D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Document: 77 Pages, 7 Classes, & More!

There's a brand new playtest document for the new (version/edition/update) of Dungeons of Dragons available for download! This one is an enormous 77 pages and includes classes, spells, feats, and weapons.

Unearthed Arcana Playtest

Unearthed Arcana Playtest Materials Get Unearthed Arcana playtest content, try it out in your game, and provide feedback! Check back regularly for ...

www.dndbeyond.com

In this new Unearthed Arcana document for the 2024 Core Rulebooks, we explore material designed for the next version of the Player’s Handbook. This playtest document presents updated rules on seven classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue. This document also presents multiple subclasses for each of those classes, new Spells, revisions to existing Spells and Spell Lists, and several revised Feats. You will also find an updated rules glossary that supercedes the glossary of any previous playtest document.

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[CapnZapp]

Are you not resting during your one week trek through the desert? That seems far more unrealistic than the one long rest per day rule. That basically is what humans have been doing for centuries

The game doesn't make you track toilet breaks, and it features fireballs and dragons, and everybody is fine after being dead five seconds ago.

Playability trumps realism.

And the game will be infinitely more playable if you can sleep for the night without that counting as an official "long rest" in one adventure, while simply taking a sip of water from your canteen counts as a "long rest" in another.

If stringing up three combat encounters is entirely trivial in the first adventure but a death trap in the other, simply because the adventure uses words like "weeks" instead of "minutes", that's an irritating nuisance that makes writing some adventures harder for no good reason.

You could extremely easily justify why you should have three desert encounters without getting all your spells back between each one (so they become meaningful) by saying the hot arid environment makes you tired; even if you technically sleep you still isn't refreshed unless you camp at an oasis (or whatever).

And when you clear out goblin caves, you simply give out long rests like candy so you don't have to explain why the goblins don't react or take countermeasures or simply abandon their caves if you wipe half the caves one day and then just sit there for 23,5 hours.

It is intensely stupid in my absolutely-not-modest opinion, and the only reason given is "for realizm" which is even more stupider in a game like D&D.

 

[CapnZapp]

I lament the lack of more drastic changes, I don’t think we are looking for the same changes however

That is probably true.

 

[CapnZapp]

That would be an explicit shift to a much more gamist mindset than any non-4e edition has espoused.

It seems to me that what a lot of people here actually want is a game much closer to 4e than what we have. That's fine, but I think we would all benefit from that opinion being presented upfront. The biggest conflict that I see amongst veteran players is between those who prefer the direction 4e went with the game and want a return to that philosophy, or further, and those who prefer something like what we have, or like pre-4e philosophies (if not necessarily the actual rules).

You must not have ready many of my posts if you think I'm advocating for a game closer to 4E...

 

[CapnZapp]

Err, DnD4 and PF2 exist.

If it helps: I was most definitely including both those games in my mind when I made that statement.

Both those games had pretty fun tactical combat (especially from a Fighter's POV). But the details really encouraged making the fights the centerpiece of each session; making fights take so much time there wasn't any left for story and roleplay. They aren't tactical boardgames (they absolutely are fully fledged rpgs), but they sure felt like playing a tactical board game, so we ditched'em for this and other reasons. So both were ultimately failed rpgs in a way no other edition has been for us (going all the way back to AD&D and D&D Cyclopedia).

The lesson I've learned (which may or may not become pertinent for the upcoming Gloomhaven RPG) is that if you can't have sweet but short fights when a larger focus isn't warranted, the rpg doesn't work as a rpg for us.

In short, if every fight kind of wants to be played out like a BBEG fight, something is wrong.

 

[CapnZapp]

You could tie many things to the already-existing 10-minute timeframe. Short rests, rituals, scouting ahead, searching a room, using Inspiring Leader...

And not go the way of PF2, where exploration phases(?) makes you think they went for something this elegant but where you then get bogged down by very many complicated rules, where you can track healing and stuff in per-round increments, but where you quickly realize that if you cut through the clutter and just say "everything's back up to full after 10 minutes" you have just saved yourself a lot of administration that served absolutely zero purpose...

 

[CapnZapp]

At some point I want errata put together in a new book.

Sure. But first I want some errata in the first place, instead of pretending new subclasses 'n stuff is just "optional" and absolutely not do-overs of mediocre existing content we pretend is still fine...

 

[CapnZapp]

D&D has a huge chunk of mind share in the RPG space, which means it's the easiest game to find players for, and is hardly the only RPG with frustrating design issues. Windows, iOS, and Linux are are horrible in their own ways, but we don't all just go build our own OS.

The argument "we have no right to expect D&D to be better than Windows" isn't as compelling as you think it is...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Sure. But first I want some errata in the first place, instead of pretending new subclasses 'n stuff is just "optional" and absolutely not do-overs of mediocre existing content we pretend is still fine...

Hmhm. Ok. I see doovers. I think they said it is a revision. They said, you can keep your old stuff.

So what exactly don' t you like?

That you have to pay people to upgrade the game? To playtest the changes and put development in it instead of just changing again and again unitl everyone is happy?

If you don't want to pay anything, fix it yourself. No, not oberoni. I don't say the game does not have flaws.
But those flaws are not so big that the game is anywhere near unplayable. Many people were happy enough for 10 years now.

It is not ripping you off if they put out a. 24 version.

If you don't like the changes, there are enough versions out there that you might like. Or again gix it yourself for free.

 

[mamba]

Playability trumps realism.

I do not see short rests making things more playable.

How is having to short rest to get powers back any more playable than not having to short rest because you started out with more ‘slots’

I want this change for better playability (no power swing based on number of SR, no disagreement between classes that really need one vs ones that don’t, more player agency in when to use something), that to me it is also more realistic is a bonus

And the game will be infinitely more playable if you can sleep for the night without that counting as an official "long rest" in one adventure, while simply taking a sip of water from your canteen counts as a "long rest" in another.

that is the DM, not the adventure, the PHB tells you how long a rest is by default, anything else is the DM

And when you clear out goblin caves, you simply give out long rests like candy so you don't have to explain why the goblins don't react or take countermeasures or simply abandon their caves if you wipe half the caves one day and then just sit there for 23,5 hours.

no you don’t, some do that with SR, maybe some do it with LR, but that again is DM failure / fiat, and it happens at any ‘rest’ duration of more than say 5 min

 

[Shardstone]

A point of inspiration should give the benefits of a short rest. Make them stack, max PB, then say 2 is a long rest. And alt, you can gain long rest benefits after a full day of rest. Give inspiration for various mechanical reasons, like winning combat when a chat drops to 0 hp (even if they get back up in that combat), when they nat 20 on an ability check, when they level up, etc. Narratively, the adrenaline or energy or etc is giving a second wind, hence the rest. This lets GMs tailor recovery easier and programs the game to encourage players to go big, not to go home.