D&D (2024) Little changes for 5.5

[DarkCrisis]

Bring back Weapon Speed.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I hear your point, but would be surprised if they didn't tweak some of the classes, in particular the ranger, and maybe monk and sorcerer, as well as incorporate a number of other smallish changes to issues that have arisen over, what will be by then, ten years of playing the edition.

Or as I have said in the past, I don't think this is will be a true "5.5" but it will definitely be more than a "5.1" and probably more than a "5.2." My money is on 5.3 to 5.4...meaning, they'll avoid any backwards compatibility issues (as much as possible), but will use the opportunity to fix certain things and improve the game as a whole.

I think they’re gonna avoid compatibility issues so hard that most predictions will be disappointed.

Like, no subclass ever printed in a book by them will be made incompatible with the updated version of the class. So, Rangers might get some tweaks, but it will probably be closer to putting the Tashas options in the PHB than anything major. Sadly, I doubt they’ll even put any core abilities at an earlier level.

 

[Paul Smart]

Another thing I would like to see, but this will have to wait for a new addition is flexible spell casting ability scores. Wizard means wise one, you want a wizard that uses wisdom, sure. A cleric is a brilliant theologian that uses intelligence. Why not?

Also, for third casters like Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, choose two spell schools that you can use. You want a gnome knight that uses illusion, great. A human intelligence operative diviner rogue. Sure. Add some flexibility so we can better realize whatever concept we have.

 

[HammerMan]

Another thing I would like to see, but this will have to wait for a new addition is flexible spell casting ability scores. Wizard means wise one, you want a wizard that uses wisdom, sure. A cleric is a brilliant theologian that uses intelligence. Why not?

Also, for third casters like Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, choose two spell schools that you can use. You want a gnome knight that uses illusion, great. A human intelligence operative diviner rogue. Sure. Add some flexibility so we can better realize whatever concept we have.

I think AT and EK should get spellbooks (still limit the spells they get for level up by school, but can learn any wizard spell in game) and I agree allowing more flexible casting (and maybe attack) stats would be cool.

 

[Mercurius]

I think they’re gonna avoid compatibility issues so hard that most predictions will be disappointed.

Like, no subclass ever printed in a book by them will be made incompatible with the updated version of the class. So, Rangers might get some tweaks, but it will probably be closer to putting the Tashas options in the PHB than anything major. Sadly, I doubt they’ll even put any core abilities at an earlier level.

Possibly. They'll try to avoid compatibility issues, but you know how things go. I haven't checked out Tasha's, but maybe they're enough. But I just think tweaking classes is exactly the type of thing you do with a revision; to not do so would be a missed opportunity.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Possibly. They'll try to avoid compatibility issues, but you know how things go. I haven't checked out Tasha's, but maybe they're enough. But I just think tweaking classes is exactly the type of thing you do with a revision; to not do so would be a missed opportunity.

I don’t think this is actually a revision. It’s largely a reprint, and the only things really being revised are gonna be monster stat blocks and how races are presented. And even those will like be presented as options. Any PHB race or class will still be AL legal, and anything they add will work with current published material.

IMO of course, but I will be very surprised if I’m far off the mark.

 

[Mordhau]

While I respect some of the issues with the monk, this is not one of them. The answer is.... speed is as valuable as the game makes it.

If the key lever to turn off a deadly trap is 60 feet away....the monk shines. If the person your party is trying to save is on the other edge of the combat, the monk can shine.

Class balance is partly based around hooks for the DM, obvious ways that the DM can make a class feel cool and special. Just as a DM can neuter fireball by only having single monster fights, they can neuter a monk's speed.....or they can make it essential by the design of encounters.

It's pretty one note though isn't it. And not likely to be so relevant if you're not using the grid.

But the point was that the speed itself doesn't really convey the flavour of the monk (useful or not). It would be better to give them the mobility feat for free (for example). That would better convey the right kind of speed (ducking in and out of combat) rather than martial artis training being a short cut to Usain Bolt.

Mechanics have to convey flavour, and at a certain point mechanics that are useful but don't convey flavour well get in the way of replacements that would do a better job.

D&D just seems to suffer because designers (and fans, but that's a flaw in the playtest process) often can't seem to get past poor solutions to problems in order to find better ways to achieve the same ends. (So the Monk must be fast in terms of raw movement, Rangers must have favoured enemies etc)

 

[Mordhau]

I don’t think this is actually a revision. It’s largely a reprint, and the only things really being revised are gonna be monster stat blocks and how races are presented. And even those will like be presented as options. Any PHB race or class will still be AL legal, and anything they add will work with current published material.

IMO of course, but I will be very surprised if I’m far off the mark.

I think they'd have to at least revise the Ranger. In it's current state it now works but it's a mess in terms of containing newbie traps. Take two-weapon fighting and pick the wrong subclass and you find you have completely redundant features. It might be possible to refine the core class so that the previously published subclasses remain viable unchanged, but I'd hope they would not be so constrained.

 

[Mercurius]

I don’t think this is actually a revision. It’s largely a reprint, and the only things really being revised are gonna be monster stat blocks and how races are presented. And even those will like be presented as options. Any PHB race or class will still be AL legal, and anything they add will work with current published material.

IMO of course, but I will be very surprised if I’m far off the mark.

We'll see. At the very least, they can re-organize and consolidate, and make sure the PHB includes the "best of" various supplements and later additions. But again, I think it is quite possible they tweak a bunch of things throughout the book, and it is possible to do so without upsetting the apple-cart.

We may actually see more changes to the DMG and MM than the PHB, but who knows.