D&D Next Playtest Package Questions Answered! (Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford)

[Kichwas]

Lots of reticence to talk about anything online so far (play or tools). Maybe they're understandably shy since its consistently been a thorn for them. Or maybe they have a huge announcement of something awesome about to be revealed! Here's hoping.

I always thought the online issues for DnD had to do with a messup between TSR selling rights to Microsoft -way back in the day-. Of course these days there are several online things that imply this got resolved long ago - unless its only been resolved in pieces.

 

[Kichwas]

Mearls: "Personally, I actually like meters because if you draw a map with one meter per square, the dimensions of rooms are more realistic."

Use 1 yard. also known as three feet. Its very close to 1 meter. And for many people, "close" to the distance from ground to hips (for those needing a visual).

1 meter = 1.0936133 yard. Also known as pretty darn similar. Most of us yanks can also visualize a yard because almost every elementary school in nation has a yard stick in the classroom somewhere...

 

[Ichneumon]

The trouble with Ambusher isn't that it's not good, or that it's too fiddly, it's that the text doesn't tell you what it actually does. It says you gain advantage, but you already have advantage.

What it does is allow you to remain hidden when you move into sight.

A better wording for it might be:

Benefit: When you start your turn hidden from a creature, you remain hidden from that creature even if you move to a place where it would normally spot you. If you do not use your action to hide, the creature notices you at the end of your turn.

It basically does the same thing, but instead of "Huh?" or "That sucks, I already get advantage!" It's awesome.

You can also use it to go from one hiding place to another without being spotted (an exploration option! Woot!)

That's a much better wording, and with the last sentence in mind, I'd propose to have its name changed to Stalker.

 

[john112364]

Mearls: "Personally, I actually like meters because if you draw a map with one meter per square, the dimensions of rooms are more realistic."

Use 1 yard. also known as three feet. Its very close to 1 meter. And for many people, "close" to the distance from ground to hips (for those needing a visual).

1 meter = 1.0936133 yard. Also known as pretty darn similar. Most of us yanks can also visualize a yard because almost every elementary school in nation has a yard stick in the classroom somewhere...

Absolutely. This is what The Hero system does. Instead of moving 30 feet you could move 10 yards (or meters if you prefer. Close enough.) Each square could equal 2 yards (or meters), because I can easily see you controlling 2yards of personal space. it translates well enough and doesn't really affect the math. Actually I think it makes it easier.

And didn't 1e measure distances in inches which translated to feet (for indoor distances) or yards (for outdoor distances). So there's even a sort of precedence.

 

[occam]

The trouble with Ambusher isn't that it's not good, or that it's too fiddly, it's that the text doesn't tell you what it actually does. It says you gain advantage, but you already have advantage.

What it does is allow you to remain hidden when you move into sight.

A better wording for it might be:

Benefit: When you start your turn hidden from a creature, you remain hidden from that creature even if you move to a place where it would normally spot you. If you do not use your action to hide, the creature notices you at the end of your turn.

It basically does the same thing, but instead of "Huh?" or "That sucks, I already get advantage!" It's awesome.

You can also use it to go from one hiding place to another without being spotted (an exploration option! Woot!)

But that's not what Ambusher does. Without Ambusher, you wouldn't usually get advantage with an attack from hiding, because the attack itself would reveal you (barring a sneak-friendly setup, typically out of combat, like attacking a distracted guard from behind). With Ambusher, it doesn't matter if the attack (or a prior move) reveals you, you get advantage on the first attack anyway.

The unclear wording is in the description of getting advantage on attacks while hiding (p.7 of How to Play), not in the Ambusher feat.

 

[JonArkanix]

I always thought the online issues for DnD had to do with a messup between TSR selling rights to Microsoft

I always wonder where people get these myths from. TSR never sold the rights to Microsoft for development or publishing of games based on the D&D properties. The vast majority of D&D games were published by SSI, Interplay, and Atari over the years.

Read and learn -> 1982-2011 DnD licenced games

 

[Morrus]

I didn't really get the 5-feet question. Whether he calls a square a 'square' or '5-feet', why is he converting it to anything? Or does he mean dividing by five to make squares presents a difficulty?

Being also European, I simply don't share his difficulty. It's never even occurred to me. Is he converting GP to Euros and speed to km/hr, too?

Colour me confused. Just call it a square it it makes you happier; I prefer 5' myself as it feels more real.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Good clarifications. It seems to me like they are really fiddling with the details of the game, interested in variations, and have already keyed in on some of the things that bug us (armor design, heal on extended rest, at-will MM) as deliberate things to experiment with.

If they run multiple iterations like this, it will restore a lot of my faith in their process even if they make some decisions I don't personally care for.

 

[jadrax]

Mearls: "Personally, I actually like meters because if you draw a map with one meter per square, the dimensions of rooms are more realistic."

Use 1 yard. also known as three feet. Its very close to 1 meter. And for many people, "close" to the distance from ground to hips (for those needing a visual).

1 meter = 1.0936133 yard. Also known as pretty darn similar. Most of us yanks can also visualize a yard because almost every elementary school in nation has a yard stick in the classroom somewhere...

Yes, the Yard is great, much better then 5 feet.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Stephen: What was the thought process behind brining electrum back into D&D?

Jeremy Crawford: Bringing electrum pieces back is a nod to the game's history. The coins also have a nice story now; they're remnants of lost kingdoms and fallen empires. In other words, we don't expect electrum pieces to be part of a kingdom's normal economy. They're exotic.

Cool. I like electrum pieces, and making them exotic seems interesting to me.