The Playtest: How extensive will it be?

[Savage Wombat]

I'm just hoping it's an actual rule packet, and not simply a "here's all you need to run this adventure and tell us how great it is" doc.

 

[Ratskinner]

I think we'll be disappointed, but not because of that, we'll be disappointed because we're going to start with "The Core", and that movie sucked.

Okay, what I really mean, is that all the additional modules like grid combat and such are not going to be parts of the initial playtest. For one good reason, 5e needs to have a solid core for all these modules. But, that means we're going to be playing a very simplistic and stripped down game for a bit, and that may not make for the most enjoyable play, depending on your tastes.

Hey, if that's what it takes....I'm all in.

When I think about it, I'd rather have that than people being "forced" to adjudicate rules modules that they despise. That is, the people who do the playtesting on the "tactical grid" module(s) should be the ones who care about it most. Same with psionics, etc. I'm perfectly willing to temporarily forgo some of my favorite tweaks to make sure the core works and works well.

 

[rjfTrebor]

i'm going to predict that the first playtest packet will be all about the croe of the game, with little focus on anything else.

pregens are likely and they'll probably be rough versions of the four core classes. i'll even propose that they'll be: human fighter, dwarf cleric, halfling rogue, and elf wizard.

i'm probably wrong and i have no real reason to support any of this, but that doesn't usually stop people on the internet.

 

[tlantl]

I'm hoping the play test will be ongoing. As each milestone of the game is reached we'd be able to test out the rules for the modules as they are ready and play the characters through the tiers (god I hate that structure element) and be given the chance to break the game. The way I see it, all D&D games fall apart in the upper levels. I'd like the most effort to be spent on this aspect of the game. I kind of hate having to end a campaign because the system fails.

It's bad enough that once the players have a certain number of hit dice they become invincible to the ordinary inhabitant of your world, but when it takes over an hour to complete a simple fight or the rewards for victory are meaningless the fun just goes out of it. When 90% or the opponents in the world pose no threat or the casters dominate the game or the more mundane classes feel irrelevant then the system is stretched to thin. This is worse when there are still ten or fifteen levels left to earn.

 

[GX.Sigma]

Last month they said they had to figure out high level play before making the playtest widely available. I think it'll be all the levels.