WotC’s Ray Winninger has hinted on Twitter that we may be seeing something of the 2024 next edition of D&D soon — “you’ll get a first look at some of the new design work soon.”.
I know quoting yourself is a faux pas, but I this is feeling really relevant about now.The thing I am most excited about regarding the 2024 edition is how bad the fight is going to be over "how much of a change" it is going to be among fans. I mean, everyone could just wait and see. But they won't. They will argue endlessly in the lead up and ALL end up being wrong.
I think 3E held together fairly well until somewhere around 15th level and honestly we never played higher than that. For 4E it was probably more like 10th; at 20+ it was painful.Simple solution was to not play 3E at high levels. The similar solution for 4E was, alas, ro not play 4E at low levels.
again... since you can be a mountain dwarf ____ in armor, or a warlock (2nd level to get it) with mage armor at will, or dragon sorcerer... I will again say why is mage armor a spells slot resource?As written, there are a number of ways of getting an OK AC as an arcane caster. You can give up a daily spell slot and cast mage armor. You can be a dragonborn (or draconic sorcerer) and enjoy your protective scales. You can be a mountain dwarf and wear armor. You can be a warlock and wear armor. I figure they're all roughly balanced considering opportunity costs. But in the larger scheme of things, AC 13+Dex isn't that special. At first level, giving up one of your three spell slots per day is definitely a cost you need to consider, but once you're up to level 5 or so, who cares, so it might as well be at will?
and again this shows how 1st level spells are not equal... and if they didn't all draw on slots would make more sense.But shield adds on top of your regular AC, and can push it pretty high. In addition, you can cast it retroactively, so it's never wasted: if your AC is 14 and someone rolled a 22, you don't need to waste the resource. So shield is a strong spell, but it makes up for it by only lasting a short while.
again... if mage armor at will is close to mage armor 1/day why does it need the same slot that shield does?The main difference is that mage armor at will is extremely close to mage armor 1/day in practical effect, while shield at will is essentially a +5 bonus to AC, which is very different. I don't think anyone would protest against a warlock invocation that let you cast shield 1/day, or even 1/short rest.
Because a spell slot is one of the ways you can pay for a moderate AC on your caster. Opportunity costs are costs too – dragonborn or mountain dwarves generally speaking are not very good choices for wizards (no Int bonus or anything else that makes them better at actually casting).again... since you can be a mountain dwarf ____ in armor, or a warlock (2nd level to get it) with mage armor at will, or dragon sorcerer... I will again say why is mage armor a spells slot resource?
They are close when evaluating them as a whole. A small AC bonus that lasts all day, or a big AC bonus that lasts one round? Yeah, that seems balanced to me. They just have their power in different parts of the spell: mage armor has a long duration, and shield has a strong effect. It's like asking what makes a bigger hole: a shovel, or a stick of dynamite. The dynamite can make a pretty big hole once detonated, but probably not as big a hole as you could get working with a shovel all day long (assuming reasonably loose soil). But if someone offers you a whole crate of shovels, or a whole crate of dynamite, that changes things. More shovels won't be useful, because you can still only use one at a time. Sure, it might be neat to have an extra in case the one you're using breaks, but that's a marginal issue. But a whole crate of dynamite means you can set them off one after another and make a REALLY big hole. That doesn't mean that "stick of dynamite" is a better digging tool than "shovel", only that the shovel hits diminishing returns much sooner.and again this shows how 1st level spells are not equal... and if they didn't all draw on slots would make more sense.
again... if mage armor at will is close to mage armor 1/day why does it need the same slot that shield does?
um…no, they’re not.Again, those are quick and east stuff any decent DM could have done themselves but needed the official stamp to get allowed.
Someone did one, that Dimension20 used for Starstruck Odyssey, but they added like 20% additional complexity.I would looove a 5e ified SWSE...
It IS, but will they, though? I mean, I hope so, but I always get my hopes up that glaringly obvious and widely-known issues will get fixed, and they often aren't.
I think that's a good thing, and I say that as someone who didn't like 4e. Clearly, there is a subsection of D&D players for whom 4e works great, and I hope they get to play 4e.I don't know if you consider that good or bad. I've certainly seen a lot more 4e talk lately than even a couple years ago.
IF the 50th Anniversary stuff is going to be fully (or near-fully) backwards compatible, then the big room for innovation comes in presentation. If you will indulge me: I'd like to talk a little about what I'd like to see in that area.
I think the no. 1 thing (rules all being the same, or same-ish) that the game could use is presenting complex rules subsets (such as spells, feats, and some class abilities) TWICE officially. Once, for the full, complex rulings, which could include discussions of corner-cases and how the elements interact with other parts of the game, and 2nd, in a concise "character-sheet friendly" format.
If that's not clear, here's a homemade example:
(Current PHB version, which would be type 1 in the above, though they could add more to it, if it was a spell more complicated than this example is):
Detect Magic
Concentration Ritual
LEVEL 1st
CASTING TIME 1 Action Ritual
RANGE/AREA Self (30 ft )
COMPONENTS V, S
DURATION Concentration 10 Minutes
SCHOOL Divination
ATTACK/SAVE None
DAMAGE/EFFECT Detection
For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any.
The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.
(My version 2)
Detect Magic (R)(VS). For 10 min (C), you can use your action to sense the presence (& school) of magic within 30 ft. of you if it is not blocked by 1' stone, 1 ft. metal or 3 ft. of wood or dirt or hidden by invisibility.
Heck, they could ditch that last bit about what blocks it if they just make a common standard for what typically blocks divinations.
These "V2" rules could be used on Monster Stat-blocks and Character Sheets, for quicker reference. I don't think that it would be a waste of space and would (IMO) vastly improve the game's playability if it were built-in. I mean, sure, we can all make up our own, but to have a consistent, accepted version? Much better.