IvenBach wrote:Noted was that 0th level spells now do damage, but don't progress as much. Shocking grasp now treated as 0th lvl doing 1d8 and increases at 5th 11th and 17th level; the same goes for Ray of Frost, while Firebolt seems to do 1d10.
Actually, they can do some serious damage given their power level! That is, all 0-level spells are AT-WILL powers! Meaning, that a spell-caster can cast Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost or Shocking Grasp on each turn without running out of power!
Unlike other spell that can be boosted by assigning them to higher level spell-slots, 0-level spells do not need spell slots, as they are at-will spells that requires no re-memorization.
IvenBach wrote:Magic Missile only ups damage if you cast it at a higher level slot (guess this is like the Metamagic 'Heighten Spell' from 3rd).
It is a different rule than any other before it. Where in past editions, spells automatically progress in power as the character gains level, but in this, you have to assign it a higher level spell-slot.
IvenBach wrote:Spell save DC seems to be now 8 + mods instead of 10.
I assume that was to take into account that at the starting levels, you get a +2 Proficiency Bonus to all rolls -- skills, saves, etc. -- the PC is proficient at. So a roll with a starting Proficiency Bonus would effectively have the same odds as a DC 10 test: a 50% of success, not counting any ability adjustment.
IvenBach wrote:2 spells instead of 1 at each new spell level. Don't know if this takes into consideration a high ability score though.
In the past, 1st level
Wizards Mage Magic-Users had to deal with only one spell and no cantraps. I assume that is to make then less of a "glass-cannon" by giving them that one extra 1st level slot. Although, with the damage one can inflict with some of the damage-inducing cantraps -- with no real limit on daily use -- that one extra spell slot is not needed... as much.
IvenBach wrote:Leveling up numbers were a lot lower
You mean Proficiency Bonus? Yeah, you will have a flat +2 to all proficient rolls for the first four levels, then at 5th level, it goes up to +3 for the next four levels, and finally it goes up to +6 at levels 17-20! Now that is different! But logical. The intention of that is to keep the characters form becoming too powerful with each level, and to make the challenges less reliant on specific levels -- basically a starter adventure is geared towards levels 1-4, veteran adventures are levels 5-10, and so one. This is a good thing, as monsters are not throwaway creatures after one or two levels. Even if a monster was a challenge for 3rd levels characters, they are still a threat at 6th level, if you add one or two more per encounter. On top of that, it keeps players form accumulating a mountain of bonuses at high level. Plus, the uniformed system make managing bonuses easier on the DM. (Making high-level NPCs in 3.5 used to be such a huge pain in the ass!)
I remember the idea for limited bonus progression first being proposed by Zak S. form
Playing D&D With Porn Stars -- there is a rumor that his blog seems to be required reading at WofC. In this case, each new level would give the player the option to advance one or two stats (skill, save, attack, etc.) by +1. They took his advice, but used a different approach.
IvenBach wrote:They explicitly stated that any specific rule contradicting a general rule take precedence. That's a plus in my book where they indicate that a rule can be broken. Oh how I used to milk them rules...
That is a given. Skills and Feats are meant to be enhancement to what a character can normally do, or special actions or abilities that other people cannot do. That is a simple rule clarification. Plus, as far as the DM is concerned, rules can be changed at will! People got so dogmatic with edition 3.5, but they totally forgot that little rule established in 3.0 called Rule-0. Basically, if the DM or game group are content with a rule, the wording, or the like, they are at liberty to change it. So if you though that grappling was total balls, you could say "Screw that!" and used a different method for grappling.
IvenBach wrote:Advantage and Disadvantage: Advantage lets you roll 2 dice and take the best of the 2. So many stupid rolls screwed over great planning...
Yeah, that is a great rule! The first time I seen it was in Barbarians of Lemuria, but in that, Advantages/Disadvantages are character traits and flaws based on specific tasks. So something like
Attractive grant an extra die (3d6, dropping the lowest result) in situations where good looks are important. This is a good rules, as is speeds up combat and skill rolls by removing all those chunky tactical adjustments (although, cover provides a +2 AC bonus). A character can only have one Advantage or Disadvantage, and having an Advantage and Disadvantage cancels each other out. No fuss... no muss!
Here are some other things I found about it:
- Characters are not reliant on magical healing. With Short Rests, the player can use recovery dice (they call it "Hit Dice", but that is too confusing) -- equal to the character's level -- to heal lost hip points. This is basically resting, eating, drinking and patching-up injuries. Spent recovery dice cannot be revered by normal healing (spells or potions), and can be recovered with Long Rest. With Long Rest, you recover all lost hit points, and half the lost recovery dice.
- Feats are an optional rule that is going to be featured in the PHB. Unlike the old feats form 3rd edition (they were originally meant to provide special combat abilities/maneuvers for Fighters) that provide some small ability or bonus to a particular task, but the feats in the 5th edition seems to be special character kits akin the the Background rules. They are also seem to be key with Multiclassing.
- Equipment Packs and Tools/Kits are used to list a uniformed package of items. This is good, as it saves time in CharGen, when purchasing starting gear.
- They list the Potion of Healing as standard Adventuring Gear. This item costs 50gp. And Shield now provide a +2 to AC. Now they feel less useless!
- They list a handful of basic services (food, coach cab, messenger, hirelings, etc.), but none of it relates to prostitution -- this is a huge oversight that could totally delegitimize it as an edition of Dungeons & Dragons! (Hell, HeroQuest feels incomplete without prostitutes!
) - Death Saves are a neat new rule. Basically, at 0 Hit Points, you need to make three successes to stabilize, while three failures will kill you outright! The PC get no adjustment, as he/she is in the hands of fate. Also, negative hit points are equal to the character's total hit points.
by 
on it.
. Disagree with that one. Elves have seemingly always only needed to 'meditate' for 4 hours to get 8 hours of rest. Also they get advantage against charm and can't be put to sleep by magic.
