Our last Sunday we will cover the newest version of the game at this moment, the extremely popular Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Editon
Sadly, D&D 4e did not last, nor did it ever recover the lost players who switched over to Pathfinder and the various retro-clones. While the game made money, it did not make the money Wizards of the Coast and their parent company, Hasbro, wanted.
In 2012, Wizards announced a massive Open playtest of a system they were calling D&D Next. The materials were given out for free, and they asked for all sorts of feedback. I played an early version of the Warlock class that I liked, but he lost Charisma as he leveled up (I was not a fan of that), but that changed. The company was generating a lot of goodwill at this point, and their stated aim was a D&D that could do anything the previous editions could.
I went back and forth on whether or not to get the new rules. I am not sure why really, I had every other edition. So I picked up the new Starter Set and I really liked it. Then on August 8th, 2014, at Midnight, my kids and I piled into our minivan, got some tacos at Taco Bell, then drove to our Favorite Local Game Store, and we all bought copies of the new D&D 5 rules.
And it has been a blast. I ran three games of D&D 5, each with a slightly different focus. One was played like and as a 1st Edition game, the other like a 4th Edition game, and one Rules-As-Written (RAW). Within these rules, I can see elements of all the past editions. I really believe that this time they really tried to get the rules right.
I even got the Spanish Language editions as a gift to help me with my Spanish.
This is also the most popular ruleset to date. By any measure, D&D 5e is the most successful version of Dungeons & Dragons ever sold. Maybe to ever be sold if I am being honest. But some of Wizards of the Coast's own actions, starting the 2023 fiasco of trying to "revoke" the Open Gaming License and other debacles, have really destroyed the goodwill they have been building over the last 10 years.
Since then, even I have talked about converting my last two campaigns over to Pathfinder 2e and Castles & Crusades.
Right now we are in a strange time.
There have been playtests for what WotC/Hasbro has been calling "One D&D." Unlike previous versions of D&D, this one is supposed to be backward and compatible with 5e. Many have referred to it as D&D 6th Edition, but 5.5 or (my choice) "fifth edition revised," 5r, might be a better one.
I must say that Wizard's has dropped the ball here for an anniversary, especially a 50th anniversary. There should've been so much more going on this year.
Well, we are only 1/3 through the year, so maybe there will be more.
Tomorrow is Y day, and I am going talk about Yetis and other Cryptids.
I'm glad 5e got big, even if I never felt a need to go to it. It was cool seeing D&D stuff just when out and about. My friend started a game and we got one session in, but sadly that's where it ended since the whole OGL fiasco started shortly afterwards.
ReplyDeleteYeah...I get that. I didn't talk about the OGL fiasco in this post since most of my audience for these are newer. No point hitting them with that drama.
ReplyDeleteI was working for Carnival Cruise Lines in Alaska when 5e was released, and I remember being in Juneau for my birthday on the 4th. I had already contacted a local store to pre-buy my copy of the Player's Handbook, but they told me I couldn't pick it up before release date, and I wouldn't be back for two more weeks, so... I contacted Wizards Customer Service and with a few lines, I was authorized to buy it a few days earlier.
ReplyDeleteThe owner of the store was kinda impressed of my initiative, and we started a party to play every two weeks (you can guess what setting we were playing in, as I offered to be the DM). The group drove to the port to pick me up (I got authorization to have them have late breakfast on board) and then we went to the store to play all afternoon until 5, when they drove me back to the port.
I've always had a tough time deciding my favorite part of Alaska, trying to decide between the landscape and that adventuring party!