And I will probably create an optional wizard variant that does NOT have 5E Basic's offensive cantrips, but instead has some sort of archivist-type ability to use knowledge to advise allies (a non-magical Mass Guidance or Mass Resistance?), and actually has to fall back on weapons. Maybe call that "Wizard" and the other one "Mage." I know I would definitely prefer to play the one that a) has his knowledge being almost as important as his spells, and b) CAN run out of magic and have to resort to a staff, dagger or crossbow. So I'd like to give that option.
I kind of like this idea, even if I don't ever use it. I don't have any suggestions regarding the knowledge/lore/archivist ability, but as far as cantrips go you could just disallow any cantrips that damage or hinder an enemy. A 20th-level wizard is supposed to know five cantrips, and the 5Basic* rules have exactly five such cantrips:
dancing lights,
light,
mage hand,
minor illusion, and
prestidigitation--all of those are to their 3.5E versions except for minor illusion, which creates a sound or image of an object for one minute. The Player's Handbook will likely have more options. (Note that you'll probably also want to disallow
sacred flame, which a ranged attack cantrip for clerics.)
The neat thing about simply disallowing the attack cantrips is that it shouldn't have any effect on game balance whatsoever; it'd be the same as if a character had just never chosen those options.
Again, thanks for all the info, folks. I'm actually getting stoked about this new edition!
Where can I find examples of 5E monster stats?
For the moment, the only non-playtest/homebrew monsters available come from the 5E Starter Set, but this should change dramatically by September when monsters are expected to be added to the 5Basic rules. There are a couple monster previews from the Starter Set floating around though:
[sblock="Nothic, Ochre Jelly, and Ogre preview"]
Found at
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ex/20140626.
[/sblock]
[sblock="Goblin entry I typed up from the Starter Set for a thread about modifying monster stats in 5E"]Read more:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...all-the-dice-quot-variant-in-5E#ixzz38aQAokeP
GOBLIN
Small humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil
-----
Armor Class 15 (leather armor, shield)
Hit Points 7 (2d6)
Speed 30 ft.
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STR 8 (-1);
DEX 14 (+2);
CON 10 (+0);
INT 10 (+0);
WIS 8 (-1)
;
CHA 8 (-1);
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Skills Stealth +6;
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages Common, Goblin
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
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Nimble Escape. The goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
-----
ACTIONS
Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) slashing damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80 ft./320 ft., one target.
Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.[/sblock]
I hope these help!
Also, I see that buying/selling magic items is gone (fully at the DM's discretion) in 5E, which has its good and bad points but is probably the right direction for the game to head at this time. Is there any word on item CREATION, though? Will it be gone completely, limited to potions, scrolls, and wands, or what?
Still reading through the free rule set so sorry if this is answered there, but I didn't see it mentioned.
Item creation is still a big question mark. I don't believe it's discussed at all in the current version of 5Basic*, and I don't believe there's any current rumours about it. If you're very curious, you could ask in another thread what the leaked closed-playtested alpha Player's Handbook says about it, but there's no guarantee the the info you'll get will be at all similar to the final version.
In other words, at the moment nobody knows what item creation will look like unfortunately. The good news is that we may know something about it in the next couple weeks when the Player's Handbook is released. (The bad news is that if item creation isn't in the Player's Handbook, you'll have to wait until November when the DMG comes out....)
*NOTES ABOUT TERMINOLOGY: 5E is short for "5th Edition". A lot of folks on these board have also taken to using @Thaumaturge 's term "5B" to refer to the free 5th Edition Basic subset of the rules, thought I personally call it "5Basic" just for the sake of clarity (and to distinguish it from old-fashion Basic D&D). The term "5A" (or "5Advanced") refers to the full set of 5E rules when you want to distinguish your topic from 5Basic.
Bringing the terms Basic and Advanced back to D&D also gives lots of us warm fuzzies. YMMV.
