D&D 5E December Package is here, it was about time!!

[UngeheuerLich]

Monster math.

How do they derive the attack bonus???

Seems just wrong. It actually seems as if the monsters are from a different iteration of the rules. Actually, now the old monsters seem to be more in line with the character classes. Which does not mean, that they had a little bit too hard time hitting PCs. Now PCs are having a lot lower attack bonuses, which seems wrong.

I really like Monsters and Players following comparable math.

On the other hand, Monsters lack a bit damage. In my opinion, Monsters need a general overhaul, as need HP for PCs. And I really liked the idea of not adding modifiers to damage. That would make the math work a lot better.

 

[Gorgoroth]

This is rules-lawyer territory:

Dual Wielding is a really powerful feat. Due to the wording of making two attacks, if you have Dual Wielding feat and are not wielding a light weapon you get your bonuses to damage on both weapons (since it only removes the bonus damage from your light weapon).

I hope it is true that Two-Weapon Defense will work for people using shield, since it is a weapon you'll have proficiency with. You'll need two-weapon fighting to attack with both it and your main hand weapon though, unless your main hand is light.

Wow, you're right, it is super powerful. I think the epic dpr build here is a dwarf who dual wields battleaxes. It's totally not balanced. -2/-2 with full str mod on both swings is way OP. It must be a typo, but as it reads, I agree, if you're using no light weapon, you have no damage limitation. They should make it two feats in the chain instead of one, the second one removing the str mod limitation but only available at like level 9 or 11.

Even without the str mod, the damage of two battle axes is close to a greataxe, but less swingy. (as it should be). Is my math wrong? Anyone done the comparisons of DW vs THF vs different ACs?

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[RevTurkey]

Well...after a skim through...

I think this was better and more interesting. However...

I do think the whole playtest exercise is a bit pointless though.

WoTC seem to be a month in advance of the playtest releases so how can they properly respond to comments and opinion?

They should release a packet....then gather feedback....then change stuff...then release the next one, if the input we give is to properly shape the direction the new version takes.

Not...release a play packet, make all the changes they want, then look at feedback and be too far along to have that input make any significant difference.

I would rather they just stopped this PR exercise (as I see it) and spent more time creating a new version of D&D that has it's own unique flavour round the table.

I like some of the ideas they are playing around with and I hope it turns out to be the best edition of the game yet but I do thing the playtest is a waste of time and effort the way it is being done.

Have fun and don't bite my head off if you don't agree please

 

[CM]

...make all the changes they want, then look at feedback and be too far along to have that input make any significant difference.

Not sure where you're coming from there... I haven't read it yet but from what has been posted here, it sounds like they have responded to a ton of the criticisms of the previous packets and made the appropriate changes.

 

[Sonny]

Well...after a skim through...

I think this was better and more interesting. However...

I do think the whole playtest exercise is a bit pointless though.

WoTC seem to be a month in advance of the playtest releases so how can they properly respond to comments and opinion?

They should release a packet....then gather feedback....then change stuff...then release the next one, if the input we give is to properly shape the direction the new version takes.

Not...release a play packet, make all the changes they want, then look at feedback and be too far along to have that input make any significant difference.

I would rather they just stopped this PR exercise (as I see it) and spent more time creating a new version of D&D that has it's own unique flavour round the table.

I like some of the ideas they are playing around with and I hope it turns out to be the best edition of the game yet but I do thing the playtest is a waste of time and effort the way it is being done.

Have fun and don't bite my head off if you don't agree please

I think they have made a lot of changes responding to criticism. Even dumping entire classes until they can get a better a handle on the core.

For instance, Looking at the fighter and rogue classes from an earlier playtest (around gencon) to this release shows they are very different based on feedback.


Also,

*bites Revturkey's arm off* You didn't say I couldn't do that.

 

[Greg K]

Like:Monk Traditions

I thought they, completely, botched the implementation of Monk Traditions and Ki. I think the designers should
a. look at Ultimate Martial Artist (Hero Games), GURP Martial Arts, Blood and Fists (a d20 Modern Supplement by RPGObjects), and both Ninjas and Superspies and Mystic China from Palladium.
b. Spend an entire week or two watching marathons of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest martial arts flicks.
c. get online subscriptions to Black Belt Magazine, Inside Kung Fu, and Kung Fu magazine and read through the entire runs of both from the beginning.
after they have done all three, they should redesign the traditions from scratcg.

 

[Greg K]

If I have much of a reservation on the class side, it's giving the martial damage dice to Rogues and Clerics (I think that maybe in the case of the Cleric, that should be a Deity specific perk),

I agree about martial dice being a deity specific perk. Then again, I still don't think they have done much right with the cleric. Deity specific abilities including not forcing turn undead on all clerics is a start, but I still think they have a lot to work out including cutting back on access heavy armor and shields and martial weapons (unless War, Justice, Protection or similar domains, I don't think clerics should be getting armor proficiency better than light (if that). Even then, there should be options for no armor versions) .

 

[Moon_Goddess]

Exactly, I was struggling for a way to describe it, and then it hit me. If you split the game in to 4E style tiers, Next is shaping up to be an awesome system for only playing in the heroic tier.

That may be intended,

If you notice Heroic got WAY more attention in 4e then the other tears. They've stated most people play at low levels only, and that may or may not be true. And face it read the stuff from the last few years, they are just much better at writing for low level than high level.

 

[Klaus]

I thought they, completely, botched the implementation of Monk Traditions and Ki. I think the designers should
a. look at Ultimate Martial Artist (Hero Games), GURP Martial Arts, Blood and Fists (a d20 Modern Supplement by RPGObjects), and both Ninjas and Superspies and Mystic China from Palladium.
b. Spend an entire week or two watching marathons of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest martial arts flicks.
c. get online subscriptions to Black Belt Magazine, Inside Kung Fu, and Kung Fu magazine and read through the entire runs of both from the beginning.
after they have done all three, they should redesign the traditions from scratcg.

I think the Monk Traditions look awesome.