D&D 5E Legends and Lore July 28: Keeping it Classy

[Branduil]

The inspiration for the Way of the Four Elements Monk is so obvious, LOL.

I like that every single class can have access to magic as a core archetype.

 

[hbarsquared]

I never felt that generalist wizard was a strong concept, schools of magic are like University majors, you got to pick one eventually. But I still think that Abjurer and Diviner would be a hard sell to most players. Diviner could have things like lots of advantage rolls and automatic 20's on dice rolls, and even then I still think they won't get picked by most players.

Although I agree with you that Abjurers and Diviners have perhaps been the least effective choices, this is the characyer I've always wanted to play!

I have a feeling that the 5e Abj/Div will be a lot more "balanced" with the other schiols than in earlier incarnations....

 

[tuxgeo]

Extremely excited. Although I could have guessed the individual subclasses, the half-sentence depictions were actually... Inspiring. Whoever wrote/edited/refined this PH(B) did an amazing job.

My one sad thought: a diplomatic, fast-talking merchant rogue subclass. Who remembers Silk, from the Belgariad? To me, Silk is the quintessential rogue, thoigh I rarely see his character expressed mechanically...

Re: Silk: Prince Kheldar of Drasnia had his own problems, but his relationship with his half-brother was hilarious!

 

[Snapdragyn]

So feylock, fiendlock, &... GOOlock? o_0

Not sure how I can comment on that in a grandma-friendly manner....

 

[FitzTheRuke]

So feylock, fiendlock, &... GOOlock? o_0

Not sure how I can comment on that in a grandma-friendly manner....

More like Cthulock.

 

[Psikerlord#]

The inspiration for the Way of the Four Elements Monk is so obvious, LOL.

I like that every single class can have access to magic as a core archetype.

I love the benders, so glad to see that as a subclass theme for monks!

 

[Minigiant]

So they only could think of 2 subclasses for Barabarian, Bard, Druid, and Ranger.

Well the druid and barbarian have additional decision points (terrains and totems).

But they lose points for lack of creativity.

But I like the list mostly. 8/10.

 

[Li Shenron]

Overall I was hoping for a few more subclasses, but this ain't too bad.

All classes have at least 2, and those who have only 2 usually have one that is in fact a multiple-choice subclass (except maybe the Bard).

Another thing to note is that there is always at least one "magical" option for every class. Full and half-spellcasters are obviously always magical, but Fighters have Eldritch Knight, Rogues have Arcane Trickster, Monks have Way of the Four Elements (and probably also Way of the Shadows has something magical), and Barbarians have Totems (perhaps not that much magical mechanically, but at least somehow conceptually).

I'm only sorry to see so few options for the Rogue, which used to have 5-7 subclasses at some point during the playtest, and even the Cleric's domains are not that much compared to previous editions.

I also liked the removed Knight subclass of the Fighter, and was hoping for a weather druid, a freedom paladin and a planewalker ranger, but can't always get what you want.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=1465]Li Shenron[/MENTION]
I agree that Bard, Druid, Ranger, and Sorcerer could use one more subclass each, not for symmetry reasons, but for full coverage of what are now common character concepts.

For the Bard, it appears the College of Wit from the playtest has been dropped? Man, vicious mockery was a thing in 4e! The smack-talking social hero seems apropos for bard, with only a bit of overlap with the Rogue's Arcane Trickster.

For the Druid, it's possible the Circle of Land *is* the spells-focused "weather" Druid. I was thinking Swarm or Blight Circles might be interesting.

For the Ranger, I personally love your idea of a Planewalker Ranger, but I suspect something more "classic" might have greater traction. The way Hunter is described, it almost sounds like the original ranger from White Dwarf IIRC who was a frontiersman modeled directly on Aragorn. However, the name Hunter implies that it is probably the "favored enemy" build, and if that's the case then there could be room for a build based on the original ranger.

For the Sorcerer, there are so many options for other lineages! Dragon and Wild Magic are great, but something that is a little more accommodating of different character back stories would be great too. Something like an Elementalist pops out as a common archetype that isn't explicitly covered.

 

[mach1.9pants]

First splat has to be a book of backgrounds and sub classes. Still no thug option for rogue, dex attack only

But are they doing splats or how are they intending on expanding the classes?