D&D (2024) Pulse check on 1D&D excitement level

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Honestly? Seems awful. WOTC D&D peaked with 3.5e. 4e was a disaster. 5e is simplistic and boring. A derivative of 5e is not what I'm interested in, at all.

I have almost the complete opposite opinion, I place 3.5 below both 4e and 5e. With 4e, from a design standpoint, being the high water mark.

That is why D&D design is so difficult, everyone likes different things

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Well B/X still had a complex wizard class.

The core issue with the lack of excitement is due to the designers creating the bounds for 5e with the preferences of grognards in mind and enforcing the same bounds for OneD&D despite the majority of 5e players not being grognards.

They are still trying to make 2.75e or 3.95e for sale to 5e players and not 5.5e.

Perhaps I’m a grognard and don’t know it, but how is 5e catering to grognards? I see a lot of 3e and 4e and some 1e in there. Not seeing how it specifically caters to one of those.

 

[Minigiant]

Perhaps I’m a grognard and don’t know it, but how is 5e catering to grognards? I see a lot of 3e and 4e and some 1e in there. Not seeing how it specifically caters to one of those.

When 5e was in playtest, DNDNext used a high threshold to stay in. Since tis was before 5e even came out, this made anything the fans of older editions didn't like not reach the threshold to remain in the game skeleton. Some of the newer ideas and concepts where dropped completely, patch on later, or explored in later books to be patched on then. An if you look at most of the new ideas that made into 5e, most are wonkily unbalanced.

5e was never designed for new players. It was designed to pull in old players. That's why there was no stress for DM support. It was designed for people who already knew how to DM or would just run printed adventures straight up.

OneD&D is keeping that skeleton designed around grognards. It's why the Wildshape debate is happening (Copying 3e's bad wildshape and made it the core of the druid). It's why Aardlings aren't making it in (never explored other types of cosmology). It's why there will be very likely be chaos when the Warrior packet releases.

The circles aren't fitting into the squares. So the circle fans are not excited about what they see. And the square and rectangle fans already have their games.

 

[Azzy]

I'm at the meh phase. I think there are some good changes (like the feats and a few of the back-end mechanics), but there's also some bad changes (like druids, sneak attack, the execution of the species) and a plethora of really unnecessary changes (like the spell lists, grapple, etc.).

We'll see what happens with fighters and monks, though.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

At this point... very low.

I played 5E off an on for a few years. Found it fun to GM, but a little simple to play - I like more choices for character. I absoluty love Level Up / A5E - and after getting those book, moved to that as my core "D&D alike*" game (from Pathfinder 1st ed). So really I'll be looking at OneD&D the same way I look at 5E now a sourcebook I can steal stuff from for my A5E game. (I'm also looking at Black Flag and any other D&D5E OGL clones that seem to be on their way the exact same way.

I won't be playing it as it's own game.

* These are games from the D&D family somewhere. The wife and I (pretty much no group right now) tend to have 2 systems we play - Our primary game, which is usually a Universal/Generic RPG (was HERO for 25 years, now Cypher System) and one D&D family game (we both started there and there is nostalgia there... and usually very mechanically different than our primary game.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

I voted high. I liked the way some of the playtest is going.

But I'm still not going to purchase it.

 

[Fallen star]

What an odd dichotomy.

Older D&D was about the challenge, and you as a player experiencing the story. The character was just a conduit between player and adventure.

New D&D (3rd ed forward) is about expressing your self though your character, hence tons of options that have to be equal in power. The character is the toy.

By making characters. bland and standardized, WotC is appeasing neither group.

Yeah your race and subclass are different coats of paint, different ornaments, but under the hood the game feels the same no matter what character you play.

This is the biggest problem in 5e, and the playtest shows they are leaning into it.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

When 5e was in playtest, DNDNext used a high threshold to stay in. Since tis was before 5e even came out, this made anything the fans of older editions didn't like not reach the threshold to remain in the game skeleton. Some of the newer ideas and concepts where dropped completely, patch on later, or explored in later books to be patched on then. An if you look at most of the new ideas that made into 5e, most are wonkily unbalanced.

5e was never designed for new players. It was designed to pull in old players. That's why there was no stress for DM support. It was designed for people who already knew how to DM or would just run printed adventures straight up.

OneD&D is keeping that skeleton designed around grognards. It's why the Wildshape debate is happening (Copying 3e's bad wildshape and made it the core of the druid). It's why Aardlings aren't making it in (never explored other types of cosmology). It's why there will be very likely be chaos when the Warrior packet releases.

The circles aren't fitting into the squares. So the circle fans are not excited about what they see. And the square and rectangle fans already have their games.

Ok, thank you for explaining. I understand what you are saying and can now confidently say I disagree with you!

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

I'm at the meh phase. I think there are some good changes (like the feats and a few of the back-end mechanics), but there's also some bad changes (like druids, sneak attack, the execution of the species) and a plethora of really unnecessary changes (like the spell lists, grapple, etc.).

We'll see what happens with fighters and monks, though.

Just an FYI, the latest packet has returned grapple back to the 2014 rules IIRC.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Just an FYI, the latest packet has returned grapple back to the 2014 rules IIRC.

No, it has not.
It is the perfect hybrid.

Still a variation of unarmed attack, so it can be used on an opportunity attack.
Buz instead of targetting AC it forces a save vs a fixed DC, not against a skill check that can be taken out of sensible bounds...

I also disagree that grapple was an unneeded change. I always thought being able to grab as an opportunjty attack and using saving throws instead of skills made much more sense (and monster grabs already worked that way).