D&D 5E messy's 5e newbie questions thread

[messy]

35. the two-weapon fighting rules say that both weapons must be light. does this mean you can't dual-wield a double weapon (like a quarterstaff)?

36. by adding adding dexterity modifiers to damage, haven't they increased the value of dexterity even more?

 

[Len]

35. There's no such thing as a double weapon, as far as I know. In 5e, a quarterstaff is "versatile" which means you have the choice of using it one-handed or two-handed. To my mind, when you fight with a quarterstaff you use both ends, and that's just the normal way to do it.

36. I guess so... or you could say that they're letting dex fighters do similar damage as str fighters.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

36. by adding adding dexterity modifiers to damage, haven't they increased the value of dexterity even more?

Yes. Many people criticize the balance of the stats, pointing to Dexterity (and to a lesser extent, Wisdom) as super stats, contrasting with Strength and Intelligence as being less generally valuable.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yes. Many people criticize the balance of the stats, pointing to Dexterity (and to a lesser extent, Wisdom) as super stats, contrasting with Strength and Intelligence as being less generally valuable.

Back in the early days, D&D was a game for nerds. Strength was the most important stat for fighters, who were the most effective characters in the early game, but peaked early and weren’t able to keep up with the magic users, for whom Intelligence was the most important stat. Nowadays, D&D is the favored game of theater kids, and the most important stats are Dexterity and Charisma.

 

[cmad1977]

36: maybe. I haven’t seen this in game. Have had plenty of players with an 8-11 dex and they’ve been perfectly fine.

 

[Ash Mantle]

30. does the writing at the bottom of the (beautiful) tapestry on page 73 mean something? or is it gibberish?

A fan translated the runes

The first line is quite amsuing, then it descends into gibberish lol.

 

[messy]

37. the spell lists seem a little strange. i just noticed that wizards don't have access to the enhance ability spell! gasp! i always thought wizards had access to all arcane spells. on the other hand, the arcane/divine designation doesn't really seem to exist anymore. regardless, this strikes me as strange. are there any other classic arcane spells that aren't on the wizards spell list?

38. similarly, earthquake is on the spell list of clerics, druids, and sorcerers, but not warlocks or wizards. it really seems like wotc made spell lists according to whatever they thought was appropriate for each class, rather than on a clearly-defined arcane/divine divide. not really a question here...

 

[Len]

gasp! i always thought wizards had access to all arcane spells.

No, that hasn't always been the case in the past. In 3e/3.5, for example, bards cast arcane spells and some of them were not available to wizards.

it really seems like wotc made spell lists according to whatever they thought was appropriate for each class, rather than on a clearly-defined arcane/divine divide.

I don't think there was ever a complete separation between arcane and divine spells. Certainly in 2e & 3e there were spells that were on both the wizard and cleric spell lists. The difference between an arcane spell and a divine spell isn't what the spell does, it's where the magic comes from.

 

[billd91]

37. the spell lists seem a little strange. i just noticed that wizards don't have access to the enhance ability spell! gasp! i always thought wizards had access to all arcane spells. on the other hand, the arcane/divine designation doesn't really seem to exist anymore. regardless, this strikes me as strange. are there any other classic arcane spells that aren't on the wizards spell list?

There have been times in the past in which I believe too many spells ended up on the wizard list that had no business being there simply because someone thought along those lines - that pretty much everything arcane should end up on their list. It had a tendency to wash out any uniqueness and character of other class spell lists and made it too easy for wizards to duplicate just about anything any other caster could do.

38. similarly, earthquake is on the spell list of clerics, druids, and sorcerers, but not warlocks or wizards. it really seems like wotc made spell lists according to whatever they thought was appropriate for each class, rather than on a clearly-defined arcane/divine divide. not really a question here...

Honestly, I think that's ideal - putting spells on class lists because it makes sense for that class rather than arcane/divine divisions.

 

[Charlaquin]

37. the spell lists seem a little strange. i just noticed that wizards don't have access to the enhance ability spell! gasp! i always thought wizards had access to all arcane spells. on the other hand, the arcane/divine designation doesn't really seem to exist anymore. regardless, this strikes me as strange. are there any other classic arcane spells that aren't on the wizards spell list?

38. similarly, earthquake is on the spell list of clerics, druids, and sorcerers, but not warlocks or wizards. it really seems like wotc made spell lists according to whatever they thought was appropriate for each class, rather than on a clearly-defined arcane/divine divide. not really a question here...

It seems that way because that’s exactly what they did. And frankly, good on them for it.