Tabletop Roleplaying Games (D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, ETC.)

[Airbrushed Van Art]

D&D 5.5 has been announced:

"One D&D is the codename for the next generation of Dungeons & Dragons that brings together updated rules, backwards compatible with 5th Edition, D&D Beyond as the platform for your D&D experience, and an early-in-development D&D digital play experience that will offer players and Dungeon Masters full immersion and rich 3D creation tools," Wizards said in a press release.

Fundamental core rules are altered in the first document: A natural 20 is now always a success, while a natural 1 is always a failure.

It also collapses spell lists into three simple, separate Arcane, Divine, and Primal lists.

Then there are much larger changes: Critical hits are seemingly now only for player characters, not for NPCs.

Interesting. Less lethal, more progressive. Makes sense.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

Have they changed the combat in Shadowrun in later editions? I remember in first edition, they had cyberwear called enhanced reflexes, or something like that. I think there was 4 levels. Each level gave you an extra full action every combat round. So every player character had to take it because if you didn't, you'd be at a real disadvantage in combat.

Not an extra full action, an additional die and a small bonus to your init roll.

And no, not everyone took it. Number one, it was a fucking essence hog like a motherfucker (A full 5 of your six points for Wired Reflexes 3). Number two, it didn't play well with magic. Number three, it was useless for riggers and deckers.

 

[Adamska]

D&D 5.5 has been announced:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=OpI7J9vtbnw







Interesting. Less lethal, more progressive. Makes sense.

Any reason they needed to add an entirely new spell type? My best guess is this is their retarded attempt to split Druid off from Clerics. I guess Bards are still arcane tho.

It don't matter, I'm not touching this edition given the absolute slop Wizards has been shitting out.

 

[Mr. Manchester]

D&D 5.5 has been announced:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=OpI7J9vtbnw







Interesting. Less lethal, more progressive. Makes sense.

I'll crit PCs as much as I want to. Now all the monsters crit on 19-20 you fuckers.

 

[Ghostse]

D&D 5.5 has been announced:

So there's the playtest announcement. so they are going to release (effectively) 6e on 2024 for the 50th aniversary.

For those who weren't around and/or having sex at the time, when Wizards retired 4e, they did a thing called "D&D Next" which was rule sets for open playtesting and out of that came 5e. So this is D&D Next for 5e.

What they are moving to now is "5e Forever Edition". Basically constantly updated Errata instead of releases. A heavy shift to Digital so that wrongthink and problematic content can be removed in real-time. They also saw how Roll20 nickels and dimes you with art pack - so expect that, but in THREE-DEE.

Intro video includes a frumpy asian potato saying that they could never get into roleplaying growing up because they didn't have any heroes who looked like fugly genderblobs and coudn't imagine any.
Not that it was ever in doubt that they were continuing to go full woke, but there's your confirmation.

Fundamental core rules are altered in the first document: A natural 20 is now always a success, while a natural 1 is always a failure.

Sigh.
So we're going back to a 5% chance you kill yourself making a sandwhich, a 5% chance you are able to talk the King in signing away his kingdom to you.

Any reason they needed to add an entirely new spell type? My best guess is this is their retarded attempt to split Druid off from Clerics. I guess Bards are still arcane tho.

That's how shit worked in 4e (only misisng Martials). Primals were Druids, Shamans, and Barbarians. Basically its the junk drawer where things that aren't quite Arcane and not really Divine go, despite the fact you have gods of the wild.

 

[JJLiautaud]

So there's the playtest announcement. so they are going to release (effectively) 6e on 2024 for the 50th aniversary.

For those who weren't around and/or having sex at the time, when Wizards retired 4e, they did a thing called "D&D Next" which was rule sets for open playtesting and out of that came 5e. So this is D&D Next for 5e.

What they are moving to now is "5e Forever Edition". Basically constantly updated Errata instead of releases. A heavy shift to Digital so that wrongthink and problematic content can be removed in real-time. They also saw how Roll20 nickels and dimes you with art pack - so expect that, but in THREE-DEE.

Intro video includes a frumpy asian potato saying that they could never get into roleplaying growing up because they didn't have any heroes who looked like fugly genderblobs and coudn't imagine any.
Not that it was ever in doubt that they were continuing to go full woke, but there's your confirmation.


Sigh.
So we're going back to a 5% chance you kill yourself making a sandwhich, a 5% chance you are able to talk the King in signing away his kingdom to you.


That's how shit worked in 4e (only misisng Martials). Primals were Druids, Shamans, and Barbarians. Basically its the junk drawer where things that aren't quite Arcane and not really Divine go, despite the fact you have gods of the wild.

Christ i miss 3rd edition and its cheesy bullshit

 

[Gingervitis]

Oh god. The new rules. They’re bad, guys.

 

[MightyBiteySnake]

Oh god. The new rules. They’re bad, guys.

They're okay. I don't mind ability scores beings moved to backgrounds since even in 5E those boiled down to "what has the best ability and makes the most sense for you character?" Hell of a lot better (and less metagamey) than "pick any scores for your racial stat boosts uwu". Didn't watch the video and probably won't but

Fundamental core rules are altered in the first document: A natural 20 is now always a success, while a natural 1 is always a failure.

Then there are much larger changes: Critical hits are seemingly now only for player characters, not for NPCs.

These two changes I'm not crazy about.

A heavy shift to Digital so that wrongthink and problematic content can be removed in real-time

I'd bet dollars to donuts that the decision to go digital has a lot more to do with the amount online players that cropped up even before the pandemic. Who the FUCK buys the actual source books? Even if you play in person you really only need the DMG and PHB. It's way too easy (and convenient) to get PDFs online. In fact I've been checking out the latest book to get myself refreshed on what I've missed in the last few years since I may be playing again soon, not that it seems like I missed too much.

Mind you, I still put many good years into 5e, remember them fondly and would love to return to the game again some time. I'll play the new edition if it's good, maybe.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Oh god. The new rules. They’re bad, guys.

My thoughts.

Rules.
Dragonborn changes to shut the min-maxers up. Darkvision, plus con modifier and level to breath weapon. I don't mind the breath scaling, but this "every race MUST have darkvision!" shit was old hat years ago.

Languages are still pointless.

Backgrounds no longer give a unique ability. Although people always forgot their background abilities anyway so not a big loss, still not a good change.


Wokeshit.
The description of humans pointing out how cultures are different, but because of migration all cultures are a melting pot is obvious pandering that won't save WotC.


Conclusion.
I called it back when I said that 6e was going to be late on the 2010s trend of games with quick, minor incremental improvements. Maybe the game will change between now and 2024, but I think they'll stay the course.

It's too early to say what will happen in 2024, but I'm guessing the Critical Roll and Strange Things fads will be over by then. WotC will either go broke chasing woke shit, or do an immediate course correction with another new edition before 2030.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that the decision to go digital has a lot more to do with the amount online players that cropped up even before the pandemic.

It will also allow WotC to memory hole "problematic" content. This will be sold as service where your PDFs are updated to the latest errata.

 

[Mr. Manchester]

I'm guessing the Critical Roll and Strange Things fads will be over by then.

Man I hope you're right. I hear people talk about how 5e brought so many people to the hobby and how great it is, which I would almost agree with if it prompted a good video game to be made (it didn't). All that happened is now the game is clogged with a bunch of people who don't DM and don't do anything original. It would be really nice if it got pushed back into being an obscure hobby with no money in it but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Airbrushed Van Art]

Heheheh

“A natural ONE is always a failure”
— ONE D&D

 

[Corn Flakes]

They're going ham on Inspiration, aren't they? I get it was an underused rule since most GMs (and players) never remembered it but tying it to simply rolling a 20 feels like overcompensating.

And oh, goodie. Instead of a tabaxi in every game we'll have at least one ardling. So, a generic sanctimonious furry race with built-in flight.

Also, check out the humans. They can be Small too. Apparently midgets make for perfectly fine adventurers. Meanwhile dwarves are still medium. I guess it doesn't make a difference since barely anything interacts with size in 5e, but it's still pretty dumb.

Can't wait to see how they butcher classes, though. For starters, all spells being split into only three categories is going to completely destroy spell variety among spellcasters. Did you like that your Warlock had spells the Wizard couldn't replicate? Well, tough shit!

 

[Airbrushed Van Art]

Dragonborn changes to shut the min-maxers up. Darkvision, plus con modifier and level to breath weapon. I don't mind the breath scaling, but this "every race MUST have darkvision!" shit was old hat years ago.

They should just remove darkness rules wholesale from the game and instead have a Blinded condition or magical spell darkness. Exception based design, right? Darkness is racist or something.

 

[Adamska]

So some thoughts:

1. Ardlings are terrible and I hated every single second of reading about these shittier furry versions of Aasimar, which they clearly replaced. They read like a terrible mary sue race a really, REALLY shitty homebrewer would squit out in a night due to their super special glowie wings. Strong coomer energy too since their skin is described by fucking texture, also they are described as more special than the others. Whoever wrote that should be pointed at and bullied to death.
2. It's telling they made up different types of the same races that are played by snowflakes, but forgot Dwarves also had the same splits as the other races in older editions. Same with Orcs btw, but again these retards only got offended because they see black people as Orcs, never really touching or learning about them. Not that it matters because this system is shit and it's good they aren't brought up, but it's hilarious. Hilarious like forgetting the Aasimar exist and adding lolcthulhu to Tieflings. They also merge different racial builds in the case of the elves under one sigil.
3. This piece of shit really emphasizes the multiverse with each and every terrible modification. Fuck you writers, don't shove this interconnected grasping horseshit down my throat.
4. A far less efficient character creation system IMO. It barely adds anything new to things, because it's just a shittier and stretched out version of stuff you could dig up using the SRD or just the base handbook.
5. I'm not inclined to use Inspiration all that much, they're doubling down on a mechanic that people don't use in the same retarded way the White Wolf guys focus on the worst shit too, and character backgrounds I can take or leave. In a better system I'd care more about the backgrounds, but this thing is frontloaded with obnoxious.
6. I still don't care for splitting Divine spells and putting them into a new group called Primal, even if they did this before with 4e. If anything, Arcane spells should be split if you're going to be sofa king we todd ed to do this. Arcane spells are easily the largest sphere of magic in the game, being twice the size of divine.

All in all, awful booklet. Definitely have no interest at all to play DnDone. Hell, they even used the same retarded name as the X-Bone. Same shitty joke too.

 

[Judge Dredd]

They're going ham on Inspiration, aren't they? I get it was an underused rule since most GMs (and players) never remembered it but tying it to simply rolling a 20 feels like overcompensating.

I'm not inclined to use Inspiration all that much, they're doubling down on a mechanic that people don't use

Maybe it's because I come from Savage Worlds where Bennies are a core mechanic, but I think people really should lean into bennies inspiration more so I don't mind the change.

It gives players a way to mitigate bad luck. The thing is if inspiration is rare (like once a session) people save it for a life-or-death roll, then forget they have it. In SW, there's a benefit to handing them out like candy because it means players will actually use them.

They should stop half arsing it though. Just steal the rule outright. It'll piss the grognards off, but so does everything else. Have it tied to character flaws and motivations. Have them do things like regain spell slots or spend hit dice in combat.

Can't wait to see how they butcher classes, though. For starters, all spells being split into only three categories is going to completely destroy spell variety among spellcasters.

That's what I'm waiting for as well.

I hope they fix the problems with the game. Rangers have been fucked since PHB, and I hope they add meaningful options to choose from as you level.

What I expect is a fighter nerf.

I don't mind the division of spells. The different spell schools didn't mean much. I liked PathFinder 2s system of bards having occult spells. If they have a meaningful division of spell schools, and maybe some class specific spells, I could see it working really well for the game.

"Could" is doing a lot of lifting here though. Woke WotC seems to frown on people being locked out of specific options.

They should just remove darkness rules wholesale from the game and instead have a Blinded condition or magical spell darkness.

I'm actually considering house ruling dark vision out of my next 5e game and limiting it to magic items or maybe a feat.

 

[Corn Flakes]

Maybe it's because I come from Savage Worlds where Bennies are a core mechanic, but I think people really should lean into bennies inspiration more so I don't mind the change.

It gives players a way to mitigate bad luck. The thing is if inspiration is rare (like once a session) people save it for a life-or-death roll, then forget they have it. In SW, there's a benefit to handing them out like candy because it means players will actually use them.

They should stop half arsing it though. Just steal the rule outright. It'll piss the grognards off, but so does everything else. Have it tied to character flaws and motivations. Have them do things like regain spell slots or spend hit dice in combat.

If you're going to go ham on the rule, then go ham on the rule. But gating the bad luck mitigation device behind being lucky in the first place is fucking dumb. All this does is reward people who try to spam skill checks (and therefore slow the game down) in order to fish for a 20 so they have inspiration for next combat.

If you really want everybody to just spend their Inspiration instead of hoarding it, just make it so it refreshes when you roll a 20 and at the start of combat if your character is above half health. Make it an integral part of the combat system.

I hope they fix the problems with the game. Rangers have been fucked since PHB, and I hope they add meaningful options to choose from as you level.

What I expect is a fighter nerf.

I guarantee you Fighters will lose all their stat increases/feats. Can't allow for too much customization, after all. You have to play the game they way they tell you to.

 

[Judge Dredd]

All this does is reward people who try to spam skill checks (and therefore slow the game down) in order to fish for a 20 so they have inspiration for next combat.

What's strange about that rule it that it's the same reason fumbles got removed. Because characters that focused on multiple attacks (like monks and duel wield fighters) turned into captain clown-shoes who injure themselves every other turn.

Now it's the other way, with those classes getting inspiration out the arse so they can fish for 20s on skill checks.

If they want to tie it to a die roll, have it be that a nat 1 gets you the inspiration. That way players who are rolling shit can at least have something to show for it.

 

[Neo-Holstien]

Maybe it's because I come from Savage Worlds where Bennies are a core mechanic, but I think people really should lean into bennies inspiration more so I don't mind the change.

It gives players a way to mitigate bad luck. The thing is if inspiration is rare (like once a session) people save it for a life-or-death roll, then forget they have it. In SW, there's a benefit to handing them out like candy because it means players will actually use them.

They should stop half arsing it though. Just steal the rule outright. It'll piss the grognards off, but so does everything else. Have it tied to character flaws and motivations. Have them do things like regain spell slots or spend hit dice in combat.


That's what I'm waiting for as well.

I hope they fix the problems with the game. Rangers have been fucked since PHB, and I hope they add meaningful options to choose from as you level.

What I expect is a fighter nerf.

I don't mind the division of spells. The different spell schools didn't mean much. I liked PathFinder 2s system of bards having occult spells. If they have a meaningful division of spell schools, and maybe some class specific spells, I could see it working really well for the game.

"Could" is doing a lot of lifting here though. Woke WotC seems to frown on people being locked out of specific options.



I'm actually considering house ruling dark vision out of my next 5e game and limiting it to magic items or maybe a feat.

When my group plays, I bring out my silver coins, when the coin is face up, you can get advantage on a given roll, but that flips the coin. When face down the GM can make any roll a disadvantage roll, and then the coin flips again. I mostly don't use it due to the danger it warrents.

 

[Wallace]

David Hill still salty, water still wet.

 

[Corn Flakes]

Looks like they're putting more emphasis on Long Rests, too. I guess Coffeelocks really were too powerful for Wizards to let stand.

If they want to tie it to a die roll, have it be that a nat 1 gets you the inspiration. That way players who are rolling shit can at least have something to show for it.

Rename it to "Determination" and bam. There we go.

This is but I hope that gets changed in playtesting. It gives multiattack classes too big an advantage, even more so if they dual wield or go with Polearm Expert for bonus action attacks.

David Hill still salty, water still wet.
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View attachment 3616554

Classic Dave. He makes a halfway decent point, then moves on to demolish any respect/goodwill that point might have earned him just three hours later.