D&D 5E Current status of playtest for the ignorant?

[Quickleaf]

I've been out of the D&D loop for several months and I was wondering where the playtest is at so far? Are there 6 classes (fighter, wizard, cleric, thief, warlock, sorcerer) and 1-5 levels available to playtest? Any news on other classes and higher levels? And is there a good selection of monsters to choose from?

My group is trying to get together regularly again, and there's a good chance I'll be the DM/GM, so I'm looking at options. In addition to D&D Next, options I'm considering are 4e, Star Wars Saga Edition, and "a new rules-light game each night" (like Dread or Saboteur). 4e is what we have the most experience with, and while we like it overall, we all agree something less combat rules intensive would be nice. For those who've been playtesting Next, do you think there's enough out there now (or soon will be) to run a campaign?

 

[Steely_Dan]

I've been out of the D&D loop for several months and I was wondering where the playtest is at so far? Are there 6 classes (fighter, wizard, cleric, thief, warlock, sorcerer) and 1-5 levels available to playtest? Any news on other classes and higher levels? And is there a good selection of monsters to choose from?

My group is trying to get together regularly again, and there's a good chance I'll be the DM/GM, so I'm looking at options. In addition to D&D Next, options I'm considering are 4e, Star Wars Saga Edition, and "a new rules-light game each night" (like Dread or Saboteur). 4e is what we have the most experience with, and while we like it overall, we all agree something less combat rules intensive would be nice. For those who've been playtesting Next, do you think there's enough out there now (or soon will be) to run a campaign?

The 1st Playtest Packet (I think the better one, at this point) can keep me busy for years.

Easy to convert stuff from any previous edition.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

There are indeed those six classes and five levels to play. There's a bestiary with monsters in it, and a premade adventure that's pretty hefty.

A lot of people recommend adding +2 to monster attack rolls, because currently the monsters seem a bit wimpy.

Sometime next month, they're supposed to release the third iteration of the playtest. Rumor has it that it will go up to level 10, and it will revamp the wizard again (and maybe the rogue), but it may or may not add in more classes to the mix.

 

[Quickleaf]

The 1st Playtest Packet (I think the better one, at this point) can keep me busy for years.

Easy to convert stuff from any previous edition.

Cool! Can you elaborate on that second point? (I'm skeptical) Or provide an example of what you mean?

 

[Steely_Dan]

Cool! Can you elaborate on that second point? (I'm skeptical) Or provide an example of what you mean?

With Bounded Accuracy, it's a bit easier to eyeball things, which is what every DM does (well, I do).

I find it easy to drop 1st Ed stuff in 5th Ed, which is idyllic as 1st Ed/Basic are my favourite editions.

But do not mistake me, 3rd and 4th Ed brought many great things to the table, but definitely lost something, IME.

Sorry, as for an example, I will email some stuff to myself from work and copy & paste it (just some monster conversions I have done).

The basic chassis of 5th Ed I dig, no more +37 to a roll of a die 20.

 

[Evenglare]

well they finally added how to create characters. The first packet was awful for play testing purposes because I couldnt tell what the hell they did to make the characters. The most recent one was good because it gave us some insight to character creation.

 

[FireLance]

The basic chassis of 5th Ed I dig, no more +37 to a roll of a die 20.

Unfortunately, I happened to like the way that high-level characters' modifers were significantly higher than those of low-level characters, so bounded accuracy is actually a negative for me.

While it's easy to shrug it off as "different strokes", I think it might be a fundamental problem which could affect how many people take up 5e. I think I'll go start a thread on it.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I read the title and thought: "Playtest for the ignorant? Did I miss a memo?"

 

[Kinak]

For those who've been playtesting Next, do you think there's enough out there now (or soon will be) to run a campaign?

You could easily run a campaign up through level five right now. I'm not sure I would, necessarily, because new packets will keep coming out, but you definitely could.

You'll probably have to homebrew or reskin some monsters which, as [MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION] mentioned, is really easy.

As far as why homebrewing is easy, and I think your skepticism is healthy, brewing is more like OD&D, 1st, and 2nd than 3rd or 4th.

If you haven't homebrewed monsters from the older editions, you could argue it's easier or harder than 4th. There aren't the sort of guidelines that 4th has, but it's really easy to just eyeball everything and call it a monster.

So I'd call it easier and if you're used to rules-light systems, you'll probably do just fine, but if you're looking for a framework to help you build monsters like 4th had, it just doesn't exist yet.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!
Kinak