At the beginning of the year I began playing D&D for the first time, enjoyed myself through half a dozen one-shots. I've found myself in the DM role now, bought the Starter Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (physical edition) and the Essentials Kit to follow up afterwards. I've begun looking to expand my tools utilising Encounter+ and digital copies of DDB to simplify handling of initiative and clarity of battlefield.
I'm beginning to see a lot of discussion surrounding One D&D, and I'm questioning whether or not I should proceed with investing into 5e when it appears the relevance of it will be phased out within 6-12 months.
Leading me to question whether I should proceed or simply wait an equal amount of time until the new edition is released?
Additionally, can we expect a yearly rulebook update or will this next edition last a decade again?
Ultimately the decision is up to you, but here are some facts that might help you in reaching your choice:
- OneD&D is a new set of core books, not a full new edition (I am going to call OneD&D 5.5e for simplicity). Wizards has consistently promised that content from 5e will be compatible with 5.5e - notably the adventures should be usable. I also expect the monsters from 5e will be usable - we have seen a soft rollout of 5.5e-style monsters with some recent books like MMM, and using the two interchangeably has been easy.
- Recent books already seem to be following the 5.5e model on some things and likely will be the books most compatible with 5.5e. These books use backgrounds comparable with 5.5e’s expected backgrounds, feats which seem to use feat free systems like 5.5e is going to have (see the Dragonlance backgrounds and feats), and monsters which sometimes streamline spellcasting so the monster block itself is more inclusive of all abilities (such as MMM).
If you are balancing which books will be the most applicable post release, I would focus on MMM and later. I expect most of those were made with 5.5e in mind, with the intent they will remain relevant and profitable after the rules update. These are likely relatively safe purchases in terms of long-term value.
- It is very unlikely they will do “yearly rulebook updates” as you fear - there likely will be some big supplements, like new Monster Manuals or new player handbook updates, but that has been standard in D&D for decades - after all, we got things like Tasha’s and such this edition.
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. For better or worse, MMM is a book where they took lots of content from Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and modified the creatures' stat blocks so that they were more interesting and more compatible with One D&D.
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BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
This is a silly and unhelpful comment and should be ignored. Right now, there is no real way of knowing if OneD&D will be good and bad - we have seen lots of good in the playtest content and lots of bad. That is kind of how playtesting should work - you throw lots of ideas at the wall and see how folks respond, then adjust based on that feedback. Overall, we have seen a number of places where Wizards clearly has listened to negative feedback, producing something better received in the next iteration.
The reality is that we will not know if OneD&D is good or bad until it releases, and anyone who makes a categorical statement as to quality is not providing any helpful commentary.
The big issue with telling someone to go full in on either is that we have no idea of the final product yet (though there are some worrying suggestions), and 5e may not necessarily be the best investment if you really like using it through DDB and a VTT. As stands there is some reasonable concern that we have about how fitting both OG 5e and One D&D together on the site will work. For example, can you play and enjoy 5e minus the update as much as you could before the update? We really need to pressure WOTC into answering questions like these, I just wish I knew how.
The real question that comes to my mind is, are you going to be relying DDB, or going for physical books?
If you're going physical, then I'd say wait. There are the rules that you already have that you can use to play for the next while. You can then see what OneD&D will be like and make a judgement. Saying whether OneD&S will be good or bad now is very unhelpful since not only is that a subjective assesment, but nobody knows what OneD&D will be like. The ideal situation is that you find out, then make the decision then.
The problem is that 5e core rule books are likely to be pulled from sale on DDB once OneD&D releases. That's by no means sure...but judging from the two previous books that were decided to be obsolete, the best guess is that's what would happen. That could be an issue if you see OneD&D release and then decide you much prefer 5e. The good news is that they're on sale right now for pretty cheap - 40% off - so if you're thinking about going 5e on DDB, do it before 16th July.
I'm afraid no one can tell you what is best, because we don't know you and we, honestly, don't know what OneD&D will be like. Personally, the 40% would be pretty tempting to me. Someone else could tell you how much, but a fair amount of the Monster Manual is available for free...so you could scrape by with just the cheap PHB, then make a full decision later.
Sorry we can't be of much more help, but I think that information is about as good as you're going to get.
NB: Adventures and expansion rules should be safe. It's mostly just the PHB, MM and DMG that will be replaced.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
You might as well wait, imo. You have two adventures, and more than enough classes and races in the Basic Rules to entertain your group for the period of time between now and the new books.
I second this, it looks like it has a non-zero chance of being a dumpster fire. Also on the premise that OneD&D, or whatever they plan to call it now, will be underpinning their new VTT (virtual table top, for people who play online rather than in person), which looks just awful. Essentially trying to change a tabletop game into a video game so that they can bring microtransactions into the mix (shudder). Not to mention that it looks like users of that VTT will only be able to use it to play D&D, which is far less flexible than other VTT offerings out there. Not that the VTT aspect might be of concern to you, personally. But overall the rules revision threatens to throw a ton of confusion into the hobby, given people can't even decide what to call it anymore... is it a new version, i.e. 6e? Is it a slight rules tweak, i.e. 5.5e? Will it even be backward compatible with 5e to the degree it's claimed it will be? Too many unknowns right now.
On the other hand, 5e is already a relatively solid and established system, at least by comparison to the unknowns of the next edition, and there is a heap of 3rd party support out there for it. So you'd never be left wanting for material. Heaps of players, etc. If you're keen to get into the hobby, there's no need to wait. Although, check out things like Old School Essentials before you dive into buying D&D products. That's a remake of an earlier version of D&D and might present another option to you. Hope you find a way forward. :)
Yeah, word of mouth does not speak highly of One D&D. Obviously keep this in mind when making any purchases especially digitally. It could very well go the way of 4e, but I’m unsure how that would impact 5e. Simply due to demands from shareholders and such, a new edition would need to be released afterwards, where they could say they’ve learned from their mistakes. But I can always dream of 5.5 crashing and WOTC turning around to devote even more resources into supporting the most popular system they might very well have ever had.
There's no harm in waiting for ONED&D, though I'm pretty sure it's basically just an updated version of 5e. I'd hold off on buying the core rulebooks for 5e if you intend to get the One D&D versions (except maybe the monster manual) because they're getting updated pretty significantly, but other sourcebooks will still work with the updated rules (maybe a small tweak here and there).
That said, from my understanding many people are holding off on One D&D (I know I don't intend to buy the books) and are just going to stick with 5e. It boils down to, do you want One D&D? If you do, maybe wait, but I wouldn't worry about it losing relevancy.
At the beginning of the year I began playing D&D for the first time, enjoyed myself through half a dozen one-shots. I've found myself in the DM role now, bought the Starter Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (physical edition) and the Essentials Kit to follow up afterwards. I've begun looking to expand my tools utilising Encounter+ and digital copies of DDB to simplify handling of initiative and clarity of battlefield.
I'm beginning to see a lot of discussion surrounding One D&D, and I'm questioning whether or not I should proceed with investing into 5e when it appears the relevance of it will be phased out within 6-12 months.
Leading me to question whether I should proceed or simply wait an equal amount of time until the new edition is released?
Additionally, can we expect a yearly rulebook update or will this next edition last a decade again?
Oh boy, what a year to start on. How best to say this...
Welcome to D&D, we have Chips in the corner, pizza on the way, and soda in the fridge. (Note that was how I use to start my games back in the day.)
As a Grizzled veteran D&D Player, who started in the mid 80s in the high school chess club. I've seen many transitions over the years.
We went from a Box set, to books, to Advanced, to 2nd Ed, to 2.5 (The lost edition from the late 90s) to 3rd, D20 games, 3.5 <say the "point out loud, make it the stress), 4th edition, Pathfinder aka 3.75, to Next D&D/ 5th edition, and now One D&D/5.5/6th/ "It's Just D&D the 2024 release" <- sorry guys, we will probably call it 5.5 as we like our simple number versions.
So what should a new player/DM do, so many games, too little time, and "the new hotness" is around the corner.
Here's a hint, That box set first printed in the 70s, it's still played. Low magic 1st edition games are still supported by a small community of fans, AD&D and 2.5 players still play AD&D, and publish material for it. 3rd... well 3.5/d20 games are still supported although Wizards removed the D20 badge and that legal framework the 1st time they tried to sink the OGL... and in reverse created pathfinder and sank 4th edition. Few people play 4th, although I do love the books, and think some of their best lore books were published in 4th. Plus who doesn't love the old 4th cartoon shorts... I miss those "I'm a Monster rawr" See: https://youtu.be/4UqFPujRZWo
But... yeah the thing is get the books you want, play the game how you want, sure a new edition is just around the corner, and maybe you'll want those books too, but also look back and collect the classics too. I have a few old books which I keep around because it's just nice to have the old books. I keep the Encyclopedia Magica on my bedside table, I keep the 1st print Deities & Demi Gods on my sacred bookshelf next to holy books of all the world religions, next to my books on wicca and Tarot. (Note I'm an atheist but love the pagan aesthetic. Also good source material for D&D. Hence the D&D collector books on the same shelf)
You'll find that as the game changes and grows, you will too, don't limit yourself to only what's new what's official, look at the huge stack of OGL source books, and free content released by streamers and youtubers. My last game I used Pointy Hats "Time for Pleasantries - A Pointy Hat Fae Adventure" (I rewrote it to be in New York with retired old folks and not children, as my game is set in a version of New York/Earth that was isekai'd to a magical universe.
Tell your stories, have players tell you their stories, and don't limit yourself, as there is 50 years of D&D, and almost 120 years of table top gaming tradition dating back to books Published by HG Wells.
My two cents: It is not yet known what D&D 5e Revised will be like (they don't call it One D&D anymore or say it's a new edition). However, the playtest is underway and, from what has been seen in the last document, the changes are really going to be "tweaks". I mean, you'll still be able to use the old books after 5e Revised is out. From there, you decide what works for you. I for one don't think I'll buy the 5e Revised. It's not worth it since I have the 2014 books and the new ones will only add some "tweaks".
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At the beginning of the year I began playing D&D for the first time, enjoyed myself through half a dozen one-shots. I've found myself in the DM role now, bought the Starter Dragons of Stormwreck Isle (physical edition) and the Essentials Kit to follow up afterwards. I've begun looking to expand my tools utilising Encounter+ and digital copies of DDB to simplify handling of initiative and clarity of battlefield.
I'm beginning to see a lot of discussion surrounding One D&D, and I'm questioning whether or not I should proceed with investing into 5e when it appears the relevance of it will be phased out within 6-12 months.
Leading me to question whether I should proceed or simply wait an equal amount of time until the new edition is released?
Additionally, can we expect a yearly rulebook update or will this next edition last a decade again?
Ultimately the decision is up to you, but here are some facts that might help you in reaching your choice:
- OneD&D is a new set of core books, not a full new edition (I am going to call OneD&D 5.5e for simplicity). Wizards has consistently promised that content from 5e will be compatible with 5.5e - notably the adventures should be usable. I also expect the monsters from 5e will be usable - we have seen a soft rollout of 5.5e-style monsters with some recent books like MMM, and using the two interchangeably has been easy.
- Recent books already seem to be following the 5.5e model on some things and likely will be the books most compatible with 5.5e. These books use backgrounds comparable with 5.5e’s expected backgrounds, feats which seem to use feat free systems like 5.5e is going to have (see the Dragonlance backgrounds and feats), and monsters which sometimes streamline spellcasting so the monster block itself is more inclusive of all abilities (such as MMM).
If you are balancing which books will be the most applicable post release, I would focus on MMM and later. I expect most of those were made with 5.5e in mind, with the intent they will remain relevant and profitable after the rules update. These are likely relatively safe purchases in terms of long-term value.
- It is very unlikely they will do “yearly rulebook updates” as you fear - there likely will be some big supplements, like new Monster Manuals or new player handbook updates, but that has been standard in D&D for decades - after all, we got things like Tasha’s and such this edition.
Hey, thanks for taking the time to reply.
What's MMM?
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. For better or worse, MMM is a book where they took lots of content from Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and modified the creatures' stat blocks so that they were more interesting and more compatible with One D&D.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Go 5e. One dnd is just bad
This is a silly and unhelpful comment and should be ignored. Right now, there is no real way of knowing if OneD&D will be good and bad - we have seen lots of good in the playtest content and lots of bad. That is kind of how playtesting should work - you throw lots of ideas at the wall and see how folks respond, then adjust based on that feedback. Overall, we have seen a number of places where Wizards clearly has listened to negative feedback, producing something better received in the next iteration.
The reality is that we will not know if OneD&D is good or bad until it releases, and anyone who makes a categorical statement as to quality is not providing any helpful commentary.
The big issue with telling someone to go full in on either is that we have no idea of the final product yet (though there are some worrying suggestions), and 5e may not necessarily be the best investment if you really like using it through DDB and a VTT. As stands there is some reasonable concern that we have about how fitting both OG 5e and One D&D together on the site will work. For example, can you play and enjoy 5e minus the update as much as you could before the update? We really need to pressure WOTC into answering questions like these, I just wish I knew how.
The real question that comes to my mind is, are you going to be relying DDB, or going for physical books?
If you're going physical, then I'd say wait. There are the rules that you already have that you can use to play for the next while. You can then see what OneD&D will be like and make a judgement. Saying whether OneD&S will be good or bad now is very unhelpful since not only is that a subjective assesment, but nobody knows what OneD&D will be like. The ideal situation is that you find out, then make the decision then.
The problem is that 5e core rule books are likely to be pulled from sale on DDB once OneD&D releases. That's by no means sure...but judging from the two previous books that were decided to be obsolete, the best guess is that's what would happen. That could be an issue if you see OneD&D release and then decide you much prefer 5e. The good news is that they're on sale right now for pretty cheap - 40% off - so if you're thinking about going 5e on DDB, do it before 16th July.
I'm afraid no one can tell you what is best, because we don't know you and we, honestly, don't know what OneD&D will be like. Personally, the 40% would be pretty tempting to me. Someone else could tell you how much, but a fair amount of the Monster Manual is available for free...so you could scrape by with just the cheap PHB, then make a full decision later.
Sorry we can't be of much more help, but I think that information is about as good as you're going to get.
NB: Adventures and expansion rules should be safe. It's mostly just the PHB, MM and DMG that will be replaced.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
You might as well wait, imo. You have two adventures, and more than enough classes and races in the Basic Rules to entertain your group for the period of time between now and the new books.
I second this, it looks like it has a non-zero chance of being a dumpster fire. Also on the premise that OneD&D, or whatever they plan to call it now, will be underpinning their new VTT (virtual table top, for people who play online rather than in person), which looks just awful. Essentially trying to change a tabletop game into a video game so that they can bring microtransactions into the mix (shudder). Not to mention that it looks like users of that VTT will only be able to use it to play D&D, which is far less flexible than other VTT offerings out there. Not that the VTT aspect might be of concern to you, personally. But overall the rules revision threatens to throw a ton of confusion into the hobby, given people can't even decide what to call it anymore... is it a new version, i.e. 6e? Is it a slight rules tweak, i.e. 5.5e? Will it even be backward compatible with 5e to the degree it's claimed it will be? Too many unknowns right now.
On the other hand, 5e is already a relatively solid and established system, at least by comparison to the unknowns of the next edition, and there is a heap of 3rd party support out there for it. So you'd never be left wanting for material. Heaps of players, etc. If you're keen to get into the hobby, there's no need to wait. Although, check out things like Old School Essentials before you dive into buying D&D products. That's a remake of an earlier version of D&D and might present another option to you. Hope you find a way forward. :)
Yeah, word of mouth does not speak highly of One D&D. Obviously keep this in mind when making any purchases especially digitally. It could very well go the way of 4e, but I’m unsure how that would impact 5e. Simply due to demands from shareholders and such, a new edition would need to be released afterwards, where they could say they’ve learned from their mistakes. But I can always dream of 5.5 crashing and WOTC turning around to devote even more resources into supporting the most popular system they might very well have ever had.
One DnD is still in playtesting and production, so it likely won't be out in a complete state for awhile yet.
Because of this, it depends on if you're willing to wait or want to jump in now.
There's no harm in waiting for ONED&D, though I'm pretty sure it's basically just an updated version of 5e. I'd hold off on buying the core rulebooks for 5e if you intend to get the One D&D versions (except maybe the monster manual) because they're getting updated pretty significantly, but other sourcebooks will still work with the updated rules (maybe a small tweak here and there).
That said, from my understanding many people are holding off on One D&D (I know I don't intend to buy the books) and are just going to stick with 5e.
It boils down to, do you want One D&D? If you do, maybe wait, but I wouldn't worry about it losing relevancy.
Oh boy, what a year to start on. How best to say this...
Welcome to D&D, we have Chips in the corner, pizza on the way, and soda in the fridge. (Note that was how I use to start my games back in the day.)
As a Grizzled veteran D&D Player, who started in the mid 80s in the high school chess club. I've seen many transitions over the years.
We went from a Box set, to books, to Advanced, to 2nd Ed, to 2.5 (The lost edition from the late 90s) to 3rd, D20 games, 3.5 <say the "point out loud, make it the stress), 4th edition, Pathfinder aka 3.75, to Next D&D/ 5th edition, and now One D&D/5.5/6th/ "It's Just D&D the 2024 release" <- sorry guys, we will probably call it 5.5 as we like our simple number versions.
So what should a new player/DM do, so many games, too little time, and "the new hotness" is around the corner.
Here's a hint, That box set first printed in the 70s, it's still played. Low magic 1st edition games are still supported by a small community of fans, AD&D and 2.5 players still play AD&D, and publish material for it. 3rd... well 3.5/d20 games are still supported although Wizards removed the D20 badge and that legal framework the 1st time they tried to sink the OGL... and in reverse created pathfinder and sank 4th edition. Few people play 4th, although I do love the books, and think some of their best lore books were published in 4th. Plus who doesn't love the old 4th cartoon shorts... I miss those "I'm a Monster rawr" See: https://youtu.be/4UqFPujRZWo
But... yeah the thing is get the books you want, play the game how you want, sure a new edition is just around the corner, and maybe you'll want those books too, but also look back and collect the classics too. I have a few old books which I keep around because it's just nice to have the old books. I keep the Encyclopedia Magica on my bedside table, I keep the 1st print Deities & Demi Gods on my sacred bookshelf next to holy books of all the world religions, next to my books on wicca and Tarot. (Note I'm an atheist but love the pagan aesthetic. Also good source material for D&D. Hence the D&D collector books on the same shelf)
You'll find that as the game changes and grows, you will too, don't limit yourself to only what's new what's official, look at the huge stack of OGL source books, and free content released by streamers and youtubers. My last game I used Pointy Hats "Time for Pleasantries - A Pointy Hat Fae Adventure" (I rewrote it to be in New York with retired old folks and not children, as my game is set in a version of New York/Earth that was isekai'd to a magical universe.
Tell your stories, have players tell you their stories, and don't limit yourself, as there is 50 years of D&D, and almost 120 years of table top gaming tradition dating back to books Published by HG Wells.
My two cents: It is not yet known what D&D 5e Revised will be like (they don't call it One D&D anymore or say it's a new edition). However, the playtest is underway and, from what has been seen in the last document, the changes are really going to be "tweaks". I mean, you'll still be able to use the old books after 5e Revised is out. From there, you decide what works for you.
I for one don't think I'll buy the 5e Revised. It's not worth it since I have the 2014 books and the new ones will only add some "tweaks".