First Impressions?

[tlantl]

there seems to be some little discrepancies between the information in the articles on the web site and the information in the packets.

I was under the impression that hit dice and extended rests meant that injuries could last for a few days, but the extended rest rules contradict that. Hit dice for the classes are off too.

It looks like your average first level character is going to walk all over the monsters in the module too the hit point totals and damage output is very high especially compared with the monsters of the same level.

The low magic bunch is going to hate the herbalism feat, and the cantrips. I was a bit shocked by the numbers.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

They did say that PC hit points were inflated a bit because monster design wasn't finished.

 

[YRUSirius]

I don't think that this is necessarily bad: If you really want to challenge your PCs just throw more monsters at them for the Diablo feel.

Another little tidbit: The pregen clerics cast 1 level 1 spell less than the wizard (2 instead of 3).

And no ability increases within the first 3 levels (we might see the first on level 4 as in 3rd or 4th edition). No surprise there, one could say - though I was looking forward to ability score increases as the main means of improving a character.

-YRUSirius

 

[vagabundo]

I like over all:

- Rituals have been folded into spells. So you can memorise it or spend the dough and take your time.
- Race/Class/Background/Theme seem to work well together and give you a bunch of interesting options.
- At will magic (cantrips) are interesting and get a thumbs up.
- Monster formatting is back to the bad old days. Spell lists on NPC casters. (Boo Hiss)
- The Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic (rolling two dice) is a very core mechanic used everywhere and I'm excited about testing it out.
- Weapon lists have some special properties and new groups (the Finesse list of weapons allows you to use dex instead of str for attacks). Very nice. Am happy. Would like to see some more special properties brough in from 4e.


Overall its got some great stuff. I like it's moxy.

 

[slobster]

The game is similar enough to your standard d20 that I can jump right in, and where changes occur they are interesting and usable. Can't wait to get to playing.

One thing I noticed that's pretty quirky: when fighting invisible enemies, it doesn't hurt to be drunk and frightened. So if your character is a cowardly lush, you'll have problems in most situations but will finally bring the pain when your party goes up against those invisible stalkers .

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

Ok, maybe someone can check this.. theory.. of mine:

Characters all use the standard array.
You get +1 to a stat from your race (and this varies with subrace it would seem).
You get +1 to a stat from your class.
Humans get +1 to every stat (this is the controversial bit).

 

[Ellington]

I think all of the characters are awesome, except the fighter who is okay I guess.

I like the overall layout of everything, it's written in a straightforward language but it's not too dry.

I don't like rolling for HP.

I like what I've seen in the Bestiary so far. Goblins and their chiefs look like a lot of fun.

My biggest complaint is that a lot of actions you can do have no way of failing. A ray of frost reduces a creatures speed to 0 if it hits? What the hell, man.

 

[slobster]

I also find it humurous that, in the early beta playtest where we don't even know how you calculate hp, they decided it was worth including four pages of mundane equipment, including weights and costs at the AdventureMart.

I guess my group will be playtesting whether those merchant scales are balanced!

 

[YRUSirius]

The spell attack bonuses on the wizard elf (+6; should be +5 = 3 Int + 2 magical attacks) and the human cleric (+4; should be +6 = 4 Wis + 2 magical attacks) seem off. Did I miss something?

-YRUSirius

 

[Kzach]

I have to say that I'm initially impressed. I can definitely see old-school influences blended with new and neither seem out of place which, for me, is a big hurdle overcome especially at such an early stage. It indicates that they genuinely have a grasp on what they need to do in order to pull off the promises of uniting play-styles which I think is the biggest challenge of a what they've turned into a very challenging edition makeover.