D&D 5E Final Playtest Packet vs. Finished Product

[ExploderWizard]

The final version will be quite different. The playtest packets were for testing public reaction to the overall feel of particular game elements rather than successive iterations of a comprehensive ruleset. In other words, market research for mecanical concepts to find out what the majority of the fans would accept as core to the game vs. what would need to remain optional.

 

[Li Shenron]

I think the final game will have mostly all the mechanical concepts and frameworks of the playtest intact, and the differences will be only:

- numerical adjustments, everywhere but especially monsters stats

- tweaks to some character material (class features, feats, etc.), possible removal of some

- removal of some material for later inclusion in supplements (I don't think "sample campaign setting races" are going to make it in the PHB, and perhaps even the Exploration and Interaction modules are at risk of removal)

- addition of Sorcerer and Warlock classes (which will be WotC main "teasers" during the next six months to keep some hype)

I do have some wishful thinking about fixing a few nonsensical design choices, but it's not going to happen.

The only hope I have left for a change, is at least some minor improvement to the Human race. At least minor for God's sake... there was a hint in a twitter a few weeks ago, that maybe this is happening.

 

[TarionzCousin]

The only hope I have left for a change, is at least some minor improvement to the Human race. At least minor for God's sake... there was a hint in a twitter a few weeks ago, that maybe this is happening.

Something like an additional feat at first level, or a bonus +2 to one stat?

What was the hint in twitter?

 

[Li Shenron]

Something like an additional feat at first level, or a bonus +2 to one stat?

What was the hint in twitter?

I couldn't find it... I think Mearls or Thompson said they received a majority favor for the current Human race, but still a significant minority asked for more flavor so they were going to make it a little less generic than now. They didn't say how, otherwise I think I'd remember it...

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I have similarly vague recollections.

All I remember for certain is that they hinted that humans might be different than the playtest presented them.

I'm also fairly confident that there wasn't a lot more said. One could spend time finding the actual quote, but it's unlikely to be worth it if it takes longer than a few minutes.

 

[tuxgeo]

There was no quote about how they were going to change the human race in the final game. They just, flat, didn't say.

They did say that the playtest version of the human race had never been intended as the final product.

 

[Nellisir]

The final version will be... different. The playtest packets were for testing public reaction to the overall feel of particular game elements rather than successive iterations of a comprehensive ruleset.

This.

 

[Grydan]

I would be very surprised if the final system is significantly different in structure and major content from what we've seen so far.

They'd come across as looking rather ridiculous after talking up the merits of each adjustment they've made if they went and tossed it all out and gave us something altogether different.

Will there be differences? Of course. The math will get revised, how often certain classes get stat bumps/feats, what the exact benefits of each feat is, when a given class gets a given feature, the exact price of various items (who knows, maybe they'll go back and revisit their earlier idea of a silver standard?), etc.

But I'll go out on a limb and say we'll still get stat bumps that can be sacrificed for feats. We'll still get backgrounds that grant skills. We'll still see attribute-saves rather than 3E Fort/Ref/Will saves, 4E Fort/Ref/Will defences, or old-school "Save vs. _____" categories. The modified-Vancian spellcasting for wizards will remain largely unchanged, with some fine-tuning. Clerics will still be the healers. There'll still be a lack of inspiration/shouty healing in the standard rules (though an included-at-launch module might appear). Combat will still be designed for fast pace and without the assumption of a grid and minis. Ranges and speeds will still be measured in feet, not squares, metres, inches, or other units. Barbarians will probably still be called Barbarians, no matter how often people point out that that's a background, not a class.

I'm quite curious as to what sort of changes the people who think we'll get a "quite different" system are expecting to see. Perhaps we're just defining "quite different" differently.