A D&D 5 question

[Jeivar]

I know there already are D&D 5 threads, but my attempts at asking this question there have been completely fruitless.

I haven't been paying attention to the official statements or online chat, so could someone tell me what the main difference is supposed to between D&D 5 and 3.5? Is it mostly a Feat and Skill rewamp, or something more profound?

[Seerow]

I know there already are D&D 5 threads, but my attempts at asking this question there have been completely fruitless.

I haven't been paying attention to the official statements or online chat, so could someone tell me what the main difference is supposed to between D&D 5 and 3.5? Is it mostly a Feat and Skill rewamp, or something more profound?

You could download the free playtest packet and judge for yourself.

But if you lack inclination to do so, I would describe it as a watered down 3.5 with AD&D elements and a few obfuscated 4e elements. Feats are watered down to be essentially meaningless. Skills are practically nonexistent. Scaling progression is reduced to nothing in any area that isn't hp or damage. Hit dice try to be like healing surges but are far less useful and integrated into the system.

[Kurald Galain]

In theory, it's supposed to be a profound combination of all editions of D&D ever, that combines the best elements from each and appeals to all players in the whole world.

In practice, it's more like a feat and skill revamp. Everything works slightly differently from 3E (sometimes better, sometimes worse), but nothing fundamental has changed.

But hey, we've got six-and-a-half threads discussing it, right here on this forum; I'd suggest you look over them and check some of the longer posts for relevant points.

[Draz74]

Look up ENWorld's 5e Summary page (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showwiki.php?title=D+and+D+Next:+General+Informati on) for a detailed overview of all the differences/features.

[Yora]

On Enworld there is one interesting thread that asked people what they think 5th edition looks the most like and why, and the results are all over the place. You have about equal amounts of people who say it's like a slightly changed version of OD&D, BECMI, AD&D 1st Edition, 2nd Edition, 3rd Edition, and 4th Edition.

My personal view is that it is 3rd Edition with heavily reduced Base Attack Bonuses, removed class level bonuses to saving throws, and a skill system in which you don't have skill ranks but a +3 bonus or +0 bonus.
Also, monster stat blocks are much shorter and you don't get additional attacks at higher levels. Fighter got new abilities that many people quite like, and rogue skills is not yet entirely figured out.

And of course, so far there are only four classes with 5 levels and only a very very small number of spells and magic items for the playtest, which makes it hard to say how things will actually look in the final product.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

A lot of it is in flux. However, the biggest change that I've seen in the most recent update is that PCs are not entitled to magic items. Magic items don't have price tags anymore.

[TheOOB]

You could download the free playtest packet and judge for yourself.

But if you lack inclination to do so, I would describe it as a watered down 3.5 with AD&D elements and a few obfuscated 4e elements. Feats are watered down to be essentially meaningless. Skills are practically nonexistent. Scaling progression is reduced to nothing in any area that isn't hp or damage. Hit dice try to be like healing surges but are far less useful and integrated into the system.

I think that is perhaps an unfair assessment, OP asked for what 5e was, and we should let them decide upon the quality. For the record, there are lots of skills, they just work differently that in previous editions. Classes do scale, getting new and more powerful abilities, though numerical scaling is slowed a little, we only have like a dozen feats, but many of them are quite powerful, and the purpose of hit dice is very very different from the purpose of healing surges.

The simplest answer is that D&D 5e is a new edition, with all that entails. The next most important thing to notice is that the game is still in a Pre-Alpha state. For past editions we haven't seen anything about it until 3-6 months before release, for 5e we're seeing stuff 2+ years before release.

Anyways, the idea is they are trying to make a simple core system focusing on classes with unique play mechanics, and allowing you to add additional elements as you see fit(such as magic items). The design is supposed to be modular so that you can customize the the way you want. They are following the design philosophy that it's easier to add in an element you like, than remove an element you don't like.

I really suggest reading the playtest document. It's still in super early stages, but it should give you a basic idea of whats to come.