I've seen more use of the phrase "5e24" to identify the 2024 revisions to the D&D 5th edition core books. I get it. It's nice and pithy and easy to type.
But I think it's inaccurate. Instead, I propose using "D&D 2024" or something similar for referencing the upcoming D&D core book revisions.
Why does this matter?
There's a huge wealth of awesome 5th edition material already out and coming out in 2024 that isn't coming from Hasbro under the D&D brand. Tales of the Valiant from Kobold Press and C7D20 from Cubicle 7 are two examples, but we already have systems like A5e and certainly we'll see new 5e material from many publishers in the new year.
One major problem I frequently see is people overweighting Hasbro's influence to the overall hobby. No doubt D&D is huge – orders of magnitude bigger than the next most popular systems. But that doesn't matter once someone is in the hobby. At that point, any 5e products from any publisher are just as potentially valuable as any others. When two books are on your table, it doesn't matter how many copies sold for one over the other. Good books are good books.
I've seen many who, being vexed at Hasbro swore off not only D&D but all of 5e. That's not needed. One can play 5e for the rest of one's life without needing any material from any single company.
5e is an open platform now – like Linux. There are many flavors and we can choose, mix, and match our own version of 5e we run at our own table.
I love 5e. It's my favorite TTRPG system. And I'm really glad I can play it without having it's future dictated by the whims of any single company.
But when we say things like "5e24" instead of "D&D 2024" we're giving authority to one company and discouting the incredible work of many others for this wide open hobby.
I don't expect everyone to follow my path on this. But I thought I might try to do my part to help keep 5e strong regardless of what any one company decides to do with their variant of the system.
But I think it's inaccurate. Instead, I propose using "D&D 2024" or something similar for referencing the upcoming D&D core book revisions.
Why does this matter?
There's a huge wealth of awesome 5th edition material already out and coming out in 2024 that isn't coming from Hasbro under the D&D brand. Tales of the Valiant from Kobold Press and C7D20 from Cubicle 7 are two examples, but we already have systems like A5e and certainly we'll see new 5e material from many publishers in the new year.
One major problem I frequently see is people overweighting Hasbro's influence to the overall hobby. No doubt D&D is huge – orders of magnitude bigger than the next most popular systems. But that doesn't matter once someone is in the hobby. At that point, any 5e products from any publisher are just as potentially valuable as any others. When two books are on your table, it doesn't matter how many copies sold for one over the other. Good books are good books.
I've seen many who, being vexed at Hasbro swore off not only D&D but all of 5e. That's not needed. One can play 5e for the rest of one's life without needing any material from any single company.
5e is an open platform now – like Linux. There are many flavors and we can choose, mix, and match our own version of 5e we run at our own table.
I love 5e. It's my favorite TTRPG system. And I'm really glad I can play it without having it's future dictated by the whims of any single company.
But when we say things like "5e24" instead of "D&D 2024" we're giving authority to one company and discouting the incredible work of many others for this wide open hobby.
I don't expect everyone to follow my path on this. But I thought I might try to do my part to help keep 5e strong regardless of what any one company decides to do with their variant of the system.