A couple weeks ago I talked about not being able to game with my gaming group due to life in general. Well, this past weekend we made plans to get together, and I hastily threw together some playtest material for D&D Next. Some of the players had characters, but some never had been able to make it to a previous session, so the majority of the time was spent making 9th-level characters. When we finally got around to playing we only got through one scene before a flat tire brought the game to a standstill. Two hours later the flat tire was changed, and we made plans to meet in another two weeks and continue the game.
As usually happens with my games, we swelled to a total of eight players, all of which arrived at different times, which is why character generation stretched throughout most of the evening. When all was said and done, we had the following roster:
Lew played Carzim; he always plays a wizard, and he always maxes his wizards out with as much fire power as possible – literally. He was positively giddy when he saw that attack spells scale according to the spell slot you use to cast them. The concept of spell slots and prepared spells was bit confusing for him, but it will become easier with time.
Daniel created Durak. He was the last to arrive and, although he wanted to play a wizard, he decided to make a rogue because we didn’t have one in the party. He didn’t have any experience with D&D Next before now, and he wasn’t impressed with the race selection or their stats. He also wasn’t happy with all the “traditional” rogue abilities being relegated to feats. Time will tell if he warms to the new edition.
Eliph was played by John, who was new to our group. He was gung ho about his character, loved the fighter and the fact he could focus on wielding a polearm. He’s a lot younger than the rest of us, so he’s not carrying the baggage of all the other editions.
Jeffrey was played by my wife, Patty. She normally plays clerics or druids but wanted to try something different for this playtest. She likes nature-oriented characters, so she picked ranger as her class. Having experience with the previous playtest releases, she was most happy about the changes to skills. It was a lot to ask her to forget all the skill names and ability associations from previous editions, and she thinks things are on the right track now.
Marcelline was played by my daughter Faelyn. As long as she can kill things, she’s happy. Deadly Strike makes her giddy, but the rest of the group (me included) thinks it’s over-powered at once per turn. She’s also happy to be wielding two weapons.
Austin, Faelyn’s boyfriend, played Treerunner. He likes druids, and he was extremely happy with the Wild Shape ability and the Circle of the Moon. The fact that he could change into a dire behemoth made him grin from ear to ear.
X-Tome was played by Laura, John’s wife. She was the most indecisive about her character, changing feats, skills, and equipment throughout the entire session. I think she was trying to find some kind of synergy that felt good to her. Time will tell, for her as well.
I’ll be honest; after so many playtest packets, I’m sick of the included adventures. Me and my girls watched Alice in Wonderland the other night on TV, and it inspired me to dig out Dungeonland and try converting it to D&D Next. It was a challenge, but I’m happy with the result so far.
The biggest challenge, of course, was the creatures. Nothing in the adventure is in the playtest packet, so I had to re-skin things. The owlbear became a giant owl. The hydra became a snapdragon flower. Trolls became enormous porcupines. I’m happy with the results, but how the players react remains to be seen.
The second challenge was encounter balance, and I don’t have enough data yet to make a judgment call. Our only scenario that evening was the characters falling down the rabbit hole, so no actual combat has yet occurred. I followed the instructions on balancing XP per encounter, but the difficulty has been suitable creatures to re-skin vs. their XP value. There’s no real information for how to advance or create creatures for D&D Next, so it’s just a guessing game at this point.
Our next session will give me more information, and I can make changes if necessary, but so far I have positive feelings. I love the flavor of magic items, and I think it helps to foster backstory and a sense of investment in the game world. I love that potion miscibility is back, and I can’t wait until an unsuspecting character chugs two potions. (Muhahahahaha!) I also loved the old school feel of the edition, which is part of what made me dig out Dungeonland – it felt like a good fit.
Some things I miss and want – I still want my minis. I want a map. Regardless of the “feel” and “mystique” of the theatre-of-the-mind style, there are still tactical decisions and elements of the game that require visual confirmation to keep play from bogging down. Burning hands covers a 15-foot cone; players will argue a bad guy is in the cone if they cast it, and they’ll argue they’re not in the cone if the bad guy casts it. A javelin of lightning hits all creatures in a straight line 5 feet wide and 100 feet long. The Precise Shot feat allows you to ignore adjacent creatures as cover for other targets. You can adjudicate these things without a map and figures, but it would go a lot smoother and faster with them. Plus, I’ve invested a lot over the years in visuals – I want to be able to use them with the new edition.
Overall, reaction was positive. We don’t have the whole game; changes are coming, and play testing is just that – testing to find things that work and don’t work. It’s my job to keep the players entertained while they try out the new elements of the game. I can’t wait for the next session!
As usually happens with my games, we swelled to a total of eight players, all of which arrived at different times, which is why character generation stretched throughout most of the evening. When all was said and done, we had the following roster:
- Boren – male mountain dwarf barbarian
- Carzim – male high elf wizard
- Durak – male hill dwarf rogue
- Eliph – male human fighter wielding a glaive
- Jeffrey – male human ranger
- Marcelline – female human fighter wielding two longswords
- Treerunner – male wood elf druid
- X-Tome – female human cleric
Lew played Carzim; he always plays a wizard, and he always maxes his wizards out with as much fire power as possible – literally. He was positively giddy when he saw that attack spells scale according to the spell slot you use to cast them. The concept of spell slots and prepared spells was bit confusing for him, but it will become easier with time.
Daniel created Durak. He was the last to arrive and, although he wanted to play a wizard, he decided to make a rogue because we didn’t have one in the party. He didn’t have any experience with D&D Next before now, and he wasn’t impressed with the race selection or their stats. He also wasn’t happy with all the “traditional” rogue abilities being relegated to feats. Time will tell if he warms to the new edition.
Eliph was played by John, who was new to our group. He was gung ho about his character, loved the fighter and the fact he could focus on wielding a polearm. He’s a lot younger than the rest of us, so he’s not carrying the baggage of all the other editions.
Jeffrey was played by my wife, Patty. She normally plays clerics or druids but wanted to try something different for this playtest. She likes nature-oriented characters, so she picked ranger as her class. Having experience with the previous playtest releases, she was most happy about the changes to skills. It was a lot to ask her to forget all the skill names and ability associations from previous editions, and she thinks things are on the right track now.
Marcelline was played by my daughter Faelyn. As long as she can kill things, she’s happy. Deadly Strike makes her giddy, but the rest of the group (me included) thinks it’s over-powered at once per turn. She’s also happy to be wielding two weapons.
Austin, Faelyn’s boyfriend, played Treerunner. He likes druids, and he was extremely happy with the Wild Shape ability and the Circle of the Moon. The fact that he could change into a dire behemoth made him grin from ear to ear.
X-Tome was played by Laura, John’s wife. She was the most indecisive about her character, changing feats, skills, and equipment throughout the entire session. I think she was trying to find some kind of synergy that felt good to her. Time will tell, for her as well.
I’ll be honest; after so many playtest packets, I’m sick of the included adventures. Me and my girls watched Alice in Wonderland the other night on TV, and it inspired me to dig out Dungeonland and try converting it to D&D Next. It was a challenge, but I’m happy with the result so far.
The biggest challenge, of course, was the creatures. Nothing in the adventure is in the playtest packet, so I had to re-skin things. The owlbear became a giant owl. The hydra became a snapdragon flower. Trolls became enormous porcupines. I’m happy with the results, but how the players react remains to be seen.
The second challenge was encounter balance, and I don’t have enough data yet to make a judgment call. Our only scenario that evening was the characters falling down the rabbit hole, so no actual combat has yet occurred. I followed the instructions on balancing XP per encounter, but the difficulty has been suitable creatures to re-skin vs. their XP value. There’s no real information for how to advance or create creatures for D&D Next, so it’s just a guessing game at this point.
Our next session will give me more information, and I can make changes if necessary, but so far I have positive feelings. I love the flavor of magic items, and I think it helps to foster backstory and a sense of investment in the game world. I love that potion miscibility is back, and I can’t wait until an unsuspecting character chugs two potions. (Muhahahahaha!) I also loved the old school feel of the edition, which is part of what made me dig out Dungeonland – it felt like a good fit.
Some things I miss and want – I still want my minis. I want a map. Regardless of the “feel” and “mystique” of the theatre-of-the-mind style, there are still tactical decisions and elements of the game that require visual confirmation to keep play from bogging down. Burning hands covers a 15-foot cone; players will argue a bad guy is in the cone if they cast it, and they’ll argue they’re not in the cone if the bad guy casts it. A javelin of lightning hits all creatures in a straight line 5 feet wide and 100 feet long. The Precise Shot feat allows you to ignore adjacent creatures as cover for other targets. You can adjudicate these things without a map and figures, but it would go a lot smoother and faster with them. Plus, I’ve invested a lot over the years in visuals – I want to be able to use them with the new edition.
Overall, reaction was positive. We don’t have the whole game; changes are coming, and play testing is just that – testing to find things that work and don’t work. It’s my job to keep the players entertained while they try out the new elements of the game. I can’t wait for the next session!
