The Bright Side Thread

[Ursus the Grim]

You know what I think every community needs? More positivity. So I'm starting a post-release hype thread. I'm trying to play this edition without becoming the jaded powergamer that 3.5 made me.

A: Post something you really like about 5e, no matter the magnitude.
B: Please don't spoil HotDQ or any other adventure module.
D: Don't pick a fight. These are all opinions.

I'll start. . . .

1. Advantage seems easier to track than circumstancial bonuses.

[Muenster Man]

2. There doesn't appear to be any trap options for building PCs.

[Breltar]

3. The simplicity means the options are limitless.

[Totema]

4. The grappling rules don't need a flowchart to comprehend them.

[Demonic Spoon]

5. They managed to retain the flexibility I liked about 3.5 while being many times simpler to actually just play.

[golentan]

6. Each of the classes has a unique feel, rather than being "just another caster" or "just another warrior."

[rlc]

7. making a pc is fast and easy and you don't have to worry about tons of fiddling around.

[Lord Raziere]

8. I'll soon get to make a Noble Kender Wild Sorcerer. :smallbiggrin:

[Ursus the Grim]

9. I get to experience an edition before splatbook bloat.

[Muenster Man]

10. All core martial classes look fun AND functional

[SaintRidley]

11. Monks aren't woefully inept.

[Soras Teva Gee]

12. Backgrounds are awesome for rounding out your character's flavor or sneaking some skills in.

[akaddk]

13. The types of people who hate 5e are the types of people I don't want to play with anyway.

[MustacheFart]

13 (non-negative) They've added several elements that affect game mechanics but also really facilitate roleplaying such as the character backgrounds.

[Grynning]

14: The old-school feel of the fluff and art takes me back to my childhood.

[MadBear]

15. Sub-classes are a brilliant reinvention of archetypes,give 2 players playing the same class a unique feel allowing for more tailored character concepts, and allow for splatbooks to more naturally add material to the system without feeling tacked on

[DiBastet]

17 actually (two 13s): It allows me to keep my beloved e6 feel forever.

[akaddk]

13 (non-negative)

Wow, what an assholish, passive-aggressive thing to do.

[EvilAnagram]

16 (you can't just ignore a number like that) I get to keep playing as a swordmage, with really cool casting rules.

[Rhyvurg]

18. Backgrounds and archetypes will be far easier to homebrew than entire classes.

[Chaosvii7]

19. We were in the news last week, but we actually got good publicity!

[Naanomi]

20: Multiclassing works in a way that doesn't totally ruin caster progression; doesn't offer weird benefits (saving throws?) or require weird math (BAB?); and seems to support a variety of concepts without being absolutely necessary

[HylianKnight]

21. The new concentration rules means no longer needing an Excel spreadsheet to figure out my attack and damage rolls.

[AuraTwilight]

21. I want to play every class atleast once.

[hymer]

23: Two-weapon fighting is simple and easy to teach a new player.

[The Mormegil]

24: Despite marketing attempts, the PHB has made abundantly clear (most) 4E fans aren't part of the target audience.

[1of3]

Portent, the Diviner feature

[Ursus the Grim]

Portent, the Diviner feature
Let's call that 22.

Jeez, we're really bad at counting. :smallbiggrin:

25. Rerolls on damage die make it reasonable to swing a Greataxe instead of a Greatsword!

[TheOldCrow]

26. Basic D&D is free to download. Whenever someone expresses interest in D&D, I like to tell them this nifty fact.

[Inevitability]

24: Despite marketing attempts, the PHB has made abundantly clear (most) 4E fans aren't part of the target audience.

:smallconfused:

Please tell me why having a broader target audience would be bad for a game.

And because I want to contribute to the thread:

27. Bounded Accuracy means that an army of common warriors actually can defend a city.

[hymer]

@ Dire_Stirge: What's Bounded Accuracy?

28: Cantrips.

[INDYSTAR188]

29 - We no longer have to worry about scrambling to find that extra +X bonus from items.

30 - Divorce from the idea that the game HAS to have magic items gives the DM more agency to make them special and unique.

[ambartanen]

25. Rerolls on damage die make it reasonable to swing a Greataxe instead of a Greatsword!

Don't meant to be a downer but dice rerolls actually make the greatsword even better than the greataxe (average damage of 8.33 vs 7.33 instead of the usual 7 vs 6.5).

On the bright side...
31. Playing a first level caster in 5e is a lot more interesting than 3e- now I have something to do after I use up my two daily spells.

[DireSickFish]

32. The PHB seems to be set up as a reference book so it is very easy to look up and find rules during play or when making a character.

33. There is an entire section dedicated to explaining why traits are important and what questions you should ask yourself when making a background.

[Bounty Hunter]

34. I just reviewed eight different characters for a PBP game in one afternoon. Not only did I not get lost in a maze of math and rules but I actually learned quite a bit about the edition from it.

[Fwiffo86]

35. The flattened numbers allow story arcs to stretch out more, such as a recurring villain remaining relevant and a threat over a much longer span.

[Demonic Spoon]

36. Similar to what other people said. The character creation chapters in the PHB are far more conductive to a new player coming up with a real character rather than a stat block. It's not just the backgrounds (though that helps) - even the class descriptions encourage players to think rather then dictating to them what kind of person a particular class contains.

[Bounty Hunter]

37. I'll likely be able to get my friends who prefer 3.5 and my friends who prefer 4e to compromise and both play 5e.

[Keko]

@ Dire_Stirge: What's Bounded Accuracy?

http://archive.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20120604

In short is the fact that with such small numbers the dice roll remains relevant through all the game, thus eliminating situation of auto-succeess and the other way round even a non specialized character can try al least the basic of most things with a moderate chance of success.

Or mobs of minions remaining a threat to hgh level characters.

For example even a monster with high AC (let's say 20) can be killed by enough low level soldiers with +4 to hit and doing 1d8+2 damage, as opposed to 3.X where DR, extremely high AC, HP and ST, SR and the like guaranteed to high level monster/pc near auto-succeess to outright invulnerability to critters.

38. No more need to rant and hate wasting feats to make what should be a basic thing (I look at you weapon finesse)

[Human Paragon 3]

39. Splitting up movement before and after actions, including splitting up multiple attacks between multiple small moves, makes combat more fluid. Fighters no longer have to sit there swinging away for a full attack in order to use their class features.

40. No more BAB means everyone can be competent with the weapons they are proficient with, and your 8th attack is just as strong as your 1st attack each round.

[Human Paragon 3]

41. Trinkets are a fun, easy, flavorful way to introduce plot hooks and color into every character.

[Shining Wrath]

EDIT: 41.5 (Since 42 got grabbed)

Every class has a variety of options. Rather than having 100 different base classes, they are building what appear to be a dozen solid chassis and providing options upon those.

It's almost like buying a new house and deciding if you want exterior elevation A, B, or C - still fundamentally the same house, but aesthetically different and some functional differences as well.

If they continue to be careful they may be able to keep the base classes in approximate balance.

And of course they can sell many splatbooks supplying new fighter archtypes and clerical domains and so on.

[hymer]

@ Keko: Thanks!

42: The bard feature Jack of All Trades combined with normal proficiency and Expertise allows for a variety of skill levels. [Insert HGttG joke here]

[linklele]

43: Concentration mechanic forces spellcaster to combo with their teammates instead of comboing with another spell from themselves.

[Shining Wrath]

44. It will probably be possible to say that one member of class X can always beat a member of class Y once we explore all the options; however, it doesn't seem that there is any set of [X,Y] where one of class X can always beat two of class Y.

This of course assumes everyone's the same level.

[HorridElemental]

45: Handling items on your person is quick, simple, and not troublesome at all.

46: 5e takes after 4e when it comes to fixing the math, that is if you feel like the math needs fixing (plug in X and boom, done)

47: New edition means that there is a chance of planescape, Darksun, and spell jammer of having new material made.

[Monakai]

48. I feel like I could hand someone who has never played D&D a 5e character sheet, explain the rules they need to know as we play, and it wouldn't be an utter nightmare.

(I've lurked for years, but this is the first time I've ever felt like it was a good idea to post something)

[HorridElemental]

48. I feel like I could hand someone who has never played D&D a 5e character sheet, explain the rules they need to know as we play, and it wouldn't be an utter nightmare.

(I've lurked for years, but this is the first time I've ever felt like it was a good idea to post something)

Totally doing this tomorrow, wish me luck!

49: Will of play. More people are willing to try 5e more so than 3.P/4e.

Heck a 3.5 guy went out and bought the PHB just for a one shot they may turn into a campaign... He doesn't know if he likes 5e yet. Sure he can return the book but that is still pretty cool and I haven't seen that happen... Ever.

[hymer]

@ HorridElemental: Good luck!

50: Meaningful but not straightjacket-inducing subrace choices.

[Edge of Dreams]

51: Paladin and Ranger spells are unique, flavorful, and provide valid choices between DPS and utility.

[Human Paragon 3]

52. Legendary Actions and Lair Actions make fights against boss monsters awesome and epic without them needing to drag on or make use of minions.

[Shining Wrath]

53. Deities have one or two domains, not several, and the number of domains is much smaller, which has the bad effect of reducing variety in clerics, but the good effect of reducing complexity.

[TheSethGrey]

54. More people will want to play, seriously my FLGS had over 30 people there for our last Encounters session, and we took up almost half the store's playing area.

[akaddk]

54. More people will want to play, seriously my FLGS had over 30 people there for our last Encounters session, and we took up almost half the store's playing area.

I wish 30 people only took up half my FLGS's playing area. We had 35 people (apparently up from like 10-15 just six months ago) and it took up 1.5 times the area we had to fit us all in :D

55. I love that you won't end up with a 20th-level character that has a 30 in one stat and an 8 in another. The point-buy cap of 15 and the ability cap of 20 are awesome.

[Durazno]

56. It also takes away the constant drive to increase the stat you use to club monsters with. Congratulations, you have an INT score of 20! Now what else would be helpful for a wizard?

[ambartanen]

Since we are praising the virtues of the new stats system...

57. The fact that you start as really good in your are of expertise (+3) but don't actually become amazing (+5) until you've had quite a bit of experience in your area.

58. Removing the stat effects of aging, so you no longer have a temptation to make a 40-year-old wizard that has only now gained their first class level but will go up ten levels in the next three months.

[Elderand]

59 The magic mart/christmass tree effect is no longer assumed to be the default. makes low magic game possible.

[Soras Teva Gee]

60. Alignment is back to the full course meal it should be but without the sillier bindings that came with it.

[Deox]

61. Multiclassing and feats are only available if the DM allows them.

[Theodoxus]

(Number = number above +1): People are finally stopping the 'what does this mean by RAW' questions and are now properly asking 'How are you interpreting this?' when discussing the very DM centric rule mechanics.

[nyjastul69]

63. Rolling for ability scores is still the default method for character generation

[Theodoxus]

63. Rolling for ability scores is still the default method for character generation

I was thinking - would a d8+7 be too weak for generating stats that were in the point buy range of 8-15, but were still random? I realize it doesn't have the nice 10.5 bell curve of 3d6, so you're as likely to get all 8s as 15s or 11s, but as an optional rule; roll a d8+7 for each stat, if you come out worse than the PB array, you can use either your rolled set, or the array, players choice. (If you got 2 15s and 4 8s, for instance).

My preferred method of stat rolling is for everyone at the table roll a set, and then everyone votes on the array they want to use, and everyone uses the same. It's like PB, in that they're all the same; no character is lucky to have an 18 while another might have at best a 14 - but it's randomized PB... I've had pathfinder characters with the equivalent of 36 PB one session, and 24 another. But the players enjoyed the act of rolling and trying to beat the others.

[rlc]

I was thinking - would a d8+7 be too weak for generating stats that were in the point buy range of 8-15, but were still random? I realize it doesn't have the nice 10.5 bell curve of 3d6, so you're as likely to get all 8s as 15s or 11s, but as an optional rule; roll a d8+7 for each stat, if you come out worse than the PB array, you can use either your rolled set, or the array, players choice. (If you got 2 15s and 4 8s, for instance).

My preferred method of stat rolling is for everyone at the table roll a set, and then everyone votes on the array they want to use, and everyone uses the same. It's like PB, in that they're all the same; no character is lucky to have an 18 while another might have at best a 14 - but it's randomized PB... I've had pathfinder characters with the equivalent of 36 PB one session, and 24 another. But the players enjoyed the act of rolling and trying to beat the others.

thing is, it's a lot less random (and potentially a bit less rewarding) than the standard rolling method. if you feel that this is offset enough by not having to stick with really bad scores, then go for it.

[BoutsofInsanity]

64. I can play Avatar

65. The Paladin explodes undead

[Shining Wrath]

66.While some spells say "Good aligned people won't use these often", there's no spell that is flagged as always evil to cast. That is, caster intentions matter.

[Cambrian]

67. With both bounded accuracy and the advantage/disadvantage it once again feels like a roleplaying game-- not some sort of exercise to reinforce math basics.

68. The archetypes go a long way towards showing player ways they can play a wildly different take on a staple trope (e.g. Oath of the Ancients).

[rlc]

69. Actual limits on multiclassing.

[Muenster Man]

70. Nearly every race and subrace is mechanically interesting.

71. While some races are superior choices for some builds, nearly every race/class combo is viable due to the 20 point cap on any given ability, making it less important for racial bonuses to improve the primary ability for a class