D&D (2024) Developer Video on Druid/Paladin/Expert Feedback

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WotC has posted a video discussing initial feedback on the One D&D Druid/Paladin playtest, along with survey results from the Expert playtest. Some highlights for discussion:

Druid: The developers recognize that the template version of wild shape is contentious. If they retain this approach, they would plan to add flexibility to those templates. If they revert to monster stat blocks, they might allow Druids to choose a limited number of options, with a default selection provided.

Paladin: The new version of smite is still intended to work with critical hits. If ranged smite persists, its damage may be adjusted through the internal balance/playtesting process.

Ranger: The updated Ranger scored very well in the playtest. Some players did miss the choice of options in the Hunter subclass.

Bard: All of the Lore Bard's features scored welll, but the overall subclass rating was mediocre. They attribute this to the loss of Additional Magical Secrets, which many saw as the key attraction of this subclass.

Rogue: The change to limit sneak attack to the Rogue's own turn scored poorly. The developers generally like moving actions to a player's own turn to keep the game moving quickly, but in this case, the change doesn't seem to be worth the loss of tactical flexibility.

Feats: With the exception of epic boons, all the feats in the Expert packet scored well. The developers are still loking at written feedback for fine tuning.

Conspicuously not mentioned were the Arcane/Divine/Primal spell lists, which were the focus of a lot of discussion during the Bard playtest.

 

[Remathilis]

You have as far as I'm concerned. Ditto with any 5e-compatible product, like Level Up, or something like DCC.

And if I hand you a Pepsi when you ask for a Coke, I've given you a Coke?

 

[Emberashh]

And if I hand you a Pepsi when you ask for a Coke, I've given you a Coke?

In many parts of the South, yes, yes you have.

 

[Remathilis]

In many parts of the South, yes, yes you have.

And they're wrong. Everyone knows it's called a Pop.

 

[Emberashh]

And they're wrong. Everyone knows it's called a Pop.

Well thats just some Yankee blasphemy.

 

[Maxperson]

All of this, meanwhile, is explicitly designed this way to capture what Barbarians originally were in fiction prior to DNDs interpretation. They weren't Beserkers, and so that theme becomes a subclass, building on and integrating those core abilities to build up and support the sub-theme.

The anti-magic thing was a Gygaxian hang-up that didn't touch most barbarians in other fiction. It was not only silly, but only served to make barbarians nearly unplayable. Nobody wanted to adventure with someone who wanted to break all the magic items that they found.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I've blown my nose on kleexex and put a band-aid on my cuts, but I don't know if I've used the brand-named versions of those two things since I was a child.

Now, as fun as this digression has been...

 

[Emberashh]

The anti-magic thing was a Gygaxian hang-up that didn't touch most barbarians in other fiction. It was not only silly, but only served to make barbarians nearly unplayable. Nobody wanted to adventure with someone who wanted to break all the magic items that they found.

Well the way I see thats just a dumb way to do it.

But the anti-magic idea does come from fiction.

 

[Remathilis]

The anti-magic thing was a Gygaxian hang-up that didn't touch most barbarians in other fiction. It was not only silly, but only served to make barbarians nearly unplayable. Nobody wanted to adventure with someone who wanted to break all the magic items that they found.

I often wondered which was more annoying to travel with: a Kender handler or a 1e barbarian.

Say what you will about modern game design, but it doesn't actively encourage PvP...

 

[Maxperson]

Well the way I see thats just a dumb way to do it.

But the anti-magic idea does come from fiction.

That's why I said "most" did not do the anti-magic thing. Conan wasn't like that.

 

[Gorck]

I often wondered which was more annoying to travel with: a Kender handler or a 1e barbarian.

Say what you will about modern game design, but it doesn't actively encourage PvP...

Yeah, those kinds of quirks and hang-ups should really be character-based, not class-based or race(species)-based. After all, that's what the BIFTs section of the character sheet is for.