D&D Next Playtest: How to Play

If you read yesterday's post, you already know the fiasco that became WotC's distribution of the D&D Next playtest materials.  I will not go over it again.  I got my playtest mats close to midnight. Today, I will tell you a little bit about the new rules being tested.  The new rules are short and sweet, and take me back to the late 70s and early 80s, when I was playing OD&D and then AD&D.

THINGS THAT HAVE NOT CHANGED

You still have the traditional six abilities (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom and charisma) and their modifiers.  I don't think anyone was expecting any changes here.

Checks and Difficulty Class ("DC")  are still there.  Some of them are referred to as 'contests', like when you try to force open a door that a troll is holding shut from the other side.  The player and the troll each make a check and the highest one wins.

Attacks are very much the same.  Roll 1d20, add bonuses and penalties, compare to target's Armor Class ("AC").

Time hasn't changed.  Combat rounds still represent about six seconds each.

Natural 1 is an automatic miss, natural 20 is a critical hit, and critical hits deal the maximum possible damage for the attack.

There are different damage types: slashing, piercing, fire, etc.  Like in 4E, in most occasions the damage type is not important, except when the target of the attack has a vulnerability or resistance to it.

The option of dealing nonlethal damage is still there for melee attacks.

Arcane and divine magic are still here.  There are unconfirmed rumors of "a strange form of power that derives from the mind".


THINGS THAT ARE GONE

Attacks of opportunity ("AoO")  are now gone.  I guess AoO will become one of those "modular" things you and your group can choose to incorporate, or not, into your campaign.  There is also talk of optional abilities you can train that would grant you an AoO, but only once per round instead of against every creature that provoked on AoO in that round.   I have to see this in action before I am fully convinced by it.  However, I am inclined to like it as absence of AoO's should speed up combat a bit.

Fortitude, Reflex and Will are gone. That's because your attacks are against AC.

Concealment is gone, or maybe absorbed by cover.  See below.

Second wind is gone. So are healing surges.

Weapon proficiency bonuses are gone. 


THINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED

I initially thought about naming this section "Things That Are New", but then realized that the title would be misleading.  Point of fact: spell casting.  In D&D Next, most of your spell attacks are against AC.  This is new in comparison to 4E, but it is not new in D&D as this is how OD&D and AD&D used to work.  Thus, things that have "changed" seems more appropriate than things that are "new".

Saving throws and DCs are a little less arbitrary now.  Let's say your wizard casts a burning hands spell in a cone in front of him.  In 4E, this would be an Int vs Reflex attack, with the creatures taking half damage if you missed your roll.  Now, burning hands hits all the creatures in the cone.  However, each creature gets to roll a saving throw.  While the DC for the saving throw is not static, the formula is: 10 + your relevant magic ability modifier (usually Int or Wis).  This is reminiscent of 3 and 3.5, and is one of the things I liked about those versions.

Movement has been simplified. Take jump, for example.  In 4E,you had to roll an Athletics check, divide by ten, consult a table... Now, a long jump with a 10 feet running start is a maximum of your Str score.  Without the running start, half that distance.  A high jump with a 10 feet running start is 3 + your Str modifier.  Without the running start, just your Str modifier (minimum 1). I appreciate not having to fire up my Excel spreadsheet to calculate how far or how high a player can jump.  Climb, Swim, Crawl and Stand Up have been similarly simplified.

I love the way Prone has been modified.  Before, you had to spend your entire move action just to stand up. Now, standing up from a Prone position uses only 5 feet of your total movement. This means you can stand up from a Prone position and move around the battlefield.

Surprise has changed quite a bit.  A creature who is surprised takes a -20 penalty to its initiative.

Concealment is gone, substituted by the all-encompassing Cover.  A creature can enjoy Half Cover (+2 to AC), Three-Quarters Cover (+5 to AC) and Full Cover (cannot be targeted for attacks).  Contrary to 4E, if an ally is between you and a creature, that ally grants the creature Half Cover, or +2 bonus to the creature's AC...  and if your ally is fat enough, he could grant the creature Three-Quarters Cover, lol!  Ah, well, that's how I would rule it, anyway...  but then again, that's why I am Bad DM.

Casting a spell or making a ranged attack while in melee range used to provoke an AoO.  Now, it places you in a disadvantage. Check the "Things That Are New" section below to learn about this new bonus/penalty mechanism.

Resistance and vulnerability are different now.  Before, a creature could have a resistant fire 5, and 5 points would be subtracted from the damage roll.  Now, resistance halves all damage of that type, while vulnerability doubles it.

Death has changed a bit.  In 4E, you die if your hit points drop below your negative bloodied value.  Now, you die when your hit points drop to a negative value equal to your Con score plus your character's level.  A 3rd level fighter with a Con of 17 dies if his hit points drop to 20.

Dying can sometimes be deadlier than in 4E, depending how far below 0 hit points the attack left you, but in most instances should prove less so.  In 4E, you roll 1d20 on each round that you are unconscious (at or below 0 hit points).  If you roll below 10 three times before taking a rest or receiving any healing, you die.  In theory, you could spend a 15-round fight unconscious as long as you never rolled below 10 more than twice.  Now, you roll a DC 10 Con saving throw. On a success, you remain dying but your condition does not worsen.  Three successes and you become stabilized. However, every failure inflicts 1d6 damage on your character.  This damage cannot be reduced in any way.  Depending on how close you are to your death value (Con + lvl), one failure may be all you need to visit the underworld.

Healing has an interesting mechanic.  You can heal yourself during a short rest but you must have a healer's kit.  The healer's kit allows you to spend one or more of your hit dice, up to your maximum hit dice, for healing.  For each hit die you spend, roll the die and add your Con modifier.  The result is the amount of hit points you gain.  Once you have used up all your hit dice, you must spend a long rest to regain them.  For example, the 1st level dwarf fighter pregen included with the playtest mats has a hit dice of 1d12 and, with a Con score of 14, a Con modifier of +2.  During a short rest and if he had a healer's kit, this dwarf fighter would roll 1d12, add +2 to the die roll, and that would be the amount of hit points he would gain.  At 1st level, he only has 1 hit die, so the healer's kit will not avail him again until he takes a long rest and regains his hit die.  Taking a long rest replenishes both your hit dice and your lost hit points, but you can only take one long rest every 24 hours.  A healer's kit has ten uses.

Conditions have pretty much stayed the same, except that those that would impose a penalty/benefit to an attack roll, AC, etc., now grant Advantage/Disadvantage instead.

Vancian magic is back.  Wizards and clerics, the two magic-using classes for the playtest, have a combination of minor spells (cantrips for wizards and orisons for clerics) that can be used as often and whenever they want, and high level spells.  Contrary to cantrips and orisons, higher level spells must be prepared beforehand and assigned a slot of the spell's level or higher.


THINGS THAT ARE NEW

The playtest rules have something I don't recall seeing in earlier editions.  They call it Advantage/Disadvantage.  Basically, when situations give you an edge, like when you attack from a hidden position, you get an advantage.  You can get an advantage to attacks, checks or saving throws.  Having an advantage means that you get to roll a second d20.  You then get to use the highest roll for your result.  In the case of a disadvantage, you must use the lowest roll.