D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Shows Us The New Druid & Paladin

WotC has released the fourth One D&D playtest document. This 29-page PDF includes the druid and the paladin with Circle of the Moon and Oath of Devotion subclasses.

Druid. The Druid class and Circle of the Moon subclass are ready for playtesting here.

Paladin. The Paladin class and Oath of Devotion subclass are ready for playtesting here.

Feats. Several revised feats appear here for your feedback, with more revised feats coming in future articles.

Spells. More spells are ready for playtesting, with a focus on smite spells, Find Familiar, and Find Steed.

Rules Glossary. The rules glossary has been updated again and supersedes the glossary in previous Unearthed Arcana articles. In this document, any underlined term in the body text appears in that glossary, which defines game terms that have been clarified or redefined for this playtest or that don’t appear in the 2014 Player’s Handbook.

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[Azzy]

okay obiwan, again... this is the shape of the discussion

Again, you could start a new thread for that "discussion" and leave this thread to discuss the playtest packet. ¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think my feedback will be "Thanks for saving me money. I won't want to buy any of the new books. I'll just take the handful of good ideas to use with my existing books and ignore the rest garbage in the new edition. More money to put towards 3PP."

This has been my feedback to WotC for the last several years.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Ok. So lets not call it 6e then until we see what we get in 1.5 years?

I'm not calling it 6e... the closest I have come is saying it is 6e/5.5/anniversary edition, and for the most part I just calle it the new edition until we get an agreed upon name... 1D&D works for short hand. That doesn't stop me from saying it's a new version (if the word edition is toomuch is version okay) of the game

 

[Micah Sweet]

Crits are back to 2014, inspiration more or less so, spells still mostly the same... It is an upgrade, but still way less than any player options splatbook found in 2e...

It is a change, not an upgrade. Upgrade implies value has increased.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

That doesn't stop me from saying it's a new version (if the word edition is toomuch is version okay) of the game

Edit: did you just replace edition with version?

I do agree with that.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Me either, I've also never played with a druid who consistently outshined the Rogue in scouting/exploration. They did get to shine on occasion because of wild shape, but usually in combination with the rogue. Most importantly, 5e Druids are a FUN part of every party I've seen them a part of.

That is the crux of it to me. This druid just seems drastically less  fun than literally any other version of the class.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

It is a change, not an upgrade. Upgrade implies value has increased.

It has for me. I think most changes are good, but need fine tuning.
Currently nothing has changed.

Btw:
How did you call it, when you upgraded windows 7 to windows 8?
It was certainly not an upgrade by your definition...

 

[Micah Sweet]

My overall reaction to this playtest packet is p much the same as the previous ones, which is that there’s some stuff I like, some stuff I don’t, but NOTHING that makes me say “Oh, yeah, THIS is why we need a new edition.”

Still doesn’t feel like it serves any real need that 5E either isn’t already serving or couldn’t with like one Tasha’s-style update book instead of re-launching all the core books.

True, except the obvious "need" for more $.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Then you can keep playing with the 2014E books. Nothing wrong with that. The 2024E books can be for those players who want the changes.

If some players choose not to use Xanathar's or Tasha's and only use the 2014E PHB... we don't question why those two books still got published. So it'll be the same for the 2024E books. They will be there for those who want them, and easily ignorable for those who don't.

To be fair, the 2024 books are not intended as supplements, like Xanathar's and even Tasha's were. They are clearly replacements.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I go farther than that. 2e Dark Sun was a separate game masquerading as a D&D supplement because they chose not to make a proper separate PHB for it. So little of the 2e Core Rules apply to it, that it was more like a d20 spinoff game (like Star Wars) to 3e than an actual D&D setting.

That's why it bothers me when people say they want settings in D&D to be as wildly different as 2e settings were. They really want every setting to reprint a new version of the Cleric with wildly different abilities and power levels? Where you can't use Xanathar or Tasha's because it's options aren't accounted for is compatible? They really want every setting to be its own mini RPG that is vaguely compatible akin to WoD?

I digress. I just rather like the idea that options found in all books and settings are compatible and we don't need five versions of the cleric cluttering up D&D Beyond.

I would actually love that.