Genuine Question
In your mind, what makes something 5e?
In that vein, what makes something stop being 5e? I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. It gets so hard to gauge lately (to me) "Is this 5e, is this not 5e, why do we consider this 5e, why don't we consider that 5e?"— Gabe Hicks (@GabeJamesGames) February 2, 2022
I think something is 5e if it uses the 5e ruleset. IMO a strength of 5e is its versatility; it’s not necessarily designed for one style of play. The official books cover a pretty broad range of genres and playstyles—we just got one with a no-combat option! That said, there are some third-party products or homebrew that I don't think are consistent with the framework. If you are rebuilding entire systems, you've begun to move away from the engine as a whole, if that makes sense!
— Justice Ramin Arman (@justicearman) February 2, 2022
Genuinely good question.
Reading the Dark Souls stuff, and it really is a huge step away from what I would consider 5e. I mean they’ll need to redo monster stats, classes, probably a ton of gear.I guess Proficiency + Skills + Ability Scores is the core 5e combo? Yeah! And it's tough! I don't think there's really a "wrong" way to define it but as individuals and groups compare since we don't have a unified term it sometimes gets confusing and it makes me think. I think prof + skills + ability scores makes a good combo for 5e as a base
— Gabe Hicks (@GabeJamesGames) February 2, 2022