Playtest lv 1-2

[GMforPowergamers]

SO last night a few of us got togather. It was a fun game, although a little weaird.

We started at around 8:30pm with 3 players A cleric of pelor, a fighter, and a theif. We went through the kobold caves. It was rough, and the PCs almost died twice.

they went home and came back with diffrent characters... infact we traded a player at 9:30 as well. We came back with the fighter, a wizard and a cleric of meradin.


We found a few minor issues (How do you charge?), and only 1 major issue. We disliked the healing, it pulled us out everytime.

 

[Kinak]

I don't actually think you do charge. Which is to say, I didn't see it in the options.

I'd let people use a modified version of the orc racial, though. As an action, move up to your movement and make a melee attack. You grant combat advantage and can't move further until your next turn.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Minigiant]

There is no charge.

Well I DM later I will have to choose between 3 kinds of charge

1) A Modified version of the Orc charge: +1d6 damage, charger grants advantage

2) A modified version of the Minotaur charge: knock back 10 ft and prone, 1d6+Str damage, charger grants advantage on miss


3) A Modified version of the 4E charge: charger gets and grants advantage

 

[Sanglorian]

We found a few minor issues (How do you charge?), and only 1 major issue. We disliked the healing, it pulled us out everytime.

I'd be interested to hear more about this, if you'd like to talk about it. Did the healing using HD after a short rest bother you, or just the maximum healing after a long rest? Did it bother you more than in other editions of D&D you've played.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

ok now that I have some more time, let me walk you through our group and our thoughts.

I (the DM) started playing in 2e and declaired 4e my fav edtion. I have been playing and running multi systems for 17 or so years.

We have a mostly board game and war game player who only real D&D experance is 3e and 4e, and he HATES 3e, and is only passable with 4e, he prefers Deadlands and Gurps.

We have a person who DMs 4e most of the time, but he loved 3e in it's day.

We had (and lost and hour in do to working the overnight) a old school 1e DM who currently is only playing a short game.

replaceing him at the same time is our longest D&D player who has been one of the players to express that 4e doesn't 'feel' like D&D

we found the game ran fast and fun. However instead of listing all the pros, I will just say we all enjoyed the game more then 4e currently.

Cons:
-As I said it felt like there should be a charge. I will group that with no trip or disarme.
-Skills felt a little tact on, and the wis check to notice things felt it needed something more.
-In 4e you only get 1 imm reaction, but we could not find a rule, so the cleric gave all adjacent allies a great defence (Disadvantage was great)
-the money issue came up alot, in order to buy better armor the fighter needed 500gp, so they started taking every weapon off every creature to sell back at town. He spent alot of time complaining his AC was lower then the cleric.
-Both clerics felt like walking bandaids. They spent most of there time healing with spells and useing there wepaons or at wills.
-Healing in general felt low, comeing off 4e it felt weird not to have the ability to heal... I will go with weird not bad per say.


off all of them I just think the cleric of pelor was beter off with his ability to make healing potions.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I'd be interested to hear more about this, if you'd like to talk about it. Did the healing using HD after a short rest bother you, or just the maximum healing after a long rest? Did it bother you more than in other editions of D&D you've played.

there was too little healing to feel like 4e, and too much to feel like 2e or 3e.

mid combat the clerics used all there dailys to heal, and every one poped multi potions, but then 1 night rest was back to full. It was too int he middle. If one night rest is back to full I want more in game healing, if we go with this much in play healing I want lasting damage and days to recover...

again both clerics felt like both level 1 spells almost had to be heals, and when we leveled up to level 2 and the priest of moradin used 1 spell for a damge buff and even that felt weird.

again we are all comeing off the 4e games so, maybe it is just that.

 

[Kinak]

In 4e you only get 1 imm reaction, but we could not find a rule, so the cleric gave all adjacent allies a great defence (Disadvantage was great)

Bottom right of page 9. One reaction per turn, any effect that denies you the ability to take actions also prevents taking reactions.

there was too little healing to feel like 4e, and too much to feel like 2e or 3e.

This is a really accurate description of my impression. It's in a weird middle place with the reduced surges (hit dice) but full healing with rest.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I like the proposal, that long rests just give hd back, and no hp. This way, someone with low constitution will need a lot of time resting when no healer is around.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Bottom right of page 9. One reaction per turn, any effect that denies you the ability to take actions also prevents taking reaction
Kinak

Ok so we totaly missed this and totaly tpked 3 times over...

 

[GMforPowergamers]

We played again last night. We had the 2 clerics and the wizzard.

The wizard player was upset and said we were back to 3e caster domantion, and alreaady doesn't like the game so much.

The cleric of pelor player was also not impressed. He spent most of the night begging to go back to 4e.

The cleric of MOradin was the same player who had to leave early saterday and played the rouge. He felt the game got too swingey.

This time they entered the cave of goblins, had some bad luck and got 2 waves of goblins and the oger.

The oger almost tpked them when the wizard finaly lokcked him down with ray of frost, the cleric of pelor aand he kikled it withbalternatin ray of frist and the cleric at will that did radiant lance.



Where my saterday crew loved it the tuesday crew hated it.

Complaints:

Skills where too diffrent, and too open ended


No skill challanges made the player who has played more 4e then anything else feel like skills where not even needed

Too few healing surge/hit die made clerics needed again (in 4e we ran an entire campaign with no leader.

No marks or opp attacks made one player ready to walk out... how do you stop goblins from targeting the wizard?

The idea of 20 cap on ability scores made one pc call the game stuiped

Likewise the idea of saves based on dc instead of just ten caused a fight

The one time someone had to use healing got the whole group to groan about healing kits, and the general lack of hp at 1st level.



End result 2 out of 3 players felt this was an example of everything d&d should not be and 1 giant step backwards for d&d in general.

They a,so 2 out of 3 hated the caves as an example of the worst dungeon crawl in history, and made jokes about evil time shares al night