Level Up (A5E) Level Up A5E vs. WotC 5E...?

[Corinnguard]

You should also check out the Third Party Products link on A5e Tools. They contain a number of heritages, cultures, etc. that were designed by the same people who helped design the core rulebooks for A5e. A definite plus in my book.

 

[bert1001 fka bert1000]

I like A5e a lot, but imo it's more about interesting options (for example for Fighters), customization, and filling in some white space in non-existent hand wavy rules from O5e.

If you don't like some of the fundamental assumptions of O5e then I don't think A5e would help though. Fairly powerful characters, bounded accuracy, still has the high level martial / full caster divide despite some spell nerfing, etc.

I don't think it's measurably worse in those things though, so you get the advantage of the interesting options and if you can deal with some of IMO O5e warts you can do the same in A5e.

So in short, I think it's a better 5e but it's still 5e with many of the same pluses and minuses.

 

[Distracted DM]

I like A5e a lot, but imo it's more about interesting options (for example for Fighters), customization, and filling in some white space in non-existent hand wavy rules from O5e.

If you don't like some of the fundamental assumptions of O5e then I don't think A5e would help though. Fairly powerful characters, bounded accuracy, still has the high level martial / full caster divide despite some spell nerfing, etc.

I don't think it's measurably worse in those things though, so you get the advantage of the interesting options and if you can deal with some of IMO O5e warts you can do the same in A5e.

So in short, I think it's a better 5e but it's still 5e with many of the same pluses and minuses.

Yeah it's absolutely 5e- just "advanced"

 

[W'rkncacnter]

Yeah it's absolutely 5e- just "advanced"

the way i described a5e to my 5e group is that it's like someone actually finished making 5e.

 

[bert1001 fka bert1000]

Yeah it's absolutely 5e- just "advanced"

Yep, it does what it said it was going to do. And what it says on the tin. But that’s not always true!

 

[lichmaster]

the way i described a5e to my 5e group is that it's like someone actually finished making 5e.

I think there's way more than a thin veil of truth in this sentence.
I remember when D&D "Next" was a thing, before they decided calling it 5e, and in several beta testing packages they mentioned that the game would have a lot of dials to make the game more or less complex by adding optional systems, difficulty scalers etc.
Literally NONE of this came through.

 

[GothmogIV]

Thank you, everyone. It looks like an incredibly well-produced game. I'm forever in search of the system that will check all of my boxes, and I am very fortunate to have so many awesome choices to explore. The amount of thought, effort, and design that goes into these games is both astonishing and humbling. While I have not talked myself into buying all three of the core books for A5e, I tend to have dragon sickness when it comes to these things, so it's just a matter of time.

 

[Distracted DM]

Thank you, everyone. It looks like an incredibly well-produced game. I'm forever in search of the system that will check all of my boxes, and I am very fortunate to have so many awesome choices to explore. The amount of thought, effort, and design that goes into these games is both astonishing and humbling. While I have not talked myself into buying all three of the core books for A5e, I tend to have dragon sickness when it comes to these things, so it's just a matter of time.

My entry into a5e was the Monstrous Menagerie- its design reminded me a lot of 13th Age's monsters, having everything one could want for the entries. Descriptions, lore, loot, tactics, and cool abilities that made them fun to run.

 

[Corinnguard]

I got into A5e after seeing several articles related to it on EN World and then being one of it's backers during it's Kickstart 2 years ago. I liked the level of character customization and crunch it was offering.

 

[Selganor]

Also... lots of the new crunch is there when you need it but you can also easily just handwave/ignore it if the particular game doesn't need/want it.

Further reading from Homebrew and Hacking's PJ Coffey

How to Explain:

This guide explains what Level Up: Advanced Fifth Edition is and the advantages in playing it.

homebrewandhacking.com

and

So, why would I want to play A5e?

Hello! If you’re reading this there’s a decent chance that you’re interested in Level Up: Advanced Fifth Edition (A5e) or that someone is proposing to run a game and would like yo…

homebrewandhacking.com