D&D 5E Fantasy Grounds Previews of Tasha's Cauldron

Ahead of the November 17th release date, the product page for Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has several previews on the Fantasy Grounds website. The previews include the origins customization section, group patrons, sidekicks, and a look at the alternate class features for the ranger Beast Master.

 

[Charlaquin]

That seems like quite a substantial buff. Bladesinger can actually use booming blade.

It’s a substantial buff for sure and potentially a substantial nerf, depending on what a typical adventuring day looks like at your table. Going from two uses that recover on a short rest to prof bonus uses that recover on a long rest is a straight nerf until at least 5th level, after which it’s only probably a nerf, unless you regularly have adventuring days with fewer than prof bonus encounters per day or go more than two encounters without a long rest.

Overall seems like reasonable changes. Tye wording on BB and GFB needed cleaning up, letting the Bladesinger cast a cantrip with extra attack was an oft-requested feature, and the change to bladesong uses seems like a reasonable counterbalance. It’ll hut bladesingers who try to be primary melee combatants the most, which are also the ones who would benefit the most from being able to use BB or GFB with extra attack. Meanwhile, bladesingers who play like normal wizards with bladesong as a situational defensive buff will barely notice the changes.

 

[Guest User]

I don't like the change to the cantrips like that. I really dislike stealth errata. If this was an issue, why is it only being changed now?

In No way am I dismissing the validity of your feelings, yet of the 30 people I have played 5e D&D with, only 3 people, including myself own SCAG.

I bought SCAG for the same reasons I bought Frostburn in 3e.....I have "completionist collector tendencies" and I saw that Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade are clear and present Power Gamer fodder.

I predict Tasha's is going to sell better then SCAG. Many players, do not follow Errata or Sage Advice....so why wouldn't you update two spells that any reasonable person would conclude, were sloppily written, in a product that is going to be widely purchased?

I hate errata PDF dumps, so updating The spells in Tasha's, is more preferable to me.

As for the alterations...Sorcadins can still Quicken Booming Blade. Twin Spell and Booming Blade Action economy had some wonky interactions....so sacrificing a Twinned Booming Blade for clarity and balance is something I am fine with.

Eliminating Booming Blade from working with the Warcaster Feat, I am less sanguine about. Ultimately, I think the change is for the best, it forces those players that tend to use the same build, or the best option over and over again to change.
This keeps the game fresh, which keeps people engaged.

 

[ph0rk]

I mean, one can always still jack the Bladesinger's extra attack variant for Eldritch Knight. Or if you want to keep that a Bladesinger exclusive for Bladesinger fighting style reasons, you can homebrew Arcane Warrior fighting style as that or just keep the pre altered SCAG cantrips the same and use em that way.

Yeah; I'm planning to ask the DM for one of my games for exactly that. He's pretty liberal with homebrew. But still - you have to ask.

 

[Charlaquin]

It does; but it makes a sticky warcaster Eldritch Knight a thing of the past and makes their War Magic feature look even more clunky and awkward.

Booming Blade still provides decent stickiness, and ultimately preventing BB and GFB from being used with Warcaster was probably necessary in order to make it possible to cast with extra attack without shooting bladesingers’ DPR into the stratosphere.

 

[Weiley31]

Way of the Astral Self is in. Arms now do Force instead of Radiant or Necrotic damage. Circle of Wildfire lost Fireball apparently.

And Love/Unity Domain became Peace.

 

[ph0rk]

Booming Blade still provides decent stickiness, and ultimately preventing BB and GFB from being used with Warcaster was probably necessary in order to make it possible to cast with extra attack without shooting bladesingers’ DPR into the stratosphere.

At the cost of extra attacks - I'm not sure it is really worth it at level 11+. Nor is war caster, really - so I guess it's just back to Sentinel (which makes the EK built for stickyness end up looking like every other fighter that does so).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Circle of Wildfire lost Fireball apparently.

 

[Mistwell]

In No way am I dismissing the validity of your feelings, yet of the 30 people I have played 5e D&D with, only 3 people, including myself own SCAG.

I bought SCAG for the same reasons I bought Frostburn in 3e.....I have "completionist collector tendencies" and I saw that Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade are clear and present Power Gamer fodder.

I predict Tasha's is going to sell better then SCAG. Many players, do not follow Errata or Sage Advice....so why wouldn't you update two spells that any reasonable person would conclude, were sloppily written, in a product that is going to be widely purchased?

I hate errata PDF dumps, so updating The spells in Tasha's, is more preferable to me.

As for the alterations...Sorcadins can still Quicken Booming Blade. Twin Spell and Booming Blade Action economy had some wonky interactions....so sacrificing a Twinned Booming Blade for clarity and balance is something I am fine with.

Eliminating Booming Blade from working with the Warcaster Feat, I am less sanguine about. Ultimately, I think the change is for the best, it forces those players that tend to use the same build, or the best option over and over again to change.
This keeps the game fresh, which keeps people engaged.

I have no issue with reprinting the cantrips and most of your reply deals with the reprint. Most people I know have access to them through DNDBeyond, and I don't think that access is rare at all. If these cantrips needed updates, why would they wait FIVE YEARS of people playing with them to do it, and then do it through a reprint when we have important errata out AS ERRATA on things already? Who was complaining about these cantrips being usable through warcaster? WHO? I have never once seen that complaint.

I do not think this kind of errata "keeps people engaged". I think it "Keeps people really pissed off that suddenly their character no longer functions the way it very clearly was OK to function as for five years straight". Sudden, inexplicable retroactive changes which were not even announced as errata to begin with and were never a known issue in any forum for "not working well" is not the kind of thing which people appreciate from gaming companies.

Nor do I think a motive for errata should ever be "let's keep the game fresh". NEW CONTENT is what keeps the game fresh. Errata to "keep the game fresh" is the kind of thing a collectible card game company would do to persuade people to buy new content by disabling old content...something which happened in the bad old days of CCG glut and which didn't go over well then either.

I've never once, in any gaming forum for any kind of game at all, seen people describe those kinds of changes as a desirable way to "keep the game fresh". Instead I see them described as "the gaming company appears to be out of touch with their fanbase." This is the kind of change that soured people on 4e, over time. "Fixing" things which were not broken and which nobody was complaining about, which made tables suddenly "out of date". It's the kind of thing WOTC said they wanted to avoid with 5e. It's a bad sign they're now engaged in doing just that.

 

[Weiley31]

Don't worry: this is the reason why I save UAs. I'll let ya still use the UA version to avoid nerfs.

 

[Mistwell]

Booming Blade still provides decent stickiness, and ultimately preventing BB and GFB from being used with Warcaster was probably necessary in order to make it possible to cast with extra attack without shooting bladesingers’ DPR into the stratosphere.

Really? Have you ever seen someone complain about that issue, ever? Who was saying Bladesinger's DPR was broken, and how is this the elegant solution to that issue if it was an issue?