The Cheerful Death of the D&D Monopoly

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Is the Dungeons & Dragons monopoly dead? Or perhaps is it just the Wizards of the Coast monopoly over Dungeons and Dragons that's dying? Isn't it weird that it seemed to happened in the span of under 12 months? Or is stronger than ever? Let's take a look!
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I've been told to use keywords in video descriptions, but I don't know what I'm doing. I stole these tags from MonkeyDM who seems on top of this type of thing when we chat.
TIER LIST How to play Dungeons and Dragons Beginners Guide What class to play in dungeons and dragons best class in D&D best subclass most powerful optimised monk build DandD Warlock Bard Dungeon Master, Fighter, Ranger, Artificer, Cleric, Barbarian, Wizard, Sorcerer, Monk, Paladin, Rogue, DnD Shorts D&D Shorts TikTok Dungeons and Dragons potentially a bit a with dungeoneering tabletop community next to tabletop RPG dungeons and dragons tt 5th edition dragons 3.5e DM GM dungeon master game master tips dnd shorts OGL OGL 2.0a 2.0 1.1 1.1a 1.0a Critical Role, Daggerheart, Mork Borg, Shadowdark, DC20

[@DnDShorts]

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[@SilverScribe85]

You forgot to mention Dimension20, a group that's just as popular as Critical Role

[@Necroes]

Any chance you'll be covering the Updated 5e Core Rulebooks WotC is planning to release this year? I've seen almost nothing about these from content creators, despite them being the only update to the original core Player's Handbook, Dungeons Master's Guide, and Monster Manual since the game launched in 2014.

[@arbhall7572]

MtG would have made a lot more money if they werent so greedy. They are realy greedy.

[@Schallazar]

Dear D&D refugees, Pathfinder. You're welcome. P.S.Critical Role started out as a pathfinder group. Funny you forgot that, or just omitted it. Stop hatin'.

[@Necroes]

@@Schallazar You're referencing Pathfinder 1st edition, right? You're not calling someone out for 'omitting' something, and then being dishonest and purposefully forgetting to mention that Critical Role started out playing Pathfinder 1st edition, right? You wouldn't be dishonest like that, after trying to call out someone else, Right?

[@DnDDeepDive]

I remember having "the talk" with my Dad when he found out I was playing D&D with my friends in the 80's. Me: "Dad, all we're doing is pretending to be wizards and kill goblins. It's really not that evil." Dad: "Hmmm... well, are you guys like, summoning demons in the game or anything?" Me: "Nope. No Demon summoning whatsoever." Dad: "Ok well, if anyone ever tries to summon any demons, then I want you to stop playing." Me: "Got it." I mean, we *killed* plenty of demons but we never summoned any! Thank goodness no one decided to play a Warlock!

[@animerambling]

Wish my Dad was that chill Even after I've moved out he still goes off the rails at the slightest mention of DND The jokes on him though, his son is a hoarder and my current obsession is TTRPG books!

[@melvinstrange8329]

Well there was that one time, but that was completely accidental. But go figure, 1 accidental demon summoning and a burnt down church and nobody lets you forget it 😂

[@stephaniejenkins7822]

@@melvinstrange8329 I'd love to hear this story if this is something that's happened to you!

[@JoshBeardyHarris]

My mom LITERALLY burned my PHB and DMG in the fireplace. 🙄 She claims to not remember doing it...but they were birthday presents from friends...I sure as hell remember it.

[@liamdockery8544]

When I first told my dad that I wanted to try DnD, he pulled up a pdf of the player’s handbook, and helped me learn the basic rules, and sent me a link to my school’s dnd club 🥰 Edit: I also forgot to mention that he also gave me a handmade D6 that he crafted by hand from resin when he was exactly my age ☺️ Because of this, my first character’s main weapon was a shortsword (the D6 is the damage die) that he got from his father.

[@nickybeingnicky]

We hate the executives. We don't hate WotC employees. I think alot of people are missing how many of us play DND and MTG. We hate HASBRO and executives

[@Krishnath.Dragon]

It started going downhill when they hired some new executives/bosses from Zynga. That alone is bad enough, but everything we said was going to come to pass from WotC/Hasbro because of it has, surprise, surprise, come to pass.

[@ArrakisHeir88]

I'm sure there are some good WotC employees but trust me when I say they keep quiet and nod whenever politics comes up because they don't want to lose their job, and you have to wonder how "good" someone really is if they're letting the project they work on keep making such awful decisions.

[@ArrakisHeir88]

With all that said I'm running Curse of Strahd for a bunch of new players and I'm not sure I've ever had a more excited table

[@BouncingTribbles]

@@ArrakisHeir88 Curse of Strahd is a classic now. It's one of the few official 5ed books worth buying.

[@silentwatch7]

When it's making rent or paying to put food on the table for your household, it's not always quite so simple, but I hear you. The individual employee has no real power to impact things in any substantiative way. Hence why we need labor organization. It benefits everyone - worker and consumer.

[@tatsuvoid]

The idea that d&d in the 80s could encourage kids to have sex is absolutely fricking hilarious to me. I was there, I gamed at those tables. No one in their right mind was letting us bump uglies with them 😂. There was no better contraception than telling someone you were into d&d

[@unknowncomic4107]

I was there too. I know I certainly didn't need a game in order to feel encouraged to have sex........ lol

[@kinjunranger140]

Stinks to be you, it was the exact opposite for me.

[@dychostarr]

​@@kinjunranger140 suuuuuuure.......

[@shaderax_storm6165]

Warhammer, or any table top battle games, and DND are great hobbies to keep spouses happy. You don't get people questioning where you have been for 8 hours if you play these games! And quiet nights in painting can be nice and fun if you meet the right person.

[@melvinstrange8329]

And here I thought Rock & Roll was responsible for leading kids down the wrong paths 😂

[@Milocinia]

"If we just halved our bonuses we could keep all our employees." "Nah. Let's just fire the people who actually do the real work here and expect more growth next year."

[@valasdarkholme6255]

I'm convinced Hasbro is just emptying all the coffers before they sell everything off.

[@DazzlinFlame]

I mean you can lay off a lot of employees in large companies without affecting the actual output. There's a lot of useless positions. Like every marketing person who messed up so badly business dropped.

[@valasdarkholme6255]

@@DazzlinFlame you can, but comments from people who worked there, as well as comments from Larian studios, have made it clear that the vast majority of the actual game designers who worked there the past decade, have been let go.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I am honored to even be mentioned in the video! What an amazing big picture of the TTRPG landscape! Well done as always bro!!

[@GrimViridian]

You deserve it! Your system looks great!

[@Amanda_move]

XP to Level Three has also just made a Fallout RPG system, it’s not really for profit but it looks great.

[@jacobrodgers7743]

Considering there is an official Fallout RPG, what's going on there?

[@Daggoth65]

@@jacobrodgers7743 no idea but he had Bethesda Approval apparently.

[@N0-1_H3r3]

@@jacobrodgers7743 Yeah. I worked on the official Fallout RPG, and I've been looking askance at XP to Level 3's "efforts" since someone told me about them this morning, particularly given how much effort he puts into mocking homebrew in his videos.

[@xordep2]

​@@jacobrodgers7743it's worth it watching his video, he kinda built it while playtesting for quite a while, even streamed the campaign. To me it sounded like a really fun system

[@parkervint169]

@@jacobrodgers7743in his video, he said he didn’t really like the official one and wanted to make one he and his friends would w enjoy playing. They’ve been streaming the games for years, he just now officially published the rules. Definitely recommend watching the video!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

So much love for the community packed into this video!! 😊And I totally resonate with the bit for 'hey, you said this wasn't a takedown video!' Like, yeah, it's just important to point out when a company makes a cruel decision! That's why they listened during the OGL controversy! We love these games, we want the best for them, for everyone who plays them, and for the designers who make them! You've gone to bat for all of those parties over and over. The shout outs for MCDM (and the early days of RPG KZbin), Daggerheart, DC20-- it's all part of the puzzle. Couldn't be happier to have you share our book in this one. Thanks man! 💖

[@DnDShorts]

Congratulations on the incredible launch of DELVE dude!! 🥳🥳🎉🎉

[@Billchu13]

Long live the Grognards!

[@GlenFinney]

Agree, Bob!

[@007ohboy]

Bob the worldbuilder = bad advice + garbage supplementals. Ginny D = Grifter + terrible advice + LARPing Dungeon Dudes = garbage supplmentals + bad advice + snobbery There are more but much of the DnD DM youtuber BS is all about opportunism + peddling their crap wares. Yes, WoTC is the only evil corporation in the world unlike Bob and these mini WoTCs who only care about the playerbase and not making a bunch of money. First world liberals are hilarious. Your whole system is about corruption - capitalism. Bob may not be a bad guy but if his company ever got big enough to go public, he too would sell out or be forced to sell out, screw over customers/employees and become the next WOTC. I guess I'm tired of all the lazy pearl clutching like a bunch of privileged upperclassmen Dbags just figured out that unregulated markets without competition is bad or something. Not like you haven't had over a 100 years of examples of your countries/companies supporting the worst human rights violations on the planet and stealing people's stuff. Welcome to reality. Man with the big beard is alright. You can tell he loves DnD and celebrates it by highlighting mechanics and builds. Bob, Ginny, the Dungeon Dudes and a slew of other garbage creators have no respect for DnD 5E, Forgotten Realms or Ed Greenwood. All they do is complain about reasonable mechanics, tell players to make crap builds that aren't effective if they want to be "real roleplayers"😅 (Ginny is so dumb) and then sell their unimaginative, ripped off trash to make a buck. They grift of DnD, make their whole KZbin channels around the aesthetic of DnD and then tell you how much 5E sucks while trying to offload their garbage. None of these people have 1/10 the creativity of Ed Greenwood and I haven't seen one of my 7 tables use any of their crappy supplimentals, thank the gods. The DnD grifter community just reinvents bad eurocentric garbage and have no imagination. Eberron is utter Europunk garbage and has some of the worst setting explanations for why most humans live on a generic Euro fantasy continent. For 2002 when this world was created, I expect better. We are in desperate need of POC in our spaces that aren't just trying to reinvent the same tired troupes but doing it worse.

[@richardwoo7987]

I feel like the perspective of part of this comes from a select group of people: content creators. You have your own interests to look after and that’s fine. It’s YOUR BUSINESS after all. You have to look after your own interests. I feel what you are saying doesn’t reflect the TTRPG community who aren’t trying to make a living off of the realms of TTRPG. We don’t need Dagger Heart or Pathfinder. We have a game already. D&D. 3.5 or 5e or what ever addition you love. I lead two D&D5e games a week in my community at a local TTG Store. I do home brew adventures and home brew magic items and creatures and monsters. My job is for my players to have fun for 3+ hours. To challenge them individually and as a group to figure out puzzles and overcome situations and to entertain. I get store credit for my time and I’ve made friends along the way there. I’m not looking to self publish and I enjoy sharing ideas with the other GMs/DMs. I look forward to playing D&D NOW like many content creators likely did in the beginning and hopefully still do. Not here to make a living, here to have fun. YOUR concerns for your livelihood are important. They are valid. And your critique of how WOTC/HASBRO is on point in their decimation of their departments and staff and hopefully this too will resolve, I don’t know. Just remember the players who gather in basement rec rooms and kitchens, or library tables in schools and public libraries and games shops don’t share your concerns to the same degree if at all. We are here to Play. Our needs and concerns are not the same .

[@AwesomeWookiee]

My hope is that some healthy competition makes D&D even better, especially if it's swimming in a new golden age of RPGs. I doubt Hasbro leadership could begin to care about making a good product though.

[@SammyNail]

Nah, they'll drop the ball. Sadly, not every Industry Leader is like the WWE. Shit, Disney isnt even doing it that well anymore in theme parks (as of this writting) as they have gone the route of pre-Eisner era by just cutting costs since 2018.

[@8Smoker8]

Hasbro is evil, but competition means fragmentation of the playerbase. Those who don't have a solid group of friends to play with will be damaged by the end of D&D monopoly, if that's a thing. At the same time WotC has to pay for its terrible policies, I'm willing to sacrifice the stability of 5e "golden age".

[@kinjunranger140]

Do you have any knowledge of how Hasbro leadership feels? You do know that most executives in most large corporations make more money when their company does better, right? You do know the basics of capitalism, I hope.

[@AwesomeWookiee]

​​@@kinjunranger140Factually inaccurate. Most CEOs make the most money from the "Golden Parachute". Generally, CEOs barely know what products they mak, let alone caring enough about them. Corporations under capitalism are driven to make the most cost effective products, not the best products.

[@PSIworld13]

@@kinjunranger140 Overall, corporation's aren't evil. They aren't good either. they just are. They want to make money because their investors and their shareholders want to make money. But the way they make money depends on the leadership. And man, that leadership the past few years was quite lackluster. But let's not pretend that DnD was all smooth sailing pre-OGL scandal. It had suffered through TONS of corporate missteps in nearly all of its existence. Gary Gygax completely fumbled around his shot during the 1e times. And during the 2e times, TSR was led by a completely out-of-touch boomer, which led to its downfall and it being sold off to WotC. 3.5E, which was created when WotC was bought by Hasbro, was and still is massively popular in certain circles.. Which shows that people in a corporate setting still can make good products. Then they released 4e and things went spiralling down again, and resulted in Pathfinder 1E happening, and even outselling 4E for a time. And then things went back upwards with 5e, and its popularity. And then the OGL scandal happened, and things went back down. Cynthia Williams is gone now. We may get someone competent, it's quite possible. But we'll have to see. We might actually get good products again, and the implementation of 3rd party content into DnD Beyond, as well as the co-operation between WotC and the people who make Foundry VTT right now are both pretty good olive branches. It may be possible things might also go back up in the DnD department. But overall, we'll have to see.

[@barondragonborn4860]

I’m currently playing a Shinobi Kitsune from your Ryoko’s Guide, and it’s an absolute blast. I can’t say this enough: if D&D dies, it’ll be the 3rd party creators that keep it going.

[@Upcastpanther]

0:56 I think people forget that World of Darkness was bigger than D&D during the 90s.

[@d.w.7203]

And the the fucked IT up ;)

[@Reinshark]

Was it actually bigger? I remember both being on the shelves, but I never had the impression that WoD products were outselling AD&D 2e.

[@garysturgess6757]

WoD actually grew the market by appealing to the goth crowd (many of whom one hopes later looked at other games, but honestly I'm not here to police what people play). Much the same way Stranger Things did I suspect.

[@simontmn]

@@Reinshark Only bigger in the mid 90s when TSR was in a death spiral.

[@angel_cheon-sa]

"Executives that are actively giving themselves bonuses while performing layoffs". I wish FedEx got this kind of press. In the last 3 years they've had like 5 massive layoffs all while giving executives multi-million dollar raises.

[@jennymckenzie5304]

Honestly as a new player I lasted MAYBE a month with the free version of DND beyond before I looked up better ways to do automated sheets and just resort to scraping through PDFs for info. The business model seemed so absurdly fucking predatory and so DESPERATE to squeeze money that I DO NOT HAVE from me that I just gave up. It's a shame because work CLEARLY went into making it a simple easy to use and streamlined system. But it would cost me HUNDREDS of pounds to make a character the way I want to. Either that or I have to find a DM who is using it to run a campaign, owns all the books I want to use, is paying for the amazing tier membership, AND who has that money to burn and DOESN'T just own all the physical stuff already in a collection they've built up over YEARS. I don't feel like I CAN use this website because it's designed to provide me with too little in the hopes I'll drop money. I love your content, thank you for making it Mr Funny Beard man.

[@hellfrozenphoenix13]

This is why I like Pathfinder 2e a lot. All of its mechanical info is free online: character creation is easy with Pathbuilder2e, you can find monster blocks and basic lore on Archives of Nethysis, and it even gets the app updated with new classes (after a month or 2). Pf2E can be enjoyed largely for free and I adore ir

[@Pyxis10]

The business model is just capstalism doing it's thing.

[@hellfrozenphoenix13]

@Pyxis10 yeah. But we have free alternatives. I still need to check out Fabula Ultima at some point.

[@crapshot321]

That is what the goal is. Concurrent player spending revenue. Always making you (the player or DM), pay for every little thing, all to please shareholders. People who probably never even _heard_ of Dnd or care.

[@TERMINATOR3900]

Yeah, DnDBeyond just sucks ass, honestly. I'm sure it's very profitable, but I'm not going to ever recommend it to someone new to the game.

[@Vampyre_Bytes]

So, I was a D&D player since 1980. When I discovered non-fantasy ttrpgs, I branched out. I played cyberpunk 2020 , vampire the masquerade, mage, the Ascension, and others. I still played D&D at the time. But eventually I got bored with fantasy ttrpgs and stayed almost entirely in modern and near modern style games. BG3 brought me back to D&D. And then WotCi drove me away and I'm back to playing powered by the Apocalypse games, vampire, fallout, cyberpunk, and other similar non-fantasy games again.

[@Worthless-one]

Shoutout to Ironsworn/Starforged!

[@josephperez2004]

Currently playing an old Star Wars Saga Edition that WoTC published about 20 years ago. Definitely enjoying the change in swtting and it's interesting to see a sort of snapshot of where the games were then.

[@inuendo6365]

I take it by your username Vampire is your favorite system?

[@Vampyre_Bytes]

@@inuendo6365 I don't particularly have a favorite system per se. But yes, vampire the masquerade V5 is one of my favorites. It's definitely near the top if not at the top. I'm currently really hoping that Mage the Ascension gets the WoD 5th edition makeover soon. I really like the 5th edition of World of Darkness and I do like the storyteller system a lot. Also, I do actually prefer mage over vampire, but I'm having a lot of fun with vampire while we're waiting for mage to go to M5.

[@garysturgess6757]

@@Vampyre_Bytes I cannot agree more. I'm using V5 for my group now, and we're going to fold in W5 soon (sort of "side stories") with M5 as soon as it releases (given that Vampires were created by Mages in my campaign, I sort of need to see just how far I broke the rules :) ).

[@lunatickgeo]

I had friends with pretty religious parents who "knew" that D&D was satanic 😮‍💨 but to their credit they listened to their sons who told them that they, in fact, fought against evil. And also, all of us were pretty boring and square kids who didn't get into any trouble so how bad could we be? The argument that won it though was them saying that since we played at their place (they had a game room) they knew where we were all night, there was no drinking or smoking (like I said, we were very square) and they could check in on us at any time. After that they were okay with it. When LotR came out, that's when they got it when we explained that we were the Fellowship.

[@somescottishguy1314]

my friend hid his rpg stuff with his porn mags as his dad was a big jesus fan

[@lunatickgeo]

@@somescottishguy1314 I'm curious which one his dad would have been more freaked out about finding, the porn or the rpg stuff 😄

[@somescottishguy1314]

@@lunatickgeo when he found out i had gf he went off about premarital sex, demonic influence,drugs, beastiality was mentioned. So I honestly dont know. Good man overall but that was very wtaf.

[@redactedandredactedaccesor7290]

Religious parents are pretty gullible and stupid

[@Greymorn]

D&D will never die. This is not the first time the corporation that owned the IP shot itself directly in the foot, and it won't be the last. The proliferation of 3rd party games is awesome. We will all go off in our own little groups for a while, until the next owner of the D&D IP publishes a truly new, updated version of the classic to bring us together again, just like the early days of 5E.

[@lanceward5904]

Totally agree

[@abedrahman4519]

Yes and no. Depends on how quick the return to the status quo happens. There is a new generation who grew up with CR and the benefits of the OGL. So if something like Daggerheart becomes the new TTRPG system that everyone plays, DnD would become like DCC. Just my opinion, of course, I cannot see the future.

[@tepangora1388]

It's not often they do it with shot gun tho lol

[@michaelleue7594]

DnD might never die, but its time at the head of the hobby may very well be done. There are a lot of smart people outside WotC working hard to make it so, and a lot of dumb people inside WotC working hard to make it so, too. Applying intelligence to a problem makes it much less likely for the outcome to stay consistent with past performance. This situation is different than it has been in the past specifically because the ecosystem of content creators that DnD depends on is now actively harming it. When a company mismanages an IP that nobody is equipped to coopt, they can recover, but when a company mismanages an IP that half a dozen other companies are poised and waiting to coopt, it's a different story.

[@MollymaukT]

It'll never die, heck I don't think it'll ever not be the largest TTRPG, but is steadily losing it's monopoly

[@Ghostdesuu]

I'm gonna be entirely honest, Daggerheart, MCDM RPG and DC20 need to first get a tenth of Pathfinder's playerbase before we can talk about replacing 5e/6e/2024e

[@kelleylafitte6503]

The fact that PF wasn't mentioned as D&D's direct competitor had me rolling

[@richardwoo7987]

Why do they have to replace? Play whatever game you and your friends want to play. D&D, Shadowrun, CoC, Dagger Heart, etc. Let’s be honest, you need only a few books and a fertile imagination to expand your TTRPG experience.

[@adren4306]

They aren’t even done yet. All three are still in Alpha, and might not release for another year. Probably after OneDnD, in all likelihood.

[@mercaius]

We're entering a new age of fantasy heartbreakers.

[@jspsj0]

what are you talking about? PF doesn't ever have a tenth of 5e player base ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Elemenopi23]

Something similar happened in the 80s/early 90s, when the company tried to play bully ball, the creators started making "campaign aides" which were not game specific, and could be run in any system. Some of the most classic D&D modules were created, and only became actual D&D modules in their 3rd, 4th 5th etc...publishing, but their first publish was not game specific.

[@d.w.7203]

History is repeating

[@growingsage]

You talking about They Sue Regularly?

[@alenahubbard1391]

​@@growingsageWhat? You're criticizing saint Gary? 😮

[@mirrikybird]

"Those people who left [for pathfinder]... they're not coming back" The delivery of that line had me in stitches because it is so damn true, I have more pf2e books on my shelf than I have 5e books now. This game reignited my love for running TTRPG's and made it so much easier for me to do it too.

[@jspsj0]

I left Pathfinder and I'm not coming back.

[@Tsudico]

@@jspsj0 Isn't that what this video is about? Finding the TTRPG that is right for you, not just using one of the most well known.

[@AotrsCommander]

That is kind of true for me, except I left D&D after 3.5 and the process was more gradual have over the past decade or so, slowly eaten more of Pathfinder 1 into my 3.5 games. I very few hardcopy PF books, but more PDFs than me 3.5 books and *possibly* even more than my Rolemaster books. ... Maybe. PF2 was unfortunately never going to compete by the time I've written a nearly 200+ page 3.5/PF1 hybrid edition of my own; and 5E never got a look in to start with. (Though 3.Aotrs as I call, has nicked the odd idea from 5e, PFD2 and even 4E.)

[@gumpus5490]

​@AotrsCommander Are you planning on publishing or comfortable sharing your creation? If you are I'd love to take a look at it

[@garysturgess6757]

I got a whole bucket load of PF2 books cheaply from Humble Bundle a couple of years ago and we're having a blast with the Kingmaker campaign. Can't see myself ever playing D&D again, really - even if PF2 pales after a while (which I doubt) the MCDM game looks like it will be awesome.

[@DragonKingCosmos]

In the just first 60 seconds you're already addressing the "down with WOTC" mob. Continue with the good takes funny beard man

[@DnDShorts]

Tbf I do believe WotC the company is deeply flawed, particularly with regard to executives treatment of workers and propensity to cover up controversy and listen to their employees. I also do not believe there is an ethical way to justify the salaries that they take. However not everyone, or even most people, who work there are “bad people” (I'm not sure I believe anyone is truly, deep down, an irredeemable person), and some employees are heroes who definitely shouldn’t be lumped in with the execs or people who perpetuate the abuse that goes on there. I wish they’d stop selling WotC their labour though; remember to unionise everyone!

[@andreashesseerichsen438]

You good person. Me like funny beard man

[@endrekiss3007]

@@DnDShorts exaclyIt is also very importent no to confuse workers and owners. Hot take! Game fans should have strong worker solidarity! The happier the labour, the better the game!

[@DragonKingCosmos]

@@DnDShorts This 100%. Generalizing a large group for a witch hunt is never the way to go about it! Shareholders/Execs and the other Pit Fiends that run WOTC suck, not my boy Jeff down in the warehouse.

[@_Lunaria]

@@DnDShorts Unless those people working there have less IQ than an old shoe.. they are bad people aswell, cause they know that the company is rotten evil, but chooses to stay. Its like saying "not all nazis were bad, some were just working there" See how wrong that is ?

[@Nemo12417]

Here's the thing: Dungeons and Dragons, the franchise owned by Hasbro, may very well die soon. But Dungeons and Dragons the hobby will live on, well, maybe not forever, but for a very long time. Here's an illustration. A friend from work has a Pokemon D&D campaign that he ran a while back, making up a whole bunch of rules for it. Now, the rules are so different from standard D&D that I personally would call it a Pokemon D20 game. But, for many people who aren't immersed in tabletop culture, they see you rolling a D20 and think "Dungeons and Dragons". Yes, that would include Pathfinder. That is what I mean when I say Dungeons and Dragons will live on. Fifth Edition alone has so much potential that we can keep playing it and modifying it without caring what WotC is putting out, or even if they are putting out, or if there even is a WotC.

[@thomaswhite8251]

I KNEW YOU WERE VSAUCE! They didn't believe me, they said i was crazy. Whose crazy now!?

[@Nekedladies]

I actually laughed out loud when I saw it! The resemblance in uncanny.

[@armageddonchampion]

7:39 DnD Shorts is Michael from Vsauce confirmed

[@DarkWarriorShadowClaw]

I think there is definetely a good reason why Larian said that they are eager for their own game than on making DLCs for Baldurs Gate

[@Yora21]

Ready your life raft.

[@user-pi8pi3wj7h]

That has less to do with wotc and more to do with them being fatigued from all of the time it took to develop bg3. The scope of that game is insane

[@lore_shards]

I think it was reported that WOTC came back to them and said "anything else you make we need to renegotiate our percentage" and it was something ridiculous like 30%+

[@DellikkilleD]

@@user-pi8pi3wj7h yeah, no mate. Its directly as a result of WotC. AFter Larian discovered that almost all off the people they had worked with during bg3 had been laid off they changed heading.

[@user-pi8pi3wj7h]

@@DellikkilleD if that's true then wow, wotc/hasbro is really shitting the bed in every business decision

[@dlewdm]

I actually have gotten a bit bored with DnD and had been meaning to try out Pathfinder, I found a group and I’ve been loving it so far. I’ve just lost interest in the game and I’m exploring other systems - like Palladium as well!

[@ValerianMemsk]

Same here. Jumped into starfinder and I am starting to think a found "my" place.😄

[@Edam-Channel]

Pathfinder is what D&D should have been if the accountants and marketing people had not killed it with 4th and 5th edition.

[@bobsmith7066]

I don’t intend to leave 5e, but that’s mainly because I spent a long time learning all the rules and it’s the system I already know. I don’t have any love for WotC and don’t intend to ever give them my money again.

[@Calebgoblin]

Same exact 👍

[@einkar4219]

I just want to say that most systems are easier to learn than dnd5e even more in my opinion pathfinder2e, system significantly more complex is slightly more difficult to learn if not the same; and after you learn the rules it is way easier to run

[@umarthdc]

I learned to play Mausritter in less than an hour and it became one of my favorite games... learning most systems is easy once you start playing them.

[@notme6331]

That better than god line replaced with Allah would get you a fatwa instantly

[@garysturgess6757]

Of course you can play whatever you like, but honestly dude you're doing yourself a disservice. I know it can be hard to get a group to try something new - goodness knows I had to drag my group kicking and screaming into a RuneQuest game - but the reward is worthwhile. Variety is, after all, the spice of life.

[@alexisglaab2572]

Pathfinder 2e is fantastic. Literally everything I didn't like about D&D AND Pathfinder 1st edition are gone from 2e. They also have far more useful game mastering products than anything I have ever got from Wizards. Maps, tiles, minis, 2d standee pawns, Paizo has almost anything you could need, and has a very consistent content release schedule. Also Golarion is a fantastic setting and has ridiculous levels of lore baked in.

[@Rashagar]

I do love the Golarion setting

[@jlighter1]

The supplementary tools are one of the areas Paizo has shone for years for me. Shout-out for item cards and the way they did free Player’s Guides to help players tie into their campaign paths. Plus the novels were mostly just fun

[@mirrikybird]

Also Pathfinder 2e has every rule, monster, item, and character option available for free (archives of nethys) and a really good character builder also for free (pathbuilder) I can never go back after seeing these golden waters

[@mirrikybird]

Every time you level up you choose a feat, crits are better, action economy is better, matials are good! Hell they keep releasing new classes every year to play. Encounter building is so much easier, every item has a gold price to it, this system is my perfect dream. I wish I looked into second edition properly instead of confusing it with first edition all those years ago

[@josephperez2004]

Fingers crossed that the development with Starfinder 2 being fully compatible goes well and creates new fun opportunities.

[@scionicog]

As a Pathfinder2e content creator first and foremost (cause the D&D community already has FAR to many great creators such as yourself), I cannot wait to hear your first experience playing Pathfinder2e. It really is something special, and I would bet the closest thing you've experienced to it is actually Larion's personal franchise: Divinity Original Sin.

[@jmercedesd]

PF2e content creator you say? O.O *zooms to check out your channel*

[@crayyonnyadrav4055]

As someone from Austria, I play the TTRPG The Dark Eye (or Das Schwarze Auge in german). And I really like it more than D&D.

[@arthilas_]

I'm from Austria too :-) My "main" systemsare D&D and to a lesser extent Call of Cthulhu. I want to get into pathfinder though, especially as I am really deep into the technical details with character building. Will probably start with Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous :-)

[@poetwarrior7153]

I recently DMed a couple games for my local boardgame group. When it was announced that I was going to run a game there was such an enthusiastic response that I had to run 2. Among the 11 people that participated only 3 had experience. Number them that wanted to play Pathfinder 0, Daggerheart 0, MCDMRPG (I offered it): 0 D&D 11. That is the realty outside the online/convention TPRPG bubble. I'm not saying that the competitors won't be successful but they have a long way to go to match D&Ds name recognition in the wider culture. It is way too early to sign D&D's death certificate. I wholeheartedly congratulate DnD Shorts for reach 443k subscribers it's amazingly but I recently watched a mobile phone review online and that channel had over 60 million subscribers even Critical Role only has a faction of that number. However, BG3 may have sold over 20 million units and hundreds of millions of people have seen D&D played on Stranger Things. The lifeblood of TRPGs are new players and those new players are coming into the hobby wanting to play D&D.

[@umarthdc]

You ask them what they want? Lol. I just bring a copy of what I want to run and run it. Turns out newbies enjoy any system simple enough. Mausritter, Warhammer Fantasy, CoC, CP2020, as a DM you have the power to show them the variety of the ttrpg landscape.

[@Arlentric]

Cannot express how needed this video this is. Incredible stuff my guy. Also, I have no idea how I managed to get a mention amongst some of those names but it's great to be here

[@veronwright1291]

Don't sell yourself short mate, yours and Hamasamakun's content have both helped me expand my imagination for character conception. And as a non-DM, understanding the pains DMs can experience with very imaginative players

[@WackassBirrB]

3:45 how dare you say that punching children will not increase profits? I swear to god hasbro needs a new Public relations manager, because BY GOD how do you manage to fuck up the image of something that is older than internet itself and that made more money than some countries at a point where people see your company as a joke?

[@WitherDJ]

Wait the Hasbro CEO is named Chris Cocks!? How have we not bullied him while the whole OGL went on?

[@lukanobes140]

ah yes dnd shorts, quite awesome indeed. 1:06 "it was pushing kids to murder [...] . I dont know about you, but a game that can do all that sounds awesome!"

[@thomasmoore8030]

I run RPGs professionally, and the amount of alternatives I've been able to run is really exciting. Sure, I still run 5e (although I'll shift to ToV when the books arrive) but I also run Marvel Multiverse, Avatar Legends, Monster of the Week, City of Mist, Cyberpunk Red, Farflung, Vampire the Masquerade, Dishonored, and so many more. It's fantastic.

[@mbg4681]

Now that we're crossing the D&D/fantasy divide, I hope the fantasy/sci-fi divide is next! There are so many great sci-fi settings out there. Traveller, Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, Mothership, Star Wars Genesys, Lancer, Eclipse Phase, Blue Planet...

[@SomeRand00]

Don't forget Firefly!

[@garysturgess6757]

If it were up to me I'd play Shadowrun exclusively. :)

[@SynthApprentice]

What license does Cepheus Engine use?

[@Wraithling]

Roll20 is about to release on Discord which will make it EXTREMELY easy to just start playing D&D so thatll be a massive boost in play, but probably not in revenue

[@CoppermineTypeK]

Been happily playing fabula ultima with online friends the last few months Absolutely wonderful time

[@martinbowyer7906]

Funny thing is that one of D&D biggest competitors Pathfinder exist because WOTC pulled some OGL shenanigans when 4e was coming out too.

[@jamesverhoff1899]

There's a huge problem with the business model in general for TTRPGs: Once I have your book(s), I don't need to keep buying them. I can more or less play an infinite number of games with the stuff I already have (which isn't a lot). I remember playing D&D 1e in the 2010s, because those were the books the DM had. And eventually you've more or less sold all the books you're going to sell. My house has 2 Player's Handbook, why do we need a third? Realistically, the way around that is to offer variety, because that incentivizes you to buy more books. Why do I need another player's handbook? Because this one is for a totally different system for gaming, that's why. That could have been done in-house, but since it wasn't the competition took the opportunity to jump into the market.

[@kevoreilly6557]

And yet …. I buy every edition

[@rimodalv1]

Problems creep in when your friend group is small and 1 player adamantly refuses to learn a new system.

[@Unormalism]

I'm so done with one player who only got into the game because of Critical Role and refuses to even consider anything not d&d. I DM'd for 3 years straight and said after I'd like to try something else and he immediately said he'll sit it out. When someone else started running d&d he was back in the group. He was more interested in the game then the world, story or group.

[@mouchomouchomoucho3959]

Then put this words in to play. If you want to me to dm something, then I'll dm something I'm interested in. You are welcome, but I'm also a player and I want to try new games, systems and see what this hobby has to offer. You can join or no. It's your choice not mine. Also you are complaining about reading at most 45 pages prior to sesión 1. I read and prepare a session for about 4 hours a week. So stop bitching about stupid things and read something for a change ( you can change the las phrase or remove it)

[@odinulveson9101]

Yeah.. I scoffed at learning Pathfinder. But I adapt, its decent. Its more packed but streamlined more in others. Though I prefer the swedish Dragonbane and norwegian Dragonbreath and Kvad. Solo play even co-op play is a huge + importance when there not enough or no interested players

[@Creepernom]

@@UnormalismSome people just want to play DnD. If you came up to me and told me to play Warhammer I'd sit it out too.

[@Unormalism]

​@@Creepernom The hell kind of false equivalence of that.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

"The most obvious competitor is" Me: Pathfinder Him: Daggerheart Me: Wow, massive disrespect.

[@garysturgess6757]

I can see it. I think most of the people that would play Pathfinder are probably already playing Pathfinder (either because they didn't like D&D4e, or they switched during the OGL fiasco, or whatever). A lot of Critical Role fans will likely switch to Daggerheart _soon_, which means that in a sense they are the "most obvious". I intend no disrespect to the CR dudes but I've never even watched their channel, so I'm not going to be switching to Daggerheart. That's fine though, let a thousand flowers bloom I say.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

@@garysturgess6757 CR seems to have a lot of trouble with people leaving under unpleasant circumstances and it makes me not want to get into anything of theirs

[@Hrafnskald]

Great video. I love how a lot of the creative projects are becoming more system agnostic, where people can enjoy stories and content without having to choose between 5e, pathfinder 2, one d&d, or any other walled garden. When everyone is free to create, the best ideas always rise to the top :)

[@crystallxix1493]

My worry is that by now only a massively better TTRPG can ever actually hope to trump DnD for good or even simply be a real threat. It cant be slightly better or just slightly different, it must be decisively both otherwise there will be little reason for the majority of people (who really only care about having an excuse to play with their friends) to make the change and leave behind the massive amount of content and potential player pools offered by DnD’s community

[@clintonbehrends4659]

Pathfinder 2e is massively better than 5e in my opinion at the very least

[@crystallxix1493]

@@clintonbehrends4659 it being better in your opinion isn’t enough lmao (i personally heavily disagree as much as i enjoy both). It has to be decisively and unquestionably better, almost to the point of objectively being such otherwise it just wont topple the convenience of DnD’s assets

[@Worthless-one]

​@@clintonbehrends4659 Pathfinder in general. 1e is oft forgotten about, but it's really an easier transition from 5e than 2e is, imo. 2e changed so much that it's basically a whole new game /system (players often complain about not wanting to "learn a whole new system" as a way to not transition, so 1e offers an easier 'Path to Find' er away from 5e)

[@clintonbehrends4659]

@@crystallxix1493 I feel like in the ttrpg field nothing is going to "objectively better" as their highly centered around subjective imagination overall I don't think anything is going to replace 5e or out compete it but I do think if more ttrpgs get attention the more people will play other ones besides dnd giving wotc less of a monopoly they will still be on top but it will be more of a hill than a mountain, at this point it's a matter of whether enough other games can use this dip in dnd's popularity to draw enough attention breaking a monopoly is a slow process but at least thiers ground now to do so

[@crystallxix1493]

@@clintonbehrends4659 absolutely

[@christopherg2347]

Pathfinder 2E biggest change is the action economy. 3 equal actions. That allowed them to fix _so_ many issues that all fell back onto the action economy. There are other changes of course, but I think the action economy is the big one.

[@hellfrozenphoenix13]

Huge agree. It allows you to choose if you want to move or not, how much to move around, and it also allows room for more strictly powerful moves to not be the automatic "right choice". Plus, it has a stupid amount of free (and legal) content! So many classes, with 4 more coming (Exemplar, Anamist, Commandeer, Defender) and Starfinder 2e being capable with its OWN 6 classes...frankly, PF2E has become my new TTRPG home.

[@christopherg2347]

@@hellfrozenphoenix13 And Starfinder 2E is compatible with PF2. So all SF2 classes are also PF2 classes and vice versa.

[@Worthless-one]

I dunno. The 3 action economy is basically all 2e has going for it, imo. 1e is more easily picked up and learned by 5e vets, since it's essentially the same game, just without 5e's training wheels and kid gloves. But 2e, if you don't fallow RAW closely enough (i.e. use homebrew), you can very easily break its tight math (which is good if you play RAW/RAI). Yeah, 1e has its own 'math' problems, but it at least *allows* for those numbers to happen and still function, (you really just need to boost AC with To-Hit and Saves to avoid Rocket Tag)

[@hellfrozenphoenix13]

@@Worthless-one I respectfully disagree. I think by using its most popular variant rule, Free Archetype, you enable downright incredible story through character build opportunities. Like my underground investigator who takes down criminal circles by infiltrating them and sabotaging them, and how it translates into gameplay with her focusing on control (trips, grapples, disarms, etc). But I also respect if that's just not your thing. I always disliked the whole "Bonus action vs Normal Action" thing myself, so I may gave bias here.

[@TwilightxKnight13]

@@Worthless-one umm, no. PF2E is much closer to 5E in design than PF1E is. Both editions of Pathfinder are challenging to new players because of the complexity, but for a number of factors, PF2E is a bit easier to learn than PF1E is unless the student is already familiar with D&D v3.5.

[@relaxedfantasyreview]

Wait a minute... Are you secretly Michael from Vsauce?? 😮

[@brozejn]

I absolutely love how well scripted your videos are. They don't waste time, they are getting the right points across. I am so done with people doing the bare minimum and just rambling to the camera, then editing the silent parts away to make those choppy vlog edits. Keep up the awesome work

[@scrumblycat]

As soon as the SRD drama started, a bunch of creators (myself included) started work on their own systems, and now we get to see the fruits of it

[@SilverScribe85]

In spite of all of this, I'm STILL seeing people playing D&D. It's also worth noting that while Honor Among Thieves didn't make box office revenue that equals the MCU, bear in mind that the movie came out at the EXACT same time the OGL issues started to happen. As a result, I've seen many people proclaiming they would NOT go to see the movie out of "protest" against the OGL issue. At the same time, many people (mostly reactors I've seen here on KZbin) have said the movie is actually great and a lot of fun to watch. Sure some purists found issues with some of the movie's elements, such as Chris Pine's character of Edgin not showing off any REAL Bardic skills. But I side with them in saying the movie was and is a great watch. So, while I agree that D&D might be struggling; it's not dying in the sense that it will be gone for good. As long as KZbinrs will continue to make new campaigns, fanmade music videos, short films and even Kickstarter projects; I suspect D&D will continue to fight on

[@homebrewisthebestbrew5270]

Let's not forget the imbecilic comments from the director about "emasculating" male leads. That garbage didn't help. And yes, I joined the boycott--WotC was begging for the kick in the teeth. A shame really; caught the film on streaming and was far better than I expected.

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

And you probably always will - much like when Citadel decided to bin the entire old world (at least for a decade) and folks kept playing the game anyway. Same with the old versions of D&D that still have a following. There is no reason to stop playing a game you and your friends enjoy, especially if you can do so without giving any money to a company who's recent actions you dislike.

[@SilverScribe85]

@@homebrewisthebestbrew5270 As far as "emasculating" the male leads is concerned, I took it as the crew trying not to make the males look like Dave Bautista-style heroes in terms of physical strength. The only male who didn't seem that masculine was Simon...but he's an awkward low-level sorcerer, he was supposed to be that way. Regardless, I hope there will be another piece of D&D media on TV or film someday

[@SilverScribe85]

@@foldionepapyrus3441 Thanks to the recent release of the D&D Lego set, it gave me the hunch that people might break out their old figures from past Lego iterations. This way, until they come up with more things to add, players can make their OWN settings and minifigs however they want. I've actually seen a couple of users create whole fantasy armies using pieces from Hobbit, LOTR, Harry Potter, Ninjago, Star Wars, Chima and even Marvel and Chima Lego sets. Two of these users are ByBeezon and Brad's Brick Post

[@Comfnani]

Really good video but for some reason when I saw this title for a moment I thought this was about a D&D monopoly skin

[@Rory20uk]

Fascinating - I had no idea there were the alternative sytems available )the "unknown unknowns"). Thank you so much for your content.

[@matthewhansen5669]

13th Age, Cypher System, Gumshoe, Vampire... D&D has always had competition. The explosion of new gaming systems has played out again and again. The only way D&D will fail is if they stop being the standard for gaming systems. With OneD&D coming out and the brand deals they have, they'll still hold that title for several more years.

[@calvanoni5443]

Look how fast the Studio was sold, that did the movie production.

[@lei7numenor]

Correction: Terrible for Hasbro/WotC, great for TTRPGs in general and actually for DnD Competence is healthy and 'they' wont be able to go after 3dr party creators for a while

[@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285]

There are a bunch of problems with D&D right now, including but not limited to: 1. Increased prices for their products 2. inconsistent quality (spell jammer was a fucking disaster) 3. A desire to capitalize on nostalgia and references to classic content combined with a seeming disdain for the conventions of the lore. 4. Books being released with broken content (looking at you strixhaven). 5. WotC engaging in incredibly bizarre business decisions.

[@votch2798]

My playgroup finished our year-long d&d 5e campaign and now we're looking into other systems. So far we've tried Daggerheart, Heart: City Beneath, and our own custom system. We've realized quickly that we're still having fun without 5e, so we'll probably not be going back to it.

[@toddhanzlik1516]

My best friend and I homebrew our campaign using elements of whatever we think might be fun, and we still work from 3.5e rules. We got my daughter in on a session with us, and her character is an inquisitor from Pathfinder 2.0. It's absolutely badass.

[@ByzanQueen]

Great video! A little surprised by only a token mention of Pathfinder though, since it's the most "established" of the dnd rivals and - this could be purely anecdotal here - but I've seen a lot more people interested in the system through Wrath of the Righteous after BG3 put crpgs back in the public eye.

[@mushuable]

Definitely with you on this! Initially wasn't interested but the more I read into it the more I love the system. I feel like it's got much more depth for original and unique character creations, and seems much better to balance around. Even setting wise, Golarion is great.

[@Worthless-one]

​@@mushuableas I say, 1e is 5e with the training wheels and kid gloves taken off. 2e is its own beast (which would a a good example of "learning a whole new system"). Plus Pathfinder content is free online at Archives of Nethys and d20pfsrd (including a lot of 3PP)

[@theunikronus7204]

I started looking into PF 2e a few months ago, and I just don't really see how it is better than D&D 5e? The only differences that I can tell it has is how action economy works and the different levels of history proficiency.

[@BisexualWrath]

​@theunikronus7204 not everyone will enjoy Pathfinder more. It is a far crucnhier system but that's what some people love about it. The rules make sense, it is a very balanced game outside of dual class. It allows for a varied style of builds and encourages teamwork. Again it wont be everyone's favorite game but for people who want your skills to be more than flavour beyond perception, do cool things with weapons and varied spells beyond just blast and have defined class roles pathfinder could be for you

[@lori0747]

I think this Is related to the fact that this video linda refuses to talk about the thousands of smaller non DND like ttrpgs that have Always existed, and what impact the monopoly break Will have on them

[@PaddyCapDice]

I love your videos like this! They are concise, yet bursting with valuable information! I really appreciate the work you do to keep viewers up to date on major changes like this. I’ve been looking at other games besides D&D for a while but haven’t played yet. I think a lot of that has to do with the learning curve of a new system. I’m also a ttrpg (mostly D&D) content creator, and this video has inspired me to branch out more. It’s also informed me more directly on the type of content I should focus on and I even got a new video idea while I was watching! I’m pretty confident in my ability to know what people might like to watch and which topics are important, but it’s nice to hear what other creators have to say. Particularly, I’ve decided to try and focus on the quality of my content: get more in depth with a topic and such. Your work inspires me sir!

[@KajtekBeary]

There are a lot of systems that have a very short learning curve! Just look at whole PBTA and OSR genres. Yes, there are those complex behemoths like pathfinder (which is still a great system) or GURPS (another great one), but there are also systems that can be explained entirely on two pages, or in 20 minutes of a video. Ask around on r/RPG or other similar communities, you'll find something soon! From myself, City of Mist is a great, short-to-learn system.

[@gaidencastro9706]

I feel the name "Dungeons and Dragons" is just too popular for Hasbro's effective monopoly to get uprooted. Unless some serious marketing is done on the parts of the competitors, D&D is always going to be more popular.

[@HowDoIDad]

Really insightful video. I appreciate you recognizing what's going on as well as the reaction to it. More importantly you empowered the audience with the truth that we vote with our purchases. 10/10. Great Job!

[@pillarsofadventure]

Your mention of DC20 as a high profile competitor to D&D almost made me spit my coffee laughing.

[@GutisFive]

In scale, not even close. But in concepts and original ideas, absolutely. DC20 is presenting options that make D&D PCs feel dull in comparison. Anecdotal but I'm starting a new 5e campaign with few friends and i wanted a martial pc. Had to choose the battlemaster just to be able to replicate the versatility that any martial has in DC20 from the start

[@pillarsofadventure]

@@GutisFive I've personally grown to hate 5e more and more mainly for its bloat. I wish something could usurp it and win over its player base. But no system on kick-starter is going to do it. Even MCDM. They make a good amount of cash but its only 30k customers from a player base of millions.

[@GlenFinney]

DC20 is a blast. It may be hard to get market share, but if you’re bored with 5e it’s a great way to go!

[@leonelegender]

​@@GutisFivetry it out level up's advanced 5e, if I ever get back to DND I will be playing that. It have a source for fighters called effort, which they use doing martial maneuvers, yes everyone that doesn't have spells have a spell like list of martial maneuvers from many different styles.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Your next coffee is on me then 😆 I think any games that will eventually be “up there” will need to start with a Kickstarter. It’s the ONLY way us small folks stand a chance at publishing. So shadowdark, ToV both doing over 1 million was huge, MCDM over 4 is nuts! I see all these smaller game systems growing, as DnD shrinks. BUT I’m not trying to be a “top dog” myself, I am just trying to make the best version of a TTRPG I can and try to address issues and innovate as much as possible 👍🏼

[@MacMcNurgle]

I really like how you support the community and other content creators, I knew all the names and had a little thrill. Cheers.

[@bluelantern27]

Great video, brother! It's always great to see you on here!

[@nerdaccount]

I've been so happy with all my Kickstarter stuff I can't even imagine waiting for the "new" Vecna stuff to come out. Its release is months away and I'm already getting all kind of WOTC promotion of it.

[@josukex42]

It is this month. May.

[@nerdaccount]

@@josukex42 Dang... my bad. I don't know why I got it in my head that it was in July. I kept wondering... why we are talking about this? LOL Thanks for the correction!

[@DoubleCritFail]

Within the community, people are more open to other systems, and that's wonderful! But generally speaking, I don't know if pop culture will ever see a TTRPG played and not immediately think, "Oh, D&D!" (Kinda like how in the late 80s/early 90s, every video game system was a Nintendo.)

[@patrickdees5256]

The best part about a 5e homebrew campaign: You don't need to rely on solely official D&D books. You got ""Grim Hollow," "Why slay dragons, let's just fish," "Stibble's Codex of Companions," and much more.

[@woodrowsmith8333]

My group enjoys 5e but none of us have bought a WoTC product in years. We have supported 3rd party creators/publishers and mostly created our own things for use in our own games. Interest is high in our extended group for alternatives and for entirely different games.

[@AwesomeWookiee]

I do find it quite funny that everyone has sort of agreed to talk about Tales of the Valiant in a kind of "oh yeah, you're here too" kind of way. MCDM and Darrington Press have really pushed forward with the angle of "what do we dream it could be", while it feels like TotV is mostly a pretty uninspired spite piece.

[@douglasphillips5870]

It sounds like what Paizo did with original Pathfinder, and that worked for them

[@The_Crimson_Witch]

​@@douglasphillips5870Piazo had a could of factors working in their favor that kobold press doesn't rn

[@lanceward5904]

I personally think that in a year from now everyone is going to miss D&D being the monopoly. Good luck trying to get a group together to play one system when everyone wants to play something else. The fact that everyone only had one option meant that people played it more often, and I know there’s plenty of people like me who aren’t interested in moving away from what they grew up with, controversies or not. I think D&D is going to get squeezed more and more by the people who own it until it’s finally thrown away as worthless. And then someone who genuinely loves the game for the game and not the money will give it new life and it’ll come back with a rush, like 5e did.

[@garysturgess6757]

I don't understand this sort of brand loyalty. It's not as if TTRPGs are difficult to learn (yes, you can find exceptions, but once you start listing them you'd almost definitely find that you'd have to list D&D as amongst the exceptions rather than the rule). For a start, D&D locks you into playing the fantasy genre ("Orcs in Space" ala Spelljammer notwithstanding); while I'm sure you could create or find some set of rules to play super heroes with D&D mechanics, you're not going to get them from a published WotC sourcebook, and once you go homebrew the whole "everyone knows this system" goes out the window. Your history is wrong, in any case. D&D's resurgence was 3e, not 5e. 4e may not have been popular, but it was never at risk of killing the brand.

[@yaluckyboy]

as someone who first started playing D&D back in 2011-ish playing 3.5 with my friends who were already familiar with the game, the thing I loved the most was the MASSIVE library of books and material to work with. You had everything ranging from the Core books to the Complete handbooks to the environment themed books like Frostburn to actual setting guides for planes like Forgotten Realms and Eberron when 5E started and they released the first few books, I was excited to experience this again with new books adding new stuff. But then they suddenly stopped after half a dozen books over as many years compared to the 60+ books they made for 3.5 in the same amount of time Now I'm helping groups like Loot Tavern and Ghostfire Gaming make their own supplements for 5E because WotC sure as hell isn't making any more of their own

[@IamHattman]

At this point, I'd almost say the best move that WotC has left is actually to go the opposite direction. Create a small team dedicated to checking for continuity and rules balance once the new system is out, and then opening up to 3rd party content. Instead of fighting that become the curator of it with an official stamp of approval system so that creators can make a thing, submit it to the review team, tweak and adjust as needed and then they get a stamp of approval, put on to DnD Beyond and WotC gets a small cut of all versions sold and a slightly larger cut for purely digital content sold that they manage through their digital infrastructure. That's the only way I can see them reconsolidating the community at this point. It wouldn't work one hundred percent but it would be the best recovery they can manage. Especially if they want to get out of the publishing space. They still have to maintain the value of the DnD brand to get those licensing deals they want after all. Only way to do that is to keep new DnD content coming out. This way they can just outsource it while maintaining some through line of continuity/game balance by having a team specifically dedicated to it.

[@MrDecelles]

1- The Dragonlance crappy release 2- The spelljammer failure (no ships in main book) 3- Board game failures 4- New edition advertized early... everybody is waiting. 5- OGL. 6- no new main new books (tasha etc)

[@mushuable]

6. Is understandable, as a third party content I'd be scared of writing and publishing content after the PGL debacle.

[@ExepertGames]

6 is the reason why I lost interest in dnd We have literally only 2 main books that gave more than 1/2 new character options (3 if we count Volo/Multiverse)

[@MrDecelles]

@@ExepertGames 4th edition was supposed to "stop the spreading" of new classes and feat.... The litteral stuff that we wanted as players and GM. Adventures are for 1 person to read. Also, the regular 2024 customer does not know if they should have it numeric or paper. Should I pirate it instead is a question we ask ourselves. Paying twice for the same product is insane.

[@leonelegender]

​@@MrDecellesalways pirate, your money is a privilege you throw at them if the material you used was good enough for you to want to help the creators.

[@MrDecelles]

@@leonelegender pirating is not the solution. Bur having the rebuy the stuff on different media is not good. I hope dnd has proof of purchase or something

[@justingraves1291]

Definitely not playing Daggerheart but I look forward to what Kobold press puts out

[@davesheavesen5476]

I love how you lay things out and offer a full picture of the TTRPG landscape. Your takes are thoughtful and have community’s best interest at heart.

[@PedroHenrique-kn8wy]

I wasn't really surprised when they annocunced that D&D ang Magic wouldn't be more publiched here in Brasil. Happly, whe have Tormenta and Paranormal Order to substitute it, in a certain way

[@sharingheart13]

Slightly disappointed this wasn't a video about a D&D board game where you buy properties with play paper gold. XD

[@loloverlord1664]

I live in France, where the "D&D monopoly" basically never existed. We had and still have a rich background of several popular roleplaying games, both from Europe and the USA, D&D is just one of them. And I've heard many times "D20 sucks".

[@throwabrick]

"They can fire everybody!" Every exec's wet dream.

[@brokenmeats5928]

I love ALL DnD Shorts videos!

[@DoctorLazers]

WOTC doesn't have any interest in making RPGs. They have interest in owning the rights to the biggest brand name in fantasy fiction. Making RPGs based on it is just a prequisite.

[@Mokiefraggle]

This. They basically just want to own it so nobody else can make money off of it.

[@TheCube404]

I love that most are simpler than dnd, and quicker (anything WoD that I tested was like that). If I can recommend: - Changeling, you are a person with fairy soul, you can use magic based on very generic rules to make whatever you want, like using an art that transforms water into fire to turn a water pistol into a flamethrower It is about lose of wonder, they eat/use wonder of people and themselves as fuel for magic, but in the current world its scarce. For example, My computer can make excel sheets, calculate a lot of variables in a instant and quickly show/organize and share with a person on the other side of the world. Its amazing, wonderful, but when Im doing an excel sheet I dont feel wonder, just boredom from a task that needs to be done. - Mage Your objective is to reach omnipotence (what is kinda easy) and debate philosofy about what means to have absolute power. You can do ANYTHING, mages magic is about changing reality, but reality doesnt like that so it generates paradox (a violent counter response to the change) - Vampire for cool powers and intrigue - Werewolf for combat and fighting a lost war (they fight for the spirit of Gaia, mother eart, but well, she is kinda dead/dying, so you need to decide if you abandon your cause or double down). (the most combat centric, and besides VERY FEW damage types (like silver) you will regenerate your health to full on the beggining of the next turn)

[@Gopher86]

Oh God, there's soo many other great TTRPGs. I would need to take an entire day off from work to list them all and describe why they're great. DnD 5e losing some ground is the best thing that can happen to TTRPGs in general. Although I'm of course aware that DnD is still to this day the reason players and GMs are getting into the hobby in the first place... Oh.. perhaps some honourable mentions: Crown and Skull, The Electrum Archive, Shadow of the Demon Lord, Forbidden Lands, Mutant Year Zero, Symbaroum, Mutant Crawl Classics.

[@majinsole8554]

Hoping that competition breeds a better product, because though I’ve only recently found D&D I really do enjoy it 🤷‍♂️ ~_~

[@pigmaster-nh4kx]

Same

[@leonelegender]

Try out advanced 5e for a better and fun experience, pathfinder 2e if you want extra crunch

[@JohnSmith-vk9ds]

5:36 - Sponsor section ends

[@clevername1349]

The "ME" at 07:40 showing Michael Stevens made me lose my coffee! LOL!

[@alpacaofthemountain8760]

I had a blast when I was playing Pathfinder a year or so ago. Might start doing some more research into it… great video as always!

[@transyuri4534]

I've made so much hombrew stuff for my own game. Races themed around the four horsemen of the apocalypse, spells, varient features, backgrounds, and my plyers love it. They also absolutely adore the 3rd party stuff I use like Ryoko's and Fools gold. And with how we have wikidot5e we don't actually need to official books.

[@vKILLZ0NEv]

This dropping right as d&d beyond drops their "a la carte" purchasing options is just *chef's kiss*

[@dsz_ta1nt3d]

This is why I've started working on my own TTRPG system. The drama that went on was pretty bad, but I honestly was just never able to get everything I was looking for from D&D. Now, here I am a year into designing and I'm honestly having more fun creating this world than I thought I would (despite the absolute migraine solo-designing an entire new system is when you suffer from being a perfectionist that adds way more work to do than you probably should or even need 😅).

[@Eirath]

Don't forget Hasbros latest move, removing microtransactions from DnD Beyond, probably the only place within the gaming sphere where such kind of business actually made sense and helped the customer. Also a shoutout to European/Nordic alternatives to DnD that kicks ass: Dragonsbane, Eon, Mörk Borg, Forbidden Lands And if you like non fantasy rpgs: Western, Coriolis, Kult, Mutant, Vaesen, Draug, Nephilim, Into The Odd, Tales of The Loop, Twilight: 2000

[@billberndtson]

00:14 Including Amy Dallen. I'm still mad about that.

[@Cyb3rM1nd]

I wonder if this would lead to a 2nd video about the absolute bullfuckery they've done with the D&D Beyond marketplace. - Er, anyway, great video and yes the D&D monopoly is very much dying due to Hasbro/WotC greed. They did this to themselves.

[@kaneo1]

"God?" "No, I'm better!" _(Nervously backs out of smiting range.)_

[@andrewhallock2548]

A well-presented video! Thank you for a fantastic overview of the last few years. I'm old enough to have played first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons while it was still being printed. I'm so happy there are other games, other systems, other ways to enjoy this hobby!!

[@hydragaming3489]

To be honest, the main reason I wish to play dnd is because there is a large community. It helps and if wotc harms the community too much there is no point anymore.

[@cassie8135]

Yes

[@jani1848]

Yes

[@kuki2800]

Yes

[@gadzoooks7790]

I love these videos cause theyre so informative and you do a lot of research for them. Keep up the great work!

[@RobertHartleyGM]

Ooo we got a mention! Thanks dude!

[@seanpatrick7041]

D&D never had a monopoly on TTRPGs. There has always been TTRPG competitors. Flying Buffalo's Tunnels and Trolls, ICE's Arms Law/Claw Law, Chaosium's Runequest, GDW's Traveller, FGU's Space Opera, Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, the list goes on and on. The only people who thought D&D held a monopoly on the TTRPG world were Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, and people who came to D&D after watching Critical Role.

[@Delmworks]

With all respect, a TTRPG system that as a household name to the point or replacing the term “tabletop rpg” in many people’s minds is, for all intents and purposes, a monopoly, and more than close enough to be referred to as such.

[@seanpatrick7041]

@@Delmworks People who have been playing TTRPGs since the late 1980s/early 1990s don't use the D&D to replace the term TTRPGs because we know that there are A LOT of TTRPGs other than D&D and a lot of different systems/game mechanics. Some of those Systems/Game mechanics are much better than D&Ds clunky game mechanics, so D&D is not a good blanket, term hence TTRPG. The only people who use D&D as a blanket name to cover all TTRPGs are Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, and people who came to D&D after watching Critical Role.

[@Mokiefraggle]

@@seanpatrick7041 Except that to plenty of people who don't play or otherwise interact with TTRPGs, D&D _is_ a blanket term. Like, if you say "I'm playing a tabletop role playing game" to the average Joe with no concept of what goes on in a TTRPG, they probably won't know what you're talking about. But if you say "It's like Dungeons and Dragons," it sinks in...even if they may get the immediate and unfortunate belief that you're running around in bad costumes pretending to cast spells and fight imaginary monsters.

[@alenahubbard1391]

​@@seanpatrick7041As someone who's been playing since 1982 D&D has always been dominated over all of those other games and to say otherwise makes you look ridiculous. 😂

[@somescottishguy1314]

the T&T solobooks were great as a kid. I wish the Advanced Fighting Fantasy rpg had gained traction though as the FF gamebooks were great and had massive popularity.