Preface:
I began my D&D journey way back in the early 1980s with the B/X boxed sets. Probably 12 or 13 at the time. The ones that came with Keep on the Borderlands/ Isle of Dread; light blue plastic dice, with numbers you had to fill in with crayon; a rulebook, and some order forms and stuff. I was immediately hooked!! My friend Paul also had the 1st ed AD&D Monster manual, and I spent hours looking through it at all the cool beasties. Shortly thereafter, I picked up the PHB and DMG in an effort to understand the stat blocks among other things. As, uh, long winded and verbose as Gary Gygax could be, I liked this even better! More options!! Higher levels!! Lots more cool magic!! The promised Companion rules set never seemed to materialize, so this was the logical next step. I began to haunt the game section of the local toy store that carried D&D stuff- hoarding every penny I could earn to spend on it, lol. Then B Dalton and Walden Books started carrying it at the mall! I began to amass quite a collection, inc the MM; MM II; Fiend folio; Unearthed Arcana, Greyhawk setting, a nice stack of modules, and a pile of Dragon mags- inc the annuals. We added whatever looked interesting and fun (new classes, races, spells, and items mainly) and , and ignored what didn't (encumbrance, non weapon proficiencies). We compiled quite the list of house rules as well. I don't believe we ever got any of the other hardcover settings, nor did we use mini's. Most adventures were home brewed, with the odd module thrown in for good measure. When 2nd ed came out, we bought the books, and simply rolled it into our existing game. Aside from THAC0, and a few other minor things, the core of it was the same- just a lot easier to read through, lol.
"The collection" was growing in leaps and bounds now! Splat books! Monstrous Compendium expansions! Boxed sets! campaign settings! You name it, I got it. I was lugging around a huge stack of stuff to games, as classes, spells, items etc were scattered throughout... We never got into kits, or players option- the Complete series just added subraces, variant classes, wild magic; new spells and equipment, psionics, etc. The Ravenloft boxed set revolutionized our games- as did the Dragonlance Classics 1-4 complied in one book. We had some seriously epic adventures, and even more epic campaigns.
And then our primary DM up and moved to Florida one weekend. And the rest of the group moved on with their lives... The books went on my bookshelf, and were mostly forgotten.
early 2000, I got my first PC- a hand me down. And promptly found and joined every D&D related message board I could find. The countdown to 3rd edition had begun! I haunted my local game store, until the books came in, lol. What the??? Had Monte Cook and co. been flies on the wall during our games?? Because this looked an awful lot like our old house rules- with many cool additions to boot! The D20 system was awesome! Character creation was wide open. Demons and Devils were back! And then there were the dragons! These were serious foes! Guaranteed to leave parties quaking in fear, and filling their undercrackers. AND my buddy/old DM moved back home! Also discovered the bulletin board at my local- and all the players and DM's wanted posters.
We never made the upgrade to 3.5. Why buy yet another set of the same books? 4th edition was skipped entirely. Not only were we not playing much (group had scattered again), but imo it had moved so far away from what I knew as D&D, that I just wasn't interested. Cue a few more dry years. Eventually, I found out a 5th edition had been released, and that it had returned- triumphantly- to the fold. Out of curiosity, I went and got the 3 core rulebooks, and the Into the Borderlands adventure. Read through them, liked what I saw, but had no time or gaming group, so it also got set aside.
Recently, there's been some serious interest in getting a game going again- so I took the new edition down, and began really looking into it. Even drew up a party of 4 adventurers to test run through The Borderlands to see how the new mechanics worked. (I'm a learn by doing kinda guy)
The party: They're Faerunian, if it matters.
Bob, a human fighter. My first character. He's 3rd level now, and has the Defense fighting style and Champion archetype.
Gary: A human Wizard ( Abjuration) also 3rd level.
Paddy: Human cleric (Lathander) Light domain. Just turned 3rd level. (I'd been binge watching the TRY channel on youtube that day- hence the name, lol Paddy Murphy is one of my favorite Tryers)
Frank: Half Elf Rogue Thief archetype. He thinks of himself as a professional adventurer and explorer. Also just made 3rd level.
I decided to avoid the more specialized classes for now, and just go with the core.
THE GOOD!
Combat. So far, it runs nice and smooth! Without any super complicated stuff, or heavy tactical elements that almost require the use of mini's to keep it all strait. (that was one of 3rd ed's main flaws, imo. Attempting to marry the pure TTRPG with a miniatures game in one ruleset. Lots of feats and special abilities made combat a pita at times.)
Advantage. An effective way to deal with the myriad of things going on.
Cantrips. I really like that cantrips are unlimited now- and have incorporated the basics every caster would know and use often, as well as some decent attacks. Few things were more irritating for mages etal, than running out of their limited spells per day- and thus having little to contribute to subsequent encounters.
Scalable spells. Essentially, some metamagic feats just got rolled into the default magic system. Like this a lot, too. Want to get more out of a lower level spell with potential? Use a higher spell slot to cast it! Simple and elegant. They also kept the old system of certain spells improving with caster level. The whole makes for a pretty flexible way to handle spellcasting.
Class abilities and Archetypes. This, too is pretty cool- more of the old feats found their way into the default, along with some prestige class stuff. I like how they handled domains- a LOT!! (just wish there was more variety) There are darn good reasons to look forward to that next level now, aside from just a few more hp, etc. And archetypes also handle some of the most common multi-class combos- making remaining single classed all the more valuable.
The artwork!!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to the art direction department!! The art is gorgeous, and inspiring. For example, whilst flipping through the Monster Manual, I came upon the painting of the Pixie. She almost looks alive! I thought to myself, "I want to meet THAT pixie, sometime in an outdoor adventure!" This is some real classic fantasy artwork. Also loved the pictures of Shadowfell, and Mount Celestia.
THE BAD:
Advantage. The rules and conditions for this are scattered throughout the books. I didn't even notice it- until I drew up a Rogue, and went to use his Sneak Attack. There's essentually no guidance included on how the Rogue can GET the advantage needed to use it. (without spells and stuff)
Character creation and advancement. The downside to all the options, is that it takes longer to draw up a character- or to level one up- as the relevant info is spread across several chapters, and you need to look in several places to make sure you have it all. Background, race, class, domains, archetypes, school- all have a part of the pie, and most advance with your level.
Magic schools. Okay this is a niggle, but I really wish that since choosing a school of magic is now part of the core for every Wizard- that there was a list of spells sorted by school!!! Or even an abbreviation tacked onto each spell on the main spell lists. Considering there are class abilities tied to your use of spells of a specific school... Cross referencing each spell individually is a pain in the tookus!!
THE UGLY
OUCH. Some monsters are surprisingly tough in play. For no apparent reason. My party was VERY nearly TPK'd by a pair of giant spiders! At the end of that encounter, the mage was unconscious, paralyzed, and at death's door. The cleric and fighter were on low single digit hp. It took us 2 tries to get through the Kobold lair- the first time, a party of 4 3rd level characters nearly got their butts whupped by Kobolds with slings and Daggers (and +4 attack bonuses, +2 to damage), and 6 giant rats. And had to retreat with everyone wounded- and Bob on ONE hit point. (they couldn't hit the AC 10 mage to save their lives- even before I remembered to cast mage armor- but the AC 19 fighter? No problem!!) Attempt #2 went better, but was still pretty costly. We DID curbstomp the chieftain in one round with a Guiding Bolt/ Chromatic Orb combo though, so there is that, lol. I'm now worried about taking on the Orcs, next.
- some of the classes got totally rearranged/redone, and I don't like the way they're presented. Sorcerer and Paladin, for example. I think the Sorcerer's fluffy bits are too specific, and limiting. (ALL are descended from dragons now) And not a fan of incorporating wild magic (a campaign specific phenominon) into the class by default. Imo, this likely came as a result of the new magic system completely blurring the mechanical differences between a Sorcerer and a Wizard. The Paladin, in contrast, is too general.
Overall, I like it, so far. There's a lot to unwrap, though, so I'll have to update this as I find more yays or Nays.
edit. I included the long winded history, just so readers had a sense of where THIS player was coming from, perspective-wise.
I began my D&D journey way back in the early 1980s with the B/X boxed sets. Probably 12 or 13 at the time. The ones that came with Keep on the Borderlands/ Isle of Dread; light blue plastic dice, with numbers you had to fill in with crayon; a rulebook, and some order forms and stuff. I was immediately hooked!! My friend Paul also had the 1st ed AD&D Monster manual, and I spent hours looking through it at all the cool beasties. Shortly thereafter, I picked up the PHB and DMG in an effort to understand the stat blocks among other things. As, uh, long winded and verbose as Gary Gygax could be, I liked this even better! More options!! Higher levels!! Lots more cool magic!! The promised Companion rules set never seemed to materialize, so this was the logical next step. I began to haunt the game section of the local toy store that carried D&D stuff- hoarding every penny I could earn to spend on it, lol. Then B Dalton and Walden Books started carrying it at the mall! I began to amass quite a collection, inc the MM; MM II; Fiend folio; Unearthed Arcana, Greyhawk setting, a nice stack of modules, and a pile of Dragon mags- inc the annuals. We added whatever looked interesting and fun (new classes, races, spells, and items mainly) and , and ignored what didn't (encumbrance, non weapon proficiencies). We compiled quite the list of house rules as well. I don't believe we ever got any of the other hardcover settings, nor did we use mini's. Most adventures were home brewed, with the odd module thrown in for good measure. When 2nd ed came out, we bought the books, and simply rolled it into our existing game. Aside from THAC0, and a few other minor things, the core of it was the same- just a lot easier to read through, lol.
"The collection" was growing in leaps and bounds now! Splat books! Monstrous Compendium expansions! Boxed sets! campaign settings! You name it, I got it. I was lugging around a huge stack of stuff to games, as classes, spells, items etc were scattered throughout... We never got into kits, or players option- the Complete series just added subraces, variant classes, wild magic; new spells and equipment, psionics, etc. The Ravenloft boxed set revolutionized our games- as did the Dragonlance Classics 1-4 complied in one book. We had some seriously epic adventures, and even more epic campaigns.
And then our primary DM up and moved to Florida one weekend. And the rest of the group moved on with their lives... The books went on my bookshelf, and were mostly forgotten.
early 2000, I got my first PC- a hand me down. And promptly found and joined every D&D related message board I could find. The countdown to 3rd edition had begun! I haunted my local game store, until the books came in, lol. What the??? Had Monte Cook and co. been flies on the wall during our games?? Because this looked an awful lot like our old house rules- with many cool additions to boot! The D20 system was awesome! Character creation was wide open. Demons and Devils were back! And then there were the dragons! These were serious foes! Guaranteed to leave parties quaking in fear, and filling their undercrackers. AND my buddy/old DM moved back home! Also discovered the bulletin board at my local- and all the players and DM's wanted posters.
We never made the upgrade to 3.5. Why buy yet another set of the same books? 4th edition was skipped entirely. Not only were we not playing much (group had scattered again), but imo it had moved so far away from what I knew as D&D, that I just wasn't interested. Cue a few more dry years. Eventually, I found out a 5th edition had been released, and that it had returned- triumphantly- to the fold. Out of curiosity, I went and got the 3 core rulebooks, and the Into the Borderlands adventure. Read through them, liked what I saw, but had no time or gaming group, so it also got set aside.
Recently, there's been some serious interest in getting a game going again- so I took the new edition down, and began really looking into it. Even drew up a party of 4 adventurers to test run through The Borderlands to see how the new mechanics worked. (I'm a learn by doing kinda guy)
The party: They're Faerunian, if it matters.
Bob, a human fighter. My first character. He's 3rd level now, and has the Defense fighting style and Champion archetype.
Gary: A human Wizard ( Abjuration) also 3rd level.
Paddy: Human cleric (Lathander) Light domain. Just turned 3rd level. (I'd been binge watching the TRY channel on youtube that day- hence the name, lol Paddy Murphy is one of my favorite Tryers)
Frank: Half Elf Rogue Thief archetype. He thinks of himself as a professional adventurer and explorer. Also just made 3rd level.
I decided to avoid the more specialized classes for now, and just go with the core.
THE GOOD!
Combat. So far, it runs nice and smooth! Without any super complicated stuff, or heavy tactical elements that almost require the use of mini's to keep it all strait. (that was one of 3rd ed's main flaws, imo. Attempting to marry the pure TTRPG with a miniatures game in one ruleset. Lots of feats and special abilities made combat a pita at times.)
Advantage. An effective way to deal with the myriad of things going on.
Cantrips. I really like that cantrips are unlimited now- and have incorporated the basics every caster would know and use often, as well as some decent attacks. Few things were more irritating for mages etal, than running out of their limited spells per day- and thus having little to contribute to subsequent encounters.
Scalable spells. Essentially, some metamagic feats just got rolled into the default magic system. Like this a lot, too. Want to get more out of a lower level spell with potential? Use a higher spell slot to cast it! Simple and elegant. They also kept the old system of certain spells improving with caster level. The whole makes for a pretty flexible way to handle spellcasting.
Class abilities and Archetypes. This, too is pretty cool- more of the old feats found their way into the default, along with some prestige class stuff. I like how they handled domains- a LOT!! (just wish there was more variety) There are darn good reasons to look forward to that next level now, aside from just a few more hp, etc. And archetypes also handle some of the most common multi-class combos- making remaining single classed all the more valuable.
The artwork!!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to the art direction department!! The art is gorgeous, and inspiring. For example, whilst flipping through the Monster Manual, I came upon the painting of the Pixie. She almost looks alive! I thought to myself, "I want to meet THAT pixie, sometime in an outdoor adventure!" This is some real classic fantasy artwork. Also loved the pictures of Shadowfell, and Mount Celestia.
THE BAD:
Advantage. The rules and conditions for this are scattered throughout the books. I didn't even notice it- until I drew up a Rogue, and went to use his Sneak Attack. There's essentually no guidance included on how the Rogue can GET the advantage needed to use it. (without spells and stuff)
Character creation and advancement. The downside to all the options, is that it takes longer to draw up a character- or to level one up- as the relevant info is spread across several chapters, and you need to look in several places to make sure you have it all. Background, race, class, domains, archetypes, school- all have a part of the pie, and most advance with your level.
Magic schools. Okay this is a niggle, but I really wish that since choosing a school of magic is now part of the core for every Wizard- that there was a list of spells sorted by school!!! Or even an abbreviation tacked onto each spell on the main spell lists. Considering there are class abilities tied to your use of spells of a specific school... Cross referencing each spell individually is a pain in the tookus!!
THE UGLY
OUCH. Some monsters are surprisingly tough in play. For no apparent reason. My party was VERY nearly TPK'd by a pair of giant spiders! At the end of that encounter, the mage was unconscious, paralyzed, and at death's door. The cleric and fighter were on low single digit hp. It took us 2 tries to get through the Kobold lair- the first time, a party of 4 3rd level characters nearly got their butts whupped by Kobolds with slings and Daggers (and +4 attack bonuses, +2 to damage), and 6 giant rats. And had to retreat with everyone wounded- and Bob on ONE hit point. (they couldn't hit the AC 10 mage to save their lives- even before I remembered to cast mage armor- but the AC 19 fighter? No problem!!) Attempt #2 went better, but was still pretty costly. We DID curbstomp the chieftain in one round with a Guiding Bolt/ Chromatic Orb combo though, so there is that, lol. I'm now worried about taking on the Orcs, next.
- some of the classes got totally rearranged/redone, and I don't like the way they're presented. Sorcerer and Paladin, for example. I think the Sorcerer's fluffy bits are too specific, and limiting. (ALL are descended from dragons now) And not a fan of incorporating wild magic (a campaign specific phenominon) into the class by default. Imo, this likely came as a result of the new magic system completely blurring the mechanical differences between a Sorcerer and a Wizard. The Paladin, in contrast, is too general.
Overall, I like it, so far. There's a lot to unwrap, though, so I'll have to update this as I find more yays or Nays.
edit. I included the long winded history, just so readers had a sense of where THIS player was coming from, perspective-wise.
