D&D (2024) Playstyle Changes from 5E to 5.5E?

[TwoSix]

In the 50th Anniversary 2E game they played on WotCs Youtube channel the old designers said the problem with update expansions is you can't create anything else for them because you can't assume everyone bought the update expansion book.

More classes and more subclasses and races etc are easy but any real change will have a limit, until they codify it all in a "New Core 3! Pre-Order now!".

Of course they could. They simply don’t.

 

[bmfrosty]

I agree, but once they started introducing the complete books with kits, all the campaign settings with mechanics and PC creation rules specific to those settings it was totally a different edition from 1E. Then the Players Options books made 2E something different altogether from what was released in 89 and even the revisions of the mid 90s for those who used them. I remember using the Players Options when they came out and the game immediately felt very different in some aspects, and I always thought of them as the 3E test drive.

I think they could have done a lot of that on top of 1e though. It just would have really added to the complication.

 

[Clint_L]

We've been mixing and matching playtest rules with 2014 rules for about a year now. It's fairly seamless. However, encounter balance is off more than it used to be, mostly because weapons-focused classes all hit MUCH harder, and they were already topping the damage meters. I'm assuming the MM changes that WotC has alluded to, which are designed to make creatures live up to their CR, are going to help fix this. For now, you just have to prepare your encounters to be a bit stiffer.

In terms of game play, 2024 is mostly quality of life stuff, and part of that is making classes viable in more situations. For me, using rage to improve abilities like perception seems weird, but our barbarian players really enjoys the increased utility, making his character less of a one note brute.

 

[Yaarel]

Based upon playtests, different visions for classes, and etc...

How has the playstyle changed from 5E to 5.5E?

Based on what we know so far, there amount of evolution to playstyle is minimal.

The only thing that catches my attention is level 1 characters are substantial. I prefer this anyway, because I like 4e level 1 which is substantial, felt 5e level was unhelpfully fragile, and welcomed the custom of an extra feat at level 1.

What really shifted for me is how I think about building a new player character. I love the species and background design spaces. I love the background mattering. It makes me think of where the character came from before becoming an adventurer. The character always starts of at age 20, or thereabouts. What the character was doing before then becomes more interesting. Typically, the character just finished some kind of apprenticeship, fosterage (learning a skill from a foster family), other kind of mentorship, or perhaps self-teaching. The ability improvements derive from this personal development. Now the extra feat happens before becoming level 1 in a class during the earlier background. Stories like a magical awakening during adolescence now have mechanical support. The skills are more meaningful in this context.

I feel actual relief D&D discontinues the term "race". The term species is the most accurate term.

So I am loving the resulting level 1 character.

 

[R_J_K75]

I think they could have done a lot of that on top of 1e though. It just would have really added to the complication.

I suppose they could have but I think every edition reaches a point where its run its course and theres need for a new one

 

[mellored]

I’ll say what I’ve said for a year or more; if it isn’t an entirely new edition, make standalone expansions, not revisions.

Except this is the highest selling D&D edition ever. That don't want to risk screwing that up.

As much as I would love to see ability scores go out the window, and combine to-hit and damage into a single roll.

 

[TwoSix]

Except this is the highest selling D&D edition ever. That don't want to risk screwing that up.

As much as I would love to see ability scores go out the window, and combine to-hit and damage into a single roll.

Which is what a standalone expansion wouldn’t be. Same core rules, new stuff.

 

[R_J_K75]

Except this is the highest selling D&D edition ever.

I'm curious to see if this is still the case after early 2025 and the initial release of the revised 5E core books?

 

[the Jester]

Well, there looks to be significant power creep for martial characters. Depending on exactly what happens to full casters, this might end up being basically rebalancing the two pc types against one another or it could be just straight up power creep overall.

That said, making martial characters cool and balanced with casters is a good thing. I just resent and dislike power creep and would prefer a different approach. I know that power creep is pretty much inevitable over time, but I don't like it.

 

[bmfrosty]

I suppose they could have but I think every edition reaches a point where its run its course and theres need for a new one

Not disagreed. Really depends on what they do with the edition.