D&D 5E Unexpected but (mostly) awesome new rules in Basic

[doctorhook]

Corellon's androgyny is "modern?" Naw, he's ancient. Wasn't he always that way? He was that way in 2E, if not earlier.
We're up to 5E now. That's no kind of "progress" -- it's the "same as it ever was."

Yep. Corellon has been androgynous since his/her inception, the original DDG.

The modern and progressive part of this isn't Corellon's androgyneity, it's the fact and manner that WotC decided to draw attention to it.

By itself, Corellon's androgyneity merely represents androgynous figures of mythology and the ambiguous sexual nature of elves in contemporary fantasy fiction. By presenting it in the "sex" section of 5E character creation, it presents a clear and upfront precedent for androgynous characters in D&D. Rather than ignoring the question of sexually ambiguity, 5E's character creation process takes the more courageous route of explicitly noting that heroic characters can be any degree of sex- and gender-nonconformist without game penalty.

Experienced D&Ders will note how profoundly unnecessary to gameplay this discussion is. Players have always been creating whatever sorts of characters they like, and few players have needed to reference the rules regarding sex and gender. On that topic, my copy of the 3.5E Player's Handbook reads, "Your character can be either male or female," and my 4E Player's Handbook only says, "Male or female?" in a section about character appearance. For 5E, WotC obviously opted to err on the side of explicit inclusion, and my opinion is that that's a good thing.

Personally, I would like to believe the bit about the ability of the writing to head off uncomfortable discussions -- that would be great! -- but I have seen too many uncomfortable discussions continuing on for a hundred pages or more, despite and in the face of written attempts to head them off.
(When the wild horse of discourse takes the bit in its teeth. . . .)

Nothing can guarantee to stop stupid people from arguing on the internet or around a dinner table. WotC has headed-off some uncomfortable discussions by giving clear guidelines for what's acceptable in D&D, but it's still up to DMs and players whether or not to follow them.

 

[ppaladin123]

One thing that caught my eye is the Shield spell is now a Reaction lasting a only round instead of instead of tens of minutes or even hours. That's ... kinda cool.

A big part of the way I imagine wizard battles came from comics in my youth like Doctor Strange, where glowing discs of energy are quickly summoned to block the enemy's mystic bolts. This fits that vision perfectly.

I wholeheartedly approve of this change.

That is something they took from 4e....shield was a utility spell that worked as an immediate interrupt.

There are lots of little pieces of 4e crunch and 4e style/philosophy scattered throughout the game even if 5e resembles pre-4e more closely.

 

[Agamon]

Well, so long as one only casts it on creatures that are *not* humanoids, it should be perfectly kosher.

That's true.

Mind you, basic rules don't (yet) have stats for zombies.

No, but they are in the starter, so we know what they'll look like when they do get into Basic.

 

[E. Tallitnics]

Considering how many months it took us to find a DM, that's not likely. San Francisco is such a paradox of 'tons of geeks, tons of gamers, DMs... hello, DMs...?' *crickets*

I'm a DM in SF, but live in a tiny apartment and therefore can't host games.

I've encountered players, but never any willing to host the game.

A classic Catch-22!

 

[drjones]

There are lots of little pieces of 4e crunch and 4e style/philosophy scattered throughout the game even if 5e resembles pre-4e more closely.

I agree with that, one of my players who did not follow the beta was like "They totally backtracked on 4e!" but when you look closely there are still a lot of touches in there particularly in the 'work day' rules (cantrips, spell slots, short rests etc.) It really looks like they tried to take the best of every edition.

 

[Umbran]

Corellon's androgyny is "modern?" Naw, he's ancient. Wasn't he always that way? He was that way in 2E, if not earlier.
We're up to 5E now. That's no kind of "progress" -- it's the "same as it ever was."

The progress is the clear, unambiguous, and public statement by the company, "You don’t need to be confined to binary notions of sex and gender."

Will it stop all people from having issues at the table? Of course not. But the company taking an moment to actively make an explicit inclusion is new. In the past, inclusion was passive, by way of silence (and the existence of a single androgynous deity is still effectively silence) doesn't stop you, but it doesn't make a stand, either.

If you don't see that as progress... I'll go get a statement from a transgender player I know, and maybe you can learn a bit from it.

 

[Particle_Man]

I'm a DM in SF, but live in a tiny apartment and therefore can't host games.

I've encountered players, but never any willing to host the game.

A classic Catch-22!

Sometimes game stores allow people to play rpgs in the evenings after the stores are closed. You could ask around, maybe?

 

[Talath]

Perhaps sleeping in armor could mean that that character only gains the benefits of a short rest, instead of a long one.

I would rule two things. 1) the character wearing armor doesn't get the benefit of a long rest. Maybe a short rest. 2) they get a level of fatigue for not getting a full nights sleep.

Watch then accrue a few levels of fatigue and watch them sing a different tune.

 

[Talath]

Considering how many months it took us to find a DM, that's not likely. San Francisco is such a paradox of 'tons of geeks, tons of gamers, DMs... hello, DMs...?' *crickets*

I'm a DM in SF, but live in a tiny apartment and therefore can't host games.

I've encountered players, but never any willing to host the game.

A classic Catch-22!

That's the most frustrating thing about this city. I tried finding some players for classic D&D for a long time , but no cigar. Finally joined with a group playing LotFP, but the DM is moving and has a new baby on the way, so that's kinda fallen apart.

 

[Remathilis]

I would rule two things. 1) the character wearing armor doesn't get the benefit of a long rest. Maybe a short rest. 2) they get a level of fatigue for not getting a full nights sleep.

Watch then accrue a few levels of fatigue and watch them sing a different tune.

You could also rule that sleeping in armor doesn't allow you to recover hit dice.