D&D 5E Starter Set Command Spell

[Thaumaturge]

I think I've XPed everyone who posts in 5e threads.

Same here. Ever since I found out they were using words for 5e, I've been going crazy with the xp.

It's interesting to compare....

I assume it's because there's something wrong with me, but I far prefer the 5e presentation. I understand, intellectually, how the 4e presentation increases readability and puts important info in stable, easy to find places. And yet the "wall of text" just feels better to me.

Hopefully, someone puts the 5e spells in 4e style blocks and can legally provide that to the community for those of you who aren't broken.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The srd version does require the target understand your language. (See: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/command.htm )

Oh, I see "Language Dependent" in the type-line. Still not sure I'd enforce that.

Hopefully, someone puts the 5e spells in 4e style blocks and can legally provide that to the community for those of you who aren't broken.

I'll be very surprised if that's allowed, and whilst someone may well do it, WotC's reaction is unpredictable (anything from totally ignoring it, to being very threatening and demanding it get pulled immediately). Possibly after the OGL, if there is one, though I imagine that won't cover all spells.

I have mixed feelings on the presentation.

Wall of text is more aesthetically pleasing to me and has a certain charm.

However, it's far harder for me to parse, and can't just glance at a spell and instantly understand all the pertinent facts about it (I had to re-read it about three times before I felt like I fully understood it, in this case), and some of the language is kind of vague (not fatally so, here).

I know that if I have any trouble parsing wall of text, my more casual players will definitely misunderstand some spells and make bad decisions based on those misunderstandings, too, which was irritating-as-hell in 2E/3E. Also the rules-lawyer-y one will definitely prefer this format!

 

[I'm A Banana]

Oh, I see "Language Dependent" in the type-line. Still not sure I'd enforce that.

I wonder if this shows why they went wall-of-text in 5e. Perhaps it's just too easy to gloss over things like keywords and stat blocks, making them harder to actually pay attention to in practice. Hmmm....

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I wonder if this shows why they went wall-of-text in 5e. Perhaps it's just too easy to gloss over things like keywords and stat blocks, making them harder to actually pay attention to in practice. Hmmm....

Nah, I missed it on the first read of Command 5E, too.

3E's format is godawful, it's not the same as 4E, which makes the keywords harder to miss (imho), whilst taking up 1/10th the space.

 

[TerraDave]

It's interesting to compare....

View attachment 62205

Curious facts to me include....

The funny thing is, the 4E version seems simpler, but...I could, if I had to, already adjudicate 5e command from memory, and would be pretty sure I could do so 4 months from now, at least close enough, whereas I would not be comfortable doing that with the 4e version.

Plus, I do find having some more text, versus having to double check keywords, to be easier. And, on top of all that, is that there will be fewer spells then powers.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The funny thing is, the 4E version seems simpler, but...I could, if I had to, already adjudicate 5e command from memory, and would be pretty sure I could do so 4 months from now, at least close enough, whereas I would not be comfortable doing that with the 4e version.

Plus, I do find having some more text, versus having to double check keywords, to be easier. And, on top of all that, is that there will be fewer spells then powers.

That's an odd comparison. You'd never need to "adjudicate" 4E Command from memory. Indeed, you'd probably never need to "adjudicate" it at all.

Further, you don't need to memorize 4E powers, because they all fit on the character sheet and the player can tell you what they do, precisely, whereas you kind of do with spells, as they tend to be quite fiddly and often have unusual spell-specific traits, so there being less of them is a strange point to raise.

This isn't a criticism of 5E, I just think it's strange approach, because it's not comparing like with like.

 

[Mistwell]

That's an odd comparison. You'd never need to "adjudicate" 4E Command from memory. Indeed, you'd probably never need to "adjudicate" it at all.

Further, you don't need to memorize 4E powers, because they all fit on the character sheet and the player can tell you what they do, precisely, whereas you kind of do with spells, as they tend to be quite fiddly and often have unusual spell-specific traits, so there being less of them is a strange point to raise.

This isn't a criticism of 5E, I just think it's strange approach, because it's not comparing like with like.

You don't find it useful at all that the 5e spell is more easily memorized? I do. Particularly since NPCs and even monsters might have that spell, and the text likely won't be reproduced with them, it's useful to be able to easily memorize it.

I also really disliked, in both 3e and 4e, the eyes of players constantly on their character sheets. It took something away from the game for me, in ways that Basic and AD&D 1e didn't have.

 

[am181d]

You don't find it useful at all that the 5e spell is more easily memorized?

My problem is that I can only memorize a few spells per day.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

You don't find it useful at all that the 5e spell is more easily memorized? I do. Particularly since NPCs and even monsters might have that spell, and the text likely won't be reproduced with them, it's useful to be able to easily memorize it.

You misunderstand me, I think. I do find that useful. However, as it's not something one does in 4E (as you agree, I think), it's just not a like-with-like comparison. This Command is better, for example, than 3E, which is like-with-like!

I also really disliked, in both 3e and 4e, the eyes of players constantly on their character sheets. It took something away from the game for me, in ways that Basic and AD&D 1e didn't have.

Yeah, I can feel that - but I'm not sure if 5E will be closer to 3E or 2E on this. Surely one of them more than 1E, so far. Also in 2E, we often had Mages or Clerics hogging the PHB for the entire game looking up spells! Or staring at hand-written transcripts (remember the 2E character sheet book spell sheets?) of their spells.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

To those who don´t ike language dependancy:

how hard is it for a charater to memorize a few simpe words i a different language...

dealing with orcs: learn 5 orcish words...

or just add Material component: paper with commands in the target creature´s language. This component is not consuend in casting the spell and can be used over and over again...