First Impressions?

[Li Shenron]

My first impression on the overall playtesting rules draft is that it feels a lot like a significantly simplified 3rd edition.

Which means to me that it is great, because this draft is most likely about the smallest core of rules, so it has to be simple, and yet the fact that many things are similar to 3ed means that practically every player of 3.0/3.5/PF can jump to 5e (without modules) in nearly no time.

 

[rkwoodard]

Total up the value of the equipment on the pregens. These people are quite well off to get their hands on that much loot to go adventuring. There's more than enough GP to have subbed out one thing to get whatever is the optimal equipment.

The cleric of pelor has 150 gp just in the anti-toxin, healing potion and healer's kit. Another 50 gp for the scale armour.

But not out of pocket. The Herbalism feature gives one free anti-toxin, healing potion and healer's kit, and it only cost 25 gold for them afterwards (if I am reading that part right).

RK

 

[nnms]

But not out of pocket. The Herbalism feature gives one free anti-toxin, healing potion and healer's kit, and it only cost 25 gold for them afterwards (if I am reading that part right).

RK

Yes, you are correct. I was wrong about that. My bad!

 

[Steely_Dan]

Very pleased, a return to Basic D&D (Moldvay, 80/81), but mass room to expand.

 

[Guyanthalas]

Some thoughts.

This is a role playing game system. By which I mean it does not come off as an hybrid, a board game, a video game, a story game, etc. It's a role playing game.
...
I would house rule it using a Holmes/Moldvay round structure and group d6 rolls right out of the gate.

My first reply was going to be "Dude, so which edition do you actually enjoy?"... then I read your status.

The single biggest complaint I've been seeing is about hit points, and how they magically come back after a good night's rest. (Regarding basic, core mechanics. I feel if we criticize, these are the starting points).

So what are hit points? WotC seems to be a bit conflicted on this, if you compare the playtest to Legends and Lore. I've viewed them as how much punnishment you can take, not the overly drastic measures that some people might view.

If a troll tears off my arm during a combat, I'll be taking a crazy amount of hit points worth of damage. The loss of blood, trauma, etc will make me exceptionally weak. However, do I have to have my arm grow back in order to have all of my hitpoints back? I don't think that is the case.

In most combats, if you are reduced to 0 HP, it might just be reflective of the amount of physical punnishment your body has taken. (Think of a KO during a boxing match). Why can't a nights rest (food, water, relaxation) fix this?

I agree that my first example (arm amputation) cannot be fixed by a nights sleep. But I also don't think that 0 HP means that you have major broken bones or severed arteries.

That is my take at least. I'm curious how the "anti-full after sleep" camp views what a reduction in hitpoints means and why a night's rest cannot fix it.

 

[Arytiss]

Regardless of the example, the random element in the check mechanic definitely outweighs the ability element. When a character with an ability score of 3 has roughly a 1-in-4 chance of outperforming a character with an ability score of 18, the randomness of the check mechanic seems to be too high.

Only if the DM decides to call for a contest, and this situation pretty much falls under the circumstances laid out in the DM guidelines that says "Don't bother".

My first impression was that of a streamlined 3rd edition. My second thoughts was that it was closer to 2nd edition. Now I'm looking at it again and seeing a very strong 4th ed influence in the class design. Looks like WotC are doing well at fulfilling their goals so far.

Mechanics: I like that there seem to be very few +/- modifiers. My old 4th ed group had a serious problem with these. Over half the group were dyslexic and every time one of them rolled the dice they would then have to spend five minutes counting their modifiers to hit and then working out their damage. I suspect that with the Advantage/Disadvantage system life would have been much, much easier.

Armour, as has been said repeatedly, needs work. Lots of work.

Themes and Backgrounds are very nice. I can build a character in five minutes and it will actually feel like a character, rather than a bunch of numbers. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this in a few months.

Pointing out that not everything needs a roll: I played Keep on the Borderlands (Using BRP Fantasy) a month ago and the GM asked for calls for everything. Everything. It really made me realise how much of gameplay doesn't need rolling. I particularly liked their example of the player giving a rousing speech eliminating the need for a Diplomacy roll.

 

[Steely_Dan]

I said this on another thread, but i do not like the idea of characters regaining all lost HP with one night's kip, I'm thinking a character heals their HP in HD over a night's rest, so a 10th level Cleric would heal 10d8 HP after an extended rest.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Looks like a game that is fun to play. Some details need fine tuning. (I particularly don´t like that you can easily move out of melee and shoot)

Overall that game looks as if you could play it and have fun. Backgrounds and themes give modularity, but in big chunks. Looks great so far.

 

[Arytiss]

Looks like a game that is fun to play. Some details need fine tuning. (I particularly don´t like that you can easily move out of melee and shoot)

Technically you could do that in all the previous editions as well. They just used different terms for it: 5-foot step, shift, etc.

 

[Minigiant]

Okay. I will pat myself on the back.

Rogue Schemes- mix of Theme and Background- I Predicted it
Cantrips are at-will- I Predicted it.
Fighters get damage bonus linked to level- I Predicted it.
Clerics get Channel Divinity for 4e- I predicted it
Magic Theme grants cantrips- I predicted it.
Slayer theme is Reaping strike and Cleave- I expected it. Didn't predict it exactly.
Guardian them halts movement- I predicted it.

I am a diviner, dog.