[+] The things I like about D&D One Playtest, and the things I LOVE!

[Snarf Zagyg]

This is NOT going to be one of my giant, 20,000 word essays about the history you never wanted to know. Instead, it's a thread started.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A "PLUS" (+) THREAD. THAT MEANS I AM REQUESTING POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS ABOUT THE THREAD TOPIC.

There are approximately 394 threads right now about the D&D One Playtest materials, most of which have large numbers of people chiming in (or the same people repeatedly chiming in) with some version of, "I DUN WANNA," or "I DUN LIKIT."

Which is fine! People like what they like, and some people fear change (which makes them a bad choice to be a toll booth operator). That said, there's a lot of cool stuff out there! And since there are so many threads where people are able to discuss the things they don't like so much ... I thought I'd use this thread to exclusively discuss things that people do like!

So, what do you like ... or what do you LOVE about the playtest material, or about the announced direction of D&D One?

Since I am the thread starter, I'll start!

I really like the change and the renewed emphasis on backgrounds. Far too often, character creation was "Race, Class, Abilities." Putting a whole lot of emphasis on the background for cracter creation really allows you to tell your story- your character's background as part of the character creation process. Class and race are very deterministic ... very old fantasy. But backgrounds - that's a real choice!

Anyway, that's my initial impression. I'm throwing this out to the rest of you.

 

[Mezuka]

Elf lineage being able to cast one spell at level 3 and level 5 is very cool. Feels very 'Classic D&D' (and also, of course, a nod to LOTR).

 

[payn]

I am also encouraged by the continued work on backgrounds. Something that's been in RPG design for a long time, but has never really been fleshed out. I am hopeful that the trend will continue in the direction of making them more interesting choices for players.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Love the readability, using natural language, yes, but bolding the game terms and bullet points, making it easier to follow step-by-step.

The new condition(s) are also pretty great.

All-in-all, I feel many of the element presented in the playtest will favor quicker play at the table, meaning more actual time to have fun.

 

[WarDriveWorley]

Right now my biggest "pluses" are:

The new emphasis on backgrounds.
Making character creation more modular.
Some of the language simplifying aspects of the rules (example: the d20 test language).
The framework of the Ardlings.
Putting inspiration so it gets more love.
Some of the feat changes tweak my interest as well.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I too like the background thing. I also like the removal of Half Elves and the addition of actual Orcs. I always thought the whole Half-Orc always presented more problems than it fixed.

 

[billd91]

Though it is not my favorite idea for handling it, I do like putting the ASIs in a context (in this case, background) that encourages the player to synthesize why they're getting a +2 here, a +1 there other than "because it makes my prime stat higher".

 

[Nikosandros]

Inspiration on a 20 and share it if you already have it.
Levels for feats
Arcane, divine and primal spell lists

 

[TwoSix]

I like the use of "1dX+level" as a damage expression for Dragonborn breath weapon. It's roughly the same damage curve as "1dX, +1dX at levels 5, 11, 17" but is significantly less bumpy. I'm kind of wondering if cantrips will be changed to the same model in later packets.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

The amount they appear to be willing to change