Hoping One D&D is really Two D&D's

Some thoughts on the One D&D play test thus far. 

So, Wizards of the Coast announced that One D&D, an edition that continues the already functional legacy of Fifth Edition with some minor rules tweaks would be the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons. 

The D&D community at large took in the news and began prognosticating about what broken systems from Fifth Edition might fall under the scalpel. 

• Maybe they'll get rid of short rests...
• Maybe they'll clean up the whole use this ability once per long rest / per day vs. number of times equal to proficiency bonus mess. 
• Maybe they'll get rid of the whole use of the word "race" in the rules...
• Maybe they'll streamline the whole character background thing to make it easier / less complicated for new players.

We were all wrong. Instead, the play test documents have focused on rules that most players never considered broken or lacking while adding in new levels of complexity. It has taken optional systems, like feats and made them core, at first level, no less, adding unnecessary complexity right at the start.

I'm not going to get into the weeds, rule-by-rule. I'm not going to rant about what I do and do not like from the play-test. If you would like to hear what I consider to be sound design analysis of these rules, I would suggest listening to RPG veterans and game designers Teos Abadia and Shawn Merwin discuss 5e and One D&D at length on the Mastering Dungeons Podcast. 

What I will do is make the following contention, which may or may not be a particularly hot take.

One D&D from the play test documents so far doesn't feel at all like a 5.5 or even a 6th Edition. Hear me out. I think One D&D feels very much like AD&D or 5E Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. It feels like WotC has done something very much like Gygax and TSR did with AD&D in the early days, expanding the rules in some cases, replacing DM rulings with codified rules (in the Players Handbook no less), and adding more complex systems into the game from the start. 

Being a 5th Edition player who also loves old-school retro-clones, I often hear the OSR community criticize 5e for having too many rules or being too complex and rigid. If anything, I would say 5e is the simplest iteration of D&D to come along since we left the simplicity of B/X for AD&D. Now that we're adding a bunch of rules and new systems in from the start with One D&D, I can't help but feel that we're going to once again split the player base. The DM's who prefer a simpler rules system sticking with 5e and those who desire more crunch and power creep going with the new version. If the new stuff is "compatible" with original 5th edition books and adventures, I feel like it will be more like how AD&D adventures could be used with B/X rules and vice versa, of course with a lot of tweaking. 

Maybe there is a market for a more crunch-heavy, super-powered D&D. I'm sure Wizards is doing its share of market research. It just feels yucky, like 4E felt for a lot of people. 

I agree with Mike Shea (Slyflourish) that our happiness / enjoyment of this game is not dependent on Wizards, but I have really been enjoying the number of students, friends, relatives, and colleagues that have been asking me about D&D in the last couple of years. More-so, I've been really enjoying how easy it is to on-ramp them into the hobby that I have loved since 1992 with the current rule set, which is so beginner-friendly. 

Honestly, I am really hoping that the "One D&D" this play test is aiming toward is really Two D&D's; a simple 5e continued with an advanced version for hard-core enthusiasts that want a complex rule for everything, including social encounters, and lots and lots of feats, epic boons, and other candy. 

That's just my two cents. Share your thoughts in the comments below, as the kids say.