D&D 5E 02/08/13 New playtest packet to released today. [Udate: PACKAGE OUT!][

A'koss said:

I haven't scrutinized the spell list, but making sure armies aren't rendered unfeasible or irrelevant should be one of the goals. Just looking at Meteor Swarm with it's 1 *mile* range would allow a wizard to hammer an army (especially one just mustering or on the move)... or a town... or a castle with impunity day after day. Since the spell doesn't originate from the caster - who would know where it came from? You'd better hope he doesn't have any way of blocking divination spells.

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Plaguescarred said:

Character Sheet: As much as i like getting a new character sheet, I don't like this sheet. I'd like we get an updated version of the original sheet as well in a future packet.

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Olgar Shiverstone said:

Once a day is hardly overpowering. And while wizards capable of casting 9th level spells should be rare, they should definitely be a serious threat.

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n00bdragon said:

This fighter is really disappointing. The gladiator gets to attempt 2-4 times per encounter to trip someone or push them 15 feet. And don't imagine you'll be using the other options. Those are the only two you'll consider. Also forget about recovering superiority dice. Waste an entire action to get another attempt? I can't stress how weaksauce it is that he not only has to roll to hit but has to roll again just to get his benny. Worse yet the dice aren't tied to a DC or anything. Why is this not a saving throw on the part of the target? It's just a random sub-system for no reason, though I guess if you want to appeal to that 1e nostalgia they are doing it perfectly in that respect.

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n00bdragon said:

The path of the warrior just sucks. I guess if you have a boner for super simple fighters with no options this is your man.

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A'koss said:

Think about it in terms of attrition. Sure it's just 1/day. But 1/day, every day vs an army, town, castle... You could rout armies before they ever reached you. If you were smart you could rout an army before it every properly mustered. Destroy towns, food stores, fortifications...

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Olgar Shiverstone said:

Still not meaningful in an army context. Meteor Swarm does, at worst, 12d6 damage to 256 (80x80 square, neglecting the reduced area for a burst) medium-sized creatures once per day, assuming they all clustered up together. That's not meaningful attrition to a medieval-style army (even assuming it's not a D&D army with its own spellcasters) that could take 10x those casualties in a single day's engagement. It's really a waste against normal soldiers who might have what, 10 hp each? The impact of the spell can be dramatically reduced by dispersing your units, too.

[Edit: By that logic, modern armies should have been rendered irrelevant with the introduction of multiple-launch rocket systems, which can deliver payloads 40-50km and destroy entire square kilometers, and fire many more times than once in a day. Doesn't work that way in the real world, and wouldn't work that way in the fantasy world as well. Wizards are *supposed* to be artillery.]

Would it be annoying, in a guerilla warfare context? Absolutely. But it's not a war-winner by itself.

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