D&D Next - Jay's Review

In the far-flung provinces of an expansive kingdom, far from the protection or even notice of the royal legions, a mining town is plagued by raiders. Orcs and other creatures not seen in hundreds of years prey upon caravans with impunity. The local leaders, tired of waiting for help from the capital, offer any wandering adventurers a high price to end the attacks. The only lead they have is a report that roving bands have been seen entering a ravine in the region. A series of tunnels carved into the cliffsides in days long gone conceal dangers unknown. They are the Caves of Chaos.

"This is unacceptable. So very disorderly."

Cheesy, sure, but I had some surprises prepared in the event that the characters got far enough to get into the whole backstory thing. They didn't, but as I said before, I didn't have high hopes for the playtest.

That is not to say that I didn't have a good time playtesting the new rules. I'm not crazy about them, but we played a straightforward, hacky-slashy sort of game and got a few Friends (and Widows) of the Kegasus involved for once. We had a good time. It was nice and casual. we could joke and get distracted instead of worrying about medieval-fantastic politics and macroeconomics. The players really just needed to bash in some goblin skulls.

And bash they did.

Sweet Pelor, the players are powerful at first level. They're not the juggernauts they are in 4th edition, but they're still a lot more capable than I expected.

The halfling rogue has a lot of potential. It's hard to say just how effective this class can be from our game because that player had the double disadvantage of suffering terrible luck with the dice and being a total coward. Still, the ability to hide behind almost anything, added to the ability to use the game's powerful "advantage" system when hidden makes a potentially lethal combination. On top of all that, it turns out a small-sized sling now does more damage than a full-sized crossbow did in edition 3.5.

Super Runaway!

The advantage/disadvantage system was something I actually liked. It's elegant and simple yet tactile in a refreshing way for a game in which every possible modification is historically reflected by another plus one or two to the die roll. Whenever you have advantage, you roll two dice and take the higher result, when you have disadvantage, you take the lower. This mechanic is worked nicely into class skills like the rogue's sneak attack.

The dwarf cleric of Moradin worked well enough, but was more of a traditional paladin. One thing I enjoyed was the way the spell "healing word" broke up the natural flow of the character's turn. The cleric could really be a clutch player, rushing from the rear (on his stubby little legs) to join in the battle, dealing melee damage while healing another player in the same turn. This was the class I liked best, I think. The defender skill, which allowed the player to increase his allies' ACs with his shield was a fun way to encourage teamwork and I was glad that our player was very concerned with getting a lot out of it.

A big difference between the 3rd edition we usually play and the new rules is the way a turn works. While you had more options for a turn before, you can now only move and do one thing - with a few exceptions of course. It seemed easier and faster to take a turn when you had fewer options and it was even more satisfying when the exception to the rule was something that made complete sense. The spell "Healing Word" is just a word, he can conjure something like that while moving or fighting, obviously.

The fighter. Honestly, I don't have much to say about the dwarf fighter right now. It's all fine other than the fact that there are some weird calculations going on here and that the fighter always deals damage. As in always, even if he misses. The new fighters deal a small amount of damage even if they fail the hit roll.

Even with a crossbow.

Ok, ok I get it. When you roll a d20 to make an attack, and you don't meet or exceed the target's AC, you're not necessarily missing. Most attacks are done with the strength modifier, so you're not just trying to make contact, you're trying to overpower your foe and penetrate any armor they may be wearing. A brash and strong fighter will always bash and bruise you, I get it.

But with a crossbow?

To be fair, it was probably just an oversight. The word "melee" was missing from the description of the class feature. I can get down with the automatic damage, as it is structured to become less and less valuable as the players and enemies level up. I cannot, and will not get down with a crossbow that hits when it misses.

In my previous post I mentioned how much I hated the powers dynamics in the 4th edition. I have my reasons, and they are rooted both in gameplay dynamics and storytelling logic and if you disagree with them, you're wrong and also you should go to hell.

Well, both the cleric of Pelor and the high elf wizard have what the game calls "minor spells" or "orisions" which are the same as the "at-will powers" in 4th edition. Basically, they get to shoot magic every turn without penalty - as easily as you could swing a sword. Since I've already described why I don't like this dynamic, I'll let someone else speak for me in this situation.

To be clear, I don't dislike everything I saw in the D&D Next playtest. There is a solid game here, but then the character classes come along and do their best to wreck it.

I like that combat is streamlined. We played a full encounter - or more - longer than we would have with D&D 3.5 and that's a good thing. You shouldn't have to spend all night on one fight.

Despite the inflation issues with damage and hit points, (not for the monsters, though, a problem that gave the playtest material a very thrown-together feel), the game appears to have its head in the right place. It's trying to make D&D combat more elegant by borrowing from miniature strategy games.

I guess my biggest sticking point is the constant magic casting. Maybe I stand alone here. Maybe I'm the only one who wants the cleric and wizard to be more than an archer. After the game, Eric and Ryan pointed out that their wizard characters had far fewer spells beyond those minor spells and they felt that the general power level of a wizard was unchanged.

That may be. We honestly didn't play long enough to see that through. However, when we called it a night, they had both used up their more powerful spells and would have had to rely entirely on minor spells in the future.

In a game where the enemies have the same hit point total they did in the seventies, I found I had to work very hard - and indeed be quite ruthless - in order to menace the characters. I'd charge at them, hoping a few of my monstrous warriors would survive the barrage of magic missiles and radiant lances. After the inevitable slaughter my goblins suffered until they got into combat, I could only instruct them to gang up on the most competent fighter in an attempt to at least down one character in the engagement.

But even then, even if I managed to damage one of them enough to take them out, I'd suffered such losses that the others could easily dispatch my warriors and heal the target of my initial aggression.

Did you see what happened there? I got into a little me versus them headspace. That's just not how I like to play these games. A good roleplaying game should give me the tools to create a fun, challenging environment for the players. It shouldn't create an atmosphere where I feel I need to play dirty just to do damage to them.

A DM must be neutral. I'm the storyteller, not the adversary. The DM wins when everyone has fun, not when the players die. (If you didn't know, we discussed this very topic in our first podcast: A DM's Guide to DMing. Also, too, we have a podcast. You can find us at www.swordsofthekegasus.com)

However, after all the shit-talking I've done I have to admit that our semi-benevolent gaming tyrants at Wizards of the Coast seem to have the right idea here. They made a game and let us take a stab at it. I have my problems with it and I'm sure others will as well. This is an ideal situation. They're going to get my feedback, my players' feedback and the petty gripes and legit concerns from all the other people who want to play their game.

You know, the ones who want it enough to, say, talk about it endlessly and make blog posts and podcasts about it.

j!

D&D Next - Pregame Thoughts

I'll be honest, I don't have high hopes for this. I'm looking at the upcoming Swords and Friends of the Kegasus playtest session of D&D Next as an opportunity to generate some interesting blog and podcast content.

By the way, did you know we have a podcast? You can check it out on iTunes or at our website - swordsofthekegasus.com.

Just look at these assholes.

I didn't like the 4th edition. Sure, it had something to do with the fact that the characters in my 4th ed. game ripped through the opponents I set before them without breaking a sweat. More important, however, was why they did. The system felt overly concerned with combat and fast-paced action, whereas I always liked a slower game with diplomacy and sneaking. I felt like a first level player had an arsenal more akin to a fourth or fifth level player in previous versions.

But anyway, I've finally found time to read over the material our gaming overlords at Wizards of the Coast have given us and I'm not sure what to think. I initially recoiled at the thought of playing in a setting I did not create. In fact, I immediately launched into imagining a new setting before reading any of the rules. It turns out they don't give you enough core gameplay stuff to get into it that much.

Our usual game has goblin labor unions in it, so maintaining unique gaming environments has become kind of a point of pride.

Anyway, once I'd resigned myself to playing the Caves of Chaos, I was pleased to discover just how much the module allows for personalization and nonlinear gameplay. All I need to do is figure out why the heroes are going there and come up with some cool backstory to explain the gathering of monsters they'll encounter. No problem.

What makes me sad is that my chief complaint about the 4th edition has survived. Both the cleric and wizard sample characters have what they call "minor spells" which they may cast at will, and without preparing. That kind of stuff was what knocked me flat before. I understand that these classes need to be viable on a turn-by-turn basis, but it just kills it for me.

"Ok, you blast 'em all, and we'll just stay here and burn one down."

It kills the magic.

I dislike this for two reasons.  First, it completely changes the gaming dynamic traditionally involved with a class like the wizard. He's supposed to suck a little. These new wizards can blast magic missile every turn without getting tired but when you break it down, strip away the narrative trappings, all you get is an archer-type character who dies a little easier and never runs out of arrows.

In a standard encounter, the wizard shouldn't just be the guy in the back row covering his allies in close combat with the enemy. No, he's the guy the rest of them are protecting because he's got a few tricks up his sleeve - not many - but when he uses them, shit gets real. That's the way a spellcaster should work in my book.

Add to that the fact that it cheapens magic as a narrative element. I know a couple of medium-power ranged attacks don't need to be game-changers from a nuts and bolts perspective, but stop and think about what that means to the story and game world.  It makes the use of magic such a casual thing that I don't see the need for it. It's about as magical as putting guns in the world.

Hopefully you'll hear from me again soon and I'll let you know how it all went. Until then, keep rolling.

j!

Things to come...

I, Ryan Reed, would like to start with an apology, in the public forum, for having uprooted and thrown such havoc into what was to be a flawless podcast publication schedule.  My lady and I have recently moved into a new home without internet access which has kept me (the unfortunately sole Sword with the ability to talk to the internets) from publishing the delicious backlog of shows that have been recorded.  

Rest assured, True Believer, as these words are being shot into the great info-void, our dire situation is being remedied.  Soon enough we will be publishing Episode Three: Boardgames! for your listening pleasure - setting us back on a regular weekly schedule.  

Stay tuned for more information as we spill our bag of tricks. 

-Ryan

The absolute first thing ever is being posted right here.

-Ryan