D&D (2024) First playtest thread! One D&D Character Origins.

[GMforPowergamers]

Crawford explicitly said thst they are fine with people using theb2014 core rulebooksnto run the tests, because they are mostly not changing. He also said that future UA would be more focused than this one was, dialing in on very specific elements (Classes, probably).

and they said that about 3.5... and they said when 4e came out "The game will remain the same" but love or hate it we know WotC has a habit of reinventing the wheel

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I suspect by “doing new things with HD” they mean more things like how the healer feat works in the packet, not like changing how they function or how many you get.

I am going to tell them I want all/most healing to function as spend a hd or as if you spend a hd

cure wounds heal as if you spent 1hd per level cast and add 1x the caster mod
healing word spend 1hd per level cast and add 1x the caster mod

then you can have cool midpoint heals... like a 3rd level spell that lets you spend 1hd to heal as if you spent 4 (so 3 shadow HD) that is better then cure wounds would be at 3rd level slot but still cost 1 hd...

 

[GMforPowergamers]

You only roll when the result is in doubt.

correct, but this also requires extra work on the DM side...

I said it on Tic Tok, but if you know 3 players have training in an 'open locks tool' (theives tools, locksmith tools or tinker tools) and 1 has +3 1 has +5 and 1 has +9... if they come across a lock do you remember 1 can't make the roll? do you ask "what is your mod?" before rolling?

now opening locks the DM may (if it comes up often) have a pretty good idea, but without looking how many people can remember what players have what mods?

 

[Cadence]

if we take it to be 100% honest the intent and belief of the dev and management team is this is it... the one and only edition going forward never to change again (and I don't buy that entirely) there is still the fact that someday the sales will drop and someone (maybe even someone new not in magement/dev team today) will say "I bet if we modernize this with a new edition we can up sales for a bit"

It feels kind of like even if sales don't drop, eventually the accumulated changes will make the string of editions like a ring species, where close ones work together but the extremes don't.

And I have to believe the commonly used name will come down to which way most of the public eventually goes (5.5 or 6 or whatever) if WotC doesn't pick one themselves.

 

[Charlaquin]

I am going to tell them I want all/most healing to function as spend a hd or as if you spend a hd

cure wounds heal as if you spent 1hd per level cast and add 1x the caster mod
healing word spend 1hd per level cast and add 1x the caster mod

then you can have cool midpoint heals... like a 3rd level spell that lets you spend 1hd to heal as if you spent 4 (so 3 shadow HD) that is better then cure wounds would be at 3rd level slot but still cost 1 hd...

That would bring back some of the old functionality of healing surges, which I would br in favor of. But also if they did this I would want all HD to be restored on a long rest instead of half; otherwise you wouldn’t have many to work with throughout the adventuring day.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

So the ASI issue is being rehashed again.

I'm on the record wanting the fantasy species splats to define the species, PCs included, and I want the species to actually have different ranges of abilities just like they have different traits. And no, this is not any more problematic than the wood elves being faster runners than the dragonborn. I also want the ability scores to actually mean something in the fiction.

But I also understand why floating is favoured. The game is built so that the classes very strongly encourage you to max your main score, so playing a species that can't do that might feel bad. The ideal solution would be to lessen this pressure, but I doubt they're going to do that. I feel the current situation is unsatisfactory even besides the species issue. The class dictates your ability scores. Every wizard of given level will have same int, every rogue the same dex etc. At least some martial classes have reasonable way to spec into dex or strength, there should be more stuff like that.

Overall, I am a bit meh about the changes. They seem rather insignificant. I don't see them fixing any major issues and feat balancing remains wonky. So it's just a bit... I don't know, I'm not hating it, but I'm not really needing any of this either.

I guess the classes are the real test, as those are the main crunch component. If they can make significant improvements there this might be a worthwhile update.

Also, I'm somewhat worried about the apparent move of most things to the long rest, that's the wrong direction. I also don't like the autofail on one and autosuccess on 20. A skilled master shouldn't fail simple tasks 5% of time nor a bumbling buffoon succeed at highly specialised and difficult tasks 5% of the time.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Your opinion is your opinion, and I’m not here to tell you you’re wrong, but…

I recently started playing a Firbolg Artificer with Powerful Build, and I’m absolutely loving it.

I envisioned the character as an inveterate tinkerer/packrat, and after every session I stock up on more mundane adventuring gear—the stuff you usually put down on your sheet at chargen and never look at again.

Pretty much every session, I manage to pull out something that makes the task at hand easier: Steel mirror? Got one. Crowbar? Grappling hook? Check and check. Portable ram? You bet your sweet bippie.

… plus the seven sets of tools I’m proficient with. All because Powerful Build gives me a carrying capacity of 450 pounds. It’s ridiculous and silly, and I kind of love it.

I'm very glad you made a cool character that used the ability, but that doesn't make the ability itself colorful and interesting. It just means that you're clever and creative. Sounds great.

 

[MarkB]

correct, but this also requires extra work on the DM side...

I said it on Tic Tok, but if you know 3 players have training in an 'open locks tool' (theives tools, locksmith tools or tinker tools) and 1 has +3 1 has +5 and 1 has +9... if they come across a lock do you remember 1 can't make the roll? do you ask "what is your mod?" before rolling?

now opening locks the DM may (if it comes up often) have a pretty good idea, but without looking how many people can remember what players have what mods?

If they're all trained, why aren't you letting them all make the roll?

The whole point of adding auto-success on a natural 20 is that it allows you to succeed even if you don't make the DC. Otherwise it isn't auto-success, it's just success.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

If they're all trained, why aren't you letting them all make the roll?

right now I WOULD just say "yeah you can all try" but I will if Play test becomes rules have to decide every time "Do I want to give this person a 5% chance even if they can't make it"

The whole point of adding auto-success on a natural 20 is that it allows you to succeed even if you don't make the DC. Otherwise it isn't auto-success, it's just success.

 

[Cadence]

right now I WOULD just say "yeah you can all try" but I will if Play test becomes rules have to decide every time "Do I want to give this person a 5% chance even if they can't make it"

For my may-likely-never-get-made home ruleset, I've wondered about just having the 20 allow an exploding die roll (get a 20 and will another die to add to it to try to get to the DC if 20 isn't good enough).Could do similar on a 1 to get something lower.