The next generation of the venerable TTRPG approaches
As Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition high-steps towards its 10-year anniversary (can you believe it launched all the way back in 2014?), Wizards of the Coast are starting the celebration early by… playtesting a comprehensive revision to the original rulesets that they’re currently calling “One D&D.” Scheduled to launch in 2024, that will mark a full decade of 5th Edition, a decade of incredible growth and pop culture impact.
Touted as being backwards compatible with today’s adventures and supplements, One D&D is being marketed more like a D&D 5.5 than a true new generation of the game. Considering the popularity of the brand today and its widespread adoption at dining and digital tables around the world, it would be a growth-averse risk to toss all that and start fresh with a true 6th Edition, and so far WotC are keen to avoid that prospect.
What is It?
At present, One D&D is an ongoing playtest of proposed updates and expansions to the 5th Edition ruleset. The first round is a 21-page, publicly accessible (with a free DND Beyond account) Unearthed Arcana PDF, available here. Once you’ve downloaded and reviewed the PDF, which teases us with limited-context changes to every phase of character creation, Wizards are accepting feedback until September 15th, 2022 in the form of a survey on the DND Beyond page for the PDF.
One D&D also promises an enhanced digital experience. This includes a proprietary, WotC-official virtual tabletop that will be integrated with DND Beyond. They expect this new service to enter closed beta at the end of 2023. Whether this signals danger for fans of FoundryVTT, Fantasy Grounds, Talespire, or any of the many other third party VTT offerings on the market at present, remains to be seen.
For more information, visit the official FAQ here.
Better late with the announcement than never, right? I've just started looking over the UA "playtest" materials, so I don't have many fully formed thoughts to share yet but I'd love to hear what you think about the new rules.