Post by gamedave on May 30, 2012 21:09:54 GMT -5
WotC has recently released some playtest material for the new edition of D&D, "DnDNext". I just got a copy of the playtest packet. I let my DDI account lapse, but apparently I still count as having an active WotC Registration, and I think you can register for free, and download the packet.
As an aside, the physical procedure to obtain the playtest packet is a bit of a grinding e-dungeon crawl. First I went to the D&D homepage. Then I followed a link to the DnDNext homepage. Then I followed a link to the playtest download page. Then I entered my email address and WotC password. That set in motion some sort of process to email me the download link "within 60 minutes" from a third party. I got the email, and clicked on the embedded link. That took me to the DnDNext members-only homepage. After a bit of looking, I found the small download link - which took me to yet another download page. Here I was finally able to click on a link that downloaded the packet.
I'm not going to go into too much detail - I actually had to e-sign an NDA to download the playtest packet. Given how broadly available it appears to be, and given contemporary internet culture, that seems almost quaint. Still, I signed the NDA, so I'll try to adhere to the spirit of it.
The packet consists of 9 PDFs: a bestiary, a player's guide, a DM's guide, 5 sample characters (1st level, with rules for 2nd and 3rd level on the sheets), and a beginner adventure - Ye Olde B2 Keep on the Borderlands.
The bestiary, player's guide, and DM's guide are very bare-boned affairs. This is a very basic "playtest" - really more of a quick-start or test drive rules set, of the kind other companies make freely available and try to get as many people to download as possible. Of course, the game is still in development - WotC reasonably doesn't want to promote these rules as "official" D&D rules until they get them publication-ready.
The bestiary gives basic write-ups of a number of classic D&D monsters - I think just about everything in here also appeared in the old D&D Basic Set. In a departure from 4E's "here's a stat block - kill it!" approach, we get a paragraph or two describing the monster, a stat block, a paragraph briefly describing its typical combat tactics, a paragraph or two describing its ecology/culture, and a paragraph on legends and lore - stuff PCs might know about it, and in some cases how to harvest its body for phat lootz (welcome back, fire beetle glands). This seems like a solid approach to monsters, and WotC really seems to have taken to heart a lot of the criticism about the "kill this stat block" approach to presenting monsters in 4E.
The player's guide and DM's guide give the basics for playing the game. The PG includes the basic rules, basic weapons and armor, and a handful of spells.
Not to give too much away (I do take that NDA seriously - kinda), but they have basically gone back to the old 3.x and earlier spell system, but with some spells behaving more like their 4E power equivalents, and some having an option to perform them as 4E-style rituals or regular spells.
The basic die mechanic is the d20 we've all grown accustomed to since 3.0. Roll a d20, add some modifiers, and try to beat a DC. The one new wrinkle is the idea of "advantage" or "disadvantage". I don't think I'm violating the NDA by discussing this bit (I think WotC has revealed some of this on publicly available areas of its boards). If you have "advantage", you get the best of 2d20 rolls. If you have "disadvantage", you get the worst of 2d20. I kind of like this (it's simple, and I think it scales fairly well). I also kind of don't, since you also still have bonuses and penalties from some effects, so you can two kinds of advantage, one called "advantage" that gets you a re-roll, and one not called "advantage" that gives you a bonus. Like I said, it's very bare-bones, so there's obviously a lot more in the full version of the rules that may address my concerns. Or maybe not.
Armor and weapons have some elements of 4E and some of 3.x. I won't go into details, but there's nothing earth-shattering, although there are some...interesting design choices, that may be a bit confusing at first.
Oh, yeah, there are also healing surges - sort of. I won't go into details (NDA!), but characters can take "short" and "long" rests which allow 4E-style healing, although the exact mechanics are a bit different.
Important note - no feats! It's really odd, since that's always (I thought) been one of the most popular design elements of 3.x and 4E. Actually, feats do appear to exist in some form (see discussion of sample PCs below), and maybe they were just left out of the playtest rules.
The DMs guide has some basic advice for running a game, and rules for adjudicating skills and challenges. The latter is somewhat odd, since rules for using skills have been in the PHB since 2nd Edition. The implication seems to be that in DnDNext, players may know that their character has a skill and what their modifier is, but they don't necessarily know exactly how their skill works in game mechanic terms.
This seems to be borne out by discussions on the WotC DnDNext pages, where the idea seems to be skills are broad-based abilities, that can be combined with whatever ability score modifier seems most appropriate in a given situation. So a player with a rogue might suggest to a DM he wants to use Dex and Climb to acrobatically climb a wall, while a player with a fighter might suggest he wants to use Str and Climb to power up the same wall.
I actually kind of like this approach - keeping the skill DCs and game mechanics in the DM's book encourages players to try to creatively apply their skills and talents, rather than looking down the laundry list to see what they're "supposed" to do.
There are 5 sample characters - dwarven priest of Moradin, human cleric of Pelor, dwarven fighter, halfling rogue, and high elf wizard. Again, without going into too much detail (NDA!), the classes look a lot more like 3.x or even 1st or 2nd Edition classes than 4E.
It's kinda hard to tell just from the sheets, but it looks like some classes have more customization options than others. The two clerics, for example, have some abilities in common - but some are quite different. Maybe you get a package based on your god? Or maybe you choose a build at 1st level ala 4E? Also, you get a "Background" and a "Theme", ala 4E. That's where things get...interesting.
There's a note on the character sheets: "For a more old-school experience, don't use background and theme." WotC really does seem to be authentically trying to reach out to 1st/2nd Edition die-hards while keeping some of the innovations of 3.x/4E available for those who want them. Interestingly, your choice of background and theme seems to entirely determine your character's skills and feats, as well as giving you some miscellaneous benefits, from 4E-style class abilities to purely role-playing/story/campaign benefits.
Now, again, it's difficult to tell just from the character sheet. The full rules may give you a range of options, from no skills and feats to backgrounds and themes to free form skill and feat selection. But it looks like they're actually trimming back a player's ability to select individualized skills and feats, which is odd, since, again, feats in particular seem to have been one of the most popular innovations of 3.x.
As to the module, it's an updated presentation of the Caves of Chaos from the old B2: Keep on the Borderlands module. The original also detailed the titular keep for use as a base of operations, and had a map and some encounters in the surrounding wilderness. But if you've got B2, you could get that info out of there. Interestingly, WotC makes a point in the intro that they chose the Caves of Chaos both because it's a classic and because it's a non-linear adventure. They make a big deal about how it is not presented as a series of 4E-style set piece, carefully balanced encounters. Instead, it's an interactive environment, which supports a variety of styles of play. Characters can dungeon crawl - and risk being overwhelmed by hordes of monsters. They can politic among the tribes. They can perform a specific quest with the Caves as a backdrop/obstacle.
And so on. It really is a departure from 4E-style "here's some stat blocks - kill them with your stat blocks".
Oh, yeah, just how bare-bones is this kit? The map of the Caves of Chaos is clearly a scanned copy of the map from the original module. Which is actually kind of nostalgic-retro-cool. Which was probably part of the point.
So, overall, it's interesting. After 4E actually managed to drive me out of D&D after nearly three decades, DnDNext might - might - pull me back in.
I was actually very skeptical when DnDNext was first announced. I saw a lot of commentary on the web about how WotC was more or less admitting 4E was a failure, and they were trying to correct their mistake. My first thought was it was probably just WotC keeping on its "completely new set of core books plus scads of splat books every 3-5 years" schedule. After taking a look at the playtest packet, though, I'm starting to turn. It really does look like some actual D&D players sat down and tried to get things right. I hope so.
As an aside, the physical procedure to obtain the playtest packet is a bit of a grinding e-dungeon crawl. First I went to the D&D homepage. Then I followed a link to the DnDNext homepage. Then I followed a link to the playtest download page. Then I entered my email address and WotC password. That set in motion some sort of process to email me the download link "within 60 minutes" from a third party. I got the email, and clicked on the embedded link. That took me to the DnDNext members-only homepage. After a bit of looking, I found the small download link - which took me to yet another download page. Here I was finally able to click on a link that downloaded the packet.
I'm not going to go into too much detail - I actually had to e-sign an NDA to download the playtest packet. Given how broadly available it appears to be, and given contemporary internet culture, that seems almost quaint. Still, I signed the NDA, so I'll try to adhere to the spirit of it.
The packet consists of 9 PDFs: a bestiary, a player's guide, a DM's guide, 5 sample characters (1st level, with rules for 2nd and 3rd level on the sheets), and a beginner adventure - Ye Olde B2 Keep on the Borderlands.
The bestiary, player's guide, and DM's guide are very bare-boned affairs. This is a very basic "playtest" - really more of a quick-start or test drive rules set, of the kind other companies make freely available and try to get as many people to download as possible. Of course, the game is still in development - WotC reasonably doesn't want to promote these rules as "official" D&D rules until they get them publication-ready.
The bestiary gives basic write-ups of a number of classic D&D monsters - I think just about everything in here also appeared in the old D&D Basic Set. In a departure from 4E's "here's a stat block - kill it!" approach, we get a paragraph or two describing the monster, a stat block, a paragraph briefly describing its typical combat tactics, a paragraph or two describing its ecology/culture, and a paragraph on legends and lore - stuff PCs might know about it, and in some cases how to harvest its body for phat lootz (welcome back, fire beetle glands). This seems like a solid approach to monsters, and WotC really seems to have taken to heart a lot of the criticism about the "kill this stat block" approach to presenting monsters in 4E.
The player's guide and DM's guide give the basics for playing the game. The PG includes the basic rules, basic weapons and armor, and a handful of spells.
Not to give too much away (I do take that NDA seriously - kinda), but they have basically gone back to the old 3.x and earlier spell system, but with some spells behaving more like their 4E power equivalents, and some having an option to perform them as 4E-style rituals or regular spells.
The basic die mechanic is the d20 we've all grown accustomed to since 3.0. Roll a d20, add some modifiers, and try to beat a DC. The one new wrinkle is the idea of "advantage" or "disadvantage". I don't think I'm violating the NDA by discussing this bit (I think WotC has revealed some of this on publicly available areas of its boards). If you have "advantage", you get the best of 2d20 rolls. If you have "disadvantage", you get the worst of 2d20. I kind of like this (it's simple, and I think it scales fairly well). I also kind of don't, since you also still have bonuses and penalties from some effects, so you can two kinds of advantage, one called "advantage" that gets you a re-roll, and one not called "advantage" that gives you a bonus. Like I said, it's very bare-bones, so there's obviously a lot more in the full version of the rules that may address my concerns. Or maybe not.
Armor and weapons have some elements of 4E and some of 3.x. I won't go into details, but there's nothing earth-shattering, although there are some...interesting design choices, that may be a bit confusing at first.
Oh, yeah, there are also healing surges - sort of. I won't go into details (NDA!), but characters can take "short" and "long" rests which allow 4E-style healing, although the exact mechanics are a bit different.
Important note - no feats! It's really odd, since that's always (I thought) been one of the most popular design elements of 3.x and 4E. Actually, feats do appear to exist in some form (see discussion of sample PCs below), and maybe they were just left out of the playtest rules.
The DMs guide has some basic advice for running a game, and rules for adjudicating skills and challenges. The latter is somewhat odd, since rules for using skills have been in the PHB since 2nd Edition. The implication seems to be that in DnDNext, players may know that their character has a skill and what their modifier is, but they don't necessarily know exactly how their skill works in game mechanic terms.
This seems to be borne out by discussions on the WotC DnDNext pages, where the idea seems to be skills are broad-based abilities, that can be combined with whatever ability score modifier seems most appropriate in a given situation. So a player with a rogue might suggest to a DM he wants to use Dex and Climb to acrobatically climb a wall, while a player with a fighter might suggest he wants to use Str and Climb to power up the same wall.
I actually kind of like this approach - keeping the skill DCs and game mechanics in the DM's book encourages players to try to creatively apply their skills and talents, rather than looking down the laundry list to see what they're "supposed" to do.
There are 5 sample characters - dwarven priest of Moradin, human cleric of Pelor, dwarven fighter, halfling rogue, and high elf wizard. Again, without going into too much detail (NDA!), the classes look a lot more like 3.x or even 1st or 2nd Edition classes than 4E.
It's kinda hard to tell just from the sheets, but it looks like some classes have more customization options than others. The two clerics, for example, have some abilities in common - but some are quite different. Maybe you get a package based on your god? Or maybe you choose a build at 1st level ala 4E? Also, you get a "Background" and a "Theme", ala 4E. That's where things get...interesting.
There's a note on the character sheets: "For a more old-school experience, don't use background and theme." WotC really does seem to be authentically trying to reach out to 1st/2nd Edition die-hards while keeping some of the innovations of 3.x/4E available for those who want them. Interestingly, your choice of background and theme seems to entirely determine your character's skills and feats, as well as giving you some miscellaneous benefits, from 4E-style class abilities to purely role-playing/story/campaign benefits.
Now, again, it's difficult to tell just from the character sheet. The full rules may give you a range of options, from no skills and feats to backgrounds and themes to free form skill and feat selection. But it looks like they're actually trimming back a player's ability to select individualized skills and feats, which is odd, since, again, feats in particular seem to have been one of the most popular innovations of 3.x.
As to the module, it's an updated presentation of the Caves of Chaos from the old B2: Keep on the Borderlands module. The original also detailed the titular keep for use as a base of operations, and had a map and some encounters in the surrounding wilderness. But if you've got B2, you could get that info out of there. Interestingly, WotC makes a point in the intro that they chose the Caves of Chaos both because it's a classic and because it's a non-linear adventure. They make a big deal about how it is not presented as a series of 4E-style set piece, carefully balanced encounters. Instead, it's an interactive environment, which supports a variety of styles of play. Characters can dungeon crawl - and risk being overwhelmed by hordes of monsters. They can politic among the tribes. They can perform a specific quest with the Caves as a backdrop/obstacle.
And so on. It really is a departure from 4E-style "here's some stat blocks - kill them with your stat blocks".
Oh, yeah, just how bare-bones is this kit? The map of the Caves of Chaos is clearly a scanned copy of the map from the original module. Which is actually kind of nostalgic-retro-cool. Which was probably part of the point.
So, overall, it's interesting. After 4E actually managed to drive me out of D&D after nearly three decades, DnDNext might - might - pull me back in.
I was actually very skeptical when DnDNext was first announced. I saw a lot of commentary on the web about how WotC was more or less admitting 4E was a failure, and they were trying to correct their mistake. My first thought was it was probably just WotC keeping on its "completely new set of core books plus scads of splat books every 3-5 years" schedule. After taking a look at the playtest packet, though, I'm starting to turn. It really does look like some actual D&D players sat down and tried to get things right. I hope so.
