D&D 5e Basic Rules released

[Jewels!]

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/rpg.aspx

And they are free to download.

At least, I think this is the new 5e ruleset, all the books are coming later this year.

[LordZeke]

i saw that earlier... anyone know where a good comparison on what is changing in this revision might be found?

[torilen]

It looks like the attempted to mix 3.5 ed with 4th ed. They did a pretty good job of getting rid of the horribleness
of 4th, while keeping some of the good design and presentation. They simplified things a bit, taking it back to
basic D&D (basic, companion, expert, etc.), but still have a lot of complications from 3.5 and 4th.

They did simplify some of the class characteristics, and this starter download offers a very simple spell list, which
is nice.

I don't know what the monsters will look like, nor do I know whether the actual player's guide will complicate things
more than shown in the download. We'll see.

So far, from looking at the download, I'm somewhat interested, but not enough to spend $45+ on each book in order
to play. I'll stick with heroquest, my own personal game system, and basic D&D.

[Teldurn]

getting rid of the horribleness of 4th,

4e isn't horrible. Each edition had their good and bad. No single edition is better or worse than another one.

I downloaded this pdf a few days ago but haven't had a chance to go through it yet, so I can't talk about it yet. But when I do, I will try to give an objective comparison that LordZeke was asking for.

In the meantime, check out the disclaimer in tiny print on the first page!

[Jewels!]

In the meantime, check out the disclaimer in tiny print on the first page!

Welp, thanks for SPOILING OUR FIRST ADVENTURE, Hasbro

[Malcadon]

I have not read the rules fully. So far it is way better than 4e. Bonus points for not including Wayne Reynolds in the art credits.

Unlike the 4e chargen, it does not fell like I'm being forced to play one type of archetype with each class. As a Fighter, I'm not reduced to playing a fully-armor meat-shield -- I can focus on archery, dual wielding, two-handed fighting, and so on. The Personal Characteristics (Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws) are a nice touch; helping players round-out the character's personality, that can easily be discarded like Alignment in my own games. If they removed Alignment as a major rule component (e.g. Protection form Evil and Smite Evil being built around evil intent, then just the subjects' Alignment), then that would be a huge plus for me. All-and-all, the game seems to be geared more towards easy, open-ended game-play that still makes old-school D&D still enjoyable.

The project lead seems to be Mike Mearls. I know this guy form a number of OD&D (Original D&D) forums, and he his a Grognard. Hopefully, his experience with the game since it's early days would help to make the enjoyable to fans young and old alike.

The "Additional consultations" seems to be a few D&D novel (which I'm not a fan of) and/or supplement writers, as well as some iconic bloggers like Zak S. form Playing D&D With Porn Stars (the name is only ironic in that the players are actual porn stars and not just some joke about the fandom) and the infamous RPGPundit (like Zak S., he is a bit of an ass, but he has a lot of great ideas).

I don't know what the monsters will look like, nor do I know whether the actual player's guide will complicate things
more than shown in the download. We'll see.

An image search found this:


I have no idea if this is official or not. It it is, its not bad for it's simplicity. Hopefully, the would include additional useful DM info on stuff like Typical Treasure/Possessions, Typical Organization, etc., as this looks a little bare.

[torilen]

Two things I've noticed:
1 - It seems like everyone/everything is given an automatic + bonus on various actions. Shown on the kobold stats,
it gets a +1 for the spear and a +3 to the javelin. Why? Why does everything have to have an automatic bonus? I do
NOT like that, so far...unless I am just reading it wrong somehow.

2 - They have given damage and hit point creation and such things a die to roll (1d6, 1d8+2, etc), but then they offer
a set base for the die roll. For example, the fighter in the basic rules you can download - they say they fighter gets 1d8
for his hit points. For first level it reads 1d8 (or 5) + CON bonus for hit points. I know most GMs will allow their players to
reroll their hit points if a die roll comes up less than 1/2. Personally, I've never liked that idea.

I think I like that they offer the die roll AND the set base number. It could make things easier in the long run, especially for
monsters. Perhaps they have playtested things enough to know that a certain base score for monsters hit points and damage
work best??? We'll see.

[IvenBach]

I'm willing to look at it. D&D has lost a lot of fans and with 4th edition they really dropped the ball (in my opinion). It's a new generation they are aimed towards as you always need to bring in new gamers. Never tried 4th since it looked all sorts of nassty when I saw it. Hope they have some success with this.

Sidenote: If anyone is interested in D&D material I have all kinds of good 3rd edition and a few 4th pdf's. Send me PM in interested.

[Teldurn]

I seem to be the only 4e fan on this whole forum and whenever I go out and try to defend it I feel like I'm sounding like an apologist, which is not true at all. The system is good for what it can do, which is two things. 1) a highly tactical combat with lots of dynamic and synergistic options and 2) opening up the D&D brand to a new, younger generation of gamers just getting into the tabletop realm with an approachable system that won't feel too alien to them to learn. Grognards complained 4e was like World of Warcraft. I don't know how this is a bad thing. It just got a 12 year old kid interested in tabletop RPGs and that's a win any day.

[LordZeke]

i never really played any of them other than neverwinter nights for the PC which i believe was based on 3.5. I really like the DnD adventure board games (Ravenloft, Ashardalon, Drizzt), which i think are loosely based on 4e.