WotC as a company has long used errata as a way to keep its competitive games, like Magic: The Gathering, working as intended. But just several years into D&D 5E, they’re still releasing new errata that impact books printed years ago that have been used at tables for years since. Some of it just clarifies rules interactions in a helpful way, but other errata literally make books we bought obsolete.
The most recent changes significantly change Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade, which no longer work with Shadow Blade. Taken in a vacuum that sounds fine, but what does a DM do if they have a player who uses that combo or built a character around the interaction. There are also changes to how Changelings allocate their attribute boosts that may impact characters you’ve been playing with for years. Do you go back and “fix” them to match the new rules?
These can be thorny questions for any DM. In this episode, we dig into what Thorin, Tony and Dave think about errata and how they DM it their games.
2:00 How do we feel about WotC changing rules years after they were released
5:00 Sage Advice is great! It has answered a lot of non-errata questions for us as DMs and PCs
8:00 What the recent errata has changed and how WotC tries to empower Dungeon Masters
11:00 WotC vs. TSR: How Magic: The Gathering influences today’s D&D errata
15:00 Changing print editions, outdated Players Handbooks and the old days of checking magazines for rules clarifications
18:00 If I play $60 or $70 for a book, shouldn’t that book should be finished?
21:00 How WotC takes a lighter hand with D&D to give DM’s creative control
25:00 How strong is errata in your game? What do you do if you or a player wants to ignore it? Do you walk back character creation that violates new attribute rules?
32:00 The downsides of ignoring errata (and of making errata in the first place)
38:00 Are you strict about material components?
43:00 How the game has changed: From exploring magical worlds to fun tactical combat, and what it means for errata
50:00 Continuity concerns: Clarification errata > patchwork changes to books we already own
56:00 Is it a better game experience to play by your physical books or up-to-date online text?
59:00 Make rulings that leave room to change your mind in the future
63:00 Taking down the Frost Giant Jarl in Storm King’s Thunder and other campaign updates
68:00 Getting sick of Hunger of Hadar
71:00 Where we establish that the 3 Wise DMs love D&D 5E exactly as it is and there is nothing we’d like WotC to change/errata/muck with in the published material (not even the Coffeelock!)
79:00 Players love playing with the toys they think are overpowered
81:00 Sickening Radiance tricks
83:00 The fight where everyone got a personal Pixie
86:00 Final thoughts