D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Travelers of the Multiverse

New free content from WotC - the latest 4-page Unearthed Arcana introduces six new races: astral elf, autognome, giff, hadozee, plasmoid, and thri-kreen.

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Looks like Spelljammer and/or Planescape is back on the menu!

 

[Maxperson]

I mean, Paladins don't sleep in their armor with their weapons in hand. Monks do. And I have seen this make a difference in real play. Simple as that.

A 4E Monk does not have to ignore half of their features, they get more options for their Ki that give them Spells, a lot of them in fact if the party manages rests well. The true core features of the Monk are hitting good, and not getting hit, which the 4E Monk still excels at.

You're talking to someone who in other discussions with me has argued that you need to start the game with a 16+ in your primary stat just to get by, and saw no use at all for the Ranger ability Primeval Awareness. For those of us who get that 5e is very forgiving, also understand that there really are no bad classes. The Four Elements Monks and Rangers may not have done the DPR of some other classes, but they were plenty good and fun. For those who are all focused on DPR and other things like that, the classes not at the top are going to seem bad to them.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I do not know either, my friend.

It's entirely possible that they don't know. If someone comes up with a good idea, it could wind up back on the table (assuming that it is off the table ATM).

 

[Parmandur]

To be fair, the Psi Warrior and Soulknife don't really count as they were seperate classes in previous edition (where they existed), and wouldn't fit a psion/mystic base class. The Awakened Mind could maybe be a supposed replacement of the psion, but it doesn't obviate a psion base class.

I remember when they were playing around with the idea of a Psion that uses Concentration manipulation as the core mechanic. It was a rad concept, too bad it seems to not have been taken anywhere...

 

[Parmandur]

It's entirely possible that they don't know. If someone comes up with a good idea, it could wind up back on the table (assuming that it is off the table ATM).

I think that's about where the Psion lies. I think they can go ahead with a Dark Sun book with what they have, honestly, with Will Talents and the Tasha's material.

 

[Parmandur]

You're talking to someone who in other discussions with me has argued that you need to start the game with a 16+ in your primary stat just to get by, and saw no use at all for the Ranger ability Primeval Awareness. For those of us who get that 5e is very forgiving, also understand that there really are no bad classes. The Four Elements Monks and Rangers may not have done the DPR of some other classes, but they were plenty good and fun. For those who are all focused on DPR and other things like that, the classes not at the top are going to seem bad to them.

Thanks for the context, wow.

Agreed that there are no truly "bad" options in the game, as there were in prior Editions.

 

[Hatmatter]

It's entirely possible that they don't know. If someone comes up with a good idea, it could wind up back on the table (assuming that it is off the table ATM).

Well said!

 

[Argyle King]

Sure I can. If something is silly, I can easily say it's silly and I don't like it on that front, without knowing what the justification for the silliness is. I'm not big into silliness in my D&D, so to me it really doesn't matter what the justification is.

I think it's somewhat reasonable that different races interact with classes differently.

You're talking to someone who in other discussions with me has argued that you need to start the game with a 16+ in your primary stat just to get by, and saw no use at all for the Ranger ability Primeval Awareness. For those of us who get that 5e is very forgiving, also understand that there really are no bad classes. The Four Elements Monks and Rangers may not have done the DPR of some other classes, but they were plenty good and fun. For those who are all focused on DPR and other things like that, the classes not at the top are going to seem bad to them.

I suppose I might somewhat agree that no class is "bad," as might have also been the case in 4E. However, there certainly are classes which enhance the capabilities of a party in ways that are noticeably missed when they're absent.

I don't believe that "bounded accuracy" was very well achieved. (Honestly, I'm not even sure what exactly that phrase is meant to mean in regards to 5E at this point.)

I strongly agree with your assessment that classes are more than DPR. To me, some of the mechanically best characters I've seen or played haven't been focused on direct damage.

 

[Maxperson]

I think it's somewhat reasonable that different races interact with classes differently.

To me wild shape is similar to polymorph. You're becoming something else. If you're a hummingbird, you aren't a dragonborn. I get that RAW allows it, but it's silly to me. I wouldn't take it away from the PC, but it's not my favorite rule.

I suppose I might somewhat agree that no class is "bad," as might have also been the case in 4E. However, there certainly are classes which enhance the capabilities of a party in ways that are noticeably missed when they're absent.

I personally don't mind such absence. It's more fun for me to try and figure out ways around party weaknesses than not to have any at all. So if a party is low on healing or arcane magic or stealth, etc., that's just part of the challenge and enjoyment.

I don't believe that "bounded accuracy" was very well achieved. (Honestly, I'm not even sure what exactly that phrase is meant to mean in regards to 5E at this point.)

It's just a fancy way of saying that the bonuses don't go as high as they used to. Personally I think they bounded things too much. Rather than limit classes to +6 over 20 levels, I'd have gone with +10. Bonuses are fun for players.

I strongly agree with your assessment that classes are more than DPR. To me, some of the mechanically best characters I've seen or played haven't been focused on direct damage.

Yeah. For me it's more fun to use something like Primeval Awareness for the benefit of the party than to do a bit more damage in combat. Combat is fun, but what happens out of combat is more fun for me.

 

[Parmandur]

It's just a fancy way of saying that the bonuses don't go as high as they used to. Personally I think they bounded things too much. Rather than limit classes to +6 over 20 levels, I'd have gone with +10. Bonuses are fun for players

The beauty of the system in 5E us thst it matches the curve from pre-3E perfectly: 0 to 30 instead of 20 to -10, but the math works the same.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I (and my group) somehow never noticed the "you can use abilities that make sense in your new form" rules and we have always just played the beast's stat block whenever we polymorph or wild shape. Like swapping your PC out for a monster until the monster dies, then you get your PC back.

I don't think we've ever really even thought about how you keep the mental stats, other than that you still RP your character in control.

It's been quite fun that way.