Yesterday, WotC hosted a bunch of D&D content creators to talk to them about One D&D and such. There was, of course, a lot of discussion about both the nightmarish PR disaster that was the OGL fiasco, and a lot of discussion about how D&D content creators have borne the brunt of a lot of the backlash for it, as well as concerns about how D&D will manage the ingrained biases and legacy of prejudice within its fantasy game, along with questions about the structure of the team and how cultural consultants doesn't really make up for the lack of diverse voices in the central authorities of these projects.
The summary I have looks like it was a kind of live feed of the conference on Enworld.org, so some of the details come through a little sketchily, but we get some details.
I don't want to gloss over the cultural and corporate stuff, but I also don't know if I have much to contribute to that conversation.
So, instead, I'll be focusing on the fun stuff - hints of design philosophy going into the updated core rulebooks.
First off, WotC insists that these are not a new edition, and not even a 5.5. They point out that 3.5 still changed things to the point where you needed conversion documents to use content produced for 3.0. The ideal here is that someone can build a character with the 2014 PHB and play it alongside a player using the 2024 one, with possibly the only change being that the 2014 character now gets an additional feat.
Likewise, the intent is that you should be able to pick up Curse of Strahd or Storm King's Thunder and run the adventure just fine - even if the Swarms of Rats or Werewolves you use for encounters in that adventure are coming from the 2024 Monster Manual and might work differently mechanically.
Broadly speaking, they acknowledge that the stat blocks in the Monster Manual just don't all actually match the CR math that they use internally or what's found in the DMG, and that the updates aim to fix that.
The PHB will have a big, easily-searched rules glossary at the back, which should not have the 2014 PHB's infuriating index problem (like redirecting you to some other entry in the index rather than just printing the damned page number). Information is going to be findable in multiple locations to make it easier to find it.
Likewise, rules that do get changed or renamed will have their old names in the glossary, and inform the reader what the thing is called (for example, we can expect that the entry for Race will say "this has been changed to now be called Species, and here's where you can find information about it").
Now, into some of the nitty gritty details:
The PHB is going to be longer, and every class is going to have four subclasses in it. This does mean that the Wizard and Cleric will have fewer subclasses in the 2024 PHB than they do in the 2014 one, but the subclasses that don't get an updated reprint will still be usable with the new versions of these classes.
I suspect this means that they will be transferring over the most popular subclasses, and those with distinct identities, with revisions. There could also be some brand new ones - they're exploring a College of Dance Bard option, though I'd guess that iconic and popular subclasses from Xanathar's and Tasha's will likely make it in. The Undead Patron from Van Richten's, for example, seems like it could be a "standard" option for Warlocks. In most cases, each class is getting more options to explore, and they also intend to have a piece of art depicting every subclass in the book to convey a visual example.
The Monk rests in this awkward place as the one class that represents cultural traditions from a non-Western culture, but in the process also engages in stereotype. Ki points are being renamed Spirit Points to let the class expand to a broader flavor and lore for the class, but the designers also acknowledged that the larger problem is that the other classes are lacking in non-European influence, the hope being that the Monk is not the "token Asian class," but rather that all classes are depicted as being able to come from cultures inspired by any real-world culture. I wish them the best of luck on threading that needle.
On a mechanical level, Monks are explicitly being given an upgrade, because they felt that their damage output was too low for what is meant to be a powerful Warrior. This is, of course, subject to playtesting.
Weapons are getting changes, the details of which are a little hazy, but the basic idea is something called Mastery - that weapons of certain types will have additional properties that some classes can make better use of. An example given is that a Wizard can attack with a dagger, but they won't be able to use its "nick" property the way that a Fighter could (though there's no detail here as to what that property does). Another example is that if you have mastery in clubs, you can slow a target down in addition to dealing your damage. This system also makes Tridents better than Spears (though how it does that remains unsaid in this particular summary of the event). Shortswords are also, evidently, back to being martial weapons, and they claim mastery will allow for "martial" classes to get use out of them that Rogues don't, while still allowing Rogues to make use of them, and... yeah, I've gotta see the details.
Another big deal is that Pistols and Muskets have been added to the PHB weapon list. The idea is that every classic D&D setting has at least these types of firearms, and the time reference for D&D is generally late-Medieval/early Renaissance, so the existence of these weapons makes sense. They're still expensive as they are in the DMG, leaving more advanced firearms for DMs to decide whether to use.
I'll say that I like this change, even if I understand the impulse by many players to want to keep firearms out of their fantasy worlds (or rather, I sympathize with those who want to limit the use of guns given our gun-saturated American culture).
Again, we'll need to learn more about how Mastery works, but the Fighter, for instance, will have a lot of flexibility in using multiple Mastery options on a weapon.
Sorcerers and Warlocks will of course be seeing the change that they only get their subclass at level 3, but the intent is to give them a little more at 1st level to make them feel distinct. Clerics, in the revamp, have Channel Divinity to feel Cleric-like despite waiting for a subclass, so Sorcerers get a little chaos magic, like getting Chaos Bolt for free. Warlocks have some kind of lower-stakes pact to make at level 1 (I wonder if this could be the Pact Boon) and all Warlocks will automatically get Eldritch Blast.
While the Arcane, Primal, and Divine spell lists are still going to be a thing, they're also going to make some spells class-exclusive, and will be noted as belonging only to that class. This seems like a good compromise, and I wonder if we'll see that applied to things like Find Steed, which is currently in the playtest much better for Clerics than it is for Paladins.
The DMG will have a section on running sessions 0s, with advice about using safety tools.
The Monster Manual is said to have nearly 500 monsters, with almost all new art. There's a greater focus on high-CR monsters and NPCs, and again, the stat blocks have been tuned to better reflect their CRs. And also, things should be easier to find - a Gelatinous Cube will be listed under G, rather than O for Ooze (that being said, I'll say I do like having all the demons together).
The DMG will include some guidance on building a campaign's structure and have new encounter building guidance. It will also contain some lore about the D&D multiverse - an example being explaining who Orcus is.
Personally, while I think that's useful, I hope there's still an attitude that encourages creation of lore - while I like having the canon stuff there to pull from, the thing I love about D&D is being able to create within it. Again, I loved the way Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft talked about Horror Genres and how to build a compelling Darklord and their Dread Domain, foregrounding the DM and players' creativity, and I'd hope the DMG leans in that direction.
There will also be some guidance on magic item rarity and how players can craft, buy, and sell them. Having clearer rules for this, especially as someone who runs a campaign with an artificer, would be very welcome.
One of the big things here is that any mechanical changes are going to be put into the SRD, which will be in Creative Commons, so no one will have to buy the books to get them - that will only be for the modular pieces like new subclasses and such.
Spells, monster CRs, and the like are not going to change so as to make sure that all of this will remain compatible with existing 5E.
The PHB will have 9 species. Orcs and Goliaths are being added to the list, while Half-Orcs and Half-Elves are being cut (though you can still make them if you like them using the 2014 book,) with the previously-explained rationale that "half-" races carry a lot of problematic baggage. As explained in the Character Origins UA, mixed ancestries are welcome, but will be mechanically represented using one species or another. Goliaths are intended to play a role that is essentially to Giants what the Dragonborn is to Dragons.
Lastly, Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse will be a box set with a 96-page gazetteer, a 96-page adventure, and a 64-page bestiary with a DM screen.
I'll say I'm glad it's longer in total than the Spelljammer set was, but I am wary that the "campaign setting" sourcebook part comes to only 160 pages in total. I don't think my dream of a Van Richten's-quality sourcebook is likely to come true, but hopefully half of the gazetteer won't just be deck plans of ships. Give me a lot of Tony DiTerlizzi art and I'll calm down a little.
Oh, actually, lastly lastly, they also announced that the next One D&D playtest document will include all six remaining PHB classes, meaning all three Warriors and all three Mages.
No comments:
Post a Comment