D&D 5E Did you like one Playtest version better than the final 5e PHB?

[Scott Christian]

I think, for me personally, anytime you focus on the lower levels, you create a bit game for my style. That said, I am extremely happy with D&D 5e. It is streamlines, which is good. Less variable math at the table and a narrowed skill list makes things flow a little faster at some tables.

 

[Gladius Legis]

I found on an old usb drive the playtest documents for D&D Next (that would become 5e). Strangely, while re-reading them, I found that one version of the playtest had rules that pleases me more than the ones we have in the PHB.

For me, the Playtest Packet 7 has the best rules:

Honestly, most of those rules really suck, and I much prefer 5e as it turned out.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Honestly, most of those rules really suck, and I much prefer 5e as it turned out.

That mostly a question of preference. There's no suck or best, really.

I myself, find them more in line with my own preferences. That's cool too if you do not.

 

[commandercrud]

I liked the version published in Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle .

 

[SkidAce]

Didn't do the playtest, so appreciate the summary. I miss those days of common sense. In 3rd, they turned it into a save, and a 10th level fighter sleeping in his bed could have his throat slit by a 1st level cutpurse and 95% of the time he'd be just fine. The mechanic above would make this take 2 rounds, but I like that better than the absurdity of the target getting throat slit and rolling a Nat 20, bouncing up just fine.

/tangent

I always looked at this situation as the trained, experienced, uncanny warrior woke up before the rookie thief managed to cut his throat. Its dangerous to sneak up on a sleeping tiger.

I've read lots of stories where the protagonist catches someone like that, but ending the story like that would fall flat.

JMHO.

 

[tetrasodium]

/tangent

I always looked at this situation as the trained, experienced, uncanny warrior woke up before the rookie thief managed to cut his throat. Its dangerous to sneak up on a sleeping tiger.

I've read lots of stories where the protagonist catches someone like that, but ending the story like that would fall flat.

JMHO.

Your own example has the "protagonist" successfully noticing & detecting the would be assassin in time rather than just soaking it with hit points. In that light, you read lots of stories where the protagonist successfully notices someone skilled in time to react or successfully notices someone unskilled early enough to choose when they react.

Reaxting like that is quite different from being paralyzed by a wight & having your throat slit or sleeping off the cask of aundairan brandy someone drank hoping to sleep off that mummy rot & spider poison combo they were going through while the rest of the party decided not to keep watch while sleeping in castle ravenloft . The lack of coup de grace in 5e makes a good number of things that should be a real worry into no big deal.

 

[dave2008]

It’s interesting to me that a couple of people have said they liked the monsters better in the playtest, because all I remember was constant complaining from other players that the monsters were too weak, and WotC reminding them that they weren’t testing for monster balance yet and reassuring them that they would balance them appropriately after internal playtesting.

Yep, I remember those complaints and responses as well.

 

[dave2008]

Ok, so I've just been reviewing the play test material I was sent and OMG so much of this is way better than what was finally presented for 5E.

What the heck happened....

Everyone has different opinions on what is better, not to mention different goals

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

/tangent

I always looked at this situation as the trained, experienced, uncanny warrior woke up before the rookie thief managed to cut his throat. Its dangerous to sneak up on a sleeping tiger.

I've read lots of stories where the protagonist catches someone like that, but ending the story like that would fall flat.

JMHO.

There's rules in XGtE for unconscious passive perception waking you from disturbances. That would be a way of balancing such a "coup de grace" feature in 5e. That would really make rogues amazing assassins, as they could use Expertise in Stealth to stealth and not awaken their target, and then Coup de Grace them while asleep.

If I were to implement a similar rule in 5e, I would make there be a saving throw or some other feature to balance it a bit, but I like the idea of it.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I don't remember the playtest very well when it comes to specifics(in spite of playing many hours with every packet), but I do remember being a little let down by a few of the final versions of things.

Though I really like 5e overall, I'm still a bit disappointed with how skills and saves work, and I'm not a big fan of most of the final design of monsters. (Not that the later part of the playtest had very good monsters either, they certainly were weaker before the MM came out).