Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) has been in the role-playing game world for a long time and is a staple of the genre. It is considered to be one of the best role-playing games of all time and has players all around the world, but D&D did not get to where it is today without changing. It has gone through several editions that have changed the game into what it is today, and it seems that the time for more change is fast approaching.
Wizards of the Coast’s new One D&D has slowly released over the last few months and the changes they have made to D&D will change it forever. With the verdict still up in the air if the addition (and coming additions) are for betterment of the gameplay, players should give One D&D a try.
What is OneD&D
One D&D is not a replacement for the current version of Dungeons and Dragons but will be a new different way to experience the game. According to Wizards of the Coast in their One D&D FAQ: “One D&D will usher in the next generation of D&D with new and more comprehensive versions of the core rulebooks that millions of players have enjoyed for the past decade. The rules will be backwards compatible with fifth edition adventures and supplements and offer players and Dungeon Masters new options and opportunities for adventure.” This means that players who do not enjoy the changes in rules or players who do enjoy the new rules will be able to use the old rules in new games or introduce new rules into old games.
Wizards does not want to get rid of fifth edition; they just want to add to it to make it the best version of D&D they can.
D&D DIGITAL
By Nicole Hill (CC BY-SA 4.0)
One D&D is also not just new rule changes but a change in how D&D is played online. Wizards is creating a new digital play experience called D&D digital. “In early development, D&D Digital will offer an immersive player experience, rich creation tools for Dungeon Masters, and a connected space for DMs and players to get together and play D&D.”
D&D being played online is not a new development for Dungeons and Dragons, and Wizards’ own D&D website does allow for online D&D. However, Wizards wants to take their website D&D Beyond and change it to be the best version of online D&D that it can be. “This is intended to be the immersive digital play experience for your D&D sessions. It will be integrated with D&D Beyond. D&D Beyond will continue to be the front door to your digital D&D experience and offer tools for reference and play.”
These changes will hopefully allow for an easy way to play D&D online. Wizards has already added many features from D&D Digital into D&D Beyond, and it seems to be going very well. Wizards also created a video that shows some of the tabletops’ impressive features like creating a three dimensional environment and easy to use tools. The virtual tabletop is currently in its beta phase with opt-in testing.
PLAYER IMPACT
With all of these changes, there are some concerns about One D&D. Most of these are concerns about the new rules that Wizards wants to add to the game. There are questions on how the addition of One D&D will impact the D&D fifth edition games. However, Wizards has said that they are trying to make Ond D&D as unobtrusive as possible.
Another major concern is the cost of the new rules. The new rule books are much more expensive than the fifth edition rulebooks. On Amazon, a fifth edition rule book costs around $30.00. A One D&D rule book, however, costs around $50.00. This major increase in price makes the new book not worth it.
Finally, another worry is that One D&D’s new rules are not going to fix many of the issues that are in fifth edition. One D&D’s rules have a large amount of overlap with fifth edition so this concern has become a reality. With the large amount of rules overlap, One D&D is still hurt by fifth edition’s flaws. Still players will not need to use all of these new rules in their games and they can always edit rules on their own if they need to.
‘You Can Certainly Try’
While One D&D might have its flaws and it may almost certainly be a very rocky road moving forward, players should be overall optimistic to see what One D&D will do. There are still books that have yet to be released, like the One D&D’s Monster Manual, and those will help to define One D&D for better and for worse.
One D&D has a lot of expectations to meet but players can only hope that Wizards delivers the best play experience possible. If they do and One D&D is a success, all the better for the game. If it turns out to be the opposite, players can still fall back on to the older editions of the game that we all love.
