Stop Crapping on D&D 5e

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Man, I gotta tell you, I’m getting really sick of people crapping on D&D 5e.

Any time I make a video that even slightly criticizes D&D 5e, my recent one on initiative being a good example, I get folks in the comments piling on. They say D&D sucks, that I should be playing something better, and that anyone still playing 5e clearly just hasn’t discovered the superior game they happen to like. It seems even worse on X, where I get the impression that some would-be influencers are purposefully combative, contrary, and aggressive because rage bait gets attention.

I tried going back to X recently, and it reminded me pretty quickly why I stopped using it much in the first place. The whole thing has that same toxic energy I associate with Reddit, where people seem less interested in discussing something and more interested in winning an argument or getting attention.

Now, I don’t really mind people leaving D&D hate in my comments. Ultimately, comments help the video, and hopefully those videos encourage people to actually play D&D. I still play D&D 5e one or two times a week, and I have a ton of fun doing it.

What I am tired of is people crapping on D&D as a backhanded way of promoting whatever system they personally prefer.

“This System Is Better” Usually Means “I Like This System Better”

The comments almost always come with some variation of the same claim: another system is better. Maybe they are pushing OSR games, Shadowdark, or some obscure system I have never heard of. Sometimes the recommendation may be excellent. Just because a game is obscure does not mean it is bad, and being popular certainly does not automatically make something good.

D&D was first to market, so of course it has an enormous advantage in terms of name recognition and player base. We should expect it to be the biggest guy at the banquet table. And I think we can all agree that some versions of D&D have been better than others.

At the same time, if a game really is good, I would expect it to gradually gain popularity, assuming it is good in a way that appeals to a broad audience. And that last part matters, because every player has different preferences.

I like D&D 5e. I do not particularly like 5.5e. I like Shadowdark. I do not like Pathfinder 2 anymore. You may have the exact opposite opinions, and that is completely fine.

That is really the heart of the issue.

Your Preference Is Not a Fact

This is the part that gets on my nerves.

Someone says, “D&D 5e sucks. System X is better.”

No. System X is better for you.

That is your preference.

There are plenty of things in this world that are binary. I either have two hands or I don’t. My dad only had one hand, by the way. He grew up farming and lost his left hand in a corn picker accident. It was mangled badly enough that doctors had to amputate it. That is a fact.

Whether dogs are better than cats is not.

I personally think dogs are better than cats. You may love cats and hate dogs. That may not make any sense to me, but it does not make your preference somehow false. We are talking about taste, not objective reality.

Tabletop RPGs work the same way. You can prefer Pathfinder 2, Shadowdark, Mothership, Call of Cthulhu, Savage Worlds, or some game I have never heard of. That does not magically turn your preference into objective truth.

And when people confuse something this basic, the difference between fact and opinion, I figure one of two things is happening. Either they genuinely do not understand the distinction, or they are rage baiting.

If it is the latter, congratulations. It worked. You annoyed me enough to write an entire article about it.

Criticizing D&D Does Not Mean I Hate D&D

Now let’s address one obvious elephant in the room.

I criticize D&D 5e. I have made videos criticizing parts of the system, and I will probably make more. I have also criticized Wizards of the Coast plenty of times. I think just about every D&D content creator has, unless they have close business ties with Wizards of the Coast. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you, right?

Apparently I never learned that lesson.

I publish lots of D&D 5e products myself, so if I were purely looking at my own business interests, I would probably fanboy D&D and Wizards a lot harder than I do. But that is not how I operate. I try to tell you what I actually think, and if I cannot do that, I would rather keep my mouth shut.

Criticizing D&D does not mean I hate the game. I have played 5e for around a decade, and I think it is a great system. Is it perfect? No way. Does it have flaws? Absolutely.

That does not mean I need to throw the whole thing in the trash.

You Can Like Something and Still See Its Problems

It is kind of like being married.

Is your spouse perfect? Of course not. Does he or she have flaws? Absolutely. Those of us who stay married simply learn when to keep our mouths shut.

Am I right or am I right?

I had been married nineteen years when I originally made the video this article is based on, so hopefully my wife either did not watch that part or had the video playing in another tab with the sound turned off so I still got the watch time.

But seriously, liking something does not require pretending it is flawless. You can enjoy D&D 5e and still dislike how initiative works. You can enjoy the game while thinking certain spells are badly designed, certain monsters are boring, or high-level combat takes too long.

Criticism and enjoyment are not opposites. In fact, sometimes you criticize something precisely because you like it and want it to be better.

The System Is Only Part of the Equation

No tabletop RPG system is perfect, and finding the “best” ruleset won’t automatically give you a great game. A huge part of what makes a session work comes down to the skills of the game master behind the screen.

The Secret Art of Game Mastery is packed with practical advice on pacing, preparation, encounters, improvisation, player management, and the countless judgment calls that come with running a great game.

Whatever system you prefer, becoming a better game master will help you get more out of it.

👉 Check out The Secret Art of Game Mastery

Your Preferences Can Change

There is another elephant in the room, and this one is important: preferences change.

A few years ago, I made videos talking about how much I liked Pathfinder 2nd Edition. I discussed things it did well and ways I thought it solved problems found in D&D 5e. Then I actually played Pathfinder 2 for about a year and a half.

And eventually, I decided firmly and unequivocally that it was not the system for me.

Toward the end, I was not enjoying it at all. I actually wrapped up my campaign early because I wanted to move on to something different. Does that mean Pathfinder 2 is bad? No. It means I do not like Pathfinder 2.

You might love it. Tens of thousands of people clearly do. It is simply not for me.

That distinction matters, because changing your opinion after gaining more experience is not hypocrisy. It is called learning. You experience something, gather more information, and your preferences change. That is normal.

I’ve Been Moving Toward Rules-Light Games

Over the years, I have personally gravitated more toward rules-light systems. I enjoy games like Shadowdark, Mothership, and Pirate Borg, and the game system I am developing, No Quarter, is also rules light.

That is simply where my preferences are right now.

Could they change again in five years? Of course. Maybe someday I will decide I want a massive rulebook filled with tables, modifiers, conditions, and twelve different ways to calculate whether someone successfully climbs a ladder.

Probably not.

But who knows?

The more different games I play, the more I realize there is no single perfect RPG system. Different games emphasize different experiences, and different players value different things. That should be obvious, but based on online discourse, apparently it is not.

Criticism Is Not the Same as Rejection

So when I criticize D&D, it does not mean I have rejected D&D. And when I say I no longer enjoy Pathfinder 2, it does not mean Pathfinder 2 is garbage.

These things can all be true at the same time.

I can think D&D 5e has serious flaws and still enjoy playing it every week. I can recognize things Pathfinder 2 does well while also having no desire to play it again. I can love Shadowdark while acknowledging that someone who enjoys deep character customization may find it too simple.

None of those positions are contradictory. They only seem contradictory if you believe that liking something requires declaring it objectively superior to everything else.

Maybe We Should Be Less Dogmatic About RPGs

One of the biggest things I have learned from playing a variety of tabletop RPGs is to be much less dogmatic about what is “good” and what is “bad.”

I have learned to chill out.

Different people like different things, and there is nothing wrong with that. I do not need to feel threatened because someone loves Pathfinder 2 and I do not. I do not need to immediately jump into the conversation and list every mechanic I dislike about the game, followed by a recommendation for whatever system I currently prefer.

And if someone says they love D&D 5e, I do not need to tell them they have bad taste or simply have not discovered the enlightened RPG that will finally free them from their ignorance.

You can just let people enjoy things.

Crazy concept, I know.

Play the Game You Actually Enjoy

If you do not like D&D 5e, that is completely fine. There are more tabletop RPGs available today than anyone could realistically play in a lifetime, so go find the ones you love and play the crap out of them.

But you do not need to tear down the game somebody else enjoys in order to justify your own preferences. You do not need to prove that your system is objectively better. Just play it.

And if you absolutely cannot resist telling me that D&D 5e sucks, please continue leaving nasty comments on my videos.

The algorithm appreciates your support.