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The alignment sidebar definitely needs to be more precise in detailing what 5e alignments mean. "Following one's conscience" is obviously intended to imply "doing what is right in one's own eyes even when it doesn't correspond to societal norms," but this needs to be explicitly stated so people...

Your question presupposes that sacrifices are needed, and I'm not actually convinced that they are. If you visit sites like rpgnet, for example, what you see is a strongly held view that 3e/Pathfinder fans want a highly complex and unbalanced system that discourages teamwork. To them...

I hear this all the time in my 4e group -- sales were going strong until WotC inexplicably decided to pull the plug on 4e, at which time sales predictably fell, and besides, natural product cycles would imply low sales for 4e in any event, so really, there's nothing to see here. And I just...

I agree with much of what you've said but don't think this fully captures the situation. The gaming community was badly splintered before 3e came along, as well -- probably at least as splintered as it is today because there was no single Pathfinder-like alternative behind which disaffected...

Well said. Framing the issue in such a way that 4e fans are the only ones who value balance, as rpgnet has been doing, isn't productive because 3e fans value it too. Honestly outlining how and where fanbase notions of balance differ does potentially offer hope, on the other hand, as the Next...

You say that 4e fans are unique in valuing balance, clear design and purpose, clarity and cohesion, opportunities for teamwork, options and varieties in play, ease of play, and monster factics. Which got me to thinking, who wouldn't agree with them? Could it really be true that 3e fans see...

I agree with all of the design goals cited by the OP. 5e needs to include balanced classes, a clear and coherent design and purpose, have teamwork baked into the system, provide variety in play, offer ease of play, and feature distinctive and interesting monsters. It also needs to offer...

This is only a "problem" for people who don't want to deal with MAD. My view is that every character should have an incentive to put points in every stat -- if you want to ignore WIS on your rogue, feel free, but know that there are consequences to this choice.

Wizard: Prepared Vancian. It feels right. Cleric: Prepared Vancian. It feels right. Sorcerer: Prepared Vancian. It feels right. Warlock: Prepared Vancian. It feels right. Druid: Prepared Vancian. It feels right.

What has most surprised me about 5e to date is the seriousness with which they're taking the all-editions mantra. I went into this expecting a thinly disguised revamp of 3rd edition but was surprised to see a great deal of 1e/2e flavor coupled with 4e mechanical advances like at-wills and...

I couldn't disagree more with this sentiment. WotC's great insight with 3e was that their revenue is driven primarily by sales of the core books, not penny-ante stuff like modules, and that a vibrant and vigorous third-party marketplace would bring people into the game and thereby drive up core...

The paragraph you quote is wrong on so many levels that I'm not sure where to begin. First, it seems clear WotC is petrified that they'll produce an unpopular edition and will do almost anything to avoid that. The real worry shouldn't be a lack of responsiveness, but rather that the 5e team...

Please don't feel bad about your question. People just have different ways of learning, visualizing, etc, and what makes perfect sense to one person in a gaming context may be very counterintuitive to another. Hopefully you've gotten some sense over the course of this thread of why a fair...

The cleric of Moradin was well-done but heightened many of the concerns I have about whether the 5e team's vision for clerics is too similar to the paladin (or perhaps a 3e fighter/cleric). The cleric of Pelor wasn't quite as flavorful in my opinion but does appear to at least have a niche to...

Depends on what you mean by "running a game." There are certainly lots of Diablo-type campaigns that focus primarily on tactical combat and can't readily function without a battle mat. But there are also a lot of campaigns that focus primarily on role-playing and are happy to resolve combat at...

I think the most important function alignment by far is to provide a common shorthand through which basic character motivations can be communicated, independent of the gaming table at which you may happen to be sitting. Telling somebody at a convention that you have allegiances to the Dancing...

I definitely agree that 5e should strive to avoid "dump stats." But I'm not sure why "professorial" INT rather than "practical" WIS should govern Perception. As I see it at least, the high-INT rogue would know to look for small scratches on the inside of a jewelry box but wouldn't be able to...

The 5e team members don't seem to care for mechanics like AoOs that give people additional actions beyond what they'd normally receive during their turn. I seem to recall one of them saying that if AoOs do make their way back into the game, you'd probably have to sacrifice part of your next...

If you count the number of at-wills available to the wizard, then yes, he looks very strong. However, the right way to look at class balance is not "how many" options a character has but how much any particular option changes his DPS per round. If you were given a ray at-will for every...

Well said. If people want a class that favors social order over individual freedom, lacks creativity and judges those who fall short in their duties, respects rulers and follows traditions, more power to them -- but I just don't see how such a motley collection of personality quirks and...