Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons Table Top

Dungeons and Dragons – The New 5th Edition

So over the past couple of weeks I’ve been learning about the new 5th Edition for Dungeons and Dragons. They aren’t calling it 6th edition, they aren’t calling it 5.5. But there are new Monster Manuals, Dungeon Masters Guides, and most importantly, player handbooks coming out, and things are changing. But how much is Dungeons and Dragons going to be changing?

The Amount of Changes in Dungeons and Dragons

Let’s start out by talking about the amount of changes. I’m not going to go into all of them, mainly because I want to talk about notable changes in the next section. But Dungeons and Dragons is getting a face lift, I’d say. And there are a fair number of notable changes out there. Enough that it can mix and match with the old stuff, but the recommendation is, and I think obviously, that people move to the new system. If you buy one book in the new system, migrate the whole way.

I say obviously because from a business perspective, they of course want you to buy the new stuff. It makes them money. But in terms of the content, while it is similar, a character in the 2014 5th Edition core rules, is going to be behind. So I think it is beware of that amount of change. Know that if you dabble you want to go all in.

Notable Changes

But let’s talk about some of the changes. And like I said, there are plenty. But we’ll talk about the biggest change to Dungeons and Dragons first. And I think it’s worth noting that they are moving away from the very loose theater of the mind feel of 5th Edition 2014. You certain might play 5th edition more now with a battle terrain set-up.

Weapon Mastery

This comes down to some things, in particular with melee characters. Almost all weapons have a mastery to them that if you know it, you can manipulate the battlefield. So this is different from your proficiency but it allows you to do even more with weapons that you really know. So some might trip up and an enemy, slow them down or otherwise disrupt them. This, per what they said, is to give the more versatility that was previously mainly found in spellcasting classes.

Subclasses

It is also worth noting that all classes now have four subclasses. And all classes unlock their subclasses at the exact same time. No longer do some get them at first level and others at third. No longer does the bard have two subclasses and the wizard six. All start on an equal playing field that way. And most of the subclasses are getting a lift. Whether that’s a boost from the masteries for weapons or an expanded spell list, that is fairly minimal in terms of what they get.

Ability Modifiers

And there are more things as well. One that I really like is that now when you pick your species you don’t get your stat boosts. You might gather boosts and boons for other things because of your species. But it doesn’t make various species lean various directions. Instead that is with your background. You want to be a dwarven thief, you get stats based off of what you did in your background. That, to me, makes sense because that is what my character has practiced.

Do You Need to Get It?

Obvious this doesn’t make your current books obsolete. But it does render them less useful if you get the new books. Someone who builds a character with the old systems is going to be less effective. But at the same time, Dungeons and Dragons is not changing so fundamentally that your old content is going to be worthless. It might come down to you need to tweak minor things and raise difficulties at times.

But let’s talk about it more from the perspective of you like you to get he new books. Is this 2024 version of 5th Edition worth buying? I think that it is. Mainly as I listen and watch the videos and discussions, I feel like they balance out the character classes. Is the Ranger going to be perfect now, probably not, but it’s going to be on par with the other classes. And overall, I feel like it offers more freedoms, which Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition was already good at. This just adds in more.

Final Thoughts the Updated Dungeons and Dragons

I want to see how this works. I buy basically every book, so I’m excited to get my hands on it. Though, I do wonder about some elements of it though. While I see this mainly as a positive, a couple of things hold me back from being completely excited.

The biggest item is the additional tactical nature of the game. I run theater of the mind, generally. So I expect to continue that. Will the added masteries make it harder to play theater of the mind? I feel for some groups they might generally get skimmed over. Especially for a group very familiar with the current version of 5th Edition. So is that a major add for those combat classes?

At the same time, I like the idea of tactical battles. It is possible to make it more dynamic. A weapon naturally pushes a bad guy, well, that is important. It allows players to push and manipulate the battlefield. Also, it is able to become a cat and mouse game as bad guys try to avoid getting smacked too much and players try and knock them into a hole or off the edge of a tower. So I see it working in either way.

Generally, though, I like what the system is adding. And I want to get my hands on it (coming in September for the Players Handbook). Do you like the sounds of the 2024 version of 5th Edition?

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