The public playtest is out and slowly getting out there as Wizard's servers are being hammered. I will be writing more about my experience with this version and the previous closed playtest version. But in this post I want touch on what I feel is D&D Next Characteristic.
One of the first things I checked is to see if the same progression from the closed playtest is still there for the characters. Why?
Because that is going be THE hallmark of D&D Next. The flattened power curve.
A lot of people will nitpick on the at will spell abilities the Wizard will get and a dozen other details. But all that pale in the face that the power curve has flatten between characters, between levels, and monsters.
This was thrown in my face when a friend and I decided to get a jump on an upcoming playtest test and try out D&D Next Combat. We made two characters with the closed playtest, which very quickly, and faced four orcs. Based on playing OD&D in the form of Swords & Wizardry I figure it would be a fair fight. It wasn't, the orcs slaughtered us. Granted we got bad rolls, but we still would have won the fight in OD&D. But with D&D Next we were dead, with two orcs left standing.
D&D Next plays a lot like OD&D, very deadly and you need to keep on your toes to survive. But it doesn't do it in the same way as D&D does and for some that will be a deal breaker. but it is definitely D&D and not a game that just has the brand slapped on it.
I was in the closed playtest as well, and when I saw the lack of BAB, I was stunned. I was equally shocked to see that Con Bonus was only added to Hit Points if your die roll was less than the Bonus.
ReplyDeleteI really feel this is a solid embrace of everything D&D with some sensible choices to move it forward.
The flattened power curve is also the aspect that I am most excited about. I'm really curious to see how it manifests as levels progress. And I think the background/theme system is really elegant, and a nice compromise between no customization and hundreds of feats and skills.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear about the flatter power curve. Like Jeff Reints I'm disappointed in what appears to be the coninuation of no low power, but I'll take you word for now that the power curve fixes it.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to run the test this weekend and then have people create characters and give my own adventures a shot. While crimped, I think we have enough detail to create a few variants (assume that theme, background, class, and race are 100% mix and match).