D&D (2024) Unearthed Arcana Playtest Packet 6 Video

[UngainlyTitan]

I am still looking forward to it, even as I am disappointed at some of the things rolled back.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think the canary will be what wild shape looks like. If it's 2014 with errata, pact magic lives. If it's templates redone, pact magic is probably toast.


(Obviously, it's possible to split the difference, but the whole "sparks joy" test doesn't fill me with confidence either will get heavy revision).

From what they said about more spells being the single most requested change to warlocks, I can’t imagine a world where their spellcasting remains unchanged from the 2014 to 2024 PHB. But, I suspect (and hope) that they don’t alter their spellcasting structure too much. Just giving Warlocks an Arcane Recovery type feature that lets them get their spell slots back twice per day or something seems reasonable to me. Likewise with the druid, I think we’ll see a version of wild shape that still uses individual stat blocks instead of templates, but gives you a more limited number to choose from instead of pointing you to the MM.

 

[Pedantic]

I'm a little surprised about all subclasses moving to 3, as that doesn't resolve the Warlock Patron/Cleric Domain concern, which did seem to be driving some of the resistance to the changed progression in general. I'm wondering if they have some other solution to that in mind.

 

[Charlaquin]

To me its less the problem of harshness, it’s just that exhaustion is so hard for people to remember. I have dmed 5e for years and years now, yet I still have to reference that damn table everytime exhaustion is invoked.

I can definitely empathize with that. As-is, it’s definitely the kind of rule that you need a quick reference for, on the DM screen or on a condition card or something, and I do generally prefer designs that are easy to remember without need of such a reference. But the stacking -1s simply didn’t do it for me. And since exhaustion is so uncommon, I think needing a reference is acceptable, if not ideal.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I hope cleric gets a Domain of Beauty, but have be less of a manipulator, and more of a Muse, like dabbling in Bard, but with a more visual and religious angle, then audiotory.

Thoughts?

 

[Charlaquin]

i see where you are coming from but a long standing excuse is still an excuse.

If in 2003 I told you "I run late because my clocks are always off" and every time we meet and I am late I repeat that, in 2023 if you call it an excuse I can't go back and say "nah, I have been saying it since 2003"

But your clock running late is a problem, and an easily fixable one. UA playtest material requiring 70% satisfaction to get the greenlight is the system working as intended. We can certainly debate about whether that’s a good way for it to work (in fact, I would be on the side of “no, it isn’t”), but calling it an excuse is mistaking a feature for a bug.

 

[Stalker0]

And since exhaustion is so in common, I think needing a reference is acceptable, if not ideal.

I would argue that in common adventuring, exhaustion is actually quite rare, especially now that the frenzy barbarian is losing it.

 

[Charlaquin]

same... the fact that they didn't mention it scares me

Oh, I’m not worried about that. This packet is focused on revisiting the expert and priest classes. There will still be another pass on the warriors and mages, probably the one after this.

 

[Charlaquin]

I can't stand major class mechanics recharging on a 1-hour short rest. But if Pact Magic recharging was changed to be a shorter ritual with limited uses, or diminishing returns, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

That’s a solution I would find acceptable. It would at least maintain the same cadence as the 2014 warlock, while removing short rest reliance for the folks who have a problem with that.

 

[Amrûnril]

I continue to be annoyed by references to a single "D&D Multiverse" with canonically established cosmology. One of D&D's greatest strengths is that it can support an infinite variety of settings, yet the developers seem intent on pushing as many players as possible into the same one.

Regarding exhaustion, I think this is an illustration of the silliness of evaluating a choice between two options using an approval rating for only one of them. I also think exhaustion is a mechanic that merits more experimentation. In principle, I like the unique effects of the 2014 version more than the across the board numerical penalty of the UA version, but in practice, disadvantage on all ability checks makes the first level too harsh in the sort of exploration challenges where I most often want to use the mechanic.