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Handouts are always enjoyable - I made a newspaper for out Dragon Heist game with clues, side quests, and showing the consequences of their past misadventures. I’m prepping Curse of Strahd as well so I also bought a Tarokka deck but I wish you used it more than once in the campaign. I saw an ad...

They sure seem to be leaning farther in to “more art/less content” for sure I’d guess that they’re not going to revisit MTG settings they’ve already done because there are so many more they could do.

While this is true, this could also be achieved with a DC 30 History or Arcana check instead of having a completely separate characteristic called “languages.”

Just adding that as a sentence under rolling your stats feels way clearer than the current model of “here are seventeen different examples but really, just do whatever you want. “ Same with languages: “you get a bonus language, pick one or roll on this table.”

Strongly agree. It feels like a shift away from the (tentative) steps toward a more narrativist style of play they had been making in 5e back toward a purely mechanical one and makes me wonder about the future of BIFTs. I am hoping this isn’t going to be the start of a trend of throwing out the...

It reminds me of when Windows 10 came out and the marketing was all about how this is the definitive version and future updates were just going to be service packs and there would be no new versions of Windows. I told our Microsoft rep that wasn’t going to last and he guaranteed me that no...

That’s some clear wording there, they should have put that in the play test document.

I’m sure you’re being sarcastic but that feels more intellectually honest than the current “these example backgrounds are very carefully thought out, as shown by the flavor text but feel free to change literally anything you want because we know you’re just picking stuff off a menu” we currently...

…and yet, this new rule doesn’t really clear it up at all. Yes, a Nat 20 always succeeds on a skill check, unless there isn’t a skill check. Why isn’t there a skill check? Because I said so. But if there was a skill check, it would succeed. Yes. Can I do one in case I get a 20? No, you can’t...

I guess I’m curious to see what they bring out in monster construction as an alternative but I won’t be getting rid of my decks of critical hit cards any time soon.

Honestly, I’d be fine with abstracting language away for the most part. The few times knowledge of a different language is required could be abstracted to a skill check based depending on your background and lineage: “Can I read the ancient Draconic runes?” “Well, you’re proficient in Arcana...

If the entire concept of dark vision disappeared except for underground dwelling monsters I would be fine with it

It just seems clunky, presenting the formula in an easy to miss prelude then tossing out a bunch of “examples” that 90% of readers are going to see at the only choices available. I’d rather streamline it by making all these decision points steps on the chargen process and the have them pick a...

On the other hand, I think the old background is way more interesting in a role playing way than the new one. The new background feels like too much of a slide backwards to a purely mechanical 4e mindset.

It’s a setting guide, an adventure, and a book on urban campaigns but doesn’t do any of those terribly well. I really wish they had just made a book that was a Waterdeep gazetteer and a resource about how to do urban adventures with a few pages of plot hooks.

Not only do I not have a connection to Dragonlance not having read the books, I’ve kind of given up on the idea that Wizards can do a setting guide without it being woefully inadequate.

I think it trivializes the idea of backgrounds and just makes it a bundle of characteristics with a collective label on it. If every background comes with a bonus language but they’re going to say “well of course you can swap out anything you like in your background if you decide your Guard...

My first impression is that they did a really bad job of wording the rule in the playtest document. On one hand, if rolling a 20 isn’t going to count as a success I’d say there’s no point in calling for a skill check in the first place. But that isn’t how it’s worded. It says a 20...

I love the thought behind inspiration, stealing from Fate or Savage Worlds the idea that you can gain a future mechanical advantage by role playing to your weaknesses but in practice it’s just another thing I have to keep track of (assuming the players bothered to make up interesting bonds or...

Yeah, Inspiration was always a great concept poorly executed. I got that they cribbed it from Savage Worlds and other games to give a mechanical advantage for role playing your character suboptimally but in practice DMs forget to give it out and players forget to use it. I’d love to see it...