D&D 5E Discussion

[deuxhero]

What's the best Gish for 5E? I've looked at all the options and they're all meh in some way.

 

[Lhynn]

Eldritch knight if you want it more physical oriented, pact of blade and/or hexblade if you want it more magically inclined. Sorcadins are also a pretty great option, so are sorlocks.

You are not going to get anything broken in core, everything has its advantages and disadvantages, a few subclasses fall behind a bit, but nothing is truly spectacular, not even 20 levels of wizard.

 

[deuxhero]

Problem is that EK has dick all for casting. Hexblade is beta/official homebrew.

How do you make a Sorcadin in 5E?

 

[Lhynn]

Ek has some of the best spells ever and enough casting to get by. In this edition a lot of spells are good all the way through.
Shield, blur, mirror image, absorb elements, protection from aligment, haste, fireball. Plus everything thats good on a fighter. Heavy armor, martial weapons, multiattacks, action surge which you can use to cast 2 spells. You get proficiency to constitution saving throws on top of that.

Sorcadins usually go paladin 2, 6 or 11, and the rest sorcerer. You will be able to smite the shit out of anything and everything while wearing heavy armor plus a ton of good spells. Its pretty glorious.

 

[deuxhero]

EK has good spells, but ultimately came down to "fighter with buffs" a lot.

Paladin 2/Sorcerer X seems more along the lines of what I wanted. All the ones I looked had had too little casting (EK, bladelock), almost no martial ability (Spellsinger, which I've seen described as being better off if you just used it to be a normal wizard with crazy defense), no abilities to really support using both on one character (Bard) or came online super late (most multiclass). Looks playable 1-20, quicken spell fixes the action economy, and smite is a solid ability to fuse the two.

 

[LeStryfe79]

Bladesingers might be good. Unfortunaty, my Forgetten Realms book is buried under too much trash in my room to check and make sure.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure a BS with the right feats would defeat a P/S. Extra attack, higher level spells, more spells...

 

[deuxhero]

Bladesinger is what I was supposed to be refering to when I mentioned they were better off played as a normal Wizard. I just forgot the name of it.

 

[J1M]

The SRD and OGL have been out for a while now. Have any 5e rpgs been announced?

(Yes I am aware this SRD was somewhat castrated compared to the 3.5 one.)

 

[Lhynn]

The SRD and OGL have been out for a while now. Have any 5e rpgs been announced?

(Yes I am aware this SRD was somewhat castrated compared to the 3.5 one.)

Nope.
Because of its unique mechanics its not an easy system to translate to a computer environment. Closest we got was sword coast legends, which became an reason to not release one i guess.

 

[J1M]

The SRD and OGL have been out for a while now. Have any 5e rpgs been announced?

(Yes I am aware this SRD was somewhat castrated compared to the 3.5 one.)

Nope.
Because of its unique mechanics its not an easy system to translate to a computer environment. Closest we got was sword coast legends, which became an reason to not release one i guess.

Shameful decline. Since we don't have one to look forward to, let's discuss your assertion.

What about 5e do you consider unique mechanics?

Which mechanics do you feel would be onerous to implement for a computer game? Why?

 

[DavidBVal]

The SRD and OGL have been out for a while now. Have any 5e rpgs been announced?

(Yes I am aware this SRD was somewhat castrated compared to the 3.5 one.)

Nope.
Because of its unique mechanics its not an easy system to translate to a computer environment. Closest we got was sword coast legends, which became an reason to not release one i guess.

Took you long enough to agree to this...

On the other hand a "5.3" system that combined the best from 5e (bounded accuracy, spell slots) and 3e (versatility) could be great for crpgs.

 

[Lhynn]

Took you long enough to agree to this...

On the other hand a "5.3" system that combined the best from 5e (bounded accuracy, spell slots) and 3e (versatility) could be great for crpgs.

I dont actually agree to this, its more like i dont think game devs are smart enough to resolve this issue.
Games like Monster Duel handle using cards on the enemy turn just fine, even in automatized systems, there are other examples of this as well, like the gambit system in final fantasy 12 that allows the player to go indepth into scripting party behavior (something akin could be used instead to modify the amount of feedback the game will ask from the player during an encounter). I just have 0 faith in game devs and believe them to be horrible at their jobs, no imagination, always going for the obvious but wrong solution, ignorant of what other games have done in the past.
Add to that that licensed games tend to be pretty lazy when it comes to expanding on pnp systems, instead simplifying them or changing them to something else and you just know they dont do it because they believe it cant be done.

 

[J1M]

A discussion of specific 5e examples would be interesting, if you have any.

 

[DavidBVal]

Took you long enough to agree to this...

On the other hand a "5.3" system that combined the best from 5e (bounded accuracy, spell slots) and 3e (versatility) could be great for crpgs.

I dont actually agree to this, its more like i dont think game devs are smart enough to resolve this issue.
Games like Monster Duel handle using cards on the enemy turn just fine, even in automatized systems, there are other examples of this as well, like the gambit system in final fantasy 12 that allows the player to go indepth into scripting party behavior (something akin could be used instead to modify the amount of feedback the game will ask from the player during an encounter). I just have 0 faith in game devs and believe them to be horrible at their jobs, no imagination, always going for the obvious but wrong solution, ignorant of what other games have done in the past.
Add to that that licensed games tend to be pretty lazy when it comes to expanding on pnp systems, instead simplifying them or changing them to something else and you just know they dont do it because they believe it cant be done.

It can be done, of course, but it would suck if done like the rules say. Do you really think it'd be fun to have to confirm if you want to add/subtract a d6 every single time a dice is rolled by you or enemies? you could half-ass a solution which automates the usage of that kind of powers, but it wouldn't be the same power then. Plenty of stuff can break the natural flow of the game, which would end up feeling cumbersome if unadulterated. Many things in 5e are universally good ideas, others are clearly only good when rolling physical dice in a pnp game.

And it's not just the round flow and interruptions, it's also the fact the game has been simplified so much. 3e was nightmarish slow to play in pnp due to complexity, endless modifiers, etc, but it worked well in cRPGs like TOEE or the NWNs series. It was fun to make crazy multiclassing and outrageous minmaxing, while 5e moves in a much smaller power scale, with a system designed to serve the roleplaying, not the other way around. Advantage/Disadvantage is an example of this. Great compromise to make bonuses not ruin the fun with half an hour of calculations, but a crpg does it without effort so I want my bonuses to stack, thanks.

Still, I'd like to see someone making a serious attempt.

 

[J1M]

I am not familiar with the 5e splat books, but from what I recall of the ruleset most of those "choices" have a provable best option. I think you raise a fair point about interrupts but that selecting obvious defaults for the player would go a long way.

I also think an xcom style dnd game would easily sidestep your concerns about the witcher.

 

[Lhynn]

It can be done, of course, but it would suck if done like the rules say. Do you really think it'd be fun to have to confirm if you want to add/subtract a d6 every single time a dice is rolled by you or enemies?

Can be made through the interface, you place your pointer on top of it and different modified versions of the skill are made avaialble, you select the one you want, with an extra d6, with superiority die, etc.

Plenty of stuff can break the natural flow of the game, which would end up feeling cumbersome if unadulterated.

Blanket statements are only accurate when i make them.

And it's not just the round flow and interruptions, it's also the fact the game has been simplified so much.

The simplification can be good in a cRPG enviroment, heck, as simple as it is its still more complex than underrail, HBS shadowrun, age of decadence and any number of rpgs released nowadays.

3e was nightmarish slow to play in pnp due to complexity

The problem wasnt the complexity, the problem with it was that it wasnt a game to be played with other people, it shat all over cooperation.

but it worked well in cRPGs like TOEE or the NWNs series.

I guess? ToEE gameplay came down to only combat, nwn at least had non combat gameplay, tho it was fairly shallow. cRPGs should be more than that.

It was fun to make crazy multiclassing and outrageous minmaxing, while 5e moves in a much smaller power scale, with a system designed to serve the roleplaying, not the other way around.

Crazy multiclassing can still be done, and minmaxing can still be a thing, it just doesnt make the whole game a lolrolfstomp. 3.5 was a shit system which sole entertainment value was exploiting it.

Still, I'd like to see someone making a serious attempt.

Indeed.

 

[Alchemist]

While I can see the appeal of using the current version of D&D because it's current and popular, I otherwise see no point in using it as a CRPG ruleset. This is assuming not getting an official D&D license, and let's face it - no decent indie developer is ever going to get the official D&D brand license. And the mainstream developers who can, have proven they don't know how to use it properly.

Me, I'm going to use a customized AD&D 1E (with maybe a few of the good 2E elements thrown in). The entire rules history of D&D is available in retro-clone OGL form, with endless variations: http://taxidermicowlbear.weebly.com/dd-retroclones.html

Pick one of those to build upon. If there are some 5E mechanics that seem they'd work well in a CRPG, just bolt them on.

 

[Spectacle]

New book coming:

Brings 2 new sublclasses for each existing class (except wizard) and new traps and shit for the DM. Maybe other stuff too.

 

[Irenaeus]

I want to buy it just for the cover.

 

[Mystary!]

Meh. I'm playing regularly, two groups, but what is there to discuss? The material is just optional.
I did buy Tales from the Yawning Portal thou but haven't had a chance to impliment any of it in the current campaigns, but will definitely give it a shot!

 

[Wayward Son]

I just don't play enough 5e to actually care about supplements atm.

 

[mediocrepoet]

So nobody gives a fuck anymore, eh? Three books coming out this year so far.

Three? The tavern one that was the compilation of old adventures, Xanathar's guide... what's the other one?

 

[mediocrepoet]

Ah I see, there's another 1-11 adventure coming out.

It's fine that they want to sell campaign books because reasons, but couldn't they at least vary the levels they're set for instead of making everything for 1-10?

 

[Sykar]

After many years I will join a new D&D group on saturday and our GM wants to play with the 5th edition. As a long time 2nd and 3(.5)rd ED player what are the major differences between 3.5 and 5?
A short run down so I get an idea would be nice if possible.

 

[Andhaira]

After many years I will join a new D&D group on saturday and our GM wants to play with the 5th edition. As a long time 2nd and 3(.5)rd ED player what are the major differences between 3.5 and 5?
A short run down so I get an idea would be nice if possible.

5e is basically a sequel to AD&D2e, taking the best elements of 3e/3.5e and cleaning up the system. No more little bonuses, subsystems, etc. Very easy to run and play. Best of all magic items are no longer mandatory, there are no magic item creation rules and it's the DMs choice when and if to gift players magic stuff. You no longer need magic weapons and the like to keep up with the math of the game. No enemy in the game is immune to anything anymore (i.e. flat DR and Immunity to non magical weapons is gone; replaced by Resistances)

The magic system this time around is fantastic; at least compared to what came before (and to Pathfinder). A lot of fun playing a Wizard now. Paladins are also great now; custom spell lists with actually powerful spells and spells unique to them alone; also they can cast starting from 2nd level.

OTOTH the skills have been way too simplified; feats have been collated way too much, and the system overall is a little too simplistic.