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The first episode will be uploaded as normal, followed by the remaining five.
Hello, everyone!
Previously, we looked at chapters 1-6 which was all about character creation. Today, we’re looking at the remainder of the book, parts two and three as well as the appendices. Part two covers adventuring, part three covers spell casting, and the appendices cover everything from status effects to the planes of existence.
Every player’s handbook has a section on adventuring, covering skill checks, rest, combat, healing, etc. This edition is no different. A friend of mine had noticed that editions prior to third edition D&D had some mention of combat around page 100. Sadly, it is not so with this book (sorry, Dalvor!). Instead, we kick off with Chapter 7: Using Ability Scores.
In the past, it was a fairly simple task. Abilities provided ability bonuses and some additional benefits (more spells, languages, skills, etc.) and from third edition onward, saving throw bonuses. Fifth Edition does away with the familiar Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves. Instead, players make ability checks. For a lot of things. We’ll get to this in time because we’ve got to cover some of the newer features of our d20 resolution system: advantage, disadvantage, and proficiency bonuses.
Advantage and disadvantage are the new kids on the block. They replace the multitude of bonuses and penalties for things such as stealth, flanking, charging, etc. All those little pluses and minuses from the Third and Fourth editions of D&D are no more. Instead, if you have the upper hand in a situation, you have advantage. If you have the short end of the stick, you have disadvantage. What does this mean? Well, if you have advantage, you roll 2d20 and choose the higher result. If you have disadvantage, you roll 2d20 and choose the lower result. That’s it. If you have both, they cancel each other out. If you have multiple instances of each, you only get it once. Many times, you can get advantage or disadvantage in the way you describe your character’s actions in game. “I suddenly turn around and charge the orc, screaming like a banshee!” The DM may just give you advantage for startling the orc. But if you have to make an ability check to do it and fail, then disadvantage will be your mistress for the evening.
Advantage and disadvantage are not the only new, never before seen additions to D&D (aside from house rules), the proficiency bonus is also something new. This is a character level-based bonus that grants a bonus to ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls. It’s pretty straightforward and gives all the classes a level playing field. It’s a static bonus that all characters, NPCs, and monsters receive (NPCs and monsters have it added to their stat blocks). While the bonus is rather static, its value does change over the course of a character’s career, increasing as the character’s level does. The bonus isn’t flatly added to everything, the character must have proficiency with the check, weapon, or tool in question. The majority of checks that use this bonus are skill and weapon attacks.
Skills are now a function of ability checks and no longer have a full set of rules unto themselves. There is no chapter dedicated to skills, instead they are merely footnotes under their governing ability. To use a skill, you make an ability check which has been the case since ranked skills were introduced to D&D. Each skill is tied to an ability and it gains the ability bonus at a minimum. The proficiency bonus is added only if the character has proficiency in the particular skill.
This is an organizational pitfall of the book and a disappointment for me, personally. I attempted to create a rogue. One of my favorite classes. While looking for the info for picking locks, I couldn’t find it. No real mention of it under the class, no real mention of it anywhere. I tried finding it in the index. Nothing. Where is it? Under a subheading, a bullet, under Dexterity: “Your DM might have you roll a dexterity check under these circumstances”. No rules, no DCs, no anything! How tough would it be to pick a particular lock? How tough is it to hide in plain sight during dusk? Nothing. Nada. I expect this missing material will show up in the Dungeon Master’s Guide due out in December, along with other missing information from the PHB.
In any case, the rest of the chapter goes over the abilities and what they might govern in terms of skills or other situations. There are a few sidebars describing stealth actions, finding hidden objects, and then finally a short section about saving throws. Mentioning that the DC for the saves is determined by the DM.
Next we have a chapter about adventuring that covers standard concepts such as time, movement, travel speed, resting, social interactions, and activities during downtime. The focus is on role-playing and is very short, going over just enough for the player to know what to do for the different situations.
Combat is next and it’s taken a turn to Mind’s Eye Theater once again. Gone are the grids and miniatures as we return to second edition with everyone describing what they want to do without having to show each five-foot step on a grid. This style of combat is still available, but it’s listed as optional in a sidebar. No real rules exist for those who were interested in the third and fourth edition’s reliance on a large map and tactical movement. The chapter covers initiative, the actions you have available on your turn (one action, one move, possible bonus action(s), and a reaction), damage, attack rolls, healing, and mounted combat. Initiative has been reduced to a dexterity check that nobody is proficient in (characters do not gain their proficiency bonus to initiative rolls). The majority is a breakdown of the different actions you can take such as the disengage action which lets you use your action (normally saved for attacking) to move away from a hostile creature without provoking an attack. Some class features grant bonus actions in addition to the main action. Movement has been revamped to allow a character to split movement, moving then taking an action then moving again. As in third and fourth editions, characters also have a reaction that they can use to good effect such as attacking an enemy or activating a class ability.
No edition of D&D would be complete if it did not have a chapter on spellcasting. The rules are still pretty straightforward. As with previous editions, each spellcasting class has a certain number of spell slots and known spells. The character must memorize, or prepare, the spells they wish to cast for the day. And each class has a list of cantrips the character can use at will, at any time, without having to memorize anything. Following the spellcasting rules is an index of spells for each class by level. The spell descriptions are listed in alphabetical order. The index could have used a good dose of “spell x is on page y”, but there is only a list for the spells (by class, and level) and the descriptions of those spells. Except for fourth edition, most other versions of D&D did this.
The appendices list everything from status effects (blinded, helpless, etc), to the gods and planes of existence. There is a special appendix, D, which lists many animal and familiar stats for those who can have animal companions and/or wizard’s familiars. The planes of existence are somewhat out of place (preferrably in the DMG, not the PHB) but overall there is some good info to be had here.
Lastly, there’s the index and character sheet. The index is an exercise in futility when attempting to search for something (pick licks/find traps) and seems to have been automatically created with Microsoft Word rather than having any form of intelligent thought put into it’s construction. Attempting to find certain, important features such as pick lock or find traps, have pointers to Dexterity or don’t exist at all.
Overall, my experience with the PHB has been positive beyond expectations. It suffers from a severe lack of organization but those with past experience in D&D shouldn’t have any issues. New players to the game, however, will be pretty confused or they will not know certain things exist because the information in this book is presented poorly.
I have heard that the book was pretty, which is true. However, that “beauty” has been used as an argument for the expense of the book. The PHB, DMG, and Monster Manuals are easily close to double their previous incarnations. But I feel the books, for the content they have, are worth it. Then again, I’m a long-time D&D player and I want copies of all the books. I would suggest that anyone who wants to get into D&D go out and buy copies of the PHB at least so that you can play the game. If someone wants to run the game, ensure they’ve got experience with previous editions of D&D.
A few years ago, I designed a print and play (PnP) game called DieCiv. To date, the rules have been downloaded 243 times. It was created and a discussion started in 2011.
There is a sticker sheet that needs to be printed out and stickers applied to 10 6-sided dice. There’s also a market board and a few other printouts that need to be made.
The game was inspired by Innovation, Smallworld, and a few other games for the mechanics I enjoyed and thought were awesome for a game of this type.
Overall, the game is very alpha-feeling. The market mechanic was not very well understood and there was a lot of dice rolling for random resources. Combat is not very easy to deal with and interaction between the players is rather limited. The game length increases quite a lot with the number of players involved, even for a dice game. Finally while it is somewhat OK to play, these elements make the game a poor one, if that.
But, all is not lost! Enter the inspiration that only playing games can produce! I think I may have a way to vastly improve the game without dealing with a lot of the tedium. I am working on a new market concept, new ways to use standard, multi-colored dice with pips, removing cubes (using dice), and setting up win conditions.
Overall, I believe it will be a much better game than before and it may see print as an actual game. I will have to see if custom dice will be possible or if using standard d6s will be the best bet.
More news as I progress with the new version of the game! But this is it for now.
I have been VERY, VERY busy as of late with home life and work. Though I have been continuing my critical read of the PHB. Part 2 will be coming soon, I have my notes and am gearing up for another book of a review for the last parts of the PHB.
Stay Tuned!
Hello, everyone!
Welcome to my first blog-based review! Why don’t we start off with a little bit about me and why I’ve chosen the newest edition of D&D to kick kick everything off?
I’ve been playing games far longer than my memories serve me. The first, absolute first, non-Paker Brothers or Milton Bradley owned game that really sucked me into the hobby was Dungeons and Dragons. We’re talking about the original version of D&D, or OD&D, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. But my fantasy-based role-playing didn’t start there. It actually started when my cousin, brother, and I heard about D&D and started creating adventures ourselves using construction paper and dice from Monopoly. Monsters were Xs and we were Os. In much the same way that a sports coach lays out plays, we would describe what we were doing with lines, arrows, and narrative dialog. Then we’d roll some dice and determine what happened. I don’t remember the specifics, but for about a year, or most likely the entirety of a summer vacation, we had a blast!
Shortly thereafter, we somehow got a hold of a copy of the D&D rules. I think it was the magenta box, but definitely not the original white booklets. We were ecstatic and immediately got to work learning the rules, understanding the difference between Dwarfs and Fighting Men, and set out In Search of the Unknown (which is my ALL-TIME favorite module ever produced by TSR). I was able to save up my allowance to buy the red box, the iconic original red box, the blue box, and the green box (well, Wikipedia says the teal box…). We played these books until the staples were rusted and the pages became loose leafs.
My cousin, older by a few years, ran into another like-minded group of folks at our local bookstore. They were playing an advanced version of the game. Hardcover books, classes, races, more magic and monsters. He and I soon joined this group, playing in the basement of The Book Shoppe. My mom played through the introductory solo adventure from my dilapidated copy of the red box and she deemed it OK for me to game with these older kids. I soon had all of the D&D and AD&D books I could get my hands on. I got them from The Book Shoppe, from Walden Books, and even photocopied portions of books that friends had if we couldn’t find any locally. My life-long love affair with role-playing had firmly taken hold. There is no other game in the world that has stuck with me as long as D&D has. I own or have owned every single core book for the game since the red box. I’ve played every class and race the base game has to offer (there were so many spinoffs that I couldn’t afford everything…) and I’ve run my fair share of games as DM.
And now, I own the newest Player’s Handbook for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Oh, there are far more than five editions to the game. But the proper monicker for this incarnation is the 5th edition, or 5E.
The new book is hefty, in price as well as player-related content. I have two irritations with the book that I’ll get to in a later installment because I have to break this review into a few parts.
You’re reading the introduction here and I’ll be covering everything before Part 1 and Part one here. The other reviews will concentrate on Part 2 of the book which details combat, adventuring, and the like; Part 3, the magic section of the book; Then the appendices and my final thoughts.
Overall, the book is very pretty. It has full-color pages, beautiful artwork, a well-designed layout, and it is rife with information. The book covers everything a player needs to know to play the game without any other books, which is what a player’s handbook should do.
There is a helpful chapter that gives step-by-step instructions to create a character (or a build) much the same way that 4th edition had its guided leveling format for it’s classes. It is very easy to follow (to an extent) and anyone who hasn’t played the game before should have no issues creating their first character. Abilities are now created randomly by rolling 4d6 and discarding the lowest die. This used to be a house rule when I played AD&D back in the day. This will probably be something that players of the 4th edition may have an issue with, but luckily, there’s an optional method where you can choose a standard array or use a point-buy system to generate your abilities. The one catch over the past two versions of D&D? There’s a cap of 20 on each ability (with some exceptions). It’s better than in AD&D second edition and earlier where you couldn’t increase your abilities without the help of a wish spell. The new rules also ensure that characters aren’t the equivalent of gods when it comes to ability checks.
The meat of Part 1 of the book lies in how you select your character’s race and class. In the past, you were an elf, dwarf, human, or halfling (the original game called them hobbits). Expansions to the game allowed you to play half-elves, half-orcs, and even half-ogres. The ability bonuses were usually a combination of positive and negative modifiers. That changed with 4th edition where everything was a bonus. This same mentality is brought into 5th edition but done in a much more interesting fashion. Races have two parts, a base and a subrace. Everyone chooses one of each (except for those pesky humans) and the parts combined dictate your overall ability bonuses and racial abilities. For instance, it used to be that an elf received a +2 bonus to dexterity and a -2 penalty to constitution. It’s been that way for years! Now, your base elf gains the same +2 bonus to dexterity but your subrace determines your other bonus. A high elf has a +1 to intelligence, a wild elf to wisdom, and a dark elf gains a bonus to charisma. Dwarves, halflings, and dragonborn have the same treatment. Humans start off with a +1 to each ability unless the optional feat system is used. In which case humans are the only race to start with a feat! (More on feats later). There are a large number of races to choose from and each provides its own, unique contribution to an adventuring party.
Races in this edition are awesome! I’m slightly bummed by the fact that Wizards of the Coast stuck with the “everyone gets bonuses!” mentality of 4th edition, but I can get over that. I love how each race is, in actuality, two to three races, giving the player a wide range of choices. The races seem very balanced, including the human. With either racial ability chosen, humans are far more playable now, but not really overly powerful with regards to the other races in the book.
Classes have somewhat reverted to their 3rd edition heyday of awesomeness. There’s still the universal level-up table and the separate leveling tables for each class. The 4th edition “max hit points at first level” feature is present and the player may choose whether to roll a die or take an average, static number. For instance, a barbarian can roll a d12 or optionally take the safe route and choose 7 hit points when the character levels. I really like this level of choice the player has, though this mechanic has been available in Pathfinder for quite some time now.
Like 3rd and 4th editions, each class gains special abilities (class features) at specified levels or intervals. The ability increases are present but can be optionally swapped out with a feat instead of taking your bonus points to abilities. 4th edition has all but disappeared. There are no combat powers (read spells for all classes) present and the at-will, encounter, and daily powers are gone, even for spell casters. Instead, the term “you can’t use X again until you take a long or short rest” has been installed. So they’ve taken the definition for daily and encounter powers and used that in each class feature that requires the terminology. Honestly, keeping the 4th edition naming would have been just fine and probably made it easier to understand. However, removing this allows Wizards to improve the game immeasurably.
Classes can now focus on what they do rather than occupying players with what power(s) to choose next. Fighters are good at fighting, Wizards at spellcasting, Clerics at healing (YAY!), and Rogues at skullduggery. The heroic, paragon, and epic tiers are now gone leaving players with one choice at third level (second level for wizards). At this point in the character’s adventuring career, there is an option of which path to choose. Through your archetype, you further differentiate your class from everyone else’s. Does your character become a Champion, a Battle Master, or an Eldritch Knight? Each archetype grants a different style of play. The Champion is an athletic warrior with additional base features and improved class features. The Battle Master gains Superiority dice and maneuvers. And the Eldritch Knight grants spellcasting capabilities to the fighter class. The newest additions are the Superiority dice and Maneuvers. This mechanic allows the fighter to “spend” dice to produce special effects. More often than not, the result of the spent die is added or subtracted from another roll. Wow!
The other classes gain their own, unique benefits which help to balance out the classes nicely. Each class has two or more archetypes to choose from and each archetype brings a completely different flavor to the the base class.
Another change is the healing surge and second wind abilities. They don’t exist. Well, healing surges exist in the form of hit dice that can usually only be rolled during a rest period to heal your character. Which, in and of itself, is a far better mechanic than the whole healing surge/bloodied rules of 4th edition.
Overall, the way the classes are presented is my second favorite aspect of the updated rules. There is a HUGE amount of diversity found here and each character will be very different for other characters of the same class.
The background section used to be the domain of tables and charts that gave you bonuses and penalties for aging effects, alignment, and hight/weight generation for your character. This chapter has been expanded to include ideals, flaws, bonds, and the more important aspect: backgrounds! Classes now have a second part to them, which further differentiates characters. Backgrounds are the second half of a character’s class. They provide starting equipment, skills, languages, and other aspects that a character’s back story should contain. Equipment can be left out of the equation and the player can randomly determine starting funds. These funds are used to purchase a character’s starting equipment. And this is an optional rule to the game. A DM can disallow starting funds and require the character begin with the equipment offered by their background.
The class + background feature is overwhelmingly awesome. There is so much diversity in character creation now that the possibilities are almost endless.
The equipment section has had a lot of stuff added back in from sets previous to 4th edition. More of a role-playing aspect rather than concentrating almost exclusively on combat-related equipment. Players can now buy goods and services, mounts, vehicles, and a slew of personal gear. Everything is described from daggers to tool sets (crafting! YEAH!) and beginning bundles of equipment. This is a much needed overhaul from the stark landscape that 4th edition had.
The final section of Part one, chapter 6, deals with customization options. Multi-classing, which has been around since the first edition of AD&D is back to its 3rd edition rewrite. Players can pick and choose which class the character should take at each level. With one caveat: The character must meet a certain minimum requirement before the class can be chosen. Gone are the 3rd and 3.5 monster builds where anyone could have a level in every class if they so chose. Gone is the severely limited and short-sided approach that 4th edition took to multi-classing. Things make sense with the revamped 3rd edition mechanics. And the game is better for it.
Feats are now an optional feature of the game. They have been around since 3rd edition and have become one of the defining features of D&D. Many feats have been combined into one, more powerful feat. Alertness, for example, merges the original Alertness feat and Improved Initiative. It also expands on the previous two feats with another feature. Some feats have ability bonuses as one of the benefits for choosing the them. And, feats are not automatically gained at first, third, sixth, etc. level as in previous editions. Feats are so powerful now that they replace ability increases. And they’re worth it! As stated previously, humans are the only race that can start the game with a feat. This is incredibly awesome! it makes human characters a truly viable choice for players.
There is also a new mechanic which replaces hero points from 4th edition. it’s called Inspiration. Which can be used to re-roll a die or provide other effects at the DM’s discretion. You either have inspiration or you don’t. You can’t accumulate them like you could with hero points.
Overall, the character creation portion of the book is very solid and provides for a plethora of different characters. The race and class selections are superb and as I initially read through the book, the smile on my face kept getting wider and wider as I consumed each word.
The majority of information is present, with the exception of skills. There is no chapter on skills as in previous editions. Instead, they are mere footnotes for the abilities to which they belong. This was highly frustrating since I was looking for the rogue’s disable traps and open locks skills but they were only barely spoken of, even under dexterity’s entry. And they are not mentioned in the index.
And therein lies my biggest pet peeve with the book: organization. While everything is logically laid out, it feels as if the book was organized with the mindset that a player of previous editions would be buying the book. It seems to be expected that such a player would simply know that disable traps and open lock are dexterity-based skills. Looking up a skill in the index sends you to the entry for the ability to which the skill is attached instead of simply providing the page number the skill is presented. An index should not send a reader on a wild goose chase only to find out the item in question is mentioned in a footnote that the DM may use the ability.
In conclusion (for Part 1), the 5th edition Player’s Handbook is a marvelous piece of work. While the rules are updated, I feel like I’m playing 1st or 2nd edition AD&D again. So far, this is what 3rd edition and 4th edition should have been!
Next time, we’ll look at the last two parts of the book and the appendices.
Until then, enjoy playing games!
-Excalibur
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