D&D 5E Switching from Pathfinder to 5E

[Werebat]

I've been playing long enough to remember the old "red box" sets. I essentially skipped 4th Edition and switched over to Pathfinder when it came out. I've been reasonably happy with PF but much prefer the unofficial E6 or E8 version of it.

Today my interest in 5E was piqued when I read a thread here that claimed 5E is going to be something like E6.

I hadn't really been interested in 5E before hearing this.

I was wondering what sort of things a person accustomed to Pathfinder would notice first about 5th Edition. What are the big differences between the two systems?

How does 5th Edition handle magic item creation and acquisition as compared to Pathfinder, for example? This has been an issue for us in my PF games as players have noticed that they always end up selling off the magic they find and using the money to craft more optimized magic items (and also ending up with a large assortment of low cost but efficient magic items instead of expensive "cool" ones). They don't like this but can't seem to help themselves as they are playing to be efficient.

How is the balance of power between casters and non-casters in 5E?

How long does 5E stretch out that "low magic" feel? For example at what level in 5E would running a game that looked and played a lot like "The Lord of the Rings" stop working? At what level does 5E break from low fantasy to something closer to superheroes (with scry-buff-teleport, no more travel by foot or horse, etc. becoming the rule rather than the exception)?

I'm sure I'll be reading more on my own, but just curious what you good people here have observed.

 

[Mistwell]

The biggest difference between the two editions, hands down, is a matter of speed.

Combat is much faster in 5e. Character creation is much faster. There are a lot fewer modifiers, fewer rules in general. Everything is streamlined.

As to your particular questions, magic items are much more rare, the default system doesn't even assume them, and it also assumes you can neither buy nor sell them.

I don't think there is every scry-buff-teleport. Indeed, you can only have one buff going at a time, and you have to maintain concentration on it (which can be broken when you take damage, resulting on a concentration check). A lot of the most abusive spells are simply not in the game anymore.

You should check out the Basic rules. WOTC has them up for free. Just do a Google search for Basic D&D Rules 5e.

 

[mips42]

I'll agree with Mistwell. 5e is simpler and faster.
Magic item creation: Don't know yet, will be covered in the expanded Basic and/or DMG.
You can play the entire game without magic items at all. It was mentioned (somewhere) that you MIGHT have a +2 weapon at around 18th level...
Balance, so far, seems good. Everybody has things they can do, things that they're good at and things that they're not so good at. Characters feel lees like a 'pile of stats' than in 3e and WAY less than 4e. Backgrounds help a lot with this.
Low magic feel... This is tough to answer because yours may be different than mine but my answer is 'as long as you want'. if you want an all-low-magic-campaign, take listed XP for monsters and divide by 10. Take money and drop everything one tier (PP become GP, GP become SP, SP become CP). Your game, your rules.
Transition to high fantasy? again, tough to say. See above.
I wish I could again find a post or tweet or L&L by Mearls that basically said, take the rules and make them what YOU want.

 

[Branduil]

The biggest difference between 3.x and 5e is the idea of Bounded Accuracy. Rather than the rapidly inflating numbers caused by BAB, stat-boosts, and +5 weapons/armor, in 5e everyone gets a proficiency bonus which starts at +2 and goes up to +6 by 20th level. Non-magical stat boosts are capped at 20 for every stat(and magical stat boosts are extraordinarily rare). The math no longer assumes players are Christmas Trees, and most magical weapons are +1, while artifacts might go up to +3.

The effect of this much flatter power curve is that it should make it much harder to break the game at high levels. It also means lower-level monsters can still be a legitimate threat in numbers, since your AC will still be hittable.

Caster power versus mundane is TBD, but it's much more promising at this point than 3.x. Vancian casting is much more flexible, but spellcasters get less spells. The concentration mechanic for ongoing spells is also a nice way to limit spellcasters from becoming CoDzillas like in 3.x.

Running a low-magic campaign should be very easy since the math no longer assumes magic items.

One other big difference is that feats are now optional, taken instead of stat-boosts, and the feat list is smaller, but each feat is much more self-complete and effective. No more feat-trees.

Overall 5e feels to me like it's WotC going for a do-over on 3rd edition, while trying to incorporate the good aspects from the older editions and 4e.

 

[77IM]

Bounded accuracy is also significant; your level-based bonus goes from +2 at 1st level to +6 at 20th, and ability mods cap out at +5, so challenges remain relevant over the course of more levels. Like a climbing check (DC 20) may be hard for the noob with the +2 modifier, but even for the level 20 rogue with expertise and a maximum mod of +17, it's still not a "done deal."

Overall there are many more rules that are left explicitly to "DM's discretion." Even fundamental stuff like what you can do on your turn are specifically said to require DM judgment, instead of being presented as absolute rules.

Character creation still feels very 3e/3.5/PF to me, in the way that class abilities are doled out, the way multiclassinc works, the hit points and spell lists, etc. The skill system is definitely 4e, and feats are much "bigger" than they are in PF; a single feat does a LOT and you get fewer of them.

 

[Werebat]

Thanks for the input, guys -- I did download the basic rules and have been reading them. I'm mostly in agreement with what you folks have written so far.

My E8 PF game will be ending soon and I just may switch the next campaign over to 5th Edition! Was planning on spending a wad of cash on some new Pathfinder books but WotC may be getting that money now.

I'm loving the limit on buffs. That alone could make combats go MUCH more quickly.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm in the same boat: I defected from 4e to Pathfinder, but as much as I've loved Paizo, Pathfinder is a headache to run.

The big thing to realize is that in 3.x/PF, characters got taller: there numbers got larger and larger. AC, saves, skills, attacks, spell DCs, etc all got huge. My PF group is 6th level, and hitting AC 30+ is not uncommon. 5e gets wider: ACs, saves, skills, etc don't get as big, but you gain more options. Once you adjust to this, the game feels smoother and less stepped than PF.

Another thing: Magic item math isn't assumed so you don't need to keep trading in weak or un-wanted stuff for better plussed weapons, armor, cloaks, rings, and stat boosters.

 

[Werebat]

Oh, it's a very small thing, but I am liking it -- poison damage!

So now a green dragon's breath does poison damage instead of acid damage -- FINALLY! This has bugged me for years!

 

[Werebat]

A question, though - has 5th Edition gotten rid of reach? I don't see mention of it in the basic rules, and it seems to me that Huge and larger monsters may have a problem without it.

 

[variant]

A question, though - has 5th Edition gotten rid of reach? I don't see mention of it in the basic rules, and it seems to me that Huge and larger monsters may have a problem without it.

Nope. Reach is covered on page 73 under Melee Attacks and some weapons have the property 'Reach' which adds 5 feet to an attack.