D&D 5E Unexpected but (mostly) awesome new rules in Basic

[Cybit]

As a scholar who studies gender and sexuality, I can assure you that no language will ever satisfy everyone and new reasons to avoid this or that language will continue to arise. Judith Butler gives brief and readable examples of the internal conflicts between different queer factions in Undoing Gender.

That said, I'm guessing very few queer folks don't welcome the inclusion of this paragraph in the game. I was certainly happy to see it, if for no other reason than gaming culture at large harbors a lot of misogyny and homophobia and it's really nice to see such a high-profile game make a positive, inclusive statement.

We shouldn't let perfection be the enemy of the good, and we should celebrate these kinds of statements that go beyond individual preferences to be built directly into the game.

Indeed; the language thing appears to be outrage for the sake of outrage; or an unwillingness to believe that there are other legitimate positions.

That said, in a game like D&D, a character could literally be a female mind / soul trapped into a male's body or vice versa via evil magic, so there is also that aspect as well.

 

[evilbob]

So many good point in this thread... Clarity and simplicity are the general summaries. Shove/grapple being simpler, so many other rules being simpler, the whole inclusive gender section - such great improvements!

Also, I love the lack of negative HP, so many rules are optional or easy to ignore, houseruling is embraced...

And the SPELLS! Such an improvement on so many of these! First level spells are actually GOOD! High-level spells are so much less game-breaking! Teleport is a great example: the old scry-and-fry only has a 25% chance to work now! A much-needed rein-in of upper-level power. Cantrips that are at-wills and don't completely suck. I still have a few minor issues but the good outweighs the bad by a wide margin.

 

[Verys Arkon]

Here is something that made me go hmmm. There is no 5 foot step or shift in 5e, and Disengage is an action. So a spell caster or archer has to either attack with disadvantage or spend their turn retreating safely. A ranged character that finds itself in melee has a much more difficult time than in 3 or 4e. I'm fine with that! It makes rogues just that more slippery with their cunning action.

 

[knith]

...Our Mystic Theurge just learned rope trick. We get 7 hours of extradimensional safety every night (yes, even in inn rooms - heck, especially in inn rooms!) before we have to deal with that stuff now.

Except Rope Trick is - 1. Not in the Basic Rules; 2. In the playtest materials (unless I missed a revision) it was "Duration: 1 hour" - which means you've only increased the duration 7 fold.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Here is something that made me go hmmm. There is no 5 foot step or shift in 5e, and Disengage is an action. So a spell caster or archer has to either attack with disadvantage or spend their turn retreating safely.

Option 3: Suck it up, move away from mêlée, and take the opportunity attack.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Snapdragyn]

Except Rope Trick is - 1. Not in the Basic Rules; 2. In the playtest materials (unless I missed a revision) it was "Duration: 1 hour" - which means you've only increased the duration 7 fold.

This was referring to the use of the spell in a 3.5 group. I should've clarified that I was using a non-5e example to illustrate reactions to general cross-edition 'reasons to fear the dark'.

 

[Particle_Man]

Here is something that made me go hmmm. There is no 5 foot step or shift in 5e, and Disengage is an action. So a spell caster or archer has to either attack with disadvantage or spend their turn retreating safely. A ranged character that finds itself in melee has a much more difficult time than in 3 or 4e. I'm fine with that! It makes rogues just that more slippery with their cunning action.

Option 4: Get your buddy to suck it up for you by leaving meelee first (since Aoo uses up the enemy's one and only reaction).

Option 5: Be mounted and control your mount. Free disengage for the win! It is like Ride-by-Attack from 3.5 only better!

[edit: That said, I hope the riding dog is in the phb, as that would make it so much easier to be mounted in the dungeon, at least for halflings and such].

 

[knith]

This was referring to the use of the spell in a 3.5 group. I should've clarified that I was using a non-5e example to illustrate reactions to general cross-edition 'reasons to fear the dark'.

My first reply might have come across snarky - wasn't mean to be - I too just miss rope trick being more...."useful."

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

AU was the first time I saw the system, but it popped up again in other incarnations. The Spirit Shaman class in 3.5 used the same system, as does the Arcanist class for Pathfinder, which releases next month. And I think Wulf's own Trailblazer system did as well, although it's been a few years since I read it.

It does indeed; but I didn't mention it because it felt boorish to do so; and at any rate I am completely up front about having yoinked the essence from AU in the first place.

My further tweaks to 5e will probably include putting all spellcasters on the same spell slot progression, with such differences as are required for balance shifted into the class features (again: like Trailblazer).

I anticipate lots of streamlining of features, and shaving away lumpy, exception-based rules wherever possible. My petty complaint with 5e so far is that it adds complexity where I don't want it (every class has its own feature progression, for example) and removes complexity where I do want it (I don't want all weapons to be 20/x2 by default.)

 

[WitchyD]

The group ability check rule (p. 59) is amazing! In short, if everyone in the group is making the same ability check for something (the example given is Survival checks to navigate a swamp), and at least half the group succeeds, the whole group succeeds (if not, the group fails). I'll probably use this rule a lot as a DM. Party wants to sneak past a dragon? It's easy to for me imagine the sneaky guy showing the armored Paladin how to move (silently, with gestures!) in his/her armor to be a bit more quiet. Party trying to bluff past a guard? Social characters being able to quickly cover for blunders made by Charisma-dumpers seems like a fun, evocative bit to role-play as a group. (I enjoy a light-hearted sort of fantasy game.)