Kavon
Explorer
Haven't read it through all in all, but did skim over it and read things that interested me. Also, haven't had a chance to actually try it out in play.
Some general things:
I like the advantage/disadvantage thing. Saves me from those times where I have to wonder if it was -2, -4, or just 50% chance to miss, and then having to look it up and trying to remember where exactly it was mentioned.
I believe the Intoxicated bit has been discussed enough - it's a funny little thing, but I'm not sure if it's a good thing to have as it is now.
The Pregens:
I like that with the two cleric characters, you can see the two being pretty different thanks to their theme (I prefer such flexibility).
Humans, what do they get? I recall someone mentioning that they seem to get +1 to all ability scores?
Dwarves and elves being immune to things.. on one hand I like the simplicity, but on the other hand it somehow seems too much.
I like that there's Herbalism. Not sure on the execution, but I can see some potential for other things as well (other profession-like things that can give some nice bonus stuff).
I'm curious about how much difference in attack bonus there will be from min to max level, and how you might get these.
Anything else will have to wait till I see them in action, I guess.
Death/dying:
I like that beyond 0 HP, it's not like in 3e where everyone dies at -10, regardless of level, but it's not as extreme as 4e, where you have tons of HP left to go through. Failing that death save is rather nasty as well, compared to just taking 1 point of damage in 3e..
Spell descriptions:
I like the classic feel, but I hate having to wade through a wall of text to find all the bits I need (with a high chance of missing something important on the fly).
I like the Minor Spells, though Magic Missile should scale less quickly and other such offensive Minor Spells should also scale, or they should not scale at all.
I like the spells scaling with spell slots.
I like the Ritual use of spells (not sold on material components), though this doesn't seem to be used all that much with the spells given... Just once, from what I can tell?
Monster descriptions:
Looks fine to me, nice classic feel, like with the spells.
But then I don't want to reference a different book when I'm looking at what a certain monster can bring to an encounter, even if it's an actual NPC spellcaster.
I believe Planesailing said something about this, but I would have to disagree with him.
He said something like that with pre-4e he memorized the spells and therefore had no problems using monster spell-like abilities.
With 4e monsters having 'unique' abilities they would need to be read from the monster's description and there might be things missed that way.
Alright, I can see how that would be annoying like that.
Ok, now imagine the second case, but you would also have to reference a different book each time - how much worse would that be?
Also, lack of level feels weird, but I'm not sure it's so bad, since you'd just look at the exp it gives.
Equipment:
The armor list looks pretty bad, if you ask me..
Heavy armor needs some sort of advantage if it doesn't give the highest AC (to counteract the penalties).
Medium armor.. erm. I like the general idea that there's something inbetween light and heavy, and half Dex bonus is alright for it, but it's not enough to make someone not take a light armor if their Dex is high-ish or a heavy armor if it isn't.
All in all, needs a lot of work.
As for weapons.. Why is the heavy x-bow complex? No more composite bows? Some weapons being exactly the same, statistically, except for their purchase cost, is.. I don't know, lazy design?
Economy:
Still a mess. Has this ever been anywhere close to realistic?
Wasn't there talk of there being a silver standard some time ago?
Using copper and silver pieces, with gold being something for higher levels seems to me like a step in the right direction.. The way it is now, you'll end up with ridiculous amounts of gold again.
Thoughts on the HP issue:
IIRC, the description given for hit points is that the first half is representing scrapes, dodges, being worn down over time, etc…
The other half is representative of more physical damage, which are cuts, nicks, bruises, and the like.
Once you get to 0 hit points, you're actually seriously hit, and go down.
Why not just make it so that there are two trackers? One for stamina and one for health.
Stamina points would work somewhat like temporary hit points, going on top of health points.
If you're at 100%, and you get hit, your stamina would get reduces by the given amount.
If your stamina is depleted, you start losing health points when you get hit.
Stamina is something that you can replenish yourself by resting, and is fully restored after a good night of sleep.
Health is something that takes a while to regain, unless by magic. One point per level per night, or such?
I can see this being changeable from 50/50 to something like 25/75, or 75/25, or completely using either one or the other.
It's a little extra bookkeeping, but I think it might work.
I could see these Stamina points also being used for martial abilities, to spice up the fighter and his ilk.
Hm, I guess that'll be it for now.
Some general things:
I like the advantage/disadvantage thing. Saves me from those times where I have to wonder if it was -2, -4, or just 50% chance to miss, and then having to look it up and trying to remember where exactly it was mentioned.
I believe the Intoxicated bit has been discussed enough - it's a funny little thing, but I'm not sure if it's a good thing to have as it is now.
The Pregens:
I like that with the two cleric characters, you can see the two being pretty different thanks to their theme (I prefer such flexibility).
Humans, what do they get? I recall someone mentioning that they seem to get +1 to all ability scores?
Dwarves and elves being immune to things.. on one hand I like the simplicity, but on the other hand it somehow seems too much.
I like that there's Herbalism. Not sure on the execution, but I can see some potential for other things as well (other profession-like things that can give some nice bonus stuff).
I'm curious about how much difference in attack bonus there will be from min to max level, and how you might get these.
Anything else will have to wait till I see them in action, I guess.
Death/dying:
I like that beyond 0 HP, it's not like in 3e where everyone dies at -10, regardless of level, but it's not as extreme as 4e, where you have tons of HP left to go through. Failing that death save is rather nasty as well, compared to just taking 1 point of damage in 3e..
Spell descriptions:
I like the classic feel, but I hate having to wade through a wall of text to find all the bits I need (with a high chance of missing something important on the fly).
I like the Minor Spells, though Magic Missile should scale less quickly and other such offensive Minor Spells should also scale, or they should not scale at all.
I like the spells scaling with spell slots.
I like the Ritual use of spells (not sold on material components), though this doesn't seem to be used all that much with the spells given... Just once, from what I can tell?
Monster descriptions:
Looks fine to me, nice classic feel, like with the spells.
But then I don't want to reference a different book when I'm looking at what a certain monster can bring to an encounter, even if it's an actual NPC spellcaster.
I believe Planesailing said something about this, but I would have to disagree with him.
He said something like that with pre-4e he memorized the spells and therefore had no problems using monster spell-like abilities.
With 4e monsters having 'unique' abilities they would need to be read from the monster's description and there might be things missed that way.
Alright, I can see how that would be annoying like that.
Ok, now imagine the second case, but you would also have to reference a different book each time - how much worse would that be?
Also, lack of level feels weird, but I'm not sure it's so bad, since you'd just look at the exp it gives.
Equipment:
The armor list looks pretty bad, if you ask me..
Heavy armor needs some sort of advantage if it doesn't give the highest AC (to counteract the penalties).
Medium armor.. erm. I like the general idea that there's something inbetween light and heavy, and half Dex bonus is alright for it, but it's not enough to make someone not take a light armor if their Dex is high-ish or a heavy armor if it isn't.
All in all, needs a lot of work.
As for weapons.. Why is the heavy x-bow complex? No more composite bows? Some weapons being exactly the same, statistically, except for their purchase cost, is.. I don't know, lazy design?
Economy:
Still a mess. Has this ever been anywhere close to realistic?
Wasn't there talk of there being a silver standard some time ago?
Using copper and silver pieces, with gold being something for higher levels seems to me like a step in the right direction.. The way it is now, you'll end up with ridiculous amounts of gold again.
Thoughts on the HP issue:
IIRC, the description given for hit points is that the first half is representing scrapes, dodges, being worn down over time, etc…
The other half is representative of more physical damage, which are cuts, nicks, bruises, and the like.
Once you get to 0 hit points, you're actually seriously hit, and go down.
Why not just make it so that there are two trackers? One for stamina and one for health.
Stamina points would work somewhat like temporary hit points, going on top of health points.
If you're at 100%, and you get hit, your stamina would get reduces by the given amount.
If your stamina is depleted, you start losing health points when you get hit.
Stamina is something that you can replenish yourself by resting, and is fully restored after a good night of sleep.
Health is something that takes a while to regain, unless by magic. One point per level per night, or such?
I can see this being changeable from 50/50 to something like 25/75, or 75/25, or completely using either one or the other.
It's a little extra bookkeeping, but I think it might work.
I could see these Stamina points also being used for martial abilities, to spice up the fighter and his ilk.
Hm, I guess that'll be it for now.
