There have been many different editions of Dungeons & Dragons throughout the game’s storied history. While the current version is called 5th Edition, there have been a few more five updates to the game. However, it looks like there will not be a 6th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, at least not for a while.

In 2018, Co-Lead Designer for 5th Edition and then-Executive Producer of the Dungeons & Dragons studio at Wizards of the Coast Mike Mearls tweeted that D&D is “nowhere near 6th Edition.” He also said that anything resembling a 6th Edition of D&D would likely not be an entire new ruleset that forces players to choose whether to upgrade or not. Rather, it would be a set of “new toys to make your game better” without disrupting different playstyles or campaigns.

Mearls clarified in an AMA on reddit that the goal of 5th Edition is ultimately to gather all D&D players into a single edition and support it as long as possible. He compared it to what Microsoft is doing with the Windows 10 operating system, and said that he expects 5th Edition to last longer than the usual edition lifespan of half a decade or so. He said that a new edition would likely only be developed when “the warts of the current one are bothersome enough that people want them excised.”

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What does this mean? Well, it likely means that in addition to new content – such as that found in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything or Volo’s Guide to Monsters – and new settings and setting-specific mechanics – such as Ravnica’s guilds or Wildemount’s dunamancy – D&D will hopefully add more general mechanical updates to the game. Wizards of the Coast has already introduced new improved class abilities at certain levels, refining and balancing abilities that might have been underpowered or off-theme for a better playing experience.

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5th Edition is a generally good compromise from the extremely customizable but rules-heavy Edition 3.5 and the beginner-friendly but mechanically flat 4th Edition, and this decision would allow Wizards of the Coast to focus on improving a widely liked edition. They could improve the holes in the rules for this edition, such as the underdeveloped social and exploration pillars. It allows for the system to improve without scrapping everything and starting over.

Supporting 5th Edition for as long as possible also allows for a stronger fan creator community. Wizards of the Coast has cultivated a massive community of people who create unofficial content through Dungeon Master’s Guild. Dungeon Master’s Guild allows players to create and sell D&D content, and is a source of many new adventures and expansions – more than the Wizards of the Coast team could produce on their own. Even big names like Matt Mercer publish there. If a new edition were announced, this stream of community content would dry up; creators are unlikely to make content that will soon become irrelevant with a new edition.

Ultimately, this decision is a good one. Extending 5th Edition as long as possible will allow for updates to the system that still have a strong emphasis on backwards compatibility, and will let DMs and creators alike keep doing what they love.

Source: EN World

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