Greenfield
Adventurer
Okay, let's look at Adv/Dis: I need a 16 to hit, but I'm at disadvantage.
On a straight roll, I have a 1 in 4 chance, not great odds, but workable. With Disadvantage, that goes to 1 in 16. Still not impossible, but not anything I'd ever bet on.
The inverse is also true. Consider Saves. My character needs a 6 or better, and has advantage. 1 in 4 failure becomes 1 in 16. Thin chance edging towards certainty.
As for "Glass Cannon": My Wiz can cast Magic Missile all day. At first level I throw 3 missiles per shot, at a D4 per missile. Average is 7.5 points of damage, which will drop the typical level 1 Wiz.
Good for as many encounters as I need, per day.
D&D 3.* play was described as "Rocket tag" for higher level spell casters. In 5.0 you don't seem to need to wait. It starts at level 1.
Regarding Saves: Spells like Sleep and Hold Person are still low level death spells, if the caster happens to own a weapon. Fighter gets a second save next round? Neat. Will he be alive to make one? Not so neat.
I can understand the "Rulings not Rules" philosophy. That, however, presumes that all DM know, intrinsically, how to rule fairly and consistently. How are they to learn that if there are no rules, or even clear guidelines in the rule books?
That leads us straight into the part about the authors presuming that everyone already knows the system. The assumption that everyone is, well, operating under the same assumptions, if you will, is a huge leap. In my experience, it's a bad one.
On another forum (the 5e one) it was clarified for me that picking locks is a straight Dex check, and isn't covered by Skills like Sleight of Hand. You need to own thief's tools but not be proficient in them.
I'm currently questioning the absolute insanity of this. Lockpicking/opening doors is one of the basic traits of a core class, going back to three saddle-stitched books based on chainmail. Suddenly they think its a good idea to orphan that function?
Anyone can own artisans tools and instantly be as qualified as anyone else in that trade. Proficiency helps, but is in no way required, for anything.
Like I said, not at all thrilled.
On a straight roll, I have a 1 in 4 chance, not great odds, but workable. With Disadvantage, that goes to 1 in 16. Still not impossible, but not anything I'd ever bet on.
The inverse is also true. Consider Saves. My character needs a 6 or better, and has advantage. 1 in 4 failure becomes 1 in 16. Thin chance edging towards certainty.
As for "Glass Cannon": My Wiz can cast Magic Missile all day. At first level I throw 3 missiles per shot, at a D4 per missile. Average is 7.5 points of damage, which will drop the typical level 1 Wiz.
Good for as many encounters as I need, per day.
D&D 3.* play was described as "Rocket tag" for higher level spell casters. In 5.0 you don't seem to need to wait. It starts at level 1.
Regarding Saves: Spells like Sleep and Hold Person are still low level death spells, if the caster happens to own a weapon. Fighter gets a second save next round? Neat. Will he be alive to make one? Not so neat.
I can understand the "Rulings not Rules" philosophy. That, however, presumes that all DM know, intrinsically, how to rule fairly and consistently. How are they to learn that if there are no rules, or even clear guidelines in the rule books?
That leads us straight into the part about the authors presuming that everyone already knows the system. The assumption that everyone is, well, operating under the same assumptions, if you will, is a huge leap. In my experience, it's a bad one.
On another forum (the 5e one) it was clarified for me that picking locks is a straight Dex check, and isn't covered by Skills like Sleight of Hand. You need to own thief's tools but not be proficient in them.
I'm currently questioning the absolute insanity of this. Lockpicking/opening doors is one of the basic traits of a core class, going back to three saddle-stitched books based on chainmail. Suddenly they think its a good idea to orphan that function?
Anyone can own artisans tools and instantly be as qualified as anyone else in that trade. Proficiency helps, but is in no way required, for anything.
Like I said, not at all thrilled.