I have all of the hardcover books from D&D 4th edition. I recently bought and am reading the 5th edition players handbook and I must say I like it. I was wondering if 4th edition information (Monster manuals, equipment, spells, and the like) can be used with 5th edition? I have all these books and would hate for them to not be used.
[RPG] Is 4th edition D&D compatible with 5th edition
dnd-4ednd-5e
Best Answer
No.
The fifth edition of D&D is effectively an entirely different game from Fourth Edition. While there are some similarities (roll a d20 and add stuff), they tend to be pretty superficial.
Even when names are reused, the concepts underlying the name can be entirely different. For example, a saving throw in Fourth Edition is a difficulty ten roll without modifiers at the end of your turn. In Fifth Edition, it is an ability check usually made at the time something is first affecting you.
With that being said, there is a great deal of overlap in terms of the world (sort of, it's complicated), flavor, and "soft" advice between the two systems. You could certainly use the situations, locations, and characters from Fourth Edition to inspire the same in a Fifth Edition game... You'd just need to throw out all of the Fourth Edition mechanics and rebuild them in 5th edition terms.