Recent content by whearp

Wow, excellent workshopping there. That's a fantastic idea! I wasn't really sure what would go in that spot, but I think you nailed it. The idea being that the character is becoming increasingly more attuned with the beast world. Awesome stuff.

I think the Specialty/Feat system offers and excellent delivery method for the wild shape mechanic. Since Next is all about choice and scaling, that would allow druid players the option to skip Wildshape if they don't care for it as well as give other nature-y characters the opportunity to pick...

There is an artificial aspect to arcane magic. A wizard, sorcerer, or warlock impose their will over magic to create a desired effect. A practitioner of primal magic makes use of natural effects harmoniously. In this way, you can kind of think about magic as all being the same force, but the...

I'm probably going to be lynched for even suggesting this, but it seems to me that the prerequisite would be the ability to cast primal spells. I know plenty of folks don't like the power sources from 4e, but I just think that it's time to go on and codify primal magic in a more classic format...

For my tastes, I'd prefer for the whole wild shape thing to be an optional Druid/Primal thing if in the game at all.

From what I'm seeing in the playtest and 'community' responses, I'm not too terribly hopeful about D&D 5e/Next/2.75. So my plans are to continue to craft my houserule bible for 4e; it's a system I have find more reasons to love the longer I use it. I also intend to start an online 13th age...

So far, I'm all for the split attack/save system for magic. It just makes sense that some types of magical attacks require a specific effort on the part of the caster to aim it at a protected target while others must be avoided/withstood by the victim. Am I hurling softball-sized balls of...

I'm not sure I get what you're saying there. The essentials fighter typically only gets encounter powers. He can exhaust his full complement of abilities in one fight, but still have them again for the next fight. He doesn't set things on fight, or banish them to the nine hells, but he's...

I'm a big fan of Essentials for handling the issue of fighter perks. I don't see why the D&DN fighter doesn't have handy abilities that recharge after a short rest instead of a long rest. I think one of the key advantages of a martial character is their consistency over whiz-bang. The wizard and...

Kinda funny how I'm sorta opposite in my feelings. Not that your opinions are wrong, this is all highly subjective. If I were running a very combat heavy game, I think I might want a less tedious method than maps an minis... I can't really say for sure, though, because I prefer very story-heavy...

Now mind, I use a very minimalist approach to my visual aids. I have dungeon tiles, but I quickly grew sick of them for setup time and dealing players constantly focusing on the details on the art. I don't bother with them anymore. I don't use miniatures, actually, as they block vision and can...

I read that too... I'm just stressing out a little. It's what I do. You all have been a great help to me. I feel a lot better about the coming version. From what I'm reading, I already run a very old school game even from my mat and tokens. If Next turns out to be a further blending of...

This! :D

I can already feel this conversation is starting to rattle apart. I'm really sorry if I caused any conflict. I'm not very good a forums stuff, and I know my concerns are silly. Thank you all anyway.

You really hit it there, Balesir... I feel like it would have been really helpful for the playtest to have included a little more information on how to run a game within the style the test is in right now. Many DMs and players have come up in the last ten years or so, and we simply don't have...