So I've been running 5e for a long while now, but recently got a chance to play in some 3.5 and pathfinder campaigns.
I really cut my teeth on 3.0/3.5, having started my gaming career at the very end of the 2e era. And there were certain things I missed. However, there is one thing that 5e does that is so simple....and yet it is AMAZING how much difference and improvement it brings to the game. It is so incredibly powerful that I honestly found it hard to play without.
And that is..... the fluidity of movement.
The fact that 5e lets you move, do an action, and move again. The fact that you can move, attack, move, attack. The fact that you can manipulate an object for free, such as open a door while moving....it is literally game changing.
Playing 3.5/Pathfinder again, there are some things I miss. But man combat feels like your standing still, it is soooo rigid. The fact that you have to drop a weapon instead of putting it away because it would take a move action, you can't just pick up a weapon, you can't move ten feet and get two attacks. Its also funny how often players seem to forget that rule too. I watched in two different games players routinely forget how a 5 foot step works, and seemed shocked that they couldn't move 10 feet and fire a bow twice (and these were veteran players!).
Though I don't agree with every direction 5e has taken, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that the changes to movement are HUGE improvements. So much so that if I ever do go back and run a 3.5 again, I will houserule some version of it back in, because now having tasted the superior method, going back to the old way is almost unbearable.
I really cut my teeth on 3.0/3.5, having started my gaming career at the very end of the 2e era. And there were certain things I missed. However, there is one thing that 5e does that is so simple....and yet it is AMAZING how much difference and improvement it brings to the game. It is so incredibly powerful that I honestly found it hard to play without.
And that is..... the fluidity of movement.
The fact that 5e lets you move, do an action, and move again. The fact that you can move, attack, move, attack. The fact that you can manipulate an object for free, such as open a door while moving....it is literally game changing.
Playing 3.5/Pathfinder again, there are some things I miss. But man combat feels like your standing still, it is soooo rigid. The fact that you have to drop a weapon instead of putting it away because it would take a move action, you can't just pick up a weapon, you can't move ten feet and get two attacks. Its also funny how often players seem to forget that rule too. I watched in two different games players routinely forget how a 5 foot step works, and seemed shocked that they couldn't move 10 feet and fire a bow twice (and these were veteran players!).
Though I don't agree with every direction 5e has taken, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that the changes to movement are HUGE improvements. So much so that if I ever do go back and run a 3.5 again, I will houserule some version of it back in, because now having tasted the superior method, going back to the old way is almost unbearable.