Level Up (A5E) Does A5E keep 5e's "baked in" power for low-level characters?

[TheDungeonMathster]

I am more of an old-school gamer and one gripe I have about 5E is the pure power all beginning characters have. It seemed (and is likely the case) that the edition was designed to feed the power-hungry and attract new players with sensationalism. I grew up in the 70's and 80's playing campaigns where the 1st-level character was a small step above a peasant in power and the growth in power was both subtle and enjoyable (IMO). Moreover, I yearn for the days when the DM could control the "power creep" (either to advance it or contain it) by adding or removing magic items. 5E bakes in a lot of "magical" abilities from the get-go (so much so that the designers felt the need to articially limit magic item usage via the "attunement" mechanic). I am hoping A5E has changed that. Does anyone know if A5E has added that "grit" back to the game?

 

[Distracted DM]

From my experience, a5e is just that: Advanced Fifth Edition. The core books divorce it from a lot of the bloat+power creep that you see in 5e with character options etc. but it's still 5e. You're not gonna get OSR feel from a5e, you're going to get a "better" 5e.
"Grit" is certainly present thanks to some mechanics, like splitting Exhaustion into Fatigue and Strife- you can use these more frequently because there's less chance of the party going into a death spiral (of course a few levels of fatigue is still pretty hampering).

 

[Timespike]

Yeah, A5E is most definitely still a "new school" game. it has more in common with Pathfinder or 13th Age than it does with Shadowdark or Swords & Wizardry.