Dungeons & Dragons fans have partied up to petition Wizards of the Coast to release an alternate version of the tabletop role-playing game that uses the metric system of measurement in lieu of its current use of imperial.
When Dungeons & Dragons first hit gaming tables in 1974, the game utilized the imperial system, the most prominent system of measurement in the United States, where the game was first developed. However, D&D became a global phenomenon, particularly as the game's fifth edition excelled at attracting new players from all around the world. While most of the global population uses the metric system, D&D held fast to its roots, clinging to the imperial system upon which it was founded. Fans have sought to change this with a petition on Change.org, which requests that the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons comes with an alternate rule set that uses the metric system instead. The petition has racked up thousands of signatures since its posting.
"We strongly encourage Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro to consider their international audiences and release two versions, one using Metric and one using Imperial," the petition states. "While we recognise the game is designed by a US based company, Wizards of the Coast & Hasbro have already created foreign language versions of 5th Edition which converted all numerical systems to Metric."
During a panel from this year's D&D Celebration event, the Dungeons & Dragons studio at Wizards of the Coast revealed the publisher will launch updated versions of the D&D core rulebooks in 2024 to coincide with the game's 50th anniversary. While fans long suspected that Wizards of the Coast had been developing the game's sixth edition, studio Executive Producer Ray Winninger instead confirmed that this "next evolution of Dungeons & Dragons" will be fully compatible with the game's fifth edition books, such as the upcoming content expansions like Fizban's Treasury of Dragons and the "classic" campaign settings coming in 2022. This led the public to dub the update "5.5 edition," akin to the 3.5 edition rulebooks published in 2003.
The recent petition called for Wizards of the Coast to take advantage of this opportunity, asking that the upcoming "5.5 edition" include a metric system conversion for the D&D rule set. The petition alleges that a metric version of the game would be of great help for international audiences when calculating distance, weight and volume in their games of D&D, greatly reducing confusion during combat, exploration and role-playing.
"Additionally, for young players looking to get into D&D, learning an entirely new system can be a hurdle, especially for children with learning disabilities," the petition states. "Having a Metric system would help teach children important math skills that will be applicable to their country of origin."
The petition makes it clear that its creators carry no ill will toward the imperial system, nor do they wish to entirely replace the system with metric measurements. They only wish for an English-language metric system rule set to be released alongside the upcoming rulebooks to make the game easier to play for the game's international fan base.
"Only three countries in the world (officially) still use the Imperial System and it continues to be a sore spot for the education and enjoyment of anyone outside of the US," the petition concludes. "94.7% of the world uses the metric system by population, with only USA, Myanmar and Liberia using Imperial."
Source: Change.org