While its release date is still fairly far away, One D&D, the latest set of rule changes for Dungeons & Dragons, is looking to dramatically shake up the way the iconic tabletop RPG is played, possibly including homebrew elements. While not technically a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons, One D&D has certainly already made it clear that it is going to be making some big changes. From the looks of these adjustments so far, it seems that One D&D wishes to streamline its gameplay and systems to make them even more welcoming to new players than the fifth edition of the game.
Alongside these changes coming to the classes of One D&D, there has been a controversial rumor floating around the internet about the upcoming game. Specifically, following a video made by Dungeons & Dragons YouTuber Indestructoboy, some fans believe that One D&D won't allow for homebrew content in the same way that fifth edition did. This means that third-party creators won't be able to publish homebrew content for the game legally, even if they distribute it for free. While this is a big change from Dungeons & Dragons 5E, and a largely controversial one, there are some positives that could come out of this decision, should the rumors prove true.
The Potential Pros of One D&D Removing Homebrew
One D&D potentially removing third-party homebrew publications immediately seems like it will be a bad move, especially when considering all the source books and adventures creators have made for Dungeons & Dragons 5E, but there are some positives that could come from this decision. The first way that players could benefit from this is through Wizards of the Coast putting in extra effort into its own extra supplements for One D&D. Previously, players had an alternative to the adventures that Dungeons & Dragons 5E could put out, but without that in One D&D, it would put the pressure on Wizards of the Coast to produce consistent books for the game in greater quantity to preserve player interest.
In the past, some adventures for Dungeons & Dragons 5E haven't quite hit the mark, but this could change in the future. Even if homebrew may not be compatible with One D&D, though, this doesn't mean players can't still manufacture their own content. Dungeons & Dragons has tons of homebrew content for players to dig through, especially for 5E, which has proven to be the game's most popular edition so far. Considering that One D&D is compatible with the game's fifth edition as well, this means that all the published content so far for Dungeons & Dragons 5E doesn't necessarily go to waste, and people can even make more homebrew for the new game so long as it is based on the old system.
Apart from the rumored end of third-party homebrew publications in One D&D, this doesn't mean an end for player-created content at all. Wizards of the Coast cannot monitor every Dungeons and Dragons game that takes place, and in private players can come up with whatever homebrew they want. Whether it's making a new class, race, or spell for Dungeons & Dragons, players have been coming up with their own ways to personalize the game for decades, and this isn't likely to change even if published works do disappear.
The Cons of Removing Homebrew from One D&D
The idea of One D&D not allowing for third-party homebrew comes from the rumor that the upcoming game will not utilize an Open Game License, essentially preventing publishers from having free access to its systems. While this makes some sense from a business point of view, as it will mean players are only able to purchase additional content for One D&D through officially released adventure and source books from Wizards of the Coast, there are plenty of downsides to this as well.
Firstly, this decision is going to be a big hit to companies and creators that currently make money from producing homebrew works for Dungeons & Dragons 5E. There are hundreds of PDFs, books, and other pieces of content online that are developed in order to enhance the experience of D&D, and while these will remain online so long as they use the 5E system, with One D&D being the fresh, new version of the game, a lot of creators will miss out on the hype associated with the upcoming system because they cannot publish anything that uses it. This could lead to a decline of interest and sales for these creators, no matter the quality of their work.
Moreover, while the removal of homebrew from One D&D may at first appear to make sense from a business standpoint, it hasn't worked for Wizards of the Coast in the past. Dungeons and Dragons 5E was the introductory point for a lot of modern D&D players, and so it may seem a novel thing for the Open Game License to not be used this time around. However, Dungeons & Dragons' 4E also restricted homebrew content, briefly abandoning the OGL in favor of a more limiting Game System License. While Dungeons & Dragons 4E was a flop for a number of reasons, many fans pointed to the handling of homebrew content as a reason for it becoming stale over time.
Therefore, rather than Wizards of the Coast planning for the future with its One D&D homebrew changes, it may be repeating a mistake of the past. Still, until it has been confirmed whether the release will make use of an Open Game License or not, fans will have to wait and see for more details. As stated, the game isn't expected to be ready until some time in 2024, so there's still a lot to learn about One D&D yet.
One D&D is in development.