D&D (2024) First playtest thread! One D&D Character Origins.

[cbwjm]

The change does make some options flatly superior to others, though.

And I don't have a problem with the floating ASIs. I am an optimizer. I just don't envision anyone grabbing +2 to Intelligence and +1 to Charisma for their cleric for "the role-playing" when they have every reason pick Wisdom and Strength instead for charop. Is the primary incentive for shuffling around ASIs not to have a halfling wizard with 17 Intelligence instead of 15 at first level when the latter is in no way deficient?

I don't have a problem with the floating ASIs anymore, part of me would have liked a middle ground where a race gained +2 to a single score and then had a couple of +1s to distribute how they wanted, but ultimately I'm fine with the current system, especially now that I've seen some of the playtest material showing that they're getting rid of mountain dwarf which is now one of the least interesting subraces to me to the point where I was thinking of getting rid of the subrace in my games and just using hill dwarf for both of them.

 

[Bill Zebub]

And why wouldn't some races be biologically better than others in an area?

These rules are for the minuscule fraction of characters that are player characters. They don’t define the whole race.

If you think your PC should be representative of a race that is, for example, very wise, then put your +2 into Wisdom. Solved.

Other people/tables can put their bonuses wherever they want, for whatever concept they imagine, and it has absolutely zero impact on you.

 

[Remathilis]

A monk with a sword is going to play very differently from a guy who can, for instance, make his enemies cower in terror with a battlecry, or move so fast he's effectively teleporting from point A to point B and hit every enemy in between with a sweep of his sword.

What's the difference between that and an eldritch knight who knows Fear and Steel Wind Strike? Isn't just "magic, but non-magical" at that point?

 

[Ixal]

I mean wizards get to be Dr. Strange and fighters are stuck being Ned Stark.

Even when fighters are Hulk, punching people in the face only gets you so far when compared to being able to bend reality.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Nice Captain America level things? Or godlike (eg magical things) like Thor or Captain Marvel?

Captain America is more of a warlord type IMO. Given the gonzo level of magic, I'd put him around 12-15th level

Characters who don't get to repick their superpowers on a daily basis should be more powerful than those that do. Versatility needs a higher price.

Demigod. Demigod. God.

We play a game where casters get to make a pocket dimension at level 3.

 

[Krachek]

I just realize the change for grappling and shoving.
it no more use athletic, and thus dont benefit from expertise.
It take a to hit, and the DC is based on strength and proficiency bonus.
and the grappled target get a free escape attempt at the end of its turn.

 

[Haplo781]

What's the difference between that and an eldritch knight who knows Fear and Steel Wind Strike? Isn't just "magic, but non-magical" at that point?

When your solution to "martials are weaker than casters" is "give them a few spells", something is very wrong with the game's base assumptions.

 

[Cadence]

I mean wizards get to be Dr. Strange and fighters are stuck being Ned Stark.

I'll have to recheck out the 5e spell list and what the magic items do... that doesn't seem to match with the last movie with Strange in it that I watched.

But sure, figuring out what to do with the really high level adventurers seems to be a perennial D&D problem. It feels like its also a problem in a lot of super-hero comics and movies too. (My favorite in comics were those years where Thor would only show up when it was really needed for the plot, because he warped things otherwise and was better off on his own cosmic adventures).

 

[Ixal]

These rules are for the minuscule fraction of characters that are player characters. They don’t define the whole race.

If you think your PC should be representative of a race that is, for example, very wise, then put your +2 into Wisdom. Solved.

Other people/tables can put there bonuses wherever they want, for whatever concept they imagine, and it has absolutely zero impact on you.

Either a race is very wise (high amount of mirror neurons or whatever) then it also applies to exceptional PCs of that race or the race is not wise.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Except everyone gets magic gear. If it were exclusive to non-casting classes that would be a different thing entirely.

The difference is that gear does one of a few things:

1. Makes your weapon attacks a lot better
2. makes your spells a wee bit better
3. Lets you do magic stuff

The third is helpful for casters, because it lets the do a bit more magic, but transformational for non-magic-classes because it lets them do any magic at all.

Going form flying three times a day to 4 times a day is nice. Going form 0 to 1 is a massive impact.

(In practice, it doesn't take much in the way of magic items to keep things balanced enough unless the players have a mentality of competing with each other that overshadows the rest of the game)