So, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edtion, Hmm...

[woodwardiocom]

My policy is to skip the even-numbered editions of D&D, so I picked up the new Player's Handbook when it came out. It's similar at its core to 3rd. For those of you only familiar with 3rd, I thought I'd lay out what I noticed. Corrections welcome. Anyone interested in this topic probably already knows this stuff, but I want to lay it for my own sake, too.

• Everyone gets a proficiency bonus, which starts at +2 at level 1, and goes up to +6 by level 20, same for all classes.
• This replaces base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, and skill points.
• You get the prof. bonus when using weapons you are proficient in, skills you are proficient in, or saves you are proficient in, which is determined mostly by class, and partly by things like race, feats, etc.
• Feats are optional. If the DM is using feats, anytime you're eligible for an ability score increase, you can take a feat instead.
• So, practically all rolls are d20+relevant ability bonus+prof. bonus.
• Strength is the relevant ability for melee (usually), Dexterity is relevant for ranged attacks (usually).
• Skills are tied to a particular ability, but the DM can change that up under certain circumstances.
• All saving throws are now just described in terms of what ability you use to make the save, skipping the intermediate step of Fortitude/Reflex/Will. So, technically, you now have six different kinds of saves instead of three, but it's actually simpler.
• Any type of resistance to damage means you take half damage against that type. This is the only way to be resistant to damage.
• Any type of vulnerability to damage means you take double damage against that type.
• In some situations, you will have advantage or disadvantage on some rolls. Advantage means you roll twice and take the best, disadvantage means you roll twice and take the worst. (Advantage does not stack, disadvantage does not stack, and if they both apply, they cancel out.)
• As near as I can tell, for skills and saves you're not proficient in, you never improve without specifically applying a feat or something.
• The basic movement rules are gridless, but work fine with a grid.
• Everything not mentioned here is also simplified. The combat rules are only 10 pages.

On the whole I think I like it. I'm not going to switch from Pathfinder (D&D 3.5ish), but it's a very nice simplification, and also very easy to make as much more complicated as you want. To me, a software engineer, it feels like the result of a really good refactoring of code, where you get halfway through the job and suddenly things just start falling away as no longer necessary, leaving an elegant core. It might be too simple, but that's a much better place to start.

Comments

[theloriest.livejournal.com]

I haven't played D&D since advanced D&D, and the group I just joined is using 5. So far I quite like it. For someone who hasn't played in a very long time it makes a lot of sense to my brain and I'm able to follow along easily as I pick up the nuances. Also, I think this is the first edition where being a Bard can really be quite a lot of fun. (Why yes, that is what I am playing.)

[drwex]

Thanks for the review, I doubt I'll switch, but this sounds like what I'd use if I was to start DMing for kids.

[katkt.livejournal.com]

Now that we've had a chance to see the PHB, I just got together with some friends yesterday and did a playtest. Two things I'd add to your list:

Like you said, pretty much all rolls are d20+ability bonus+prof. bonus. The prof. bonus ranges from +2 at level 1 to +6 at level 20, so the difference (in terms of their rolls) between a low level character and a high level character is much less than in most games. It felt like the d20 randomness was (by design) mostly swamping any character skill/proficiency. (moreso than previous versions)

And it felt to me like they did a great job of encouraging (and enabling) some real characterization. I know it got a couple people in my group who mostly just "roll play" to present an interesting character - largely just by having the hooks written down in the character creation process, and a couple interesting examples. That, and the module that came with the "Starter Set" seems to be quite well done.

[pyxibud.livejournal.com]

I like your strategy; I don't much care for 4.