I haven't followed the birth of D&D 5. I've heard things here and there, sure. But, I've been uninterested in it. I play the Conan RPG, and I don't plan on switching.
Today, though, I saw a posting that said that WotC had released a 110 page set of D&D Fifth Edition Basic Core Rules that contained everything needed to play the game.
What the heck. I took a look.
I am AMAZED at what I read. This game looks GOOD! It seems to be to be a blending of all of the good editions of D&D. In my opinion, the "good" editions are AD&D/2E and D&D 3E/3.5. From what I read in that basic document, the game is easily recognizable as a D&D 3E or 3.X game, but they've toned down the math, made some areas more vague (in a good way) and are promoting roleplaying again.
For all the excellent aspects of 3E, one of the things it did to hurt the game, in my opinion, was to make a dice throw for everything. This encouraged players to just throw on a skill to find a trap, for example, instead of roleplaying out the encounter by using their 10' poles to prod for triggers while searching for scratches on the stone. In my estimation, all that rolling could suck the life out of a game and turn it into a die rolling fest instead of a roleplaying game. I had to adjust to this when I started playing my Conan campaign--a game that is based on d20 3.5 E.
D&D 5 seems to want to bring that roleplaying back into the game while still keeping all of the other excellent features that were pioneered with D&D 3.
I want to see more, but from what I see in this basic document, D&D 5 is something that I am going to like.
Click on the link above and decide for yourself.
Here Are The Notes I Took While Reading the Basic Core Rules For The First Time:
-- The advantage/disadvantage concept is new and neat. You make two d20 rolls when you are attempting a task. If you are advantaged, then you take the higher of the two throws. If you are disadvantaged, then you take the lower roll.
Example: You are sneaking around but wearing armor that is heavy, not flexible, and noisy. You are at a disadvantage when wearing this armor while trying to sneak. You roll twice in order to sneak, taking the lower of the two throws as your sneak throw because you are at a disadvantage.
That's pretty neat.
-- Interesting the ability scores are generated in Step 3 of the character creation process and not in Step 1. Character concept comes first, followed by the stat generation.
-- Humans now get racial bonuses to attributes! That's different.
-- You don't have to roll up a character. You can just use the standard attribute array for quick generation. This was taken from 3rd edition--the DM's quick generation for NPCs. Now, PCs can use it.
-- Wow. They've made it a heck of a lot easier to gain levels at the lower levels. In D&D 3, it took 1000 XP to reach 2nd level. In this game, it only takes 300 XP. I suppose that's an effort to keep characters alive at the lower levels.
-- Character levels are now grouped into tiers, which gives a definition on what the levels mean. I like that.
-- The info on character races in this basic book is more than what I've seen in advanced books for other editions of the game. This is great for roleplaying, for both the DM and the player. Good stuff.
-- The "base" game universe for D&D 5 has gone back to the Forgotten Realms. I'm glad to see that. The Realms was always one of my favorite D&D gaming worlds.
-- Humans have subraces! Based on their nationalities from the Realms. I dig it!
-- Four basic character classes: Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard. Back to basics. Cool. Nice, full class descriptions.
-- There's a note to playing characters as gay or transsexual. Well, aren't we Politically Correct and cognizant of the times.
-- Character background system is presented, with character personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws.
-- I like this: Some heavy armor has a STR requirement. If you can't meet that requirement and wear the armor, your base movement speed is decreased by 10'. Thus, if you're not strong enough to wear the armor, you move a bit slower than those who are strong enough to wear it.
-- Lifestyle Expenses: I love this. PCs pay for all that stuff that happens "off camera".
-- Passive Checks: They're making official what d20 3 and 3.5 users have been doing for a long time. A Passive Check is Taking 10 on a throw (like Pereption) without the usual requirements that are needed for Taking 10 (can't be in combat, etc).
-- Not crazy about the group check rule. I think they could come up with something easier--something based on a single roll for the entire group.
-- Excellent description of how the six attributes are used in the game.
-- Saving Throws are now tied directly to the character's attributes. A DEX save. A CHR save. And so on.
-- The combat round is still 6 seconds long.
-- I like what they did with resting and regaining hit points.
-- Initiative is rolled for every combatant. I never did like rolling initiative for a "side", and I've always used individual initiative in my games.
-- Actions, Bonus Actions, and Reactions. This is all nicely done.
-- RANGES! They finally figured out something easier than having to count squares all the time. There are only two ranges for distance weapons, long and short. If at short range, you attack normally. If at long range, you are at a disadvantage and must roll twice for your attack, taking the lower result of the two. THAT'S AWESOME! And easy to play and remember.
-- Skill points have been generically melted down into a class proficiency bonus. While this is easier than keeping up with skill points, I think it makes the characters more generic. Not sure how I feel about this change--and it is a major change.
VERDICT: Everything considered....I like it. I like it a lot.
Today, though, I saw a posting that said that WotC had released a 110 page set of D&D Fifth Edition Basic Core Rules that contained everything needed to play the game.
What the heck. I took a look.
I am AMAZED at what I read. This game looks GOOD! It seems to be to be a blending of all of the good editions of D&D. In my opinion, the "good" editions are AD&D/2E and D&D 3E/3.5. From what I read in that basic document, the game is easily recognizable as a D&D 3E or 3.X game, but they've toned down the math, made some areas more vague (in a good way) and are promoting roleplaying again.
For all the excellent aspects of 3E, one of the things it did to hurt the game, in my opinion, was to make a dice throw for everything. This encouraged players to just throw on a skill to find a trap, for example, instead of roleplaying out the encounter by using their 10' poles to prod for triggers while searching for scratches on the stone. In my estimation, all that rolling could suck the life out of a game and turn it into a die rolling fest instead of a roleplaying game. I had to adjust to this when I started playing my Conan campaign--a game that is based on d20 3.5 E.
D&D 5 seems to want to bring that roleplaying back into the game while still keeping all of the other excellent features that were pioneered with D&D 3.
I want to see more, but from what I see in this basic document, D&D 5 is something that I am going to like.
Click on the link above and decide for yourself.
Here Are The Notes I Took While Reading the Basic Core Rules For The First Time:
-- The advantage/disadvantage concept is new and neat. You make two d20 rolls when you are attempting a task. If you are advantaged, then you take the higher of the two throws. If you are disadvantaged, then you take the lower roll.
Example: You are sneaking around but wearing armor that is heavy, not flexible, and noisy. You are at a disadvantage when wearing this armor while trying to sneak. You roll twice in order to sneak, taking the lower of the two throws as your sneak throw because you are at a disadvantage.
That's pretty neat.
-- Interesting the ability scores are generated in Step 3 of the character creation process and not in Step 1. Character concept comes first, followed by the stat generation.
-- Humans now get racial bonuses to attributes! That's different.
-- You don't have to roll up a character. You can just use the standard attribute array for quick generation. This was taken from 3rd edition--the DM's quick generation for NPCs. Now, PCs can use it.
-- Wow. They've made it a heck of a lot easier to gain levels at the lower levels. In D&D 3, it took 1000 XP to reach 2nd level. In this game, it only takes 300 XP. I suppose that's an effort to keep characters alive at the lower levels.
-- Character levels are now grouped into tiers, which gives a definition on what the levels mean. I like that.
-- The info on character races in this basic book is more than what I've seen in advanced books for other editions of the game. This is great for roleplaying, for both the DM and the player. Good stuff.
-- The "base" game universe for D&D 5 has gone back to the Forgotten Realms. I'm glad to see that. The Realms was always one of my favorite D&D gaming worlds.
-- Humans have subraces! Based on their nationalities from the Realms. I dig it!
-- Four basic character classes: Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard. Back to basics. Cool. Nice, full class descriptions.
-- There's a note to playing characters as gay or transsexual. Well, aren't we Politically Correct and cognizant of the times.
-- Character background system is presented, with character personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws.
-- I like this: Some heavy armor has a STR requirement. If you can't meet that requirement and wear the armor, your base movement speed is decreased by 10'. Thus, if you're not strong enough to wear the armor, you move a bit slower than those who are strong enough to wear it.
-- Lifestyle Expenses: I love this. PCs pay for all that stuff that happens "off camera".
-- Passive Checks: They're making official what d20 3 and 3.5 users have been doing for a long time. A Passive Check is Taking 10 on a throw (like Pereption) without the usual requirements that are needed for Taking 10 (can't be in combat, etc).
-- Not crazy about the group check rule. I think they could come up with something easier--something based on a single roll for the entire group.
-- Excellent description of how the six attributes are used in the game.
-- Saving Throws are now tied directly to the character's attributes. A DEX save. A CHR save. And so on.
-- The combat round is still 6 seconds long.
-- I like what they did with resting and regaining hit points.
-- Initiative is rolled for every combatant. I never did like rolling initiative for a "side", and I've always used individual initiative in my games.
-- Actions, Bonus Actions, and Reactions. This is all nicely done.
-- RANGES! They finally figured out something easier than having to count squares all the time. There are only two ranges for distance weapons, long and short. If at short range, you attack normally. If at long range, you are at a disadvantage and must roll twice for your attack, taking the lower result of the two. THAT'S AWESOME! And easy to play and remember.
-- Skill points have been generically melted down into a class proficiency bonus. While this is easier than keeping up with skill points, I think it makes the characters more generic. Not sure how I feel about this change--and it is a major change.
VERDICT: Everything considered....I like it. I like it a lot.
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