D&D 5E D&D 5e Basic Set: Things that make you go "what?!"

[BryonD]

Lan-"the big test for me will be how much 5e can be houseruled without shattering"-efan

This is the bullseye right there.

The fundamentals are there. But it needs to be highly adaptable and be able to endure changes from a variety of angles. There seem to be a lot of people who love the game "as-is".
But there are also a lot of people who are pretty turned off. The third group might be the largest of them all: Enthused but need some changes. That third group is highly diverse and will make or break the viability of the system. (Keeping things feeling fresh and fun after two+ years of bounded and adv/disadv rolls will be another big test)

 

[Knightfall]

I grabbed the printer-friendly version within 24 hours of it coming out and it has the two Halfling sub-races in it.

Lightfoot and Stout are both in my within-30-seconds-of-availability copy.

Thaumaturge.

Okay then, i simply missed them in my first look at the document.

 

[Stalker0]

- poison only does 1d4 damage???

The way I read it...its 1d4 damage on every attack until its duration runs out (1 minute).

Not too shabby at that point I think.

 

[Gradine]

I haven't seen it mentioned but the power scaling of the cantrips seems a little out there to me. Even at level 1 they seem a bit too powerful for an at will spell. It strikes me as weird for a cantrip to outclass higher level spells that actually cost resources to cast.

 

[JC99]

I haven't seen it mentioned but the power scaling of the cantrips seems a little out there to me. Even at level 1 they seem a bit too powerful for an at will spell. It strikes me as weird for a cantrip to outclass higher level spells that actually cost resources to cast.

Consider that the cantrips actually deal less damage than a simple crossbow/longbow once you factor in dex mod. I for one, am happy to see 1d3 cantrips and 1d4 1st level spells dead and gone.

 

[Sadrik]

I haven't seen it mentioned but the power scaling of the cantrips seems a little out there to me. Even at level 1 they seem a bit too powerful for an at will spell. It strikes me as weird for a cantrip to outclass higher level spells that actually cost resources to cast.

I am in agreement. I think the simplest solution is to make the attack cantrips do 3dX and make them 1st level spells.

 

[Particle_Man]

Poison looks like a bit of a mash-up. The condition exists, but nothing in the current rule set invokes it. Poisons that are presented do straight hp damage. Readers are directed to Chapter 9, but the only reference that exists In that chapter is that poison is a damage type.

The downtime rules have a 3-day recuperating action that allows the character to get advantage of a save against a poison affecting him. So it looks like the poisoned condition is expected to last a while.

I guess the alternative (assuming that even the basic poison in the equipment list also gives the poisoned condition until the person can recuperate) would be too harsh.

 

[thalmin]

Poison looks like a bit of a mash-up. The condition exists, but nothing in the current rule set invokes it. Poisons that are presented do straight hp damage. Readers are directed to Chapter 9, but the only reference that exists In that chapter is that poison is a damage type.

The downtime rules have a 3-day recuperating action that allows the character to get advantage of a save against a poison affecting him. So it looks like the poisoned condition is expected to last a while.

I guess the alternative (assuming that even the basic poison in the equipment list also gives the poisoned condition until the person can recuperate) would be too harsh.

There is a spider in the adventure that has a poison bite, which does more than d6 poison damage. If a certain condition is met, the victim has the poisoned condition. The description states how long the ccondition lasts. From that, it seems that poison condition is not always present when hit by a poison attack, and duration varies from one poison to the next.

 

[ren1999]

Sleep is an automatic hit affecting 5d8 hit points of creatures. +2d8 for every spell slot above 1st. Can you see how this in a monster caster's hands might destroy a party without getting to make a saving throw?

 

[Nagol]

Sleep is an automatic hit affecting 5d8 hit points of creatures. +2d8 for every spell slot above 1st. Can you see how this in a monster caster's hands might destroy a party without getting to make a saving throw?

Only for a particularly small first-level party. PCs have maximum hp with an effective minimum of 6 for a Wizard with no Con bonus.

5d8's expected result is 22.5 with 90% of rolls being less than 29. Even if the party were composed entirely of Wizards without Con bonuses, it would have to be 4 or less members to succumb completely.

It is much more likely two low-hp members (Wizard or Rogue) fall asleep leaving the rest of the party alert for action.