Heroes of the Borderlands

D&D 5E (2024) Heroes of the Borderlands


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luckily when I drop my armor card here it will cover up that pesky rule about not casting a spell with a shield.
 

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I think the easier option would be to get rid of the SVM element of spells. I don't track if the players are complying and I suspect many don't.
I'm all for making the game more streamlined/easier to play, but to me VSM components are something that're an important part of being a caster in DnD, an integral part of the identity. I understand why some folk would want to ditch it, everyone has their own priorities and lines.

I do wonder if WotC realizes that in teaching a slightly "easier" version of the rules, that they're sort of creating a 5e24-lite. Probably, they do. But it makes it a bit more of a headache, I think, for players to learn one set of rules and then the GM has to inform them "no, those X aren't the actual rules you learned, the actual rules are Y." Headache for the players, or the GM :'D
 

I'm all for making the game more streamlined/easier to play, but to me VSM components are something that're an important part of being a caster in DnD, an integral part of the identity. I understand why some folk would want to ditch it, everyone has their own priorities and lines.

I do wonder if WotC realizes that in teaching a slightly "easier" version of the rules, that they're sort of creating a 5e24-lite. Probably, they do. But it makes it a bit more of a headache, I think, for players to learn one set of rules and then the GM has to inform them "no, those X aren't the actual rules you learned, the actual rules are Y." Headache for the players, or the GM :'D
I agree it is a balance between tradition and streamlining.

Are there any pictures of the other side of the spell cards? I wonder what they look like.
 

Been lurking to follow this thread for a while, thought I'd finally register to comment.

It's somehow not on the dndbeyond page yet, but if you look on the "all posts" page, you can see there's now post on using the boards/cards including close up shots of the Cleric Character Board levels 1-3. I really like how they give you one board with levels 1&2 on each side, and then the second board is levels 3 for each of the two subclasses they include. I'm tempted to create similar ones for all classes since I'm apparently doing D&D 101 semi often now - unfortunately the SRD only gives you one subclass.

This does give them a great mechanism for booster packs / expansion stuff. Someone who started playing with these character boards would likely outgrow the boards, but the cards would be infinitely useful.

Regarding mechanic simplification, I think the "you can't cast a spell and hold a shield" may have more clarification in the rules book, but in this current game set, that rule only applies to the Cleric, who is the only spell caster who carries a shield (ironically also a spell caster whose examples of an arcane focus include ... their shield), but it provides some way to explain there's a trade off / balance between "I want to cast a spell" vs "I want to get up close and hit stuff". Could have been done better? probably.

There's this German YouTuber who posted an English voice over of their unboxing of the set, if folks want to see more:

 


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