Bard, Rogue, or Ranger on D&D Beyond, unless you do a homebrew that reminds the user to ignore or delay a lot of content of the base class, to the degree that such an exercise renders the whole point of using D&D Beyond over paper moot. While not unanimous, game designers I follow who've run through these new UA classes have expressed concerned that the "backward compatibility" at least as seen through the proposed Expert classes is actually very unbalanced to the point that "backward compatibility" seems to be more of a superficial feature than a mechanically functional one in terms of balance between 5e and 1D&D. I don't believe backward compatibility is a primary directive at all for the design, it's a marketing claim so that 5e sales don't cliff dive over the next two years while folks wait for a system with presumable official support longevity. My guess is there will be some sort of conversion document between the editions, and those tend to be half-baked in TTRPGs period, not just D&D. Will those conversion notes be implemented between D&D "Beyonds", some spokespeople claim yes, but I think a 5e owner wanting to engage what will be their "legacy" content with whatever One D&D calls itself are probably in for more hand tailoring than seamless experience. Compatibility does mean doable" more than "guaranteed done for you" in more sense than not.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I hate to say it, but I strongly doubt your stuff will be usable.
I'm sure they're going to take a page from Sony and keep up the 5e stuff for a few years, choking it off until enough people have moved to 6e for them to say, "Nobody uses it anymore, so we're going to repurpose those servers."
Get a real book or a PDF whenever you can.
As for comments about the simplification of OneD&D, I strongly suspect there are some new mechanics we haven't seen yet that require the simplifications we've gotten. They'll add that complexity your missing. I could be wrong, but this is from the company that discovered Lenticular Complexity, so I've got some faith in their rules depth.