What's changed between 3.5 and 5th edition? [Archive]

Deepbluediver

2018-05-14, 08:17 PM

Edit2: (see original post below) I just wanted to thank everyone for their help! The new group is going great and I'm loving my character- a Druid with the Circle of Twilight specialization. My GM was really open to using UA material, and the rest of the group has been very welcoming, despite some of my character's eccentricities. That may-or-may-not be because I'm currently the party's sole source of healing, but I'll take what I can get. :smallbiggrin:

ORIGINAL POST STARTS HERE!
I used to play 3.5, and I've been really into homebrewing in that version for a while, but I'm looking to possibly join a group that's doing a campaign in 5th edition. Does anyone have any good sources for getting a handle on it that they can link me, like a "D&D 5th Edition for Dummies". Or if you're feeling really generous, maybe run me down some of the major differences and/or things to watch out for?

I've been told that the party is pretty open but could use a support-type character of some kind- currently it consists of: a Rogue (Mastermind), a Fighter (Great Weapon Master, Champion), and a Warlock (of the Book, whatever that means). Based on the homebrewed setting I'm leaning away from Cleric and towards a Druid, but I don't know how much any of these classes changed from 3.5.
http://www.goodbadflicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/halp.jpg

Edit: I've gotten a lot of really great advice, and as I start to think through potential character concepts, I've found myself drawn towards two potential Druid-Circles from the Unearthed Aracana supplement- Circle of Spores and Circle of Twighlight. If anyone had any experience of opinions to offer regarding those specifically, I'd be glad to hear it.

OldTrees1

2018-05-14, 08:28 PM

The classes, in broad strokes, stick to their roots with the exception of the bard which is now a full caster and warlock which got changed from "At-Will" to "X Per Short Rest" (kinda like per 1-3 encounters).

However enough of the small details got changed that it is best if you read through the 5E Players Handbook. Most of it will be very similar but some will come out of left field in both the more restrictive and more flexible directions.

For example in 5E you get few kinds of actions and some have prerequisites. You get 1 Action per turn (movement is a non action that gets split up as you choose), 1 Object Interaction (open a door) per turn, and 1 Reaction between the start of one turn and the start of the next (Opportunity Attacks expend this Reaction). You also get 0-1 Bonus Actions per turn. Bonus Actions are not like Swift Actions, instead each bonus action has a prerequisite that must be fulfilled before you can use the corresponding Bonus Action. Then you get at most 1 Bonus Action per turn.

As far as the group you are joining, either Cleric or Druid will do the support you are looking for, so go with your gut, and roll up a Druid.

daemonaetea

2018-05-14, 08:35 PM

Well, I'm certain someone else will do a better job of this, but I'll give it a shot!

The first thing I'll tell you is that, while builds still matter, they matter less. That is to say, don't worry so much about making an effective character, and just make something that interests you. Especially since you're thinking of a divine caster that changes their list up every rest. It's actually really, really hard now to make a worthless character, whereas in 3.5 it was incredibly easy to do if you didn't know what you were doing.

And the reason for that is that most everything has been flattened out. If you've heard of "bounded accuracy", that's basically a fancy way of saying that the rolls and stats of a 1st level character and those of a 20th level character are, while obviously different, no longer so by a magnitude. Most 1st level characters can actually hit a 20th level character. Not as consistently as fellow 1st levels, but high level characters are no longer gods striding the plane. Minor demigods at best. And that follows for pretty much everything else. While your power grows as you level, nothing is really completely beyond your grasp at 1st level, and a 20th level character never grows so far as to be immune to the peasants around them.

This is mostly accomplished by a single change - BAB and Saving Bonuses and Skill Points are gone. Long live the Proficiency Bonus! Now there's pretty much a single underlying system. You have a proficiency bonus, which starts at +2 and will end at +6 at 20th level. And pretty much every check follows this formula:

1. Choose the appropriate stat.
2. Decide the skill or tool or save being used. (All stats are also saves now! No more reflex saves, it's a Dex save. And you also have Int and Cha and Str saves, too. (Although they're a bit rare.) )
3. Are you proficient in said skill or tool? If so, add your Proficiency Bonus! If not, don't.
4. Then roll d20 + stat + prof (if applicable)

Since stats are now capped at +5 (outside rare and powerful magic), that means the highest roll you'll make, outside special abilities, is now +11. And most rolls at the beginning of your career are at +5, at best. That doesn't sound like a lot of room for growth, but instead of those base numbers changing, you'll get a steady drip of tricks and abilities to grow yourself as you level. In general, no more dead levels.

The only other thing I'd say you really need to know to get started are that Prestige Classes are dead, and multiclassing isn't really as powerful as it used to be. Instead, there are archetypes, which are basically built in Prestige Classes, that are part of every class. Between 1st and 3rd level you'll choose a special class feature that'll guide what kind of druid or cleric or fighter you are, often patterned off the Prestige Classes of old, or just popular playing styles. For instance, Fighter can choose Eldritch Knight as one of theirs.

Are there more changes? Of course! But if you start a new game the group will guide you through some of that, while I'm hoping the advice above will help you feel confident in making the choices you need to actually get started. Namely, don't sweat the numbers, the base idea of the system, and that you don't need to look beyond the classes themselves for the build options open to you.

As a fellow 3.5 immigrant, I'll say that while I miss the plethora of options 3.5 had, I adore 5E for the cleanness of its design, simplicity of play, and streamlining of process. 3.5 could do amazing things, but by god did you have to earn them. I've found 5E to be a less complex, but more straightly enjoyable, game.

JoeJ

2018-05-14, 08:50 PM

If you've acquired (or can borrow) a Player's Handbook, pay close attention to the chapters on ability scores, adventuring, and combat. There are some basic assumptions about what your character can do that are different than 3.5, frequently in the direction of allowing more cinematic action without a specialized build. All characters can move and attack - there is no 5' step in this edition. Swimming and climbing don't require rolls by default, but only if the DM decides the conditions are especially difficult. Most of the things that in 3.5e provoke attacks of opportunity don't provoke them in 5e, although moving away from an enemy without disengaging still does.

Willie the Duck

2018-05-14, 09:57 PM

I've been told that the party is pretty open but could use a support-type character of some kind- currently it consists of: a Rogue (Mastermind), a Fighter (Great Weapon Master, Champion), and a Warlock (of the Book, whatever that means). Based on the homebrewed setting I'm leaning away from Cleric and towards a Druid, but I don't know how much any of these classes changed from 3.5.

Honestly, if someone tells me that they are familiar with a previous D&D, and are playing 5e for the first time, I would suggest they play a fighter (champion). Especially one with decent Strength and Dexterity, such that they can pinch hit with any weapon. After that, I'd suggest rogue. Your party seems to already have those. Somewhere close to next on that list, however, is Druid. Especially Moon Druid. It's pretty easy to play: you get spells per "long rest" (effectively spells-per-day. They just renamed it to make it go along with short rests, which are a new thing). The spells are close to the same as 3e -- you still have to memorize spells, and they can be from the complete druid list. However, you memorize a group of spells and then cast them from your total bin of spell slots per day, not specifically memorizing "two goodberries and one faerie fire and an entangle" or the like. Have a compatriot show you. It should take about 10 minutes to figure out, tops. Second, you also have druid shapechange. The advantage of this is that it recharges on a 'short rest' (which is where the party takes an hour breather when they find a safe spot). It is a lessor recharge station compared to camping overnight and getting your spells back), and the druid has it kinda nice in that about half of their abilities are long-rest recharging, and half short-rest recharging (nice in that any group you are in will half-favor you, unlike say a pure wizard being in your group of champions and warlocks,). Druidic shapechange is much like 3e style--you replace your physical stats with the animals (so it doesn't matter too much if you have crummy Dex and Str or the like). But you also swap out your HP, and when you drop to 0 animal HP, you revert to your original form (minus any overflow you took as an animal). So druids are tank-like characters in that they can go to the front lines and absorb significant punishment. The worst part of the situation, from a 3e perspective, is that you really can't get in-animal-form spellcasting until high level, and there aren't a bunch of splat-book magic items which still work after you have changed shape (no wildling clasps or armor or whatever).

Quick question, have you played any other D&D than 3e and 5e? I ask because it is important to remember that, despite superficial similarities such as feats and everyone having the same experience chart and such, 5e is not simply 3rd-edition, take four. It is its' own thing, and borrows from every other edition and a few things it made up itself. Be open to new things and also don't assume X is going to work Y way because it did in Z edition.

EvilAnagram

2018-05-14, 10:09 PM

The above posts are all pretty solid, but I would add this: Forget everything about the mechanics of 3.5. It will not help you. There's no touch AC, flat-footed doesn't exist, and a grapple check is a simple contested roll.

In 5e, there are two fundamental aspects of your character: Ability Scores and Proficiency. Ability scores work the way they did in 3.5, but your proficiency bonus is a function of total character levels (not class levels). At level 1, your proficiency bonus is +2, and it increases to +3 at level 5, +4 at level 9 and so on to a maximum of +6. If you multiclass to a Fighter2/Warlock3, your proficiency bonus is the same as it would be if you were single classed.

Any time you attempt to do something, you roll and add the relevant ability score. If you have proficiency in the thing you're attempting to do, you also add your proficiency bonus. That's how attacks, skill checks, initiative, spell attacks and saving throws work. Just about everything under the sun works that way, though if you cast spells, your spell save DC will equal 8+AbilityMod+Proficiency.

Those are the fundamentals. Everything else is just riffing off of those rules.

OutOfThyme

2018-05-14, 10:39 PM

Another thing that's changed is that there really isn't a bunch of prices listed everywhere for all kinds of magic items. 5e doesn't operate under the Magic Mart mentality that 3.5e did, where basically every magic item has pricing associated with it. There's recommendations on the amount of magic items you're supposed to have in the different "tiers" (split from level 1-5, 6-10, 11-16, 17-20) of play in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, but nothing beyond that.

Something important is the concept of bounded accuracy - there's a finite limit to how hard and accurately you can hit. Ability scores naturally cap out at 20 - there are some class features and magic items that bypass this - resulting at a +5 bonus. With the +6 proficiency bonus at 20th level, the practical limit to attack and skill/ability checks is a +11, while you can expect a maximum of +6 at 1st level if you have an 18 in the relevant ability and proficiency.

Something I really like is that there's a lot less bookkeeping involved in 5e than 3.5e - instead of tracking all manner of saves, BAB, and different skills, there's only proficiency. There's the concern that this dumbs the system down, but I think 5e is still versatile enough with flavor changes and flexibility on the DM's part.

Deepbluediver

2018-05-14, 11:57 PM

Kane0

2018-05-15, 06:26 AM

- Proficiency bonus is used for skill/ability checks, attacks and saving throws instead of BAB, save progressions and skill points. It's all based off Stat + Proficiency, and the numbers are lower and scale slower. HP and abilities/options are the primary differentiation between low and high levels.
- Due to reduced scaling of basic numbers (skills, attacks, damage, AC) it is expected that low CR creatures remain a threat to higher level parties in significant numbers. This is intended.

- You have a saving throw type for each attribute.
- You can't have a stat higher than 20 by normal means, nor a stat higher than 30 by any means.
- Movement is not an action, and actions can happen between movement. Bonus actions are like swifts, reactions are like immediates. No action can be traded for another type. You can also make one interaction (grab a weapon, open a door, etc) per turn for free.
- You cannot delay, only ready an action.
- Only one thing provokes an AoO: Moving out of a creatures reach.
- Learn the advantage / disadvantage mechanic, it replaces 90% of fiddly +1s and +2s.
- Dying works differently. You only die outright when you take damage equal to your max HP in one hit after reaching 0. When reduced to 0 you make saving throws, three successes stabilizes you and 3 failures you die. Taking damage while making death saves counts as one failure.
- Damage resistance, reduction and vulnerability is simplified. It's half damage, doesn't exist (as such) and double damage respectively.
- There are two kinds of rest: short and long. There is expected to be two short rests for every long on average, which is important to maintain balance short rest classes (monk, warlock) against long rest classes (paladin, sorcerer).
- Everybody can heal via hit die, which are spent during short rests.

- Concentration is a thing you need to know well. Most buff, debuff and control spells need concentration, and you can concentrate on one thing at a time. You have a chance to lose concentration each time you take damage.
- All casting is 'spontaneous', though the list of spells available for you to choose from may change based on how your class handles it.
- Levels 1-3 are supposed to go by very quickly, and 4-5 fairly quickly. The majority of PC time is angled to be spent in the level 6-11 range.
- Encounter design and challenge rating is also different. A CR 6 enemy is an easy (little resource expenditure & low chance of falling) challenge for a level 6 party of 4, not an easy challenge for a single level 6 character. You are expected to deal with half a dozen or so medium encounters on an adventuring day, not one or two hard ones.
- Don't use any optional rules to start with. This includes multiclassing and feats.
- The core math of the game does not expect you to get magic items by default. You can play through levels 1 to 20 without seeing a magic item at all, anything you get/give is a bonus.

Golden Rule: Thou shalt not assume to know that which shares a name
Sneak attack works differently. Protection from Evil works differently. Critical hits work differently. Do not skim over things that look familiar because they are almost all different in subtle ways that become very apparent in play.

djreynolds

2018-05-15, 06:39 AM

You can only concentrate on 1 spell at a time, and with usually 1 minute in duration you really cannot pre-buff anymore.

At-will scaling cantrips are now your go to attacks, but usually not as powerful as a martial's extra attacks, aside from warlock

I find the limit on pre-buffing makes winning initiative more important than before.

DerficusRex

2018-05-15, 06:43 AM

Thanks, all! This seams a really good primer- and I'll try to get a hold of a 5th edition PHB as soon as I can.

In the meantime, the basic rules are available for free download here: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules or through DnD Beyond here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules

Basic rules are effectively PHB-lite (I think there's only one archetype shown per class, the spell list is more limited, and I don't think the feats are included). It does explain the mechanics of things though, and it will give you a good idea of how things work.

edit: Ah, not all classes are there either, just cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard. Still, it's enough to get the idea.

Deepbluediver

2018-05-15, 07:37 AM

I'm toying with the idea of worshipping the local death-god and playing something like a Blighter (http://dnd.arkalseif.info/classes/blighter/index.html). Are there any Druid Circles (I learned that term from the SRD!) that might be a good fit?

Alternatively (I don't want to go overboard when joining a new group so this is a VERY "maybe" idea) I know multi-class casters never really worked in 3.5 but do you think it would be possible to play something like a Druid+Necromancer?

Ninja_Prawn

2018-05-15, 08:08 AM

The problem with a druid/wizard is that you now have two casting stats. That's going to cut into your ac and/or hp, since dex and con lose priority. Its doable, but probably doesn't make the build any stronger.

Also bear in mind that spell slots scale by caster level, but spells known scale by class level. So you'll end up with slots higher than what you know spells for.

Waazraath

2018-05-15, 08:09 AM

A level 1 wizard won't defeat a level 4 paladin anymore

Unoriginal

2018-05-15, 08:13 AM

I'm toying with the idea of worshipping the local death-god and playing something like a Blighter (http://dnd.arkalseif.info/classes/blighter/index.html). Are there any Druid Circles (I learned that term from the SRD!) that might be a good fit?

Errr, there is the Circle of Spores, from the Unearthed Arcana.

Alternatively (I don't want to overboard when joining a new group so this is a VERY "maybe" idea) I know multi-class casters never really worked in 3.5 but do you think it would be possible to play something like a Druid+Necromancer?

A multiclass could work, but the Circle of Spores might be what you want.

Anymage

2018-05-15, 08:25 AM

As a rule of thumb, you want to avoid more complex characters when you're just getting used to a system. Multiclassing isn't the worst thing, but a druid/necromancer doesn't have much synergy across their parts and is an added complication.

If you want death flavor for your character, pick an appropriate background. They give you two skill proficiencies, two language/tool proficiencies, maybe some minor starting gear, and an entirely fluff bonus. They're meant to cover most of the pre-adventurer background and/or minor flavor bits to your character. It helps to cut down on 3.5's glut of organization and viewpoint based PRCs.

Also, if you want to play a support character, three things worth pointing out. The first is simply what other people have mentioned, that Concentration is a thing. Your ability to maintain multiple long duration spells is limited. Second, everybody can heal themselves on a short rest, and everybody's hit points recover to full after a long rest. Dedicated healers are a lot less of a thing. Third, spells don't automatically scale with level. Instead you only get increased results by burning a higher level slot. These all combine to make support casters less of a thing than they were before, and make healers less mandatory than you remember them being.

strangebloke

2018-05-15, 09:10 AM

The three most important changes, IMO.

-Concentration: Most spells with a duration longer than "instantaneous" require the caster to concentrate on it. This means you can't have more than one of them active at a time, and you can lose the spell if you get hit.

-Bounded Accuracy: Modifiers/difficulty classes don't go that high. There's no way to break this. Goblins will always be able to hurt you. Almost all checks will add an ability modifier and y

-Action Economy: has been simplified to movement, action, reaction, and bonus action, which roughly correspond to move action, action, AoO, and swift action, but they don't really interact in the same way. For example, you can spend movement at any point in your turn, including in between attacks or in between blasts from scorching ray.

Errr, there is the Circle of Spores, from the Unearthed Arcana.

A multiclass could work, but the Circle of Spores might be what you want.

Seconded. It's playtest material, but pretty straightforward (and cool) and definitely the closest thing to a blighter.

KorvinStarmast

2018-05-15, 09:19 AM

Significant differences:

Class power differences reduced (the Tier 1-5 thing isn't applicable to this edition)

Bounded Accuracy (https://web.archive.org/web/20140715051206/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20120604)

Advantage/Disadvantage

Feats are optional, or rare. Feat Chains are gone.

Choose between stat increases or a feat every four levels. (If Feats are in your game: DM option to disallow)

There are no Wealth-By-Level guidelines: magic items are expected to be rarer and less necessary.

Cantrips are "use at will" and go up in how many damage dice are done (where they do damage) based on tiers of play.

Tier 1 is levels 1-4
Tier 2, is levels 5-10
Tier 3 is levels 11-16
Tier 4 is levels 17-20

Action economy is simplified. The five elements are:

Action (attack, move, cast spell, dodge, or whatever)
Bonus Action (may or may not apply)
Reaction (may or may not apply)
Move
Interact with an object.

Saving Throws are one per stat, not will, fortitude, or reflex. Your saves are based on :
STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, or CHA. You are proficient in two saves.

Proficiency bonus advances by level. These apply to a variety of things.

Fewer exploits/less cheese, but some have been found.

Some interesting observations are here.

PhoenixPhyre

2018-05-15, 09:29 AM

To add to what's been said:

Skills are completely different, both in principle and in practice. There is no such thing (generally) as a "trained only" check by RAW (thieves tools are the only exception I know of).

Instead, you make Ability checks that sometimes you can add your proficiency bonus if you have "tagged" a relevant skill. DMs are encouraged to allow proficiency if the player makes a good case, but the DM decides on the ability used as well as the DC (usually in the range 10-20). Many things are auto-success. Very rarely will you be able to auto-succeed on a relevant check--ability scores are capped at +5 (+7 at level 20 for STR/CON barbarians), proficiency is +6 at level 17+. This means that modifiers for ability checks are less important--go ahead and try those things even if you only have a +1 or even a +0 bonus.

If you want to be a skill-master, put either one level into rogue or three into bard for expertise (doubled proficiency bonus).

The basic game loop is:

1) DM describes the scene
2) Player says what his character is attempting and how (note: this is not necessarily mechanical. Less "I roll persuasion on the king" and more "I present the king with a researched plan...and finish with 'and that's why you should give us the McGuffin").
3) The DM and the player decide how to resolve the action. This might involve rules and mechanics, but it might not.
4) The DM narrates what changes because of the action (successful or not).
5) GOTO 1

The focus is on the in-universe actions, not on the mechanics. Players do not call for checks--that's the DM at step 3. Once a check is called for, the player can ask if he can apply proficiency in a skill or tool (if either no specific skill was called for or he has a good reason to apply a different skill instead).

Willie the Duck

2018-05-15, 09:50 AM

Thanks, all! This seams a really good primer- and I'll try to get a hold of a 5th edition PHB as soon as I can. Honestly a lot of these changes, like the no-spellcasting-in-shapeshift, the spell-memorization mechanics, and the lack of a magic-mart are things that I think would have made 3.5 run better anyhow. Many of them are things I've thought about implementing somehow in my own homebrew, even if I didn't know that the 5th edition designers apparently has the same ideas.

Well, if you've spent any time online, one tends to realize that just about everyone at least noticed some of the glaring issues with 3e (so much so that there has been some rather vocal 'how did they not see this coming?!' kind of vitriol). So yes, WotC was aware of the abuses, and addressed them (excepting where they were correcting for what were deemed overcorrections in 4e).

I swear I'm trying! It's not that I think 3.5 is the BEST EVAH! and should never be changed, it's just when you get really used to something it's becomes habit to fall back on what you know ("Hmm, I wonder if I can make the Jump check to cross that chasm...", etc etc etc).

Which is why I asked what other D&D's you have played. Or other tabletop RPGs. It is not a case of us catching you doing something wrong, it is about moderating expectations. 5e follows a lot of the basic 'structure' of 3e/Pathfinder (same attribute => attribute bonus formula, different xp table but same style, similar terminology like 0th level spells called cantrips or non-class-based benefits arbitrarily called 'feats') and it is easy to think that everything defaults to 3e assumptions unless otherwise stated, and that tends not to work (your example about jumping across a chasm being a great example. Don't assume that, look it up. You really want to know the answer to that before you are mid-air).

I'm toying with the idea of worshipping the local death-god and playing something like a Blighter (http://dnd.arkalseif.info/classes/blighter/index.html). Are there any Druid Circles (I learned that term from the SRD!) that might be a good fit?
Alternatively (I don't want to overboard when joining a new group so this is a VERY "maybe" idea) I know multi-class casters never really worked in 3.5 but do you think it would be possible to play something like a Druid+Necromancer?

Third alternative--What about just a straight up druid, and play them extra creepy-like? You know, shapechange into snakes and spiders a lot. Have a bunch of bones sewn into their black leather or hide (other PC: 'does that look like human-skin to anyone else?') armor. Maybe have a criminal background?

Multiclass is possible, and the mechanic is simpler than 3e. It is still a Wisdom+Intelligence MAD situation. Necromancers are, although fairly powerful (right up until the DM gets tired of their tricks), a whole lot of bookkeeping. I would suggest holding off until you have played more 5e.

sophontteks

2018-05-15, 11:28 AM

Outside of multi-classing you can't really screw up your character much. Just pick a class, pick a race that can boost that classes primary stat, and pick a background that best matches your character's story.

5e's balance is really great. All the classes are solid and multiclassing is no longer necessary. Paladins, monks, and bards have come out of the tangled mess of previous editions to become full-fledged and diverse classes worth playing all the way to level 20.

All in all I would say relax.

5e is much less focused on mechanics and much more focused on roleplaying. There are many abilities which are difficult to quantify, like those associated with your background, and you'll go further being creative with these rather then focusing solely on abilities that provide mechanical advantages.

The type of character you want to play is much more about how you roleplay that character then it is about the choices you make creating that character. Like someone mentioned, if you want to play a fallen druid, roleplay a fallen druid. 5e streamlined most of the choices available in favor of fewer choices that are more open-ended and better balanced.

GlenSmash!

2018-05-15, 12:06 PM

This is a great guide laying out the differences when 5e first launched: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?358474-A-Grognard-s-Guide-to-5E-D-amp-D-Rules&highlight=grognards+guide

Some of it will be a little out of date, but I think the core of it is still sound.

The basic rules are available for free and lay out the game, but not all the options, very well and is a pretty quick read, as opposed to the full SRD which is a bit of a slog to parse through.

smcmike

2018-05-15, 02:25 PM

If you have a lot of 3.5 experience, I think it’s worth considering the classes that sucked in 3.5 and do not suck in 5e.

Specifically, Monk was basically broken in 3.5. It isn’t any more. It also highlights the mobility and fluidity of 5e combat more than any other class - no more 5’ stepping or standing still to get your full attack off. A 5e Monk can run up to you and hit you 3 times, using dexterity for attack and damage rolls, at level 1. That’s just crazy compared to 3.5.

Also, Paladin. The Paladin is very cool in 5e, with more spells and better built-in spike damage. If you want to play melee in 5e, it’s a good place to start. (I also love the 5e barbarian, but the 3.5 Barbarian worked better than the Paladin, and your group could use a little healing).

Hecuba

2018-05-15, 05:12 PM

Mechanical changes.

First rule: When in doubt presume its not the same. Even if it has the same name.

Core resolution mechanics and bounded accuracy:
The core way the everything is resolved is still a d20 roll: D20+StatBonus+SomeOtherBonus. That is not however, to say that it is not significantly different.
First, the "SomeOtherBonus" part has been largely unified. Instead of a Reflex save bonus and a BAB and Concentration skill ranks, you just have a Proficiency bonus. Proficiency bonus scales with your level. Classes, races, backgrounds, and feats (if they are used) grant you with proficiency with certain rolls. If you have proficiency with the weapon you're attacking with (or the save you're making, or the skill that the check calls for), then you add your Proficiency bonus to the roll. If you don't have proficiency, then you don't.
Flat modifiers to these rolls are far less common, and far smaller. The most frequent one in my experience is from the Guidance cantrip, which grants a 1d4 bonus to a single roll. +X weapons generally cap at +3 - and +3 is quite powerful. In general, flat modifiers been replaced with...
Advantage and disadvantage. When you have advantage on a roll, you roll twice and take the higher result. When you have disadvantage, you roll twice and take the lower roll. When have multiple instances of advantage or disadvantage, they don't stack - you still only roll twice. When you have both advantage and disadvantage, they cancel - regardless of whether you have more sources of one than the other.
The limited scope of flat modifiers and the advantage/disadvantage system forms the basis of what is called bounded accuracy - a major design goal of the version.

Pattern of play:
The presumed mode of play is theater of the mind. The game supports grid combat, but it is not the assumption. While your table absolutely should use a grid if you prefer, its worth keeping in mind that the default assumption is the opposite of 3.5.
The "rest" mechanic that was beginning to emerge in 3.5 has become formalized. There are two forms of rest - short rests and long rests. The default assumption is 1 long rest a day, 2 short rests per long rest. The Hit Dice mechanic gives all characters, regardless of class, a self-healing mechanism during short rests.
Magic items do not become assumed after low levels. There are also limits on how many you can make full use of (Attunement).
Concentration is important, and not the same thing it was in 3.5. Ongoing spells almost universally require concentration to maintain, and a caster can only concentrate on one spell as a time.
The action economy is different. Your turn consists of 1 action, 1 bonus action (if you have something that provides it), your movement, & 1 interaction (speaking and one simple manipulation of an item, like drawing a weapon) - which can happen as part of either your movement or action. You also have 1 reaction available during other characters turns - assuming that one becomes available (ex: Opportunity attack).

Stats & Saves:
The basic bonus calculation remains unchanged: [score - 10] / 2 = bonus, always round down
The functional range of scores, however, is quite different. You will get ability score increases (ASIs) as you level, and they can result in high ability scores even for secondary stats (though these can also be traded for feats if they are in play - see below). ASIs, however, will not push your score above 20. Indeed, there is very little that will until you hit epic boons. For practical purposes, you can start out assuming that 20 is a hard cap.
There is a save for each Stat, not just Con, Dex, and Wis.

Subclasses, multiclassing, backgrounds, races, and feats:
Each class has sub-classes, which come online at level 3. These fill the same conceptual role as Prestige classes did in 3.5, but without the multi-classing.
Multi-classing is supported, but both less common and less powerful than it was in 3.5 emergent play. In general, a single class character is workable and normal in 5e.
Your background matters: it will give you proficiencies and languages, which are important.
The most important aspect of your race selection is probably not the ability score bonus it gives. Pay attention to the proficiencies and the other abilities: they matter.
Feats are optional, but commonly used. If the table allows feats, you may take one instead of an Agility Score increase.

Deepbluediver

2018-05-15, 08:21 PM

Also, if you want to play a support character, three things worth pointing out. The first is simply what other people have mentioned, that Concentration is a thing. Your ability to maintain multiple long duration spells is limited. Second, everybody can heal themselves on a short rest, and everybody's hit points recover to full after a long rest. Dedicated healers are a lot less of a thing. Third, spells don't automatically scale with level. Instead you only get increased results by burning a higher level slot. These all combine to make support casters less of a thing than they were before, and make healers less mandatory than you remember them being.
I'm not going to be sitting in the back row doing nothing but healing- even in 3.5 that wasn't optimal. The GM seemed pretty open to whatever I wanted to play, he just happened to mention that a character with some support-capability would not be amiss.

I have to read up on it more, but it sounds like the Circle of Spores that Unoriginal mentioned could be what I'm looking for. Especially if it lets me skip the Wildshape and focus on spellcasting.

Multiclass is possible, and the mechanic is simpler than 3e. It is still a Wisdom+Intelligence MAD situation. Necromancers are, although fairly powerful (right up until the DM gets tired of their tricks), a whole lot of bookkeeping. I would suggest holding off until you have played more 5e.
Yeah, it was something I briefly considered when I was thinking about playing an evil character, but as I muddle through my potential character's backstory, I think Chaotic Neutral will suit just fine.

Eric Diaz

2018-05-15, 08:51 PM

I have two detailed "3e x 4e x 5e" comparisons in my sig; the main differences are philosophical IMO.

One important philosophical difference (that I'm not a great fan of) is bounded accuracy. One hundred 1st level bowmen can reliably take down an adult dragon in a "white room" scenario (a big room, mind you), something I don't think would be possible in 3.5.

Malifice

2018-05-15, 11:39 PM

Casters are heavily nerfed. Can only concentrate on one spell at a time and you only get 1 slot each of 6th+ level at higher levels mostly.

That's balanced by at will cantrips and rituals. More utility magic, and you can finally toss that crossbow away.

From a DMing perspective, the game runs best when it sticks to a paradigm of multiple (around 6) encounters per long rest, and 2-3 short rests over that time.

How you enforce that is up to you, but the game gets very wonky if you dont stick to it. Classes imbalance a fair bit, and encounters are trivialised.

Its no different to 3.5 in that respect (the 5 minute adventuring day). At least 5E gives you some advice and control over how to mitigate that phenomenon.

5E is also a lot more forgiving at middle levels onwards. Revivify comes online at 5th level, and instant death is much (much) rarer. PCs are pretty safe from TPK's starting at 5th. Material component costs for Raise dead etc are much cheaper (and Rasie dead is now 5th level).

It's still pretty deadly from 1-4 however.

Deepbluediver

2018-05-16, 12:59 AM

Kane0

2018-05-16, 01:12 AM

Circle of Twilight is good, perhaps too good if you couple Harvest's Scythe with Magic Missile and the like. I've seen quite a few people suggest changing it from a separate resource pool to an alternate use for your Wild Shape feature, which I consider quite elegant.

Edit: Also keep in mind that Circle of Twilight is from Unearthed Arcana, the official unofficial homebrew of the Devs released for playtesting before being finalized in books.
Some items have seen multiple iterations (eg Favored Soul Sorcerer, Arcane Archer Fighter) and others have been dropped entirely (eg Lore Wizard).

sophontteks

2018-05-16, 06:04 AM

This is all really good stuff.

The GM linked me to some more sources that cover most of the druid-specific rules, and in it I saw another Unearthed Arcana option that seemed to have something to do with death/undead: the Circle of Twilight (http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/Druid#Druid_Circle). Does anyone have any insight they might be able to offer me about that?

Unearthed Arcana is unofficial material for playtesting that should probably be avoided in any full campaign. Odds are that your GM doesn't allow it since UA has a real bad track record when it comes to balance. If he does allow it, there is a chance some abilities may need to be houseruled as you play if they are found to be too strong.

I don't know about twilight. I just read some other classes that really turned me off to UA (lore wizard). Tread carefully with that stuff. And never multiclass these archtypes. They are not balanced with multiclassing in mind and warn as much in the document.

Mortis_Elrod

2018-05-16, 06:57 AM

Circle of twilight was a really nice change of pace for druids, one that is about a balance between life and death, effectively a master of the natural cycle.
In my opinion it was a solid attempt but I’d recommend changing a few things with your DM helping you. I’d you were looking for a more death-y undead Druid this doesn’t really cut it either.

Circle of spores was another take on a less conventional Druid after WOTC received feedback off of Twilight. I really like this one but it’s not perfect. Some of your abilities don’t really function with each other, but that seems like an easy fix. I’d ask to modify the poison damage for necrotic damage (poison is just... so easily resisted/immune) or maybe acid if necrotic seems too strong.

Give both a go tho in a short rest session if you’re unsure, don’t be afraid to play test things

Pex

2018-05-16, 07:23 AM

Aside from the math, there is another significant difference between 3E and 5E. 5E has no "5 ft step". That means you can move as far as your speed allows and use any ability you have you want. For warriors, that includes making more than one attack when they get them. In addition, everyone has "Spring Attack". You can move part of your speed, do whatever you want, then move the rest of your speed. For warriors who have multiple attacks you can move before, between, and after those attacks.

2D8HP

2018-05-16, 10:27 AM

Honestly, if someone tells me that they are familiar with a previous D&D, and are playing 5e for the first time, I would suggest they play a fighter (champion). Especially one with decent Strength and Dexterity, such that they can pinch hit with any weapon. After that, I'd suggest rogue[...]

A big +1 to this advice, as that's exactly what I did.

I suspect that the OP is already past this, but for me starting as a Champion as a "training wheels" class, and then going Rogue worked very well for me.

If the Feats or Multi-classing options are used it's very easy to sprinkle on extra options if they're desired.

Battlemaster and all the Spell-casting classes are more complex and not quite as "training wheels".

Assassin (which I've never played), Swashbuckler (from SCAG, Xanthar's, and UA), and Thief Rogues still have plenty of options, as does the Arcane Trickster spell-casting sub-class.

When you a take Backgrounds into account Champion has a lot more options than it looks like at first as well.

Background (especially custom backgrounds) add a lot to every PC and should be looked at as much as Class and Race.

Demonslayer666

2018-05-16, 02:59 PM

There are some glaring differences in 5th from 3.5.

The biggest I have seen is the onus is on the DM for making rulings. You'll see a vast majority of answers to questions here are "ask your DM", because 5th left a lot of stuff undefined and up to the DM to decide how it works for their game. Doubled edged sword IMO.

The most common thing I have had to tell players over and over again is that there is no 5 foot step. AOOs in 3.5 were a thing to be avoided, but now you can move, cast and shoot while threatened without provoking. Only when you leave the threatened area do you provoke (you can move in it freely).

Many things are flat out gone from 3.5: BAB, move actions, partial actions, full round actions, the surprise round, flanking (optional rule in DMG), charging, trained only skills, taking 10 and 20 (kinda), Coup De Grace, miss chance, prestige classes, negative HP.

Many things changed: feats, skills, proficiencies, saves, fatigue, spells (reread everyone, they changed them all, I swear), concentration, surprise, immunity and resistances, critical hits, dying.

New stuff: long and short rests, Inspiration, Advantage and Disadvantage, reactions, character backgrounds and archetypes.

Inspiration and the advantage and disadvantage mechanic are my favorite additions. Character backgrounds and archetypes are pretty well done too.

I'm sure I've missed some stuff, but as a player you should do fine, just don't 5' step! :smallsmile:

JoeJ

2018-05-16, 03:09 PM

Many things are flat out gone from 3.5: BAB, move actions, partial actions, full round actions, the surprise round, flanking (optional rule in DMG), charging, trained only skills, taking 10 and 20 (kinda), Coup De Grace, miss chance, prestige classes, negative HP.

Taking 20 is still around, it's not called that. Anytime you can keep trying an ability check over and over without penalty, you just take 10 times the normal amount of time and get whatever the result of rolling a 20 would be.

Eric Diaz

2018-05-16, 03:16 PM

Taking 20 is still around, it's not called that. Anytime you can keep trying an ability check over and over without penalty, you just take 10 times the normal amount of time and get whatever the result of rolling a 20 would be.

Wait, what? Is this on the DMG?

I remember taking 10 being there in the form of "passive actions" or something like that...

KorvinStarmast

2018-05-16, 03:17 PM

Wait, what? Is this on the DMG?
Yes, in the DMG.

2D8HP

2018-05-16, 03:37 PM

I've never played 3e/3.5/PF only TSR D&D, 5e and some other games, and Backgrounds seems the biggest difference between 5e and previous D&D.

The biggest difference between 3.x D&D and other versions is that I can't play a Fighter without choosing a Feat, and I'm told that if I want a "training wheels" class in 3.5 I should play a Warlock instead, which isn't the "trope" that I want to emulate.

JoeJ

2018-05-16, 03:41 PM

Wait, what? Is this on the DMG?

Yep. Page 237.

I remember taking 10 being there in the form of "passive actions" or something like that...

Passive checks are not the same as taking 10, they're for when you might get a result even though you're not actively trying to do something. By far the most common use of this is passive perception, used anytime you're not actively searching for something but might notice it anyway.

There is an assumption, btw, that the DM will employ some common sense. If something can't fail or can't succeed, or if the consequences of success or failure aren't interesting or important, you don't need to roll for it.

IThe biggest difference between 3.x D&D and other versions is that I can't play a Fighter without choosing a Feat, and I'm told that if I want a "training wheels" class in 3.5 I should play a Warlock instead, which isn't the "trope" that I want to emulate.

Right. In 5e, even if feats are allowed, you never have to choose one in order to have a decent character of any class.