Rod Staffwand
aka Ermlaspur Flormbator
I am by no means young enough to be of the Harry Potter generation, but if 5e's new options means my foppish wizard doesn't have to carry around bat guano, count me in.
I am of two minds about spell chapter organization. Lumping the spells together alphabetically is a big help with a quick look up: spell chapter --> spell. Otherwise you have to go: spell chapter --> spell casting class --> spell level --> spell, which is a bit more cumbersome. On the other hand, when you just want to select a new spell after a level up or want to compare spells of the same level, grouping spells by class and level is a huge benefit. I guess they prioritized quick lookup as it's more useful in play when time is more valuable.
I think short rests should be addressed in errata to make the meaning more explicit. If they intend a "choose your own way to play" they should explicitly list the options. For the most part the basic set has some of the clearest written rules I've read in a long time, making things like short rests stand out even more. In a well-written ruleset there should never be arguments over what a rule means, or how to implement it, only whether it achieves its intended purpose or not.
I am of two minds about spell chapter organization. Lumping the spells together alphabetically is a big help with a quick look up: spell chapter --> spell. Otherwise you have to go: spell chapter --> spell casting class --> spell level --> spell, which is a bit more cumbersome. On the other hand, when you just want to select a new spell after a level up or want to compare spells of the same level, grouping spells by class and level is a huge benefit. I guess they prioritized quick lookup as it's more useful in play when time is more valuable.
I think short rests should be addressed in errata to make the meaning more explicit. If they intend a "choose your own way to play" they should explicitly list the options. For the most part the basic set has some of the clearest written rules I've read in a long time, making things like short rests stand out even more. In a well-written ruleset there should never be arguments over what a rule means, or how to implement it, only whether it achieves its intended purpose or not.