D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Document: 77 Pages, 7 Classes, & More!

There's a brand new playtest document for the new (version/edition/update) of Dungeons of Dragons available for download! This one is an enormous 77 pages and includes classes, spells, feats, and weapons.

Unearthed Arcana Playtest

Unearthed Arcana Playtest Materials Get Unearthed Arcana playtest content, try it out in your game, and provide feedback! Check back regularly for ...

www.dndbeyond.com

In this new Unearthed Arcana document for the 2024 Core Rulebooks, we explore material designed for the next version of the Player’s Handbook. This playtest document presents updated rules on seven classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue. This document also presents multiple subclasses for each of those classes, new Spells, revisions to existing Spells and Spell Lists, and several revised Feats. You will also find an updated rules glossary that supercedes the glossary of any previous playtest document.

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[Tales and Chronicles]

"Just let me sleep in one of these side offices for eight hours and then I'll take you down, Hans!" ~Not John McClain. Or Any hero worth watching.

it could be fun to have only at-will spells that you use like weapons, eventually gaining multicast to do the equivalent of multi-attack, plus ritual casting (with any spell taking more than one round to cast is a ritual requiring material stuff).

We can already see in the wizard and warlock designs that some low-level spells equivalent are pretty okay to be at-will at higher level.

The higher level stuff (and healing spells) should be relegated to magic items and consumables, or the purview of rituals.

OTOH, you can also have characters that generates resources under certain circumstances (being hit, dealing more than X damage, no moving for a round etc) that could be spent on features.

Like your wizard could be only cantrip, then generate 1d4 spellpoint per round at the cost of all their speed.

Your barbarian could gather 1 fury point each time they are hit or deal damage, and you can spend fury to gain THP, or resistance, or advantage on str check etc. Or, hell, even an auto-crit for 3-4 Fury points would be awesome.

 

[Zaukrie]

I feel like resting preferences are drastically different based on how folks imagine their D&D.

If your D&D is based on dungeon exploration in which characters balance pushing ahead or recharging resources, resting for an hour or longer makes sense. It fits a more grounded, survival-based story.

If your D&D is based on the characters being powerful heroes fighting against great forces, then brief (or no) rests makes sense. It fits the characters in heroic fiction.

But based on this thread, I don't think any of us can speak on what the majority game style is, since everyone has different preferences. I guess that's why the DMG has options for different play styles!

Lost Mines has at least three locations where resting for an hour makes no sense at all.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Lost Mines has at least three locations where resting for an hour makes no sense at all.

I think that's okay though?

Short or long rests shouldn't be guaranteed. In my experience, it's up to the players to make that opportunity. This is why characters take Rope Trick type spells, or work to fortify rooms. And sometimes it's okay for there to not be an opportunity, it creates tension and urgency.

However, if that's not your cup of tea, the DMG has alternate rules for heroic or grim campaigns.

I just don't get why so many folks cannot explain how they prefer D&D resting to work without being overly critical of other styles.

 

[Zaukrie]

I think that's okay though?

Short or long rests shouldn't be guaranteed. In my experience, it's up to the players to make that opportunity. This is why characters take Rope Trick type spells, or work to fortify rooms. And sometimes it's okay for there to not be an opportunity, it creates tension and urgency.

However, if that's not your cup of tea, the DMG has alternate rules for heroic or grim campaigns.

I just don't get why so many folks cannot explain how they prefer D&D resting to work without being overly critical of other styles.

Who was overly critical of anything? I merely pointed out that the starter set and now long campaign has time constraints (well, assuming as a DM you have NPCs go on alert and whatnot), when many here were saying they rarely come up.

 

[Vaalingrade]

OTOH, you can also have characters that generates resources under certain circumstances (being hit, dealing more than X damage, no moving for a round etc) that could be spent on features.

Like your wizard could be only cantrip, then generate 1d4 spellpoint per round at the cost of all their speed.

Your barbarian could gather 1 fury point each time they are hit or deal damage, and you can spend fury to gain THP, or resistance, or advantage on str check etc. Or, hell, even an auto-crit for 3-4 Fury points would be awesome.

It would be interesting if the company that got to where it is based on mages who tap the power of the land actively to cast spells did something with a resource-genning / gathering mechanic.

I'd love to see a fighter that could stop and refocus in order to pull off great feats or a bard who plays to build inspiration for a big crescendo.

 

[tetrasodium]

I think they're saying that everything uses metagame thinking now anyway, so it doesn't matter.

Close. I think @Ruin Explorer is getting lost in the idea that I'm defending something about the rest rules. There is no defense of wotc's toxic rest design. The RAW of 5e's rest rules is unquestionably metagame thinking in its wording and that does matter because of the inevitable problems when the obvious happens at a table where the players and gm disagree on a rest being reasonable.

When that happens it puts the gm in a position of choosing from two options. The first one is to simply lay down and powerlesly accept the lack of rules support no matter how allowing this rest negatively impacts things at the table. The second option is to do something that is almost by definition adversarial GM'ing and slaughter the party with encounter(s) not fitting the party* or worse change the rules in order to win the argument over a rules interpretation. Both options eventually or immediately reflect poorly on the gm and provide very good reason for burnout as repetitions pile up.

* Let's be honest. If it's not a Cthulhu in power armor class interruption capable of slaughtering the party with trivial ease or an endless zerg wave grinding them down through endless waves the rest mechanics are designed to ensure the players (and PCs) just shrug before starting another rest till they finish.

 

[mamba]

So is this about spells only...? You brought up boxing, so I'm confused.

it’s about skill recharge in general, I’d like SR for healing only

 

[Incenjucar]

it’s about skill recharge in general, I’d like SR for healing only

Why should adventurers be worse at recovering their strength than real people?

 

[tetrasodium]

Why should adventurers be worse at recovering their strength than real people?

When was the last time you heard of "real people" shrugging off severe life threatening physical trauma in less time than it takes a pizza to be delivered and get cold?

 

[mamba]

Why should adventurers be worse at recovering their strength than real people?

they aren’t, real people do not gain back spells either, they do not even regain HP anywhere near as fast