In the tabletop gaming world, two of the bestselling RPG’s on the market are D&D and Pathfinder. D&D came out with 5e in 2014, Pathfinder 2e was released in 2019 and D&D One (which is really 5.5) was released in 2023/2024. I want to compare and contrast these systems for those that are curious about each system, and are perhaps deciding which is best for them. Some others might be immersed in one of these systems and are wondering if it’s worth it to jump ship and try the other one. I’m going to start by talking about D&D.
D&D 5e
For those of us in the know, 4e was very different. It was a radical departure from all previous versions of the game, it was heavily influenced by MMORPG’s, it emphasized combat over actual roleplaying, power creep rose quickly with the supplements, but the changes didn’t stop there. Wizards of the Coast abandoned the Open Game License for a more restricted license which alienated most of the 3rd-party publishers, including Paizo, whose Pathfinder arose as a strong competitor. Many D&D players switched. There’s also the failure of “D&D Insider”, which is a whole ‘nother story. Its failure prompted WotC to return to a more classic style while trying to keep some of 4e’s streamlining.
It was a success, as 5e was widely accepted and adopted when it was released in 2014. Why? It was very accessible for new players. WoTC explicitly named three central “pillars” that 5e is built on: combat, exploration and social interaction. It emphasized streamlined play and ease of learning through simple mechanics such as bounded accuracy and the advantage/disadvantage system. Bounded accuracy is a big deal, as it fundamentally changed how the game’s math works.
Bounded accuracy means that bonuses to dice rolls (like attack rolls and saving throws) don’t scale out of control. This means that lower-level monsters remain relevant throughout the game, and numbers calculation remains manageable. It helps keep 5e accessible and prevents the “rocket tag” problem, where high-level play often came down to whoever struck first winning instantly due to extreme damage output and specialized builds.
Core mechanics are simple: roll a d20 + modifier vs DC. Action economy uses a very straightforward system as well: one action, one bonus action, and one reaction per round. It focused once again on narrative-driven play and exploration as well, so a real return to form for D&D.
However it had some weaknesses. The martial classes simply fall behind as they level up, and spellcasters dominate. There also aren’t a lot of great non-magical abilities beyond level 10 for fighters, rogues and monks. The encounter balance is fairly fragile: the Challenge Rating system often doesn’t tell you the real challenge. Party synergy could easily wipe out whoever they face, and in other cases the challenge is so dangerous it can cause TPKs.
While character creation is streamlined and does encourage roleplaying, beyond subclass choices 5e offers few decision points compared to more detailed systems. Feats are optional and most classes follow linear paths after level 3. Some race/class choices are just stronger, leading to ‘trap choices’ for some.
There also is not much tactical depth to the game. There aren’t many mechanics for battlefield control, movement or positioning unless you are casting spells. Finally, many of the rules are vague and require the DM to give a verdict and improvise pretty regularly.
D&D 5.5/One
Why was there a revision to 5e? Frankly it had been 10 years, and by 2023 sales had been steadily dropping for quite a while. It was time for something new and WotC knew it. However, they chose not to go to a 6th edition. Why not? First, they wanted backwards compatibility, opting for an incremental increase such as when 3.5 replaced 3.0. They also didn’t want market fragmentation, where the players might be split between 5e and 6e. They also really wanted digital integration with D&D Beyond and virtual tabletops, and didn’t want to endanger it with a completely new edition. This is where the brand “One D&D” comes from, their vision for a unified system and maybe dropping editions altogether.
D&D One did a species and background overhaul, shifting ability score bonuses to backgrounds instead. This was meant to allow greater flexibility in character creation, and address some of the pushback from some fans around terms like “race.” They also tried to give martial classes a boost, to keep up with spellcasters. Some classes got spells from level one, while others got the new weapon mastery system. Feats were reworked into core character-creation options, though players could choose an ability score increase instead. An encounter difficulty calculation flaw was fixed in the DMG–the DMG overall is an improvement over the 2014 version. They also balanced the subclasses, so every class now has four. They expanded crafting rules as well.
There are criticisms of the updated rule system. Probably the largest is that the changes are generally superficial and they missed some opportunities. While there are significant tweaks, does this really warrant spending money to update the core books? There are other problems too.
Digital integration remains a challenge. Initially WotC automatically updated every character to 5.5 rules on its Character Builder which resulted in a backlash from fans, so it was rolled back. Meanwhile WotC just laid off over 90% of the staff working on its virtual tabletop project, Sigil–it’s essentially been scrapped.
Some classes have seen improvements, such as the ranger, barbarian and monk–others have not. The warlock and sorcerer are probably the biggest losers of the 2024 revision, the paladin got nerfed, and the decision to have all subclasses start at 3rd level has been controversial. The diversity changes have caused some division as well, while standardizing all ability scores across every species can homogenize them, ironically working against its stated purpose–to increase diversity.
Conclusion
Did the 2024 revision do what it set out to do? Let’s take a look. Here’s what it did pretty well:
- Backwards compatibility is mostly accomplished. You can generally use 2014 material without major issues.
- Clarity and streamlining is pretty successful. Wording is more precise, especially in spell and condition descriptions. Mechanics like grapple and exhaustion were clarified.
- Digital integration is partially successful. D&D Beyond is front and center, and Character Builder tool does work, but the VTT is dead in the water.
Here’s what is pretty controversial or incomplete:
- Balance and class identity: The Ranger, Barbarian and Monk did get love, whereas the Paladin and Warlock feel over-simplified and weakened in some ways, and the Sorcerer got nothing. It’s a wash in my eyes.
- Narrative and Lore tone shift: There is significant tension between streamlining while preserving the unique flavor of races like drow, orcs, tieflings, etc. Was the race/species overhaul a good idea? It’s inconclusive.
- The DMG created a joke where none needed to exist, namely the controversial safety tools, particularly the section that reads “Boundary Signal: A gesture that signals when a boundary has been crossed.” The guide recommends making an X symbol with your arms as an example. This has been memed and is the butt of Youtube jokes for a while now.
The bottom line? If you are a casual or newer player and don’t own the original 5e books, get the ones that just came out. Overall they are good. If you’re a veteran player there is not a significant justification for spending the money. Another question is, how do these rules systems compare to Pathfinder? That’ll be the subject of my next post!