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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5926169" data-attributes="member: 3424">I don't think WotC is focusing on balance issues yet.  From the boxed text on page 2 of the Caves of Chaos adventure:It looks like at this stage, WotC is looking to get feedback on how the rules work together at the broad, macro level, instead of the minutiae of balance. Or to put it another way, it seems that WotC is just trying to answer one key question at this stage: when you were playing, did the rules get in your way?Back on topic, I voted "Like", although it could be just my natural optimism, or because I want to annoy the haters. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />My own playtest report is in the SBLOCK below, but the tl;dr version (which also answers the WotC question above) is:The system seemed to suit a variety of playstyles: the DM felt that there was more chaos and anarchy in the game because he made ad-hoc rulings in the game, the rogue was happy with his flaming barriers and the baited ambush, the cleric got some roleplaying in, the fighter was simple to play, and I was fairly happy with how my wizard could use some spells tactically.[SBLOCK]The PlayersDM: Played all editions of D&D from Basic to 4e. Has complained that 4e "lacks anarchy".Wizard (Me): Also played all editions of D&D from Basic to 4e. Pretty much a tactician, so enjoys 4e-style tactical play.Rogue: Played Basic, 1e, 3e and 4e. Likes to think outside of the rules.Cleric of Moradin: Played 3e and 4e. More of a casual player, but engages in roleplaying.Fighter: Unsure of gaming experience - may actually be new to RPGs.ConventionsWe adopted the following conventions (based on on 3e and 4e) since we were not able to determine how they worked from our reading of the rules:1. A reaction does not consume the next round's action.2. A rogue who flanks a target with an ally gains advantage on his attack.Time PlayedAbout one and a half hours for seven or so encounters (see below for details).Set-upWe were contacted by a merchant who asked us to rescue his son from a gang of kobolds who had captured him and were holding him for ransom.[SBLOCK=Encounter #1: Combat]On our way to the kobold lair, my wizard, the cleric and the rogue (the fighter was late) were surprised and attacked by six kobolds. The DM ruled that two attacked each party member. My wizard was hit twice and dropped to less than half hit points. The kobolds missed the others.My wizard quickly rushed out of melee range, dropped a sleep spell on all the combatants (including the other PCs), and three kobolds fell asleep. The cleric then used healing word, restoring a small number of hit points to my wizard, and the party quickly put down the rest of the kobolds with a combination of melee attacks and magic missiles.After the fight, the DM decided to playtest the short rest rules, so he gave the party a healer's kit for free. My wizard spent a Hit Dice, but remained at less than full hit points.[/SBLOCK][SBLOCK=Encounter #2: Exploration, Combat]The fighter joined us and the party entered the kobold lair with the cleric in the lead. The DM called for a Wisdom save from the cleric, and (after that was failed) a Perception check at -2 from the rogue. The rogue succeeded (rolled a natural 20) and noticed a pit trap before the cleric stepped on it. The rogue decided to trip the trap anyway, which set off an alarm. The party heard the sound of running feet and prepared for combat.The DM allowed my wizard a Natural Lore check to recall information about kobolds.  One successful check later, my wizard remembered that kobolds were disadvantaged in bright light, so he cast a light cantrip.Meanwhile, as we were in a narrow corridor, the rogue decided to throw oil on the floor to create a flaming barrier. The DM ruled this would be a readied action. When six kobolds appeared, the fighter and my wizard launched an initial round of missile attacks (the fighter missed, but my wizard killed a kobold with magic missile). The kobolds then rushed the party, and the rogue tossed two flasks of oil, killing two kobolds. The surviving kobolds made ranged attacks instead of attempting to cross the flaming oil, but missed. Another round of missile attacks from the party killed the remaining kobolds.[/SBLOCK][SBLOCK=Encounter #3: Combat, Ad-hoc DM Rulings]We next encountered a room containing a pile of filth. On entering the room, 18 rats and a dire rat burst out of the pile. The fighter and the cleric decided to charge at the dire rat, stomping as many of the smaller rats as they could in the process. The DM ruled that a successful stomp would be an unmodified Strength check against the rats' AC, and each PC could stomp five rats each as they rushed the dire rat. However, each rat stomped would also get an attack against the PC. Between the fighter and the cleric, six rats got stomped, but the PCs also sustained 6 points of damage. The dire rat attacked the fighter and did serious damage due to disease. The other rats then swarmed the fighter and the cleric, damaging them further. The cleric used his second spell for the day, another healing word, curing a small amount of damage to the fighter, and the fighter hit the dire rat, killing it. The DM then ruled that the rest of the rats scattered.The fighter then took a short rest and spent a Hit Dice, restoring some (but again, not all) lost hit points).[/SBLOCK][SBLOCK=Encounter #4: Exploration, Discussion]The party then encountered a locked door, after listening at the door and hearing nothing, the rogue decided to pick the lock. He successfully unlocked the door, and discovered that it opened into what appeared to be a store room with dead bodies and casks of vinegary wine.The party then discussed whether to proceed further, wait in the room to ambush any kobolds who came for supplies, or to retreat and rest. Eventually, the party decided to camp in the wilderness, and a successful Survival check from the fighter enabled us to find a good spot where wandering monsters were unlikely to show up.[/SBLOCK][SBLOCK=Encounter #5: Combat, Interaction, Exploration]Refreshed, the party pressed on further and discovered a big cavern which seemed to be the central lair of the kobolds. The party decided to ambush a patrol of kobolds and interrogate them to determine where the hostage was held. The DM ruled that the party could do this if the rogue could succeed in a Dexterity check opposed by a single Wisdom check for the kobolds. The party gained surprise against eight kobolds, and my wizard with sleep, dropping seven of them. The last conscious kobold was quickly dispatched, and five of the sleeping kobolds were killed. The last two were tied up and dragged back to the storage room to be interrogated. It was at this point that we discovered that the kobolds only spoke Draconic. After some futile attempts (and failed Intelligence and Charisma checks) to get the kobolds to understand what we wanted to learn from them, my wizard observed that he could prepare comprehend languages the next day, and the rogue responded with a disparaging comment about my wizard's Intelligence (specifically, "You moron!").The rogue then decided to scount the kobold lair, succeeding at Stealth and Perception checks to remain undetected and to find a burrow from which more heavily armored kobolds appeared to be living.[/SBLOCK][SBLOCK=Encounter #6: Ambush, Combat]The party decided to kill off one more kobold and leave the remaining one tied up outside the burrow as bait. When three heavily armored kobolds emerged, the party was able to attack from hiding. In the first round, the rogue attacked and killed one kobold, and the fighter and my wizard damaged another, with a missed attack and Reaper and with  shocking grasp. The kobolds' counter-attacks missed, and in the next round, a solid hit from the fighter and a critical hit with another shocking grasp from my wizard killed them both.[/SBLOCK][SBLOCK=Encounter #7: Combat]The noise of the fight attracted more kobolds who came investigating, so this encounter occured almost immediately after the last one. One heavily armored kobold and five normal ones rushed out of the burrow.Since the kobolds were still some distance from the party, the cleric tossed a dagger at the armored kobold and missed. It responded with a thrown hand axe, hitting the cleric for fairly signfiicant damage. The fighter also used a ranged attack, hitting the armored kobold. My wizard used another sleep, dropping four of the five normal kobolds (the fifth would be dispatched by a magic missile from my wizard in the next round). In the next round, the cleric and the fighter both scored hits against the armored kobold before the rogue maneuvered into a flanking position, attacked with advantage, and killed it. The party then rescued the kidnapped boy and returned to town.[/SBLOCK]LikesThe system seemed to suit a variety of playstyles: the DM felt that there was more chaos and anarchy in the game because he made ad-hoc rulings in the game, the rogue was happy with his flaming barriers and the baited ambush, the cleric got some roleplaying in, the fighter was simple to play, and I was fairly happy with how I could use some spells tactically (light to give the kobolds disadvantage, shocking grasp against the heavily armored kobolds, sleep against massed, low-hp kobolds, and magic missile to pick off those who succeeded on their saving throws).There were several humorous moments, including the rogue's outburst against my wizard and an incident during the interrogating involving the cleric's signet ring and sealing wax that I probably shouldn't go into detail about.DislikesStatting out a swarm as individual rats that get advantage on attacks when attacking with other rats requires too much dice rolling.Other ObservationsI thought the DM actually triggered an interesting encounter by asking us how we were going to locate the hostage when we discovered the kobold lair. Without that prompt, we might have decided to explore the lair room by room instead of trying to ambush a kobold patrol and interrogating the survivors for the information. This to me indicates how much influence the DM has on the pacing of the adventure, independant of system.It didn't feel like we had a great deal of healing, but it could have been because we didn't play with the cleric of Pelor. Before the first long rest, the cleric of Moradin's healing words and the Hit Dice expended by the fighter and my wizard were not enough for us to recover completely.We played without a battlemat, so the DM had to adjudicate issues like distance and areas of effect. Although I felt this reduced the tactical element, it was still okay.My wizard relied quite heavily on my at-will spells in combat, and although he prepared one burning hands each day, he never used it. I guess sleep was just very useful in this adventure. And at one point in the adventure, comprehend languages would have been, too! The disruption rule will take some getting used to. My wizard should have needed to succeed at a Constitution check in order to cast sleep in the first encounter as the kobolds had just damaged him, but we forgot to do that.[/SBLOCK]</blockquote>

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