First Impressions?

[erleni]

First of all: I'm a 4venger to start with.

Anyway I'm quite interested in what I see structure-wise. DDN seems more streamlined but also faster to play. Advantage/disadvantage is a very powerful tool.
Some stuff has clear issues (armors) but it can be easily improved.
The main problem I see is that the fighter and to some extent the thief are boring, even if they look pretty similar to 4essential classes.
If they will add maneuvers for martial characters then I could easily dig into 5e but that will be a deal breaker on my side. This fighter is ok for newbies, that can jump in with an easy character and start playing and get into D&D without too much fuss, but as a more seasoned player that likes martial characters I simply need more.
If for example instead of fighter's surge (that can be seen as a double daily maneuver) I can take a different maneuver twice or two different ones, then I'll start to be more interested.

 

[erleni]

Participated in a few hours of playtesting.

Liked the rules, sort of. Some things I didn't like:

- rolling two dice and dropping the highest or the lowest.
- full hp after a night's rest
- light, medium & heavy armour bolted on out of 3E.
- weird combination of simulation focus and the occasional very gamey effect

I fully respect your opinion, but I guess it would help if you could also motivate it. For example: why didn't you like rolling twice? Is it just a gut feeling or do you see some other issue?

 

[Argyle King]

After more playing...

I'm starting to notice that the groups I've been gaming with have started to steer clear of choosing the fighter. There are one or two guys who have a damage fetish, and the big numbers on the character sheet attract them, but even one of them has started to notice that maybe rogue is the better choice.

I know we've been told the version of the fighter shown is the 'simple' build, but -so far- it doesn't seem very good. Many of the issues I posted earlier seem to actually be there now that I have more experience with the rules instead of being gut reactions from a first glance. I still want to try a few different scenarios before offering solid criticism though.

On a side note, I think future playtests should use more than one adventure if possible. Playing Caves of Chaos over and over again does not give me a very good idea about how certain things would play out in different game styles.

 

[Lwaxy]

I'm only going to mention what I do not like, as that's a way shorter list than my likes so far.

If the silliness of long rest = HP back is in, then that is the very second thing to house rule. Right after kicking out the intoxication stuff as it is now.

Third is the economy nonsense.

No one tells me that you would get full market price loot all the time everywhere. That's just ridiculous to assume and would also take half the fun out of selling things, i.e. where to find the right dealer, who to trade with...

It gets worse with the magic stuff. Asides from no one telling me how my world looks like, thank you very much, even if we go by the assumption that almost no one but us makes any money to buy magic items, what in the world prevents us to sell for half the market price, or trade it for something etc?

So either it is there ARE no magic items in the world save a few artifacts (sorry but my worlds don't want to follow that rule) or the prices drop dramatically once the party notices no one can buy at their true value. Which in turn makes them available for a wider public, which also means it will be easier to find something to buy...

I'm not even getting into prices of armor and weapons and the electrum coin. We'll keep using adamantine as next up to platinum as always


But other than that, can't wait to play tonight.

 

[Traken]

Things that stood out as awesome:

Movement simplified. You get this much movement every turn. Use it when you want. This is how far you can jump. This is how far you can swim. You don't have to spend your entire turn standing up to just get knocked down again. You can do a battle crawl that isn't slower than a slug.

Advantage/Disadvantage. Simple. More meaningful than a +2/-2 mechanic. You roll the dice at the same time, saving time at the table.

DM empowerment. It says it right there in the condition rules. A DM is free to adjucate that other things happen when you have X condition.

 

[Vicar In A Tutu]

Reading the Zombie-entry in the bestiary, I miss the hilarious (and unique) zombie trait from 4E: Zombie weakness. If a zombie is hit with a critical hit, it is instantly destroyed. Bring back zombie weakness!

 

[Traken]

Awesome things in the DM guidelines:

Dice don't rule the game. Something that should have always been true but can't be said enough.

Incidental actions. Another example of the rules getting out of the way until necessary.

Specific rules relegated to DM. The rules for balance and picking locks are in the DMs guide. This doesn't give the players the idea that those are the only actions they are able to do.

 

[Herschel]

Hm, haven't thought of this. Touché. But what about the clergy of other religions that place high importance into status and would kick you outa the door if you arrive with a wooden weapon of the poor? There is more to weapons than just the raw mechanics, that's all I'm saying. It can be handled as an important status symbol by the DM if he wants to. Story and all that jazz.

-YRUSirius

So the only way to properly role play is to make stupid choices with your character? That's just ignorant, both in design and in play philosophy.

Also, if they'd kick you out on that dogmatic minutia they have lost their way and should be driven from the church. There's your story.

 

[justinhalliday]

I was looking forward to this, but after a read-through it looks a bit too regressive for me.

My expanded thoughts on the rules:

http://heroesagainstdarkness.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/d-next-early-thoughts-and-opinions.html

I think they're deliberately avoiding any terminology from 4th Edition. And the problem with the Fighter's Surge power is that it will encourage a 15 minute workday, because those two extra actions are likely to get used in rounds 1 and 2 of the first fight.

 

[Herschel]

The more I look at it, the more it reminds me of where 2E could (should?) have gone in the Skills & Powers/Combat & Tactics era. That would have been fine 20 years ago but now won't cut it.

The full Dex for light armor/1/2 for medium/none for heavy was a house rule I made over two decades ago (chain, ring and scale were medium armor).

There are no actual spells on the Wizard's character sheet, just a list and a bunch of text.

The Class/Background/Theme system certainly seems modular, except what is shown is rather bland and half-azzed. It's like wanting a good dark or stout and getting served a Bud Light with a wedge of lemon, lime, a bit of Tobasco on the side.