Lastest 5e playtest packet is out.

[Matt James]

It definitely appears they have been listening to some feedback. That, and the game was made a little more dangerous with the lowering of HP.

Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

[Markustay]

I'll be playtesting this next week with my boys - they seem to really be enjoying the game (not sure if thats because of the rules, though).

I'll give my critique after that. Thus far, they seem to be going in a direction I approve of. I've said for years that the 'power creep' wouldn't be nearly so bad if HP didn't increase so dramatically.

Take an average nine-year old kid (level 0 character) and shoot him in the head. BANG - he's dead. Now take the worlds greatest ninja, and shoot him in the head. BANG - he's dead. More reasonable HP makes sense - at higher levels it should be all about dealing damage more efficiently, and being able to defend your meager HP better. In that way, magic missiles and a static fireballs remain deadly throughout the game.

I solved this by separating 'real damage' (CON) from HP (which I turned into stamina). It seems they've gone a similar route.

At the same time, 'leaner' rules means faster play, and more time for RPing, which is where D&D shines.

[Matt James]

I agree. I am thoroughly enjoying it and I can see how future products can plug-in to the core rules to allow for the style of play that you prefer.

[Diffan]

So I've been reading and re-reading it so I make sure I know most of the rules and such and I'm very much on the fence. So here's what I got:

Pros
• Classes: They don't seem too bad. The Fighter is actually looking very promising and if they hammer out what rolls the Rogue's Knack works for, I think it's a cool feature as well (I believe that the Knack should work for ANY check be it a Skill, Saving Throw, or Attack). The wizard is still very much Vancian but it appears they're working to have some options in changing it. I still like the War domain far more than the Sun domain. As for the warlock and Sorcerer, I just read that the Sorcerer isn't tied to being just arcane and that really made me happy. I like the idea of your bloodline directing what "power source" you might be able to use. So a sorcerer with Deva blood might be Divine or a Sorcerer with a Dryad's bloodline might be primal.

As for the warlocks, I'm not too impressed. I guess the thing I dislike the most are the negative elements such as warts. Sorry but I think it's stupid, plain and simple. I also know that as a Player I can request to change it or a DM, just hand-wave it away but I don't think a lot of DMs (espically new ones) would be willing to be that liberal with the rules.

• Rules: They've been more codified, which I see is a good thing.

• Combat Superiority: pretty much the best features so far in the playtest. I think this element is extreamly unique and fun and allows for a lot of in-game versatility.

Cons

• HP: Call me a modern gamer or what-ever but I like more HP at the start so that my players don't die 2 battles in or from a luckly critical hit. Personally, I think starting low HP mandates an extreamly narrow view of how a party goes about adventuring (ie. don't get into battle). And I don't like that, at all. My group likes to have battles. They like to kill orcs. They like getting XP from the monsters they crush. The way HP is now, they're lucky to enter 3 battles a day before requiring to rest (add in 5-min work day prob). Not to mention that the cleric is now more required to hold off on any "fun" spells in lieu of healing later. Sure, the HD-mechanic works OK, but it's not enough to fuel the sorts of adventures that I think they would enjoy.

• Skills: I thougth the free-floating element of them was pretty cool. Now that they're tied back into specific Ability scores is sorta lame. Not to mention that I think each player needs at least one more skill training at the beginning.

That's all I got for now!