D&D 5E Official D&D Basic Discussion Thread

[Rod Staffwand]

Initial thoughts:

1. GWF DoaM removed. Or was this already mentioned somewhere? You get a damage reroll if it comes up a 1 or 2 now. I don't much care for it--I always found rerolling damage dice to interrupt the flow of a combat round. "My damage is...wait, I get to reroll...lemme check by bonus...that'll be 9 damage...wait!, 11 with the buff spell."

2. Ability score charts go up to 30. I guess to show how much cooler than you dragons can be.

3. I don't like the Ability Check DC chart descriptions (VE, E, M, H, etc.). It doesn't give enough context. Easy for who? Hard for who? A hypothetical "person"? A dragon? A 3rd-level hero? A 20th-level hero? Anyone and everyone?

4. Alignments. 1e-3e 9 point grid. Not a fan. Ignorable.

5. Personality & Background. Gets a whole chapter. With the simply-built classes of Basic you're invited to differentiate your character by creating and playing a specific character, not a "build". Inspiration is an interesting mechanic. I look forward to seeing how it works in play. Background trait, ideal, bond and flaw offer a lot of good examples for players even if they don't roll or choose other backgrounds.

6. Multiclassing says to check the PH. I'd say "why bother", but I guess they want to show that the option is/will be available in some capacity.

7. Forgotten Realms overtones. Kill it! Kill it with fire!

8. Can't speak to game balance or theorycrafting issues as of yet.

All in all, looks pretty solid but not particularly revolutionary. Should serve its function.

 

[skotothalamos]

Have there been previous editions that had decreasing experience required to level up?

What I mean is: from levels 1-11 you need more experience to reach the next level than you needed to reach this one, but then, after taking 21,000 xp to get from 10 to 11, you only need 15k to get to 12, and then 20k each for 13 and 14, and then it starts ascending again. I'm interested to see how that relates to xp rewards.

 

[Nine Hands]

It doesn't seem like there are any Feats in the PDF. Like they're mentioned, but then there's no list of them. What good does that do us?

It's been mentioned many times that Feats were NOT going to be in Basic D&D. I think you will need to wait until the PHB hits store shelves next month.

 

[Grazzt]

Initial thoughts:

1. GWF DoaM removed. Or was this already mentioned somewhere? You get a damage reroll if it comes up a 1 or 2 now. I don't much care for it--I always found rerolling damage dice to interrupt the flow of a combat round. "My damage is...wait, I get to reroll...lemme check by bonus...that'll be 9 damage...wait!, 11 with the buff spell."

You're adding bonuses regardless of reroll or not. Reroll is just one more step in the cycle. Bonuses/modifiers wouldn't be calculated until after the roll/reroll anyway. Forgetting the mod with whatever buff spell can happen....reroll or not.

3. I don't like the Ability Check DC chart descriptions (VE, E, M, H, etc.). It doesn't give enough context. Easy for who? Hard for who? A hypothetical "person"? A dragon? A 3rd-level hero? A 20th-level hero? Anyone and everyone?

Since average ability score is 10-11, Easy would be for the average person/creature/whatever. Same for the rest. Just like previous editions.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Continuing my read through, Cleric seemed nice (Divine Intervention is cute). Now on Fighter, and I have to say, some nice changes, some dumb. Duelist = yay! Protection = Shield only now, despite being specifically changed FROM that in the Playtest because of complaints? Wth? Awful. Way to support all playstyles! Also Remarkable Athlete? Only think Remarkable about is how utterly terrible it is. Half (so +1 or +2 until you're level 17!) your Proficiency bonus ONLY if you don't otherwise get that bonus, on STR/DEX/CON rolls where you ALMOST CERTAINLY get that bonus because you have Athletics... Oh and a crummy bonus to running long jumps! /facepalm I guess I can see why we're going to need magic items and spells if our supposedly "Remarkable" abilities are that weak! Indomitable also got nerfed in the face. Second Wind continues to be a problem guaranteed to get house-ruled in perhaps most games.

The Brutal 2 deal for 2H weapons is an awful lot weaker than DOAM, and indeed than most other options. Certainly make some people feel better when they re-roll that 1 on a d12 Great Axe and get a 12, though. I think it boosts GS even more though, haha.

So yeah, impressed with Cleric, very unimpressed with this Fighter.

Oh bonus prize for people who hate "Martial Healing". This Fighter literally regenerates at level 18.

EDIT - Whoa just started Rogue and the Dex-attack-only thing has changed since the Starter Set, man! Good but surprising.

BACK TO READING RUIN!

EDIT - Okay no wait it's Finesse or Ranged only which is weird but I guess better kinda... Odd that you could use it on a STR-based throwing attack with a Throwing Axe, but NOT on a melee swing with that Throwing Axe. Poor Jean Tannen.

EDIT - Okay okay I guess I'll just keep going - Uncanny Dodge is NOICE. That's awesome, as you probably won't otherwise use your Reaction much, and it could apply to any kind of terrifying hit (from any enemy you can see - like say a dragon, or a lich or a beholder!). As we guessed from the Starter Set they get the second two boosted proficiencies at level 6, too.

 

[Cybit]

So yeah, impressed with Cleric, very unimpressed with this Fighter.

The amount of feats / ability score bonuses fighters get are flat out terrifying. Once you see feats, or a fighter rolling around with multiple 20s in attributes quickly; I think you'll see where fighters become terrifying.

Dwarf Fighter with 17 STR / 17 CON is sitting at 20 STR / 20 CON by 8th level. Wowza. That said, I think Remarkable Athlete is going to be ruled as full proficiency bonus; makes it mean more.

Survivor is freaking aaaaawesome.

 

[occam]

Indomitable also got nerfed in the face.

Yeah, it seems kinda weak and fiddly now.

The Brutal 2 deal for 2H weapons is an awful lot weaker than DOAM, and indeed than most other options. Certainly make some people feel better when they re-roll that 1 on a d12 Great Axe and get a 12, though. I think it boosts GS even more though, haha.

That's a good point. I was focused on how bad this was for greataxe-wielders, but it's pretty lame even for greatsword/maul-wielders. An average increase of 1 1/3 point of damage on a roll of 2d6 (which is the best case scenario for this ability) doesn't compare well to the Dueling Fighting Style.

EDIT: I should note that the extra damage from Great Weapon Fighting gets doubled on a crit while the +2 damage from Dueling doesn't, but still.

 

[BryonD]

Oh bonus prize for people who hate "Martial Healing". This Fighter literally regenerates at level 18.

Speaking exclusively for myself as amongst that group.....

I wouldn't call myself a fan of this, but it really isn't a big deal at all.
For one thing, at 18th level I'm ok assigning some implicit supernatural aspects to pretty much any D&D character. I don't want to be saddled with "every" fighter has this ability. But realistically, the fraction of the time that I'm playing at L18+ combined with the fraction of characters who are pure fighters means this is going to be a very rare thing. So having that one character become supernatural at L18 can easily fit in a narrative within a world where people as a whole still need to "heal". The issue with the HD/100% on a full rest is that it defines the narrative baseline for everyone.

Also, this ability is limited to healing up to 50% of HP. So the blend of some real and some abstract that I like is protected.

 

[DDNFan]

Multiclassing is mentioned; but they drop a new? caveat; you must meet both the current class and the new class multiclass prerequisites. No more level 1 10 STR fighters MC'ing into Wizard.

Great.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Oh my god, this is wonderful! The sex/gender bit is just BAM straight-up LGBTQIA-friendly progressive. It's possibly the most directly progressive message in this department I've ever seen in a mainstream fantasy RPG (granted, some may have escaped my attention), and it's awesome. The example of a character who would be called trans as LITERALLY made in the image of (a) god is just beautiful.

That is definitely what I call a good start to this chapter, and indeed puts me in a good place regarding 5E (as someone with gay and trans friends and players, particularly so).