Sorry for the PM folks but I can't take the bullcrap Ulminati is spouting in the D&D 5e thread.
This is perhaps the best edition of D&D. Many of his points are after just skimming the PHB, it's very clear he hasn't really read it. Also, he has an agenda and a preconceived notion of the game.
For instance, this game runs faster than 3e. Hit points for PCs are the same, except Wizards and Sorcs who get a d6 HD. Damage is also either the same, or greater. I have no idea where he is getting the higher hp and lower damage crap from.
The advantage/disadvantage mechanic is designed to greatly expedite play and reduce bookkeeping.
Furthermore, martial PCs like Paladins/Rangers/Barbs get only a max of 2 attacks per round at level 20, special abilities from subclasses aside unlike 3e and PF where all fighting classes get 4 attacks by level 20. However, damage dealt by PCs is just as high or higher due to bounded accuracy (meaning you will mostly hit with your attacks, unlike 3e and PF where you mostly whiff after the first attack due to the massive -5 to each attack after the first as well as high ACs of same level CR enemies) and also the special abilities and spells of classes. The Paladin for instant (which is a GREAT class this time around, unlike 3e) can unload Smites AND special smite spells in the same round. The damage for his smites depends on which level spell slot he burns. The spell smite damage also depends on which level spell it is. Furthermore, the smite is only expended/spell slot burned if the attack hits. This allows the Paladin to unload massive damage in a single round AND that attack WILL hit.
The above greatly reduces bookkeeping also as well as has less dice rolled, resulting in faster combat.
Spellcasters: Casting spells in D&D and it's variants has never been better or more fun and fulfilling. No more Wizard memorizing useless spells. Now, Wizards and Sorcs 'prepare' a certain number of spells depending on ability mod and class level. Then they can cast these spells using their limited spell slots. It's kind of like the 3e sorceror, except you can prepare many more spells/have more spells known and you have more spell slots to cast them with than the 3e sorceror. So now you can prepare cool utility spells like Hold Portal and Featherfall without feeling like you are just wasting a memorization slot or spell known slot for a spell you will hardly ever use.
Furthermore, this time around all spells are ALWAYS useful. This is because every spell of any level can be cast using a higher level slot to have a much greater effect. Magic Missile at level 1 slot casts 3 missile of 1d4+1 damage each. For each higher level slot burned instead of the first level slot the wizard casts 1 additional missile. If the wizard burns a 3rd level slot he fires off 5 missiles (and yes that is one less 3rd level slot he could use for fireball. But he can cast fireball using a 4th level slot if he wants to do more damage, etc) If the Wizard burns a 9th level slot to cast MM he launches 11 missiles! Nearly every single spell of the Wizard/Sorc/Warlock/Druid/Cleric can be enhanced this way. Some Paladin and Ranger spells can also be enhanced this way. Pally and Ranger get mostly unique spells though (the ranger has kind of an Arcane Archer spell list this time around, which is kinda weird but hey. RA Salvatore is likely banging his head against a wall though
) This also means only one spell of a type be needed to be prepared, like a Cleric only needs one cure spell at level 1 to be prepared, and can then cast it using any level slot to get a higher effect. Also, the prepared spells can be of any level, you could prepare only spells of levels 8 and 9 if you wished.
There are interesting 'balance' mechanics they used to tone down spell casters this time around. For instance, they get more lower level slots, but less higher level slots. Only 1 level 9 spell slot, for instance. But level 9 spells are game changers, like Wish. However, while this is good for letting martial classes shine too instead of a wizard cleaning up the battlefield every time, this results in more flavorful utility and creative uses of magic, which is something I
really like. Spells like the aforementioned
Hold Portal for example. No one bothered to memorize or learn it in 3e/Pathfinder, but this time you can have your Wizard/Sorc/Warlock have it always prepared in case you ever need to use it. And yes, Wizards can swap out their prepared spells via their spellbooks.
Wizards have the greatest number of spells known due to spellbooks, and unique school specializations. School specs actually mean something this time, a Necormancer Wizard is actually, for the first time, a better Necromancer than the Cleric. Finally. Sorcerers get metamagic they apply on the fly. They are the only ones to get metamagic. They also get heritages (aka bloodlines like the Draconic Heritage) Both have identical # of spell slots.
Also spellcasters can only have one persistent spell effect at a time due to the great new 'Concentration' mechanic. No more buffing the party before every battle, now a single spell caster can only have 1 buff active at any time. This applies to not just buffs but any spells requiring concentration, like a summoning spell or stoneskin, etc.
And cantrips, cantrips are awesome. And at will. And they are the only spells to scale with level automatically, so you always have those to fall back on and can do decent damage at any level. No more will your powerful archmage resort to plinking away with a crossbow, or a fucking sling.
Feats you get much fewer this time around but each feat is worth 3 feats of 3e. A feat is a character changer, each feat defines something about the character. In a sense, a combat oriented feat can be like a combat style for a character. Some feats are basically mini Prestige Classes of 3e (Arcane Archer for instance was a feat in the playtest, it didn't make it in the PHB but I think they will show it in a future splat)
Races are very well done. No more negatives, no more ECLs. And they give lots of options. Some special abilities of the more powerful races come into play at higher levels and that's pretty cool. Much better than retarded ECLs. I do miss 4e racial feats though. I also like how the races are not completely balanced, the Tiefling for instance is the most powerful race in terms of raw power. Appropriate IMO that a race descended from demons and with demon blood should be more powerful than a fucking hobbit (halfling). All races are cool though.
There is much more emphasis on lore now. Classes have their own lore instead of just descriptions. There are backgrounds, which are full of flavor and offer useful non combat abilities/skills/tool proficiencies. While I do wish background special abilities were more...well deeper and influential, I do admire that no background ability will ever have a direct combat related bonus. It's pretty cool and encourages even min maxing munchkins to think a bit about how their character fits into the world, and where he/she comes from.
Paladins are AWESOME. Finally. This can't be stressed enough. They are out of the Fighter's and Cleric's shadow and their own thing now. (They were super cool in 4e too, but of course 4e is a completely different beast.)
Reliance on magic items is gone. The math no longer assumes any magic items, so the ones you do get are bonuses. Thus MA are supposed to be rare, and you can play without any magic items at all at any level. (haven't tested this yet though)
Complete Immunities to weapons are gone. Finally. They are replaced by resistances. So a creature could have resistance to edged weapons, meaning swords do half damage against them. Same with spells. Spell resistance no longer grants complete immunity to magic, your spells just have disadvantage. Resistance to specific elements like Fire means fire spells do half damage. Powerful creatures like Dragons have multiple resistances....but they can still be hurt by mundane weapons. So it does seem to strongly imply you don't need magic weapons, you can play low magic Black Company type campaigns.
No idea about potion spamming, as potions and wands will be in the DMG that hasn't come out yet.
Dragons no longer cast spells!! Just like in 4e. This is a great change from 3e and PF, as dragons being super sorcerers in addition to being immensly strong and having a powerful breath weapon and super spell resistance was always retarded. Also creatures like Dragons have Lair actions, and regional lair actions. So a red dragon could cause a mini volcano to erupt in it's lair, or the entire land around the lair of an ancient red dragon could subtly shift to suit the red dragon. very thematic and flavorful. I love it.
Anyhow, that's enough for now. There is plenty I haven't covered. Suffice to say 5e is fast, fun and efficient to run. Much better than 3e and PF. This is the most playtested version of D&D ever, with more than 2 years of massive public playtesting that was open to anyone and everyone in the world for free. That's why you will only get a good grasp of how the game play if you actually
play, since more than any edition it is designed to be played and not just read. Things you don't get while reading or you think are too gamey will make much more sense when you actually play the damn game. (like why does the Fighter and the Wizard have the same proficiency aka attack/skill/save bonus?) Also, the monster manual hasn't even been released yet!
Please one of you post this in the D&D5e thread since I am still banned from posting in the forums, just so Ulminati doesn't chase anyone from playing a fine game!
