this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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That's been true for multiple d&d editions too, especially 3/3.5 and 2e (argurably this is what killed TSR). 5e/ODD should have learned from these lessons, but shareholders jsut want to see the line go up, I guess.
Oh absolutely, and on top of that the newer systems try to be backwards compatible with the older systems, so that content can be ported even easier... But the system makes little sense to newcomers.
One simple example for me, is how arcane generating your stats is.
Skill checks used to use 3d6, and you used to roll 3d6 for each of your stats. This made sense.
Now skill checks use 1d20+mod, but you roll 4d6dl six times, note them separately, assign them to your ability scores... And then subtract 10 and then divide by two. These you note in a little box for the modifier. No, your Strength didn't just become 19 instead of 16, we just generated the 16 so we know you roll 1d20+3 whenever you roll for strength.
Why did we even generate those bigger numbers? Do we use them anywhere? Well, the short story is “not really, they're just backwards compatibility”...