I would say, that while I particularly prefer dice in my mini/tactics games, I'd still be willing to give a card-based mechanic a try. But doesn't cost become an issue here? Buying the minis isn't exactly cheap, and as opposed to using dice already owned, you have to buy cards? Great marketing scheme, granted, but if this is the direction, it seems a 'get started' pack will be the only thing I'll buy, even if I end up liking it. Note, I sold my MtG cards about 5 years ago - just lost...
View full commentI would say, that while I particularly prefer dice in my mini/tactics games, I'd still be willing to give a card-based mechanic a try. But doesn't cost become an issue here? Buying the minis isn't exactly cheap, and as opposed to using dice already owned, you have to buy cards? Great marketing scheme, granted, but if this is the direction, it seems a 'get started' pack will be the only thing I'll buy, even if I end up liking it. Note, I sold my MtG cards about 5 years ago - just lost interest in keeping up with the newer cards and need to be 'bigger and better' all the time =/
I like the racial archtypes created by racial penalties as well, but my playgroup is full of oldschool players anyway, so regardless of what the rules say, we never have Elves with 16+ Constitution; its just lore that we'll never let die. So whether or not they include the racial penalties in the mechanics, they'll always show up when ya want 'em to.
Floating bonus for humans: sounds pretty good. Bonuses in every stat as well? Not so much. I think it would serve the archetype of the adaptable, "everyone's unique" human better to have multiple floating bonuses (probably with a limit of +2 -- +3 at the most -- per stat) than to have static, across the board +1s. Humanity's adaptability comes from the adaptability of each individual, true, but also from the slough of differing abilities found when the race is taken as a whole. Additionally, I...
View full commentFloating bonus for humans: sounds pretty good. Bonuses in every stat as well? Not so much. I think it would serve the archetype of the adaptable, "everyone's unique" human better to have multiple floating bonuses (probably with a limit of +2 -- +3 at the most -- per stat) than to have static, across the board +1s. Humanity's adaptability comes from the adaptability of each individual, true, but also from the slough of differing abilities found when the race is taken as a whole. Additionally, I like the idea of racial penalties. An Elf and a Half-Elf should generally have similar wisdom, but the Elf should normally have the lower constitution score. I feel like the penalties -- in addition to making it possible to add more bonuses without becoming overpowered -- really make it possible for the races to each have a truly unique feel (and a truly unique physiology/personality).
This is... very awesome. I like the idea of moves you activate when needed. You don't necessarily have to risk wasting a daily power when you might miss, you can just follow up a successful strike with an opportunistic combo. It also clearly separates the fighter's fighting mechanic from the wizard's casting mechanic, which is always activated daily-power style (with a few exceptions, like Feather Fall).
"We thought about casting minor spells as the kind of thing a wizard might use around a laboratory that also happened to be useful in a fight. For example, a cantrip used to ignite a torch could also burn a goblin. At the last minute, however, we decided that trying to make that design work would take too long to hit this playtest." - M.Mearls This is what I expect from DnDNext. Original ideas that may or may not work, but sound awesome. Give us the chance to playtest it and find out if...
View full comment"We thought about casting minor spells as the kind of thing a wizard might use around a laboratory that also happened to be useful in a fight. For example, a cantrip used to ignite a torch could also burn a goblin. At the last minute, however, we decided that trying to make that design work would take too long to hit this playtest." - M.Mearls
This is what I expect from DnDNext. Original ideas that may or may not work, but sound awesome. Give us the chance to playtest it and find out if it does or not. The rest of the article I have likes and dislikes about.
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