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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Falling Icicle" data-source="post: 6277133" data-attributes="member: 17077">This is what I posted on rpg.net in a thread asking about what people like about the new edition.Here are the biggest things that I like about the new edition.* Advantage/Disadvantage: as others have mentioned, this is a much simplified way of getting rid of all the fiddly little modifiers on die rolls and keeping bonuses from stacking out of control. I also think it's a lot of fun. When the DM says you have advantage and you get to roll twice, it just feels more like a cool benefit than some +number does. I also like it because it's easy to apply after the fact. Say I already rolled and failed, but then the DM remembers I have advantage. Cool! I get to roll again!* The Spellcasting System: I really love the way they're doing spellcasting this time. It's still got spells from 1st-9th level and spells per day (this is DnD, after all), but it also addresses the biggest complaints I always had about vancian casting in older editions. Casters still prepare spells, but they can "spontaneously" cast any spell they have prepared. For example, if I have magic missile and feather fall prepared, and three 1st level spells per day, I can cast three magic missiles, three feather falls, or some combination of both. Also, casters get at-will cantrips, which means casters will always have something magical to do even when they're out of their daily spells. Some spells can also be cast as rituals, which means they can be cast without consuming a spell slot by adding 10 minutes to the casting time. Wizards in particular can cast any ritual spell they have in their spellbook this way, even if it's not prepared. I like that because it actually makes a wizard's spellbook an advantage instead of a pure drawback, plus, it also means wizards get to use a lot of those spells that are just too situational to be worth preparing most of the time.* Bounded Accuracy: This isn't a mechanic per se, but a design philosophy. Basically, they're trying to keep the number inflation in this edition to a minimum. This allows monsters to be valid threats for a much wider range of levels, as opposed to "oh you're level 8 now, well I can't throw goblins at the party, since they're too weak to matter." This article does a good job of explaining BA and its benefits: <a href="http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.a...d/4ll/20120604" target="_blank">http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.a...d/4ll/20120604</a>* Backgrounds: Characters have backgrounds in addition to their race and class. Backgrounds are basically things like your social status or occupation in the game world. Your wizard might be an apothecary, while a warrior is a soldier. The cool thing is, backgrounds aren't tied to class. You can be a wizard spy, a fighter sage, a barbarian pirate, etc. Instead of getting most of your skills from your class, as in older editions, characters get most of their skills from their background now. This opens up a ton of character options and it's also an aid to roleplaying, as each background gives you traits that provide story hooks that players and DMs can use.* The Overall Simplicity of the Rules: The rules in 5e are a lot simpler and more straight-forward than those in any edition I've played. Things just seem to run a lot more smoothly, there's a lot less looking up rules, and combat seems to go really fast. * Magic Items: 5e is treating magic items as purely optional things. Gone are the days of the "Christmas tree" where you needed to have +x armor, +x ring of protection, +x amulet of natural armor, +x cloak of resistance, etc. etc. etc. just to keep up with the game's math. The magic items focus instead on being fun, interesting, and cool, rather than providing "mandatory" and boring +x bonuses. This is the first edition of DnD I've played where characters can do well even without any magic items at all, at any level. There are still +x swords and whatever, but the bonus caps at +3 now, and the higher bonus items also have other special powers. The playtest packets didn't have any plain +3 weapons or armor that I saw. Instead, they were things like flametongue and efreeti chain. There is also attunement, which is required by some items. Attunement puts a limit on how many really powerful magic items you can use at the same time. It's also used to unlock higher potential in certain items. Like there was a hammer that if attuned by a dwarf and you met certain criteria, it turned it into a really powerful weapon. I also like how wands and staffs recharge, and only risk being destroyed if you use them when they're down to their last charge. I was never really a fan of the wands and staffs of older editions that were merely spell batteries or "50 scrolls rolled up into a stick," as I jokingly called them.* Monster Design: 5e's monsters take a lot of lessons from 4e's monster design, which I think is a good thing. The monster stat blocks are easy to read and use, so they're really easy for the DM to run. Even the higher level monsters are much more manageable. Instead of things like pit fiends having paragraph-long spell lists, they're a lot simpler now, though still complex enough to be interesting. Monsters also use things like resistances and immunities much more sparingly now. While there are some monsters that are resistant or even immune to non-magical weapons, they almost always have some mundane equivalent that can harm them instead, like cold iron. And such immunities are much more rare now, saved for monsters for which they are really appropriate, rather than the DR and immunities of older editions, that were handed out to monsters like candy. They also got rid of the really annoying monster mechanics from older editions, like level drain. But don't worry, undead can still be very scary. Instead of sapping levels they can reduce your maximum hit points until you rest.* Subclasses: Instead of prestige classes or paragon paths, there are subclasses. Subclasses remind me a lot of the Kits in 2e, which is great, because I loved kits. You pick a subclass by level 3, I believe. If you're wondering why you pick the subclass at level 3 instead of 1, it's because levels 1 and 2 are considered to be "apprentice" or introductory levels, so they keep the number of choices you make at those levels to a minimum. You're supposed to graduate from those levels pretty quickly. I believe they said you gain a level every session or so, until you reach level 3, where it slows down to the normal pace. So level 3 is kind of like where the game really begins, with 1st and 2nd levels being like the prequel or background levels for your character.</blockquote>

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