D&D 5E Homebrew... how easy is it?

[Evenglare]

So I have been glancing over these packets when they come out, but never REALLY sat down with them to run a game or anything. That being said, it seems to me that the classes are being built kind of... eh... haphazardly similar to 3rd edition's classes. I understand they have bounded accuracy which doesn't allow the numbers to completely run amok, but the abilities and other things seem to have been assigned to classes with a sort of trial and error process to see what works and what doesn't. Now this is a fine way of doing things, Im aware that a lot of playtesting must go into this stuff, but looking at it from a homebrew point, I have no earthly idea how I would create a class... or rather EASILY create a class.

Let me explain. 4th edition and 13th age are my favorite systems at this point in my gaming career for sure. I like the uniformity of the structure of classes, it is EXTREMELY simple to create things for these systems. 4th edition takes a bit more work than 13th age, but that's only because 4th edition has 30 levels while 13th age has 10. I can (and have) sat down and busted out classes in 13th age in roughly .... 2 hours or so. Granted, after play testing them, sure I tweaked some things, but over all the classes were pretty damn balanced for such a small creation time.

How do you feel D&D next is going to sit in this field? Is it going to be like 3rd edition, where they just assigned stuff wherever they felt fit best on the leveling scale, or is there going to be some sort of uniformity to the classes that allow a structured environment for creating your own things.

 

[the Jester]

How do you feel D&D next is going to sit in this field? Is it going to be like 3rd edition, where they just assigned stuff wherever they felt fit best on the leveling scale, or is there going to be some sort of uniformity to the classes that allow a structured environment for creating your own things.

I don't really agree with your description of 3e, but I don't think we'll see much uniformity for the sake of uniformity in 5e. I think (hope) we're past that, though I understand your point about quicker/easier class creation. However, I'd think that making powers for levels 1 to 30 (or even 1 to 10) would itself be a fairly big time investment (it was the one time I've done full-bore 4e class, or rather subclass, creation).

 

[Evenglare]

Not my view on 3e. I asked enworld here a couple month back how to construct a class (like tying BAB to hd and other things like that. The overwhelming response was "they just put stuff together where they felt it went, there was no logical underlying mathematical balance")

 

[Ahnehnois]

Balance isn't logical. It certainly isn't created on the page.

I'd much rather homebrew stuff for 3e than for 4e or 5e, to address the thread topic. Because the design is more open-ended, and because the system is much more transparent and easy to translate from the page to actual play.

 

[keterys]

Balance isn't logical. It certainly isn't created on the page.

I'd much rather homebrew stuff for 3e than for 4e or 5e, to address the thread topic. Because the design is more open-ended, and because the system is much more transparent and easy to translate from the page to actual play.

I can only imagine this isn't really a case of design characteristics as cited, but rather an almost universal truth for everyone:
"I'd much rather homebrew stuff for (my favorite edition). I like it better and it makes more sense to me."

 

[Ahnehnois]

I can only imagine this isn't really a case of design characteristics as cited, but rather an almost universal truth for everyone:
"I'd much rather homebrew stuff for (my favorite edition). I like it better and it makes more sense to me."

So basically, you're saying this thread is pointless, and 5e's "houseruleability" is not separable from any of its other aspects.