As I've said before, I'm unlikely to play it, but I can still take a deeper look at the free version. Today, just a few impressions from a brief glance.
First, it is really nice to have a free version available.
I think the system looks a bit better and crunchier. Lots of additional options in the PHB.
Some obvious errors such as darkness/concealment didn't get corrected.
Apparently the "outlander" background is no more, which I found odd; please correct me if I'm wrong.
Also it seems now certain classes are "forced" into certain backgrounds, but you can pick any race/species as they no longer affect abilities. Dwarves, halflings and humans have the same speed now.
The martial classes get some much-deserved toys to play with. But there are no significant improvements.
For example, this style was already bad and they've made it WORSE:
Great Weapon Fighting
Fighting Style Feat (Prerequisite: Fighting Style Feature)
When you roll damage for an attack you make with a Melee weapon that you are holding with two hands, you can treat any 1 or 2 on a damage die as a 3. The weapon must have the Two-Handed or Versatile property to gain this benefit.
This one was sub-par and now it is mandatory for anyone with the soldier background (which seems to be the go-to "martial" background):
Savage Attacker
Origin Feat
You've trained to deal particularly damaging strikes. Once per turn when you hit a target with a weapon, you can roll the weapon's damage dice twice and use either roll against the target.
Of course, the combination of these two bad traits makes them EVEN WORSE, as savage attacker makes it less likely that you will apply your meager damage bonus form GWF.
They are probably assuming you will compensate in other ways (other feats, for example).
The fighter is slightly improved.
I wrote extensively about 5e weapons and armor before (if you care about this stuff, check these links), so I'll add a couple of extra comments on that.
The armor types are still a headache for OCD players, with some light armor being heavier than some medium armor, etc.
The weapon properties are a cool addition. But they make combat a bit more complicated and are not particularly sensible. I prefer my own.
The longsword and the mace have the same "sap" trait, for example. The shortsword (and many other weapons with the "vex" trait) curiously seem to only function if you have more than one attack, which is odd. The greatclub is still basically useless because quarterstaff - but at least it has a function (pushing people). The pike still weights 18 lb with the same reach as the 6 lb glaive.
But, overall, I give them props for trying.
"Light" and "Heavy" weapons still mean big and small, regardless of weight.
Muskets and pistols are part of the weapon list, no longer optional DM stuff.
Crafting rules: nice and simple but also seem to indicate everyone who can craft anything makes 5 gp a day, so they can all afford a "wealthy" lifestyle. Otherwise they can probably save enough money to get a "wish" spell in a big city once every few decades, which is interesting but not game-breaking. OTOH raise dead costs only 2500 gp - a couple of years of saving money and living in modest conditions.
The bloodied condition from 4e is back, which is nice.
Overall, this is not what I'm looking for. I'm a bit flabbergasted by the number of small problems I could find in a brief glance.
However, I'm still curious about the system and other people's impressions. Did they improve the ranger, monk and barbarian? Are spells significantly different? Did they fix or break anything else? What else do you like or dislike? Let me know in the comments!
Savage Attacker seems unchanged from 2014, except in wording.
ReplyDeleteYup, it is the same.
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