D&D 5E Random Starter Set Teaser from Google+

[thalmin]

I'm mostly annoyed at the failure of the Trident (martial) being identical (except higher cost) than the common Spear (simple). The Handaxe is also wrong, as it's by far the best simple weapon at 1d6 damage.

Although the dagger has the advantage of finesse.
And the Trident is a martial weapon, spear is simple.

 

[Redbadge]

Ugh, the weapon list.

Second of all, the greataxe is useless. Look at it. 1d12. The maul and greatsword (which are otherwise similar to the greataxe) have 2d6. Just think about that for a second. The greataxe can deal 1-12 damage. The maul can deal 2-12 damage. In fact, if you do the math, 2d6 averages one point higher than 1d12. So why in the world would anyone use the greataxe?

Though the table doesn't show it, aren't the critical rules such that a greatsword does an extra 1d6 (plus max) on a crit, while a greataxe does an extra 1d12 (plus max) on a crit.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

Second of all, the greataxe is useless. Look at it. 1d12. The maul and greatsword (which are otherwise similar to the greataxe) have 2d6. Just think about that for a second. The greataxe can deal 1-12 damage. The maul can deal 2-12 damage. In fact, if you do the math, 2d6 averages one point higher than 1d12. So why in the world would anyone use the greataxe?

If you read the critical hit rules, you'll see that this is wrong. On a critical hit, a greatsword deals 12+1d6. A greataxe deals 12+1d12. Much like 3E, you're trading lower average damage for a better critical.

 

[The Hitcher]

Ugh, the weapon list.

Okay, so, Real Talk for a second. I'm an alpha tester. The weapon list is the only part of the game that I ever thought was legitimately, objectively broken. I told them it was broken as often as I was allowed to. And it's still broken in the release version of the game.

First of all, similar weapons have different costs. Why in the world would anyone buy a greatsword when they could get a maul for cheaper?

Second of all, the greataxe is useless. Look at it. 1d12. The maul and greatsword (which are otherwise similar to the greataxe) have 2d6. Just think about that for a second. The greataxe can deal 1-12 damage. The maul can deal 2-12 damage. In fact, if you do the math, 2d6 averages one point higher than 1d12. So why in the world would anyone use the greataxe?

Because we've all grown up a bit and realised that character > math?

 

[Shiroiken]

Although the dagger has the advantage of finesse.

Not really. The Dagger will be a good secondary weapon for the few dex based characters, but almost no one will use it as their primary weapon.

The Hand Axe is good enough for most characters to use as a primary weapon, especially with Two Weapon Fighting, and I think only the Druid, Mage, and Monk don't have proficiency with it. Since the Monk will be fighting unarmed as their primary weapon, and the Mage should be using Cantrips, it's really only the Druid who's lacking. In our playtest the use of the Handaxe doubled once it was Simple at 1d6, and it's pretty much everyone's primary or secondary weapon.

And the Trident is a martial weapon, spear is simple.

That's kinda the point. The Martial weapon is in no way better, and is in fact WORSE than the Simple weapon because it's 4 gp more. You would think it would be the other way around...

 

[Dest]

What does "versatile" mean? Can we finally accurately throw longswords like they do in the movies?

I'm pretty sure it means you look equally badass with it while wearing a dress or plate mail. I don't know what these other dudes are talking about...two-handed and such.

 

[GravyFingerz]

Not really. The Dagger will be a good secondary weapon for the few dex based characters, but almost no one will use it as their primary weapon.

The Hand Axe is good enough for most characters to use as a primary weapon, especially with Two Weapon Fighting, and I think only the Druid, Mage, and Monk don't have proficiency with it. Since the Monk will be fighting unarmed as their primary weapon, and the Mage should be using Cantrips, it's really only the Druid who's lacking. In our playtest the use of the Handaxe doubled once it was Simple at 1d6, and it's pretty much everyone's primary or secondary weapon.


That's kinda the point. The Martial weapon is in no way better, and is in fact WORSE than the Simple weapon because it's 4 gp more. You would think it would be the other way around...

I imagine, as with some earlier editions, the difference in weapons will be more pronounced when we can see the magical item list. In OD&D, the best magic weapons were swords, and only fighting-men could use magical swords. Thus, even though the chances of finding magical trident versus a magical spear may be small, there may be better magical tridents than magical spears.

 

[Remathilis]

I realize this is the "basic/starter" list, but...

Where did Slings and Flails go?

EDIT: Also missing from the playtest: Great Club, Sickle, Javelin, Dart, Glaive, Lance, Halbred, Pike, War Pick, Whip, Blowgun, Bolas, Net. Guess these will be in the PHB.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

Maybe we'll see special rules for some weapons, preferably in a rules module. This means that the trident is just a fancy spear in the basic game, but becomes a much better weapon, for instance, in the hands of a gladiator (fighter subclass) or in a game that uses the "weapon traits rules module". If that's the case, I don't see a problem in those two weapons looking just the same in the weapons table, you'll get to choose how "being a trident" is relevant in your game.

 

[Mercurius]

First of all, I love the new format. More read-able than 3.5 but denser than 4E. I think they got the sweetspot.

First of all, similar weapons have different costs. Why in the world would anyone buy a greatsword when they could get a maul for cheaper?

Because a player might feel that a greataxe fits their character concept better than a maul.

Second of all, the greataxe is useless. Look at it. 1d12. The maul and greatsword (which are otherwise similar to the greataxe) have 2d6. Just think about that for a second. The greataxe can deal 1-12 damage. The maul can deal 2-12 damage. In fact, if you do the math, 2d6 averages one point higher than 1d12. So why in the world would anyone use the greataxe?

2d6 averages higher than d12, but it also does max damage less often. 2d6 gets 12 1/36th of the time, while d12 gets it 1/12th of the time.

But again, as someone said above, story and character trumps math and rules, or at least it should.