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.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

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?

The new, buffed bladesinger, not the original version.

 

[Blue]

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

Seems like quite a substancial nerf. Going from two uses per short rest, which is most combats, to [PROF] times per long rest? That means that during a significant number of combats per day you are greatly reduced in being able to enter melee combat. You've already got low HPs for front line against anything with a save, now AC as well.

This makes the subclass unplayable. Imagine a melee fighter with "you can only wear armor [PROF] times per day".

Basically, this change makes sense if you're not playing a bladesinger like a bladesinger and standing back as a pure caster. Then you don't get insane AC boosts. but trying to play a bladesinger like a bladesinger, this is unworkable until like 13th level where you will likely have enough users per day to cover most encounters.

 

[Blue]

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?

It is not yet stealth errata. This material is not out yet. It is likely that there will be an errata that includes these changes to previous works, just like there was errata to other sources when Triton got darkvision in a later book.

If no errata comes out when this is published, then it would be stealth errata.

 

[Weiley31]

Also supposedly for those, such as I, who liked the Psionic Die, it returns again for the Soulknife and Psi Knight/Warrior in Tasha's but apparently it works more like a Superiority Die and you get 2x your prof mod worth of Psi Die that you get back on a long rest. Supposedly you can use a one time BA, during a short rest, to regain 1 Psi Die. They only go away to either use some features, to recharge a feature, or when you succeed a check after rolling the psionic die to try to pass it.

Okay: I can be happy with this.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

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.

That is all way blown out of proportion.
The bladesinger and maybe also the eldritch knight a little bit were hit by the sloppily designed bladesinger cantrips.
Both characters now had an ability that played poorly with GFB and BB as they were designed. Probably the best idea would have been completely redesign the cantrips and make them like at will variants of the smite spells. Cast on bonus action and unleash on next weapon attack. That would make them play well with both classes.
They now changed the extra attack from the bladesinger to be special, so that they can encorporate any cantrip. Probably they redesigned the eldritch knight feature to just upgrade extra attack to the bladesinger variant.
The game is actually hurt more by not updating sloppily designed spells and classes. Since the bladesinger is from a comparably unsuccessful supplement, updating the core seems a good idea.
The ranger didn't have the same luck.
Whirlwind attack and TWF don't work well together, actually Rangers have a lot of conflicts with their bonus action so better not use TWF in most cases.
Because for now the PHB is so holy to remain mainly untouched the Ranger gets a few alternate features as a patch.
Wait 3 years, and we will get the full upgrade to the PHB.

Your mentality to never ever upgrade can be compared to software developers refusing to update their system, because they fear to lose older uses, but they ignore that younger uses are used to much better developed systems and at some point have to notice that a newer contender has taken over the market.

 

[Bitbrain]

View attachment 127982

Gasp

Am I reading this correctly? Dream of the Blue-something lets you cross over into other D&D settings?

Awesome!

 

[Charlaquin]

Has anyone compiled what is known of what variant class features are in the book?

Barbarian: Instinctive Pounce is in, along with a feature called Primal Knowledge; no news on if or how that differs from Survival Instincts.

Bard: Magical Instincts and the expanded spell list is in

Cleric: Nothing confirmed.

Druid: Nothing confirmed.

Fighter: Blindfighting, throwing, and unarmed fighting styles are in. Unarmed fighting die now goes up to d8 if you just aren’t using a weapon or shield instead of if you “use two hands to make an unarmed strike.” Other fighting styles are unconfirmed

Monk: Nothing confirmed.

Paladin: Nothing confirmed.

Ranger: Primal Beast companions are in: beast of the air, beast of the earth, and beast of the sea. Deft Explorer is in, but the benefits come at specific levels now (Canny at 1st, Roving at 6th, tireless at 10th) instead of being able to choose which order you get them in. Favored Foe is in, but instead of letting you cast Hunter’s Mark without concentration it’s a bespoke damage buff that requires concentration and increases with level.

Rogue: Nothing confirmed.

Sorcerer: Spell Versatility is out. Two of the Metamagic options are in, one of which is Seeking Spell. We also know that there will be a section on personalizing spells, which might include changing small details like damage type, so I suspect that the other will be Unerring Spell, but that’s speculation on my part.

Warlock: New Eldritch Invocations are in, but no specific on which ones.

I heard that Spell Versatility is out, but that Cantrip Versatility is still in for Wizards, but I’m struggling to find a source so that may have been speculation. I also suspect that if the expanded spells are in for bards, they’re probably in for other casters as well.

 

[Dausuul]

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

Yeah, that is a notable change. It's basically +1d8 damage per round, and another 2d8 if the target moves. And it continues to improve at higher levels (+2d8/3d8 at level 11, +3d8/4d8 at level 17).

 

[Charlaquin]

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?

I see people complain that they can’t use BB or GFB with their extra attack all the time. If they could do that and cast it with their reaction using War Caster, their DPR would be too high.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, that is a notable change. It's basically +1d8 damage per round, and another 2d8 if the target moves. And it continues to improve at higher levels (+2d8/3d8 at level 11, +3d8/4d8 at level 17).

Could we make use of True Strike or Blade Ward?