D&D (2024) One D&D origins playtest survey is live

[darjr]

Funny thing: When I googled to find the feedback, Google landed me here.

We’ve made it.

Also yes fill out the commentary blocks with as much as you need to.

 

[Amrûnril]

Didn't notice any typos, though sometimes it was hard to predict whether to give written feedback on an initial question or whether there would be a more detailed followup where it would fit better. More importantly, though, the text box for age only allows two characters. This is blatant exclusion of centennarian players!

Why not just a flat damage bonus on a crit? That's the easiest solution.

The easiest solution would be no extra damage on a crit.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Also yes fill out the commentary blocks with as much as you need to.

Within 200-500 words. I always push the upper end of the number of words you're allowed to give for feedback.

 

[Yaarel]

I also didn't notice any, but I'm a phonetic reader who studied German and Medieval literature, so I tend to elide over spelling errors usually.

LOL! Studying phonetics destroyed my abilility to spell English properly. My spelling used to be impeccable before then.

 

[Maxperson]

Pet peeve here: you may be mildly compulsive about these things, but unless you have an irrational fear that your family might die if you don’t spot the typos, it’s not OCD. Everyone experiences compulsions. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a very serious anxiety disorder that causes some people to become obsessively consumed by those compulsions, often to the point of experiencing debilitating fear if a compulsion isn’t satisfied.

What you are describing is severe OCD. Mild OCD does exist and does not noticeably impair daily living.

 

[Charlaquin]

What you are describing is severe OCD. Mild OCD does exist and does not noticeably impair daily living.

Obviously OCD can vary in severity, but in my experience when someone says “I have mild OCD about [thing]” they usually mean “I have a mild compulsion related to [thing].” If it doesn’t noticeably impair daily living (without some form of treatment) then it isn’t a disorder.

 

[Maxperson]

Obviously OCD can vary in severity, but in my experience when someone says “I have mild OCD about [thing]” they usually mean “I have a mild compulsion related to [thing].” If it doesn’t noticeably impair daily living (without some form of treatment) then it isn’t a disorder.

Tell that to all of the psychologists. They've decided that they are still a disorder. Like high functioning alcoholics, high functioning people with mental disorders still have a disorder.

 

[Li Shenron]

Some of my feedback:

• Don't like inspiration for humans, because lots of groups don't play with it, or forget they have it. In general, I'm not a fan of racial traits for things a lot of people don't even play with.
• Don't like ability modifiers for backgrounds. The charlatan wasn't even on their list of backgrounds in the survey, but what I'm seeing is that by having a background like that, every warlock chooses that background. When ability modifiers are tied to background, you end up having each class having the same small handful of backgrounds. No different how everyone was a dwarf fighter, or halfing thief back in the day when abilities were tied to race.
• Not a fan of level 1 feats, because a) that tells me feat chains are coming, and I hated those in 3e (along with system mastery tied to them) and b) not everyone plays with feats
• Really not a fan of removing monster crits. The reasoning was because no one likes a level 1 PC dying from a critical hit in one shot. Remember, the whole point of having fast XP progression at level 1 and 2 was to offer that zero to hero style that many of us like, and if players wanted more robust PCs, they would start at level 3

I had exactly the same thoughts.

 

[Osgood]

My basic feedback:

• Not a fan of the crit changes, though I’m not opposed to some measure of change to how DM crits work to help low level PC survivability (something like +1d6 for CR 2 and lower, +2d6 for CR 3-5, and so on).
• Half races is okay, but I’m not thrilled with it. I would prefer a mechanic that allows you to select x number of traits from either parent. Now to balance that, you’d have to denote eligible traits on each race with an asterisk or something (maybe some traits count as two or three like the elf’s lineage).
• I like the idea of the ardling, but it needs some work. Radiant resistance is weak compared to other damage those since so few monsters deal radiant damage. Some guardials have had resistance or immunity to acid, cold, and lightning damage, so perhaps add one of those to each legacy.
• I prefer the dragonborn from Fizban’s, at least in the distinction of chromatic, metallic, and gem variations. The breath weapon damage doesn’t feel right to me, and I would prefer a different expression of daconic senses than darkvision since it is way too common, perhaps an activated blindsight.
• I like backgrounds, including granting feats and moving ASIs out of races—once you made the ability increases fully flexible, they no longer made sense as a racial trait.
• To reinforce the customisation of backgrounds, perhaps say things like “Lanages: Gnomish or one of choice.” It might also make sense to add a “custom background” listing, where all the options are “one of choice” or “two of choice“ to make it crystal clear that this is an option.

 

[overgeeked]

Most of my feedback has already been covered by others, but I did offer praise on the removal of background features. Considering the lengthy and intractable arguments that result in the precise reading and use of those features, all I can say is good riddance.