D&D 5E What are the highlights of D&D 5th edition for you?

[SteveC]

That it's something my group will play. I was in a group with friends who live out on the coast (I'm a Midwesterner) and we were playing 3.5. We hit the levels where the game becomes complicated and hard to balance. This group of friends was about to rage quit and stop gaming.

And so we switched up the game to 5E and it was ... fine. The campaign we were running was Shackled City and there was this encounter with a Dracolich who killed a buffed character before they even got to act. When we picked up with the game it wasn't exactly easy, but I'd call it more casual fun. So we continued.

And then we had a brand-new DM pick up "Dragon Heist" and run that. That game was also perfectly fine from a game standard and we had a lot of fun. That new DM is becoming a really good one.

So I think the answer is "it's perfectly fine," is the one for me. I prefer other game systems but it lets me hang out with friends and pretend to be a goblin, so it works for me.

 

[Quickleaf]

I thought the monster lore was presented really well in 5e.

There's more stuff I'd like – ecology like AD&D in particular – but the bold header, succinct paragraphs focusing on the core ideas of the monsters are fantastic.

Also, I know experienced players kind of brush past it, but the flavor text for the classes is wonderfully evocative. Similarly, the DMG has some golden nuggets buried in there, that hopefully can be unburied in 2024.

I like that the system is fairly hackable & that allows for designers to make different versions.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

5e was so good that I was drawn back to the hobby, played a lot, and became a collector. All in all, it's in my opinion the best edition of D&D. However, a lot of issues emerged with time.

I think that the 10/10 products are few: the original Starter Set with Lost Mines of Phandelver; the three Core rulebooks; Curse of Strahd and Tomb of Annihilation.

Mechanically 5e has many, many merits.
First of all streamlines play with rulings over rules, advantage, bounded accuracy. This simplicity attracted many new players. High level play is more manageable. Same for optimization. The casters are less dominant (especially because concentration). Caps on ability scores and level limit excesses. The dice are central again. Story is more important then optimization and power play. The art helps a lot to build this atmosphere. All of that keeping the coherence and consistency of 3.5, but returning with nostalgia to older editions, and making people forgive and forget the bad aspects of 4e.
The DM guide solved many old problems related to magic item proliferation, dividing them in tiers and introducing attunement. Magical market gone.
The MM introduced legendary actions and resistances, plus lair actions, helping solve the solo boss problem.

The bad (not even speaking of the cultural choices of WotC).
The majority of products are lame. The two major splatbooks degrade the game instead of elevating it.
They displayed a lack of creativity. With the adventures and especially the settings. They even butchered Dark Sun; they could be silent but instead chose to destroy one of the best settings.
They were not even able to design the Psionic class in 10 years. Or the Warlord.
The game is so simple that after playing it for 10 years, people are tired and want something new.
The OGL mess.