What a steaming pile of otyugh feces!

[triqui]

It's like a goblin. It's fun, but short, and I'm eager to see his bigger cousins later on.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Thusfar, I'd say 5e is kind of a mongrelfolk.

A little bit of everything, the final result being something that is less than the sum of its parts, mechanically suboptimal, but not unplayable.

 

[CleverNickName]

I feel like I wished for more wishes.

The first playtest gave me a lot of questions, and I wished for answers. How do I create characters? Why do halflings have more damage with slings? And so on. In response, they gave me a second playtest...but instead of answers, it only gave mes more questions. I am now stuck in a time loop, forever wishing for answers, and getting only questions.

 

[Grazzt]

I feel like Acererak the demi-lich in the original Tomb of Horrors right after he kills the last party member.....happy and content...but wanting more.

 

[SkidAce]

i feel like i wished for more wishes.

The first playtest gave me a lot of questions, and i wished for answers. How do i create characters? Why do halflings have more damage with slings? And so on. In response, they gave me a second playtest...but instead of answers, it only gave mes more questions. I am now stuck in a time loop, forever wishing for answers, and getting only questions.

42?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Deja Vu is what I got. Wow, 1e all over again! No thanks...

 

[M.L. Martin]

Feels like a zombie golem to me.

 

[Underman]

I can't help it, I feel like I've turned into a bit of a Schadenfreude monster... mu ha ha ha

 

[Thac0 the Barbarian]

Reading the playtest, I'm happy as a pack of kittens fighting a commoner. That is to say I might lose one or two things I like, but I'm assured of my eventual victory.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

Folks,

While it is okay to have a negative opinion, let us be clear - EN World isn't here as a venue to spew colorful negativity. If this isn't going to be a conversation with constructive criticism, it will get closed down.

So, go ahead and be colorful - but also include some meat and reasoning too, please and thanks.

Questions? Take 'em to e-mail or PM, please.

Should explain why, however, I felt getting a vote with such colorful text would be entertaining, my apologies.


Why do I not like it?

I feel like they took 4e (a game with great mechanics for what it does) and mixed it with Pathfinder (a game with great mechanics for what it does)

Clerics channel divinity?

I wonder where they got that idea

The wizard honestly does look fairly good, but the rogue looks useless compared to a fighter who doesn't get the fun stuff till later.

Armor?
When did studded leather become medium armor?
Weapons?
I know in 4e they only crited on a nat20, but I was hoping they'd fix that (I love my 19-20/x2 longswords, but I REALLY love my x3 battleaxes! rrraaawrg!)

Keeping the 'encounter level' stuff makes me mad, orcs may be best fought at 3rd level, but whenever I throw them at my group it's a fun challenge.

The 'specialties' things that replaced feats (or seemingly did) are just prestige classes, or acting similarly.

Enough hate, how I would fix things.

With the specialties, have them like feat trees, giving many more options, like 3 'chains'.
Using Dual-wielder as an example.
Have the universal chain, things like twf and improved twf.
The offensive chain, things like two weapon rend, double strike, abilities that use two weapons to make a more deadly attack
And lastly, the defensive chain: Two-Weapon defense, other abilities that increase your defensive capabilities.

thats just an example, and that would allow customization.

Again, the wizard in this feels better than 4e (just my opinion) but the fighter feels awkward (the stunts and whatnot make him harder to use than the wizard for beginners, at least what I've found, in that knowing what ability is good you have to take time.
Fighters don't need abilities, they're fighters!

The rogue feels like an attempt to be unique but failed, as the rogue scheme stuff feels cheesy. The thieves cant feels more like druids only being able to speak druidic, and with that said, the last thing I want are the two rogues in the party speaking in a secret language about how they're going to lock us in the dungeon and steal our treasure.
Now, I actually do like how they worded sneak attack, just going to put that out there.
Skill mastery seems like a fun attempt to make things go faster, but perhaps it should be a passive ability, meaning the rogue's ability modifier plus this skill mastery comes into effect if they roll, to keep the party guessing. I have used something similar with perception checks where if the player says where they're searching, they don't need to roll and if they're looking for something that isn't there, I just say 'you don't find any' (secret doors for instance) and they dont have to roll, so this ability would actually save time.

The Cleric.

Let's just take a moment to gather ourselves before I break into the cleric.

*deep breath*

Okay Wizards of the Coast, did you just give up?
Channel Divinity? That's the most original thing since movie remakes.

Religion as an ability, this is a good idea, however why only 1 of those lore?

Moradin, (dwarven deity) would know some Forbidden Lore (what nasty beasts plague the underdark the dwarven kingdoms are either in or near), Magical Lore (what enchantments to put on weapons), Planar Lore (I feel all clerics need an understanding of the cosmos, just as a default), or Religious Lore (why not lore of Moradin's practices or other deities you might need to know about?

Choosing one seems terrible.
Have the deity listed with a list of what Lore abilities they can get, sure a chart can be annoying, but it can really help with roleplay.


Races.

Seriously?
I died here.

1. they took out darkvision.
don't touch my darkvision, or I will cut you with a vorpal bastard sword.

2. only a +1? I get the other +1 comes from class, but this creates the cliche race/class combo more evident.

3. Forced subraces. I love subraces, I just like being able to choose for myself. I understand the point of them, but again, why can't I have a High Elf who grew up more dexterous as a 'rebellious child' to his Elven society? Or a wood elf who read more and thus lost his reflexes? Just saying....

4. Humans are terribly OP.




They have yet to really release any magical weapons, but if my flaming sword doesn't get that extra d6 of fire damage, I'm going to stop reading up the play tests. It was one of my biggest problems with 4e, a flaming sword is still a sword, and it is flaming, it needs to do more damage.



Magic Missile being a cantrip?
I can actually get down with that, the wizard can finally do more, BUT, the fighter seems less...fighty...with that. I love playing the wizard who needs a big strong muscley fighter to protect me from those mean ol' big monsters! (sexual innuendo intended)

The bestiary is mostly okay, although I did mention the "Encounter Level" built in. Any game that does that makes me mad, I know what my party can fight, not you Mr. Book.




That's all for now, I hope that gave enough reason as to why I feel the way I do.