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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pobman" data-source="post: 6779921" data-attributes="member: 76152">2 out of 5 rating for D&D 5th Edition Player's HandbookPositives<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The artwork is pretty cool – I’ve even come to like the Halfling depiction. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat is fast (which everyone else seems to like). </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The book oozes flavour </li> </ul>Negatives: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I am visually impaired and even though every other RPG book I've read has been ok if I use a magnifying glass, this book is a massive challenge for me - I find the page numbers impossible to see, the use of a non-white background makes the text of the book difficult to read even with my magnifying glass. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I dislike the spell casting system<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Attack spells using saves rather than defences mean I feel like I’m not actually doing anything - I like rolling dice! </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Being a different level to the highest level of spell you can cast (e.g. being level 7 and only being able cast level 4 spells) makes no sense. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I find that I have way too many options - each turn in combat, my level 7 Cleric can cast one of 10 spells (not including Cantrips). Each of these can be cast using any of the slots I have meaning that I suffer from analysis paralysis. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Having to look up the spells constantly is a real pain in the arse. I find it odd that they don't put the page number of spells in the spell list (not that that would do me any good) and they don't put which classes can use which spells in the spell description (the 2E PHB did this). Could I use spell cards instead? Of course, but this is a review of the PHB and the fact that I would have to buy another product to get the best out of this book should count against it. </li> </ul>  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PCs are way too fragile at low levels. – our Rogue got one shotted in the first session for looking in a chimney. If I started a 5E campaign again from level 1, I wouldn’t even bother creating a backstory for my character as I’d be too worried that I’d be wasting my time putting the effort in only to see it get killed so soon. Having to constantly worry that doing the slightest wrong thing will kill your character will appeal to a lot of people, but unfortunately not to me. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The focus on DMs making rulings rather than having codified rules makes it harder for someone like me to DM. I have an excellent memory but I am not a quick thinker. Therefore I prefer a system where I can memorise rules and only have to come up with rulings on the spur of the moment in exceptional cases. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No Warlord. This was my favourite non-spellcasting class in 4E. I know that it would be hard to make it work given 5E combat, but it is annoying that they didn’t manage to pull it off. </li> </ul>Conclusion It’s still D&D. You can still use this to have fun with your friends just like with any other edition of D&D. My low score is a reflection of the fact that the entire reason I got into D&D was to play a Wizard (or other spell caster). The fact that I dislike the spell system so much that I wouldn’t play a spell caster in 5E again means that a lot of the book is useless to me. This combined with the feeling that my character could die at any time during low levels makes me wish that the system is fundamentally different to what has been released. The icing on the cake is the fact the book is horrible for my visual impairment. Therefore my rating for this book has to be low.</blockquote>

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