D&D 5E Things I Miss From Older Playtest Packets

[nightwalker450]

I miss wizards having to roll dice (everything is saving throw now)
Skills that were broad and not tied to an ability (evidently we all do)
Large pool of maneuvers to choose from for fighters (now it's just pick 1 damage, and 1 AC.. etc)
Feats that had to be tied to a Theme for purpose (Now we have to sort through a list of fighter/thief/wizard class abilities to find actual themed feats)
Shield being listed on the weapons table (Now you can spend 2 gold less and have a spiked shield that is...)

 

[Klaus]

I wonder if the "dissociated skills" model is a more direct descendant from 1e/2e's Secondary Skills. Instead of narrow skills, you have broader ones, that might cover a variety of tasks.

Instead of Climb, you'd have Mountaineering (which covers not only climbing things, but also survival in mountains, walking without slipping through scree, etc), for instance.

 

[Klaus]

Shield being listed on the weapons table (Now you can spend 2 gold less and have a spiked shield that is...)

To me, "Shield" would be listed in the weapons table, with the "Defensive +2" quality (meaning it adds +2 to AC).