PHB 6: Monks and... Monks

 Finally, we get our hands on the One D&D version of the Monk. And...

Ok, there are, in fact, a lot of changes, but far fewer than what I had expected. I'll confess a little worry that the approach here has been too conservative for what the Monk really deserves. Now, admittedly, I also think that my experience of playing and seeing monks played has shown them to be a fun and powerful class, regardless of what theorycrafters say, but given that their math is not deeply flawed, I also think the class was due for some kind of buff. And again, there is a bit of one, but... not as much as I expected.

Let's get into the changes.

First, something I expected to change that didn't - the Monk still uses a d8 hit die. I cannot understand why it shouldn't get a d10, given that it's one of three obligate melee classes, and the Ranger, which is most traditionally ranged, gets one.

Actually, another funny thing is that Monks get a Spear, rather than a Quarterstaff, as starting equipment. Now, other than its damage type, a Spear is actually strictly better than a Quarterstaff (though if you're fighting skeletons, you'd prefer the staff.) All that said, though, a Monk might actually be best off dual-wielding daggers and making use of the Nick property.

Speaking of, Monks get Weapon Mastery. With their limitation to Simple Weapons, the options for these masteries is a bit limited, but I think Handaxe/Dagger or Handaxe/Light Hammer is a very solid load-out, which will give you three attacks per turn (though only adding Dex to the first and last).

Monks will get two weapon masteries, and unlike Barbarians or Fighters, they never get more (though I doubt this will be much of a problem). You can swap these out on a Long Rest (so if you get a +2 Sickle, you can grab that property).

Martial Arts is mostly the same, but the damage dice are A: upgraded, so you start with a d6 and go up to a d12 by tier 4 and B: only apply to Unarmed Strikes, so your Daggers won't be doing more damage when you hit levels 5, 11, and 17.

Also, Monks are only proficient with Simple Weapons, so "Monk Weapons" are now just Simple Weapons, but the Greatclub doesn't let you use Dex for it because of its Two-Handed property.

Ki Points have been renamed to Discipline Points in the new "Martial Discipline" feature, and Step of the Wind has been buffed, giving both the Dash and Disengage effects (as well as the doubled jump distance) with the same use.

Deflect Missiles now refers not to ranged weapon attacks, but ranged attacks that deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. If you reduce this to zero, you can redirect the attack to any creature you see within 60 feet of yourself that isn't behind total cover, and rather than making an attack roll against them, they make a Dex save (spending one Discipline Point to do so). The damage has also changed to two rolls of your Martial Arts die, rather than treating it as a monk weapon attack. You also no longer need a hand free to catch the projectile.

Rather than letting your "unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities," Empowered Strikes now simply let you choose to deal Force damage instead of bludgeoning (or whatever). This seems consistent with the phasing out of distinguishing magical versus nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing.

At level 7, there's a brand-new feature called Heightened Metabolism, which lets you get a Short Rest once per day if you spend a mere minute resting. So: even if they're trying to remove the reliance on short rests for most classes, this one they've given a way to almost trivially ensure that they get at least one over the course of a day. Notably this does not merely recharge Discipline Points, but gives all the other benefits of a short rest.

Back at level 5, Stunning Strike has gotten a rather big nerf in that you can only use it once per turn, and the stun ends at the start, rather than the end of your next turn. Now, I'm actually in favor of nerfing this feature, but only as payment for other buffs to the class - we'll talk in the analysis at the end here about whether I think the Monk has gotten sufficient buffs (spoilers, I don't think it has).

At 10th level, you get Self-Restoration, which combines Timeless Body, Purity of Body, and Stillness of Mind, effectively. First off, you can use a Bonus Action (rather than an Action) to end the Charmed, Frightened, or Poisoned conditions on you, and you also don't get Exhaustion from forgoing food or drink.

    Notably, this removes the full immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition (which I think could be part of an effort to rehabilitate Poison as a thing in the game.) The lack of mention of Disease is also part of a phasing-out of Diseases as a thing in the game (which were never well-defined) in favor of using Poison and its condition to function as that effect. I still think we need some clarification on how this works if you are, say, under the effects of Dominate Person - can you use that bonus action if your puppet-master isn't directing you to?

Deflect Energy, at level 13, expands your Deflect Missiles to include all ranged attacks, regardless of damage type. Given the way that spellcaster NPCs have been redesigned lately, this could actually be huge, as you'll be able to mitigate (and even redirect) the Arcane Blasts of evil Wizards or the Wildfire attacks of an Archdruid - basically the bread-and-butter damage abilities of spellcasters are now yours to punch back.

Disciplined Survivor is just a rename of Diamond Soul.

Empty Body has been replaced by Superior Defense, which lets you spend 3 discipline points as a bonus action to get resistance to all damage but Force for 1 minute (or until you're incapacitated). This is one point cheaper than the old invisibility but, you know, you don't become invisible. Also, the ability to go on solo Astral Projection trips for 8 points is gone, which I think is utter bullshit.

Perfect Self is now Perfect Discipline, and has moved down to level 15.

At 20th level, you now get Defy Death. If you drop to 0 HP, you can spend 4 Discipline Points and roll four martial arts dice (so 4d12 at this level) and add them together, setting your HP to that number instead (notably, this doesn't count as healing, so stuff like Chill Touch won't prevent it). The cost of this feature increases by 2 Discipline Points each time you use it, but resets on a Short or Long Rest.

    Now, there are also a bunch of subclasses to review (though the Warrior of Mercy is as of yet unchanged from Tasha's Way of Mercy, so that isn't in the document) and we certainly aren't getting the full picture without those.

However, I do think that some of the problems the Monk faces are sort of shockingly not really handled here. The Monk is still spread pretty thin on important ability scores, and still has low HP for a class intended to be in the thick of melee. Without any damage reduction (apart from Deflect Missiles, which hardly counts) until very high level (18th for Superior Defense) the Monk is also going to struggle to have good AC (without something like Bracers of Defense or Rings/Cloaks of Protection).

The nerfing of Stunning Strike will have a slightly beneficial side effect by forcing Monks to be more conservative with DP (Discipline Points,) but that's at best a consolation prize.

Now, Weapon Masteries could certainly help the Monk, but not to any greater extent than other melee classes - far from being a special Warrior feature, it now seems like every class that uses weapons is going to get them. Indeed, I almost wonder if they're pulling back on these class groups entirely, which is a shame, because I kind of wanted the Monk to get something that only the Barbarian and Fighter would also get.

Again, as masters of bodily discipline, I cannot comprehend why the Monk shouldn't have at least a d10 hit die if not a d12. The whole point of being a Monk is to be as much of an indestructible force on the battlefield as a heavily-clad knight - if hit dice are meant to represent toughness, surely a Monk's only competition in that regard should be a Barbarian.

Now, damage-wise, the only real buff is to the Martial Arts die, (well, ok, also Weapon Masteries, which can sometimes be a damage buff,) but much as I think Flex is a terrible mastery as it only raises average damage by just 1 per hit, the exact same tiny buff is what they've given to the Monk.

Essentially, in stark contrast to my complaints about the Warlock, which were that they went too far in changing the class, for the Monk I think they took too conservative an approach.

PHB 6: Rogues and Cunning Strikes

 Yeah, we're jumping around here.

With Rogues going back to the agonizing wait for a second subclass level, a new class-wide feature (that many subclasses add onto) is the Cunning Strike.

At 5th level, you now get this feature, which allows you to forgo some damage in the name of various tactical effects. Rogues are also getting Weapon Masteries, so be aware that you can potentially get a lot of different effects here.

The way it works is that, if you get Sneak Attack on your hit, you can choose one of the options presented, and subtract a number of d6s (only one for the initial options) from your sneak attack damage roll before you roll it, and then get the benefit.

At level 5, the options are:

Disarm (1d6): The target makes a Dexterity save or drops an item of your choice it's holding.

Poison (1d6): The target makes a Con save or becomes poisoned for 1 minute (save ends at end of their turn). This does require you have a poisoner's kit on your person.

Trip (1d6): If the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Dex save or fall prone.

Withdraw (1d6): You can move up to half your speed immediately after the attack without provoking opportunity attacks.

You'll get some other options from some of the subclasses as well.

The Assassin gets an enhancement to the Poison option, allowing you to deal 2d6 Poison damage if they fail their save, and this ignores Poison resistance. So, a bit more damage, though you give them a chance to save against it.

Swashbucklers get Goad (1d6) which causes the target to make a Wisdom save, and on a failure, they have disadvantage on attacks against anyone other than you and cannot make Opportunity attacks against anyone other than you until the end of their next turn. They also get Awe, (3d6), and requires a Wisdom save or the target becomes charmed by you until the end of their next turn.

Swashbucklers also then, at 13, get Parrying Stance (2d6), which adds 1d6 to your Armor Class until the start of your next turn and also Invigorate (2d6) which is almost like Bardic Inspiration, giving an ally within 30 feet a d6 to add to an attack roll or saving throw until the end of their next turn.

Thieves at 9 get Stealth Attack (1d6) which lets them stay hidden after they hit a target with a sneak attack as long as they're behind Three-Quarters or Total cover.

Arcane Tricksters at 13 get a little flexibility with the Trip and Disarm strikes, as they can affect a different target that's within 5 feet of their Mage Hand rather than the target they hit if they choose (which really plays into the "Trickster" half of the subclass).

Finally, all Rogues at 14 get Daze (2d6) which has the target make a Con save or get the Dazed condition (which is new - limiting them to either an action, move, or bonus action on their turn, and not all three).

Knock Out (6d6) forces a Con save or the target goes Unconscious for 1 minute or until it takes damage (save ends at end of turn).

Obscure (3d6) forces a Dex save or the target is Blinded until the end of their next turn.

    So, this is really cool. And it's basically an unlimited resource. I think this is going to add a lot of tactical decisions for the Rogue, sacrificing some damage for pretty solid effects. I also like that it's clearly a scaffold to build upon for future subclasses (and the existing ones).

I'll be very curious to see if the loss of damage feels worth it, but at 1d6 in most cases, I suspect that it most certainly will.

Now, I still think that pushing Rogues back to their old subclass feature progression is a shame (Bards getting only three levels that grant subclass features is also kind of crappy, though at least they seem to be getting multiple features at many of these) but I do think that these are very cool additions to the class.

That said, I do wonder if stacking such a feature on top of Weapon Mastery is going to result in some weird interactions or over-complicated turns. This is something I'll need to test or see tested.

PHB 6: Druids and Wild Shape

 You might notice, if you're reading these posts in the order I publish them, that I skipped the Cleric. The thing is, the Cleric didn't really see a huge change from the previous playtest (there are changes, and I'll cover them) whereas I think we were all curious to see where the Druid was going.

Rather than go through an exhaustive list like I just did with the Bard, let me touch on the specific changes.

And Wild Shape is the one we're going to want to handle first.

Wild Shape is now more similar to its 2014 version, in that you can now choose from existing Beast stat blocks for your forms. However, there are some sanity-preserving elements and a power nerf.

Like preparing spells, the Druid will now prepare Wild Shape forms - a list of three, which upgrades to four and then five, and you can swap out one each long rest. The suggested starting options are Riding Horse, Spider, and Wolf, for example. You start with two uses per long rest and then eventually get four.

Everyone gets to shift forms as a bonus action. Swim speeds are now available from the start, though you still need to get to level 8 before you can take one with a fly speed. And for most Druids, you can start with a CR 1/4 beast and then get 1/2 at level 4 and 1 at level 8. (We'll cover Moon Druids' interaction with it in a bit).

Now, the big change is that you now retain your own Hit Points and Hit Dice, along with Int, Wis, and Cha, languages (and yes, you can speak while wild shaped, though you can't cast spells - at least at first. As before you can maintain concentration on spells and use post-casting functions of spells like bringing down more lightning with Call Lightning) along with class and species features, skills and saving throws (though if the creature has a better proficiency for a skill or saving throw, you can use it instead).

    So, to take a breath here: the utility of Wild Shape is much closer to its original form - you no longer have to wait until level 11 to become a tiny bug. Indeed, for such tasks, this actually improves things as you won't be knocked out of your shape if you get stepped on.

That being said, there's not a huge defensive benefit - indeed, you'll probably be more vulnerable in these forms (again, we're going to cover Circle of the Moon in a bit) but I think the attitude is really to use these forms more for their utility like movement speed or special attacks (wolves being able to knock things prone, for example).

By limiting how many shapes you can have prepared, the hope is to let the player show up with a couple photocopied stat blocks rather than having to pore through every book every time they shift.

Now, let's talk about how Circle of the Moon interacts with this. But first, we need to talk about Primal Order.

Like Divine Order for Clerics (previously called Holy Order,) Primal Order lets you choose between one of two options at level 1. You can be a Magician, which gives you one extra cantrip and also lets you add your Wisdom modifier to Intelligence (Nature) checks - allowing your Druid to finally actually be good at Nature checks. The other option is Warden, which gives you proficiency in Martial Weapons and Medium Armor training.

So, Moon Druids are still going to be the only subclass that's really designed to use Wild Shape as your standard combat option. Here's how they then actually do that:

Once again, you get CR 1 stat blocks at the level you take the subclass, and by level 6, you get to take higher-CR stat blocks at the old rate (capping out at CR 6 at level 18).

Combat Wild Shape now gives you some extra benefits: The first is that you can keep the AC granted by your armor when shifting into the form (though oddly this doesn't allow the bonus from a shield). So, if you go with the Warden Primal Order, and by level 3 you're in, say, a Breastplate (and have +2 or more to Dex) you will have an AC of 16 even when you shift into a Brown Bear form. That's actually very respectable.

On top of this, you now also get temporary hit points equal to either the stat block's HP or three times your Druid level, which ever is lower.

So, while you can't slap on an extra 60 HP from some Cave Bear now, you'll at least boost your HP and keep a decent AC when you get into these melee-focused forms, which I think is a real step in the right direction.

The Moon Druid has some other new tweaks, which include allowing you to cast Moonbeam while transformed and giving you the ability to swap your normal damage for radiant.

The point is, this is definitely a nerf of the 2014 Wild Shape, but that's the whole point. However, what's different from the previous UA version of this is that I can, at the very least for Moon Druids, actually see how transforming would be beneficial. I do think it makes non-Moon Druids really want to use it only for non-combat purposes, but that's always been the case.

I will say I also found the introduction of "Channel Nature" to be more elegant than using "Wild Shape uses for other things," but I think this is in the name of not confusing people using backwards-compatible content (though if we're always concerned about that, we can't really ever clean up anything formatting-wise).

We haven't even covered other Druid features (well, other than Primal Order) or the new Circle of the Sea subclass. This is going to take a lot of posts.

PHB 6: Bards

 Ok, time to get into the nitty and the gritty.

Bards were among the first classes to be previewed in One D&D, so this is our first look at the revision to the new version.

I'm not going to be doing a full comparison to the previous playtest version, but instead take this on its own merits.

With Light Armor training and Simple Weapon proficiency, the Bard looks fairly similar to its classic form (though no rapiers).

1st level:

Bardic Inspiration looks similar to its 2014 version, back to being granted as a bonus action to someone within 60 feet. The main improvement here is that you can now wait until you see if you succeeded or failed on the d20 Test before you choose to expend the die.

Spellcasting has what I would consider a net buff. The big change from the previous playtest is that you once again learn spells rather than preparing them once per day, but now your spell options are wide open. At 1st level, you choose the Arcane, Divine, or Primal spell lists and get unlimited access to the entire list (you also automatically learn Vicious Mockery, which is Bard-exclusive and upgraded to a d6).

2nd level:

Expertise looks about the same. Jack of All Trades likewise.

3rd level:

Bard Subclass. With the reversion to old subclass feature levels, Bards are unfortunately down to only three levels for subclass features once again, though I believe that they often get two features at level 6 (will check this when we look at subclasses).

5th level:

Font of Inspiration lets you recharge Bardic Inspiration on a short rest as it did before, but also allows you to spend a spell slot on your turn if you're all out of them to get one back (no action required, but only one per turn).

7th level:

Countercharm returns, but it's more of a reaction now - if you or someone within 30 feet of you fails a saving throw against the Charmed or Frightened condition, you can use a reaction to let them re-roll the save with advantage.

9th level:

More expertise.

10th level:

Magical Secrets now adds a second spell list to your Bard spell list - which means you can have two out of three (though given that you can only swap out a spell per level, you might need to wait before you can have an even mix).

18th level:

Superior Inspiration gives you two BI dice when you roll initiative and are all out.

20th level:

The new capstone is Words of Creation, lets you have Power Word Heal and Power Word Kill prepared for free (though you'll still need to spend the spell slot) and this also lets you target a second target with the spell if they're within 10 feet of the first.

Subclasses:

    College of Dance

This new subclass emphasizes movement and seems a bit geared toward melee.

3rd level:

Dazzling Footwork gives you Unarmored Defense, using Dexterity and Charisma (which is likely to do better than Light Armor). It also gives you Agile Strikes, which lets you make an Unarmed Strike as part of an action, bonus action, or reaction that expends a BI die. Bardic Damage, the third part, also lets you use Dexterity for your Unarmed Strikes and lets you use your BI die as a damage die for your unarmed strikes (without expending said die).

    So, this sets the tone for the "Monk Bard," and while these Agile Strikes will be limited, it could be good.

Also at 3rd is Inspiring Movement. When an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of an ally of yours within 60 feet of you, you can use your reaction to expend a BI die and move up to half your speed, then you roll the die and your ally can move 5 feet times the number rolled. Neither yours nor your ally's movement provokes opportunity attacks.

6th level:

Leading Evasion is similar to a Rogue or Monk's Evasion, but if there are other creatures within 5 feet of you making the same saving throw, you can choose to share the benefit with them. (This doesn't work when incapacitated).

    Evasion's real nice, and letting the Fighter and the Artificer next to you get the benefit as well is pretty nifty.

Also at 6th level (yeah, they seem to be packing these features in to make up for the fewer levels) is Tandem Footwork, which lets you expend a BI die when you roll initiative (and aren't incapacitated) and you can give a number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum one, but this can also include you) a bonus to their initiative based on the number rolled.

14th level:

Irresistible Dance, shockingly, lets you have Otto's Irresistible Dance prepared for free and allows you to cast it for free once per long rest. You can also get a free casting again by expending 4 BI dice.

    So, I think this subclass is fun, and should help a lot if your party is dealing with dragons' breath or fireballs. I'm not sure it makes you a great melee combatant, but it does make the melee folks appreciate your being around.

Having now written out this subclass' features, I'm hesitant to do the full write-up for the other three subclasses, which are tweaks to existing ones (I also have barely ever played a Bard, so I can't really say what is most important here).

I'll probably return to the breakdowns of the other subclasses, but we'll move onto other classes now.

PHB Playtest 6: Highlights and First Impressions

 So, the latest test packet is enormous. Not only do we have seven classes (the priests, experts, and the Monk) but we also have several subclasses for each class (showing us, thusly, which four each class is getting - my predictions have turned out mixed). Among these are two brand-new subclasses.

Let me go class by class:

Bard:

Bardic Inspiration is closer to its 2014 version again, now requiring a bonus action to bestow it and having no healing component, though you now get to see if you failed the d20 test before you choose to expend it.

Spellcasting has also changed profoundly - you choose any of the three spell lists and get unfettered access to it (no school restrictions). Magical Secrets grants you another spell list, giving Bards massive access to spells.

Vicious Mockery is now Bard-exclusive and has its damage die upgraded to a d6.

Subclasses are Lore, Valor, Glamour, and the new Dance, which is a melee-combat subclass with unarmored defense (Dex+Cha,) and enhanced unarmed strikes, and a lot of features that help safely move around the battlefield for both you and your allies.

Cleric:

Divine Order (the new name for Holy Order) has been condensed to two options, one the heavy-armor and martial weapons choice and the other being the spellcasting and bonus to Religion checks. Divine Intervention is now always reliable, but explicitly only allows the casting of Divine spells, though the improved version lets you cast Wish (with no "stress" from off-label uses) which sort of gives you the free-form version of the old one.

Cleric subclasses will be Life, Light, Trickery, and War.

Druid:

The big thing is that Channel Nature is gone, and we're back to using "alternative uses of Wild Shape," which I think is clunky but is probably to ensure compatibility with older subclasses.

Wild Shape once again uses Beast stat blocks from the Monster Manual - which I'll be honest, I find very disappointing. You keep your own HP, though Moon Druids will get a bonus of Temp HP equal to the beast's HP or three times their Druid level.

The game-changer here Moon Druids is that you can keep your own AC when you Wild Shape, and there's a baseline feature that, like Divine Order, is Primal Order, which is similar to Divine Order though it gives you Medium, rather than Heavy (given that you start out with only Light) armor training if you pick "Warden" along with Martial Weapon proficiency, and if you pick Magician, you get a bonus cantrip and can add Wisdom to Nature checks. So, if you go Warden, you can relatively easily get an 18 AC while in your Bear form - but only as a Moon druid.

The subclasses included are Circle of the Moon, Circle of the Land, Circle of Stars (this unchanged from Tasha's, so it's not included) and the new Circle of the Sea, which... I'll analyze later.

Monk:

The most surprising thing here is how little has changed - Monks still get their Monk level's worth of Discipline Points (the new name for Ki points,) though they eventually get a way to take a short rest once a day in a single minute. Martial Arts dice scale up better - you now start with a d6 and go up to a d12. These only apply to unarmed strikes, though.

Stunning Strike has been nerfed, only allowing its use once per turn.

At high levels, Monks can gain resistance to all damage other than Force by spending three discipline points, but this doesn't come online until 18.

Deflect Missiles, though, has gotten a big buff, in that at higher levels you can now deflect spell attacks, which should be particularly good given the newer design of spellcasting NPCs.

Monks get Weapon Masteries, though only for actual weapons.

Subclasses for the Monk are now "Warrior of" rather than "Way of," but we get Hand (Open Hand), Four Elements, and Shadow, and Mercy (unchanged from Tasha's and thus not included). Four Elements looks, to me, much better than its old version, and much simpler, though as with a lot of Monks, there's a lot of competition for your limited Discipline Points.

Paladin:

Paladins lose cantrips, but they now automatically have all of the Smite spells prepared, and these are now Paladin-exclusive. Divine Smite is also a spell now, though functions as it always did (except the whole "only once per turn" thing that results from making it a 1st level spell). Find Steed is also now Paladin-exclusive, but still automatically prepared as a class feature.

Paladin subclasses are Devotion, Ancients, Vengeance, and Glory.

Ranger:

Rangers, like Paladins, lose cantrips, but no longer have any school restriction on their spellcasting via the Primal list.

Hunter's Mark is now Ranger-exclusive, and works more like the redesigned Hex - only dealing damage once per turn but doing more damage as it's upcast. You get it automatically prepared, but it once again requires concentration. Conjure Barrage and Conjure Volley are now automatically learned and Ranger-exclusive, and Barrage has been buffed to 5d8 from 3d8.

Expertise has been nerfed a little in favor of terrain-specific bonuses, though you can swap these on a long rest.

Ranger subclasses include the Hunter, Beast Master (very similar to its Tasha's revision,) the Gloomstalker, and the Fey Wanderer (the latter unchanged from Tasha's).

Rogue:

Sneak Attack no longer has to be part of the Attack Action and is also not limited to your turn, so Arcane Tricksters rejoice.

Rogues also have a new feature called Cunning Strikes, which allows you to sacrifice a number of d6s from your Sneak Attack to get other effects (most cost 1d6, though you get more expensive ones at higher levels).

Rogue Subclasses are the Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Thief, and Swashbuckler (as predicted). The Assassin's 9th-level feature is still kind of BS, but they at least get something better at 13. The Swashbuckler in particular seems built around Cunning Strikes.

    Anyway, that's the general overview. We'll get into the nitty-gritty when I have the time to do so.

Stuff to Look Out for in Tomorrow's UA

 Tomorrow, we'll be getting a UA that gives us new revisions of the Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Bards, Rogues, and Rangers, and finally the new version of the Monk. Obviously, this post is going to be obsolete very quickly, but I wanted to toss out the things that I'm most hoping to see, or at least most expecting to see with the new versions.

So, let's go class-by-class.

Bard:

The Bard's biggest changes in the Expert playtest (which feels like an eon ago) was its spell list - using Arcane spells limited to certain schools. I suspect we'll still use that system, but I can also imagine that, like the Mages, we might see an array of new Bard-exclusive spells (Vicious Mockery, for instance). This could also open up some old favorites that were taken from the Bard in the sweeping redesign.

Subclass-wise, we could see a revision to the College of Lore, but we're likely also getting new subclasses. I think a revised College of Valor is an obvious one, and I think the hinted "College of Dance" could also find its way into this UA. I don't know how many subclasses we'll be getting for each of these classes - whether it'll be the full four or just a scattering.

On the nitty-gritty side of things, I'll be curious to see if Bards will go back to a "Spells Known" system or if they'll continue to prepare spells on a long rest.

Cleric:

The Cleric, as far as I could remember, seemed fairly solid in its playtest, but again I think we could see some exclusive spells granted to the class (though I think it's the paladin who is more likely to get that exclusivity on things like Find Steed).

In terms of Divine Domain, I'll be honest and say I don't really have a great sense of which are going to make it into the book. I think a more offensive-based subclass like Tempest would be an appropriate addition. Light or War could also fit that bill.

Druid:

The obvious thing to look out for here is Wild Shape. The new version presented in the Druid & Paladin UA had, I think, the right idea, but the execution left much to be desired. Conservatively, an AC buff could make the feature somewhat more palatable, but I think more defensive benefits would be needed (perhaps some temp HP - you could borrow the Spore Druid idea and give temp HP equal to some coefficient times your Druid level).

For subclasses, I think I previously said Shepherd and some kind of elemental-magic-focused subclass would be welcome, and I think Circle of the Land needs to get some really big revisions to make it seem worthwhile, but I think the flavor concept of it is still viable.

I'm also eager to see the Channel Nature feature expanded and emphasized - I think giving every subclass at least one unique thing to do with it (counting the improved Wild Shape for Moon druids) would be smart, but also to maybe give us one more option baseline (and/or not have the two become one at higher levels).

Paladin:

The Paladin as a class is solid, and for the most part there was a "not broke, don't fix" attitude in the revision. I think the nerf to Divine Smite is fair and will likely stick. And as sad as I am to see it removed, I can also see why getting rid of smites on ranged attacks would be done to preserve the vibe of the class (though a subclass that can do that would be cool).

What I want to see, though, is some of the Paladins' spells taken away from the Cleric - I don't like that a Cleric can summon a better Steed with Find Steed. (I also think that spells that summon a permanent pet should probably not scale with spell level, probably).

Subclasses from the 2014 PHB all work pretty well, though I might emphasize the "guardian of the wilds" aspect of Oath of the Ancients. I think Conquest makes perfect sense to give us a base "dark paladin" option.

Rogues:

So, of all the classes, the one that suffers the most from having the old subclass progression levels restored is the Rogue - waiting until level freaking 9 to get a second thing out of their subclass. They did tease a "Cunning Strikes" feature that will come at some lower level, which, judging from the name, seems like it will allow you to make attacks as a bonus action (which, also thanks to the addition of weapon mastery, should allow a Rogue to make three attacks in a round - already pretty good, but also makes it far more likely they land their Sneak Attack - the current math on a Rogue dual-wielding gives them a massive damage boost, assuming they have allies in sneak attack range).

If memory serves, the UA also made Sneak Attack only happen on the Rogue's turn. While I can see how this makes the damage tuning easier, I also think this is a painful nerf, especially to party builds that use things like a Battle Master's Commander's Strike.

Subclass-wise, I think I remain happy with the 2014 PHB options, and would add Swashbucklers as the fourth as a perfectly classic Rogue archetype. (Really hoping the Assassin gets some better mid-level features).

Rangers:

Rangers in the UA got a massive glow-up. I think the Hunter's weird down-casting feature didn't quite do what it needed to do, but the base class actually feels pretty solid.

Obviously, we'll see weapon masteries integrated into the class. I think sub-class wise the Gloomstalker was mentioned in the interview, so that suggests a greater likelihood of its inclusion. The Beast Master probably doesn't need much changed beyond its Tasha's revisions. I still contend that the Monster Slayer, perhaps with a stronger emphasis on a sort of Gothic Horror vibe to it, would fill out the Ranger quite nicely.

Monks:

This is the big question mark. Will we see faster or better martial arts die progression? More Ki/Spirit Points? (They'd have to, wouldn't they, if they were removing recharge on a short rest?) I think an upgrade to a d10 (if not d12) hit die is a no-brainer, and either boosting their AC or giving them some damage mitigation like a Barbarian's rage.

I'll also be very curious to see how Weapon Mastery works with their unarmed strikes (and maybe it won't). More broadly (and this might be outside the purview of the UA) I'd love to see some items that buff natural weapons, conjured weapons, and unarmed strikes with the classic +1/+2/+3 variants.

But without any full revision to the Monk seen since 2014 (or, arguably, the new features in Tasha's) this is very up in the air.

PHB UA 6 Coming Tomorrow

 Tomorrow we'll be getting the next One D&D Unearthed Arcana.

(EDIT: It appears the classes appearing in it will be the Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue - so we'll have the Priests, the Experts, and our last Warrior.)

While we don't have a full list, it appears that we'll be getting a look at seven classes - including the Monk, finally - along with multiple subclasses for each of these classes.

In the Jeremy Crawford/Todd Kenreck interview, classes mentioned included Bards, Monks, Rangers, Paladins, and Rogues, the latter three all getting access to the Weapon Mastery system, which has been a big hit among playtesters.

One rather surprising reversion is that classes will get their old subclass progression back, with the exception that classes that previously got their subclasses at level 1 or 2 will still be getting those pushed back to 3. I find this surprising, and would suggest that at least the Rogue needs to have its second subclass feature come earlier - level 9 is when some classes (such as the Artificer) are already on their third subclass feature.

Rogues are evidently getting a feature called "Cunning Strikes," which I imagine could mean some way to use a Bonus Action to attack (given the association with "cunning" when it comes to Rogues).

We're also seeing the Epic Boons as a 20th-level feature pushed back into post-20 endgame and having class features come at 20. Again, I don't know if I agree with this reversion. It remains to be seen how well the game supports high-level play to determine if this is even all that relevant.

I am, of course, most eager to see the new version of the Monk, which feels like it needs some boost to survival to put it on par with other obligate-melee classes. No word on whether Warlocks will be among the tested classes here.

We will be seeing multiple subclasses for each class, which are said to be a mix of existing 2014 subclasses and also some brand-new ones. The interview mentioned Way of Shadow (which I'm not surprised to see returning,) but also the Gloomstalker, which makes me wonder if we might get some Xanathar/Tasha subclasses in the new PHB (I feel very strongly that the Undead Patron for Warlocks, from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, would be a very appropriate PHB subclass for them).

Anyway, my analysis of the packet might take a little while, as I have some personal plans tomorrow, but you can rest assured I'll cover it in exhaustive detail.

FFXVI Impressions

 I'm now many hours into the epic that is Final Fantasy XVI. The game takes place in the medieval fantasy world of Valisthea where nation-states bring the power of Eikons to bear in their endless wars over the Mothercrystals.

Eikons are XVI's iteration of Espers/Aeons/Summons, and we see familiar faces like Shiva and Ifrit now rendered as army-flattening kaiju. The thing is, each Eikon is embodied by a Dominant - a person who channels the magic of that being through them, casting magical spells this way when they aren't fully transforming into the towering monstrosities.

Gameplay in XVI is much more action-oriented than the Final Fantasy of yesteryear. But even as FFVII Remake found a way to hybridize the menu-searching strategy of its original incarnation with the frenetic action expected in modern games, XVI leans all the way into the action side of things, creating gameplay that is actually much more similar to the recent God of War games - though I'd say the pacing is faster while the difficulty is lower.

In fact, when you start the game you can choose "Story-focused" as a difficulty, which gives you a number of jewelry pieces that will cause Clive (the player character) to automatically execute combos and dodge attacks. Personally, I think this takes away basically the only sources of challenge in the game, and so would only recommend this for those who are really struggling (I do occasionally die to bosses - but the big bosses have checkpoints mid-fight that reset you to full health and give you plenty of potions and hi-potions, so I don't think I've ever died more than once on a single encounter).

Honestly, I could have done with a bit more strategy - my gameplay style in combat is to pretty much just use my two magical special abilities for each Eikon I'm channeling, then swap to another Eikon and use theirs, and once I had a third to use (which does take a while,) I'd use their abilities and by then the cooldown abilities of the first Eikon were ready to use again, so I could repeat the process. While some monsters might be more vulnerable to the magic of, say, Geruda instead of Phoenix, I'm basically using all of my abilities all the time, which sort of leaves little choice.

While you'll often be accompanied by party members Cid and/or Jill, the only other character you have any control over is Torgal, your pet wolf, though I haven't found him to have much of an effect (I've read he can be used to set up combos?)

Still, for all my complaints, the combat is fun, and I've learned to mix lunges, jumping attacks, and other techniques to change things up a bit.

The story of the game is complex, but there are numerous systems and NPCs in the game that are designed to make it easy to follow. During any cutscene (which, blessedly, can be paused) you can hold the touchpad on your controller and get a few little one-paragraph summaries of the characters and plot elements that the people are talking about in what they call the "Active Time Lore" system. There's also a guy in your main hub who collects an encyclopedia of these sorts of tidbits and another one who keeps a timeline of the world (important given there are numerous time-jumps and lots of wars and territory shifting hands between factions).

I will say, and this should come as no surprise to those who read this blog regularly, that while it's a refreshing departure to return to medieval fantasy without the steampunk, magitek, or modernity of other FF titles, I do actually prefer the unconventional science-fantasy vibe of, for example, VII (I'm eagerly awaiting Rebirth).

The influence of Game of Thrones on this game is undeniable, which I might have been more excited about five or six years ago - though this has the advantage of being pretty unapologetically magical. Still, I would not have expected to see an M-rated Final Fantasy game when I first became aware of the series as a kid. (I don't recall if the ESRB even existed at the time.)

The game does have some fantastic voice acting - Ralph Inneson as the heroic outlaw Cid (because of course there's a Cid) is a stand-out. The story is also compelling, though it can be a real bummer (a pair of side-quests you can do while you make your way to the capital of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque left me shocked at how absurdly dark they went while still having that kind of classic half-assed side-quest presentation).

I don't know if it opens up later in the game, but the crafting system in this also feels kind of underwhelming. At one point in the story you get gear that is far better than anything you can craft or upgrade at the blacksmith's, at least for a good chunk of it. Likewise, the weapons and armor you get don't really have a lot of nuance to their stats - weapons are basically always just strictly better or worse than the one you have (again, 7R, VII Remake, or whatever you want to call it, gave you a lot of incentive to swap out weapons and try out different focuses with your gear).

I've gotten far enough in the game that I have a pretty good idea of who the final boss is, though there are a ton of supporting and/or secondary villains whose role in the game remains to be seen. I think I've just hit level 30 (maybe 31?) and some reviews I've seen say that they beat the game in the 40s, so I guess I've got a good chunk to go. I have been doing every side quest (which aren't always very good, though you'll want to do some of them, as they'll unlock things like your Chocobo mount).

Mysteries, Intrigue, and the Complex World of Valisthea in Final Fantasy XVI

 I'm several hours into Final Fantasy XVI - while I was only able to play for a bit yesterday, today I've spent the better part of it hacking and slashing through the story.

The influence of Game of Thrones on the game is certainly not subtle - we have a "dung ages" medieval setting, cruelty and backstabbing, rather graphic violence (it's rated M, and while I wouldn't say it's a hard M, it definitely earns it) and a sense that innocents like children aren't safe.

The story is focused on a singular protagonist - while there are "party members" with whom you travel in the game, you don't really control them (other than your pet wolf/dog, though it's not very involved). Clive Rosfield is the player character, a firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria, one of the many nations in this world built around an Eikon - massively powerful magical creatures that you'll recognize as summons from earlier games. Rosaria is your classic "good" kingdom, and built around the Phoenix. But Clive is not his father's heir, because it's his younger brother, Joshua, who has inherited the full power of the Phoenix. As a Dominant, Joshua has the ability to transform into this massive, kaiju-like creature. The Eikons are basically the fantasy equivalent of nukes that let each nation-state hold its power (though they're far quicker to use them).

The status of Dominants in their respective cultures also varies - in one case, the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, the emperor's son is the Dominant of Bahamut, and the Dominant of Odin is the king of his nation. But there's also a lot of fear and resentment of magical people, and another nation uses their Dominant as a kind of warrior-slave.

Bearers, then, are people with some magical ability, but who aren't Dominants. While Dominants often play a powerful role (though there are exceptions) in their societies, Bearers are treated as inhuman slaves in most cases. When we're introduced to Clive, then, he has a portion of the Phoenix's power, but seems to be a Bearer rather than a Dominant, and only thanks to his noble birth does he seem to retain a position of privilege.

Let's get into spoiler territory.

Super Mario Wonder and a Remake of Super Mario RPG

 Super Mario RPG is one of my favorite games of all time. It was formative for me, and actually the first RPG I ever played. And this year, it's getting a remake on the Switch!

Unlike, say, Final Fantasy VII Remake, this appears to be an update to the original game that seems to preserve most of the gameplay - you'll still be wandering around an isometric Mushroom Kingdom and going into separate battle areas when you encounter a foe. But seeing Mallow and Geno updated to modern graphics nearly 30 years onward is really exciting!

Mario is also getting a new side-scrolling game called Super Mario Wonder, which is... well, it's a classic side-scrolling Mario game, but the twist on this appears to be that it's the most explicitly psychedelic the series has gotten since the "Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy" level in Yoshi's Island.

2023 seems to be a banner year for game releases.

Aberrus' End and the Legacy of the Void

 Scalecommander Sarkareth became available on LFR today, and pleasingly (in my opinion) it only took us two pulls to take him down (contrasted with the 8 or 9 it took for Raszageth when she came out).

The fight has three phases, with a whole lot of bad things to avoid standing in, though for tanks it seems to be more or less just a little positioning and taunt-swapping (I died on the first attempt because I wasn't sufficiently behind cover of the meteorites to avoid getting knocked off the platform, and I wasn't battle-rezzed until it was too late for me to taunt off the other tank).

Sarkareth is very much a tragic figure - in his eagerness to claim the power, legacy, and independence that he feels the Dracthyr are owed, he walks the same path as Neltharion, only for the void to overwhelm him.

Overall, I've enjoyed this raid quite a bit - some have complained that it's too easy, but as someone who really only runs LFR these days, I consider that more of a feature than a bug.

The liberalness of the Revival Catalyst - even more generous than it was in the previous tier - is also welcome, as I've completed an actual transmog set (the LFR Evoker one) for the first time in several expansions.

While this deals with a great deal of legacy - both for the Dracthyr and the Black Dragonflight - it appears that we've sort of finished the Black Dragon-centric story of the expansion. Naturally with the mega-dungeon coming next patch we should be covering the Bronze Dragons, and there's a hint in the Aberrus epilogue that we'll also see some resolution to the Green story and the seed formed in the Shadowlands, which should allow for a new world tree and home for the Night Elves. (That said, the cutscene bugged out for me, so I didn't actually see Alexstrasza's announcement in full).

I suspect that the final raid will involve a fight atop the Seat of the Aspects (given the massive platforms climbing up around it,) and while Fyrrak has been unleashed in this patch, we don't actually deal with him, so we still have three of the four Incarnates left to take care of.

Aberrus thus serves quite well as a classic "mid tier" raid, which historically dealt with secondary villains, like Yogg-Saron in Wrath, the Mogu in Mists of Pandaria, or Ragnaros in Cataclysm.

I'm happy to have been able to get a great deal of time in the raid, though I'm beginning to run it a bit less as my characters have much of the gear they want out of it (also, there are a ton of games coming out I want to play, like Final Fantasy XVI on Thursday, so honestly the timing here is pretty good).

Final Fantasy XVI's Demo Prologue - Spoiler Edition

 I finished the demo for Final Fantasy XVI, and I was sufficiently excited to play more than I plunked down the 70 bucks for the full game when it comes out in a few days (while 70 bucks feels like a lot, given that I remember paying 60 bucks for N64 games in the late '90s, I can't exactly complain about a 10-dollar price hike after 25 years - it's more surprising that it's taken this long).

I'm going to be talking spoilers and speculation here, so there'll be a cut:

Final Fantasy XVI Demo

 Hey, remember demos? They're back!

I've now played the first hour or two of Final Fantasy XVI, which releases in a little under a week.

The game has been presented as something of a return to the game's narrative roots, though the gameplay is anything but - you control a single character, and it's really more of an action game with leveling, gear, and ability builds.

Story-wise, though, for maybe the first time since before VI (I haven't played any of the older games) we're not (so far as I can tell) in a quasi-futuristic fantasy world, but more of a traditional medieval fantasy world. We still have Chocobos instead of horses, massive creatures like Shiva and Ifreet, and I'm keeping an eye out for Biggs, Wedge, and Cid, but the world seems to be one of feudal lords and unambiguously George-R-R-Martin-ian political intrigue.

Actually, at this stage I'm not super clear on all of the political entities at play, but our protagonist is Clive, the firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria, though not the heir to the throne. See, each nation, it appears, is empowered by an Eikon - the latest name for summons (my first FF game was X, so I usually think of them as Aeons) like the aforementioned Shiva, Ifreet, and, seen so far in this demo, Titan and Phoenix. Actually, it's Phoenix who is the patron of Rosaria, and Clive's little brother Joshua stand to inherit the throne because he is the Dominant of the Phoenix - blessed with the Eikon's magical powers.

Clive is a skilled swordsman, and has some Phoenix-derived magic, but when we get a glimpse of the power Joshua is capable of bringing to bear, you can see why he stands to inherit (though being a little kid when we see him, it takes a lot out of him to use it.)

Actually, the game starts in media res, where a 28-year-old (practically ancient for a Final Fantasy protagonist) Clive is on some sort of high-stakes mission to take out Shiva's Dominant during some vast and multi-fronted, poly-factional war. Shortly, though, the game jumps back 13 years to Clive as a teenager (there we go, that's a Final Fantasy protagonist!) and introduces us to his family - a thoughtful and clearly doomed father, a mother who treats him like an unwanted stepchild because the Phoenix didn't make him the Dominant, and a brother who is too good for this sinful world (whom Clive is in training to be the personal guard to). Given that our chronologically later version of Clive seems to be in a dark and gritty place, and also has a tattoo that seems to signify being a slave or prisoner, things are... probably not going to go great for him.

Now, I initially turned the gameplay style to "story," but I think I'm going to revert that, because a lot of the gameplay seems to be automated when you do this - causing you to automatically dodge attacks and charge forward. Given that we seem to be controlling a single character, I think I'll go for the higher challenge of having to do these things manually. (I was playing a bit of Elden Ring as I waited for this to download, so I think I can probably handle the challenge.)

The story promises to be complex and hopefully interesting.

There is the usual question with these post-X Final Fantasy games of just what makes Final Fantasy Final Fantasy, when you don't have party-based, menu-based, turn-based combat. I thought Final Fantasy VII Remake did a remarkable job of giving you the menu-based strategy decisions while turning up the action, but this seems like it will be more of a straight action-RPG. I'm trying to set aside franchise expectations and judge it on its own merits, and so far I'm enjoying it (though it's very heavy on cutscene-to-gameplay ratio at this stage of the game.)

One D&D Playtest - My Favorite Things and My Least Favorite Things

 The playtest for the 2024 Core Rulebooks (which I honestly think will wind up being called 5.5 by the community) has now had 5 documents, giving us new versions of the playable species (not races - still think I prefer Lineage or Ancestry, though I realize that the former has a special meaning as something you can be transformed into,) backgrounds, the core 12 classes (would love to see an update to the Artificer, but maybe we'll get one later along with other new classes) and a whole bunch of tweaks to rules, feats, and items.

The documents have been coming out at a 2-3 month cadence, but I think we also need to get some more out there if we're going to have this whole thing tested in time for it to go to the printers (I imagine the books won't come out until later next year, but they need to get it buttoned down a lot sooner than that).

This isn't going to be a comprehensive list, but it'll be a grab-bag of elements in the playtest that I've found particularly notable. I'm also not going to make any real effort to balance positive versus negative feedback, because frankly, I've had a mostly positive impression of what's going on here. Also, some of this is going to be small, fiddly stuff, and some will be broad, big stuff.

Good: The New Stonecunning

    The Dwarven species trait, Stonecunning, has the same name but is completely and utterly different than its 2014 version in all other ways. The original was very much a "cultural" trait that the design is trying to move away from, and the ability to get blindsense by touching a stone surface feels both like something that makes sense as a physiological trait and also could be very useful.

Good: Paradoxically Opening up Hybrid Species Options by Removing Half-Elves and Half-Orcs

    I wrote extensively on my thoughts as someone who has a hybrid cultural identity myself about how I may not have agreed with the blanket statement that "half-X" terms were inherently racist (being someone who has often called himself half-Jewish) but I think this change does a number of welcome things, the best being that it endorses the idea that any number of playable species could actually have mixed ancestries, and we aren't weirdly privileging elf/human and orc/human hybrids.

Good: Custom Backgrounds

    Backgrounds in current D&D don't tend to have much of an impact except in settings like Ravnica where the background is super-charged. Moving the ability score bonuses that had been tied to race (though only vaguely) to backgrounds, and then foregrounding custom backgrounds, and then also giving everyone a feat at 1st level, all feels pretty good.

Mixed: 1st level feats

    As someone with nearly 8 years of D&D under my belt, I'm often impatient to get to level 5 at minimum, when it feels like the game really takes off. And giving people 1st level feats is a good way to make your character feel special even at those earliest levels. But I also do sometimes worry about growing complexity for the game in the early levels, because I also have a lot of players (even those who have been playing a long time) who don't really have a mind for putting together "builds" and just want to hop in an RP, and have some simple system to use. Now, granted, separating 1st level from 4th+ level feats does help here.

Good: 4+ feats all giving one ability score bonus

    Feats are fun, and often very powerful, but I don't know about you, but I have a sort of OCD need to try to max out ability scores. My 5th level Wizard has 20 Int and 17 Con, and I'm planning on picking up Resilient: Constitution when we hit 8th level. And while I'm intending to then spend the other ASIs on feats, a small part of me goes "are you sure you don't want to get his Con to 20 as well?" Obviously, that'd be crazy - I don't need to have more HP than the Paladins and the Fighter (I'm currently only slightly behind).

    But this change actually makes the idea of picking up feats slightly less painful. That Wizard already has his Int maxed, but if I'd used Point Buy or Standard Array instead of rolling (very well - he's got positives to all modifiers except Wisdom, because I decided it'd be in-character for him to be absent-minded) I'd still be able to get him to 20 Int even taking feats at every ASI, even if it took until level 16, with the new feats.

Good: Rangers Feel Like They Have an Identity Now

    For most of 5E, Rangers have kind of felt like "not really as good as a Dex Fighter, with a bunch of features that sometimes might work?" The Tasha's re-work helped a lot to make them more broadly useful, though the Favored Foe mechanic was pretty terrible. Honestly, not a ton of things changed here, but the idea of emphasizing that the Ranger is the Expert of Exploration actually feels really strong. No one is going to be better at moving around the environment and navigating.

    Also, while Hunter's Mark isn't terribly strong after the first few levels, concentration-free Hunter's Mark becomes far more attractive.

Bad: The Weird Spell-Slot/Spell-Level Preparation Restriction

    So, I don't know if this is still going to be a thing (the Mages in the latest playtest were not restricted in this way) but the idea that you have to prepare spells based on the spell slots you have, and specifically a spell of the level for each slot, could cause big problems - you couldn't, say, prepare Meteor Swarm and Wish at the same time. Sure, you only get to cast one or the other, but when are you ever going to unprepare Wish?

Good: Standardization of Subclass Feature Levels:

    Now, this is something they're currently saying they're going to roll back because people weren't excited about it enough. Let me go on the record: I am excited about this. Yes, it's a little strange to have classes that formerly got their subclasses at level 1 now wait until level 3 (I'm getting my powers from some strange otherworldly entity - just wait a bit for me to tell you what it is) but in terms of game balance and just feeling good, this was a slam dunk - Rogues shouldn't have to wait until level 9 to get their second subclass feature (Artificers get their 3rd at that level). So, I hope that they do reinstate this change (I'll also say that I think the shuffling of 1st and 2nd level features for such classes works pretty well).

Bad: Wild Shape is Broken:

    This isn't going to be terribly surprising, but the version of Wild Shape presented in the Druid and Paladin playtest is just... pointless. To sum up - yes, the current version of Wild Shape is maybe too powerful, with the massive pool of HP that the Druid gets. This is especially crazy at max level when a Druid can shift as many times as they want. It's an insane amount of extra hit points per short rest.

    But in the playtest, even though Wild Shape is meant to allow the Druid to go into melee, this version gives them basically no defensive benefit - your AC will likely be lower (even though it's based on Wisdom - it still isn't making up for Leather Armor and a Shield in most cases) and no boost to your HP. It gives you Extra Attack, effectively, but you're probably going to do roughly the same amount of damage or more with cantrips.

    I will say I like the idea of templates for the wild shape forms, but I think they need to tweak them in a couple ways to make it non-suicidal for a Druid to actually use them. (And throw in some customization choices to fit the animals they describe turning into).

Mixed: Arcane, Divine, and Primal Spell Lists

    So, the creation of these three broad spell lists, and having classes get spells from those lists, is I think intended as kind of future-proofing. If you add, say, a revised Artificer, you can simply say that they get Arcane spells from, say, the Transmutation, Abjuration, Evocation, and Conjuration schools, and then any new spells you add to the game can be checked against that to see if Artificers can use them.

    The only awkwardness, though, is when some classes get access to spells they previously couldn't, or when they lose access. In particular, with the new scaling of Divine Steed, Clerics will actually get better use out of the spell than Paladins, which feels wrong.

    Now, Playtest 5 gave us some class-exclusive spells, so perhaps we'll see changes of that ilk.

Good: Weapon Masteries

    There's some balancing required - Flex sucks, for example, and Vex is probably too good. But I think this makes things more interesting for martial classes, and it gives all those weird weapon types an identity.

Good: Warlock Pact Boons:

    While there might be some tweaking to do, the incorporation of stuff like the Hexblade's "use charisma for your attacks" into pact weapons and the overall package that you get with your pact boons are great. These feels like great, defining choices.

Good: Warlocks with Medium Armor:

    If you want Pact of the Blade to work, this feels necessary.

Bad: Warlocks as Half-Casters

    Yes, Warlocks' spellcasting system in the 2014 rules is really weird for multiclassing. But even though Mystic Arcanum allows you to cast spells at the level you'd be able to as a full-caster (though weirdly only starting at level 5, meaning you go from having only 1st level spells to potentially 1st, 2nd, and 3rd) the design of that new version of the feature is an utter trainwreck of awkwardness, where you'll have to swap it out every other level for a new version.

    Personally, I'd be happy for them to just bring back Pact Magic, and maybe give more spell slots that recharge on a long rest. (I'd also be nice to let you upcast spells past 5th level, so that, for example, your Undead Warlock could cast Summon Undead at 6th level instead of having to pick up Summon Fiend for such a spell).

Impatient: Where's the Monk?

    The Monk is one of my favorite 5E classes, even if people have pointed out that it has a lot of shortcomings in terms of power. I want to see how they're going to close that gap, power-wise, with other classes, and find a way for the Monk to shine.

5.5, One D&D, 2024 PHB, and the Nomenclature for D&D's New Core Rulebooks

 The new rulebooks coming out for D&D next year are, officially, still 5th Edition. 5E has been such a massive success for D&D that it makes sense they don't want to alienate people who are already fans by releasing a fully new edition and forcing groups to choose which version they're going to stick with.

And yet, I think there is going to need to be a choice made here.

About nine out of ten changes I'm seeing in the playtest documents are things I'm happy to see - Weapon Masteries, a lot of class changes (Rangers seem far more appealing now, for one,) and some of the subtler tweaks are great.

The new versions of each class, however, are presented as "options," the idea being that you should be able to sit a 2014 version of the Warlock next to a 2024 version and both should still be able to interact with the game world in the same way, even if they function differently (though I'm hoping that the 2024 Warlock looks different from the version we see in the latest playtest document - the Pact Boon changes are fantastic, but the spellcasting system and changes to Mystic Arcanum are, I think, a dealbreaker for me).

They're still trying out different terms - a video recently said that they'll be calling these the "2024" core rulebooks, though shortly thereafter there was a blog post where they said that they'll actually just call these the "Player's Handbook," etc., while designating the 2014 versions as just that.

Personally, I think the community will likely just call it 5.5, which is really what it is. I wasn't a player during the 3E/3.5 transition (which happened only a year or two after 3E first came out) and I'm given to understand that was perhaps a more serious transformation, but I think 5.5 will be a simple way to show that the overall system works basically the same - d20 system with proficiency bonuses to smooth out skills and weapons and such - while making it clear that we're using the newer rules. I suppose the only reason to avoid that is if, 10 years down the line, they want to make another not-quite-new-edition.

Now, I do think it's interesting that they're presenting the revised classes, species, subclasses, etc., as "content" for the existing 5th Edition rather than the basis of a new edition - I actually think that this is not entirely inaccurate, but I also think that the Rule Glossary changes we've been seeing are kind of invariably going to need groups as a whole, and not individual players, to choose how they're going to be using them.

One example is the new Exhausted condition. This is a pretty radical change from 2014's Exhaustion, but I think there's some potential in it because it's actually not as serious - which means as a DM, I'd be far happier inflicting it upon player characters.

Exhausted actually works very similarly to Stress in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, and I think you could easily even just name it that and make it a separate thing.

In most of these cases, I think it'll be best to just treat the new books as an update. But I also imagine that there will be some purists who want to stick only with 5E as it was prior to this turnover.

Still, I think the conservative approach WotC is taking in most aspects of this transition means that I doubt I will get much pushback on the use of the new rules, whatever it is we wind up calling them.

Ravenloft and How to Scare Powerful Adventurers

 D&D as an RPG system is designed to make you feel powerful.

Despite the fact that the game started off as a dungeon-delving game of deadly traps and horrible fates, the general structure of modern D&D lends itself to players being able to face down deadly monsters more or less with their standard kit - their spells, weapons, and abilities make them ready to throw down with Mind Flayers, Dragons, and horror-themed monsters.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft does a fantastic job of exploring horror as a genre (I honestly might recommend it simply to burgeoning horror authors even if they aren't D&D players) and creates some tools like the Stress & Fear mechanics (Stress working a bit like the One D&D version of Exhaustion, actually) to ramp up the fear.

But I also think there's something else to consider:

In the novel Dracula, which is really the quintessential gothic horror novel (I might argue for Frankenstein, but it also manages to be a prime Romantic work and arguably created science fiction - a genre that shares a lot of DNA with horror,) our first look at the infamous vampire is through the experience of Jonathan Harker, who travels to Transylvania to aid Dracula in his efforts to purchase a home in England, with no clue at first that the elderly nobleman is anything other than a rich eccentric.

But the action eventually shifts instead to the experience of Lucy Westenra and the people surrounding her. Lucy, a young woman who is being courted by three different men, is kind of beloved by everyone (even the men she rejects are still deeply devoted to her, and while Lucy is perhaps more naive than her friend Mina, Jonathan Harker's fiancee and later wife, she is by no means deserving of her fate). Lucy begins to suffer from a weird affliction, becoming deeply anemic and having bouts of sleep-walking.

One of her former suitors, the young Doctor Seward (who runs a mental hospital despite being under 30) calls in an old teacher of his, Abraham Van Helsing, who seems (at the point I'm at in the novel) to have a hunch that Lucy is being surreptitiously fed on by a vampire, and takes steps to prevent this, but the ambiguity of it (and his hesitance to make his theory explicit) lead to a breakdown in the protections he sets about.

Ultimately (past the point in the book I'm at, but I've seen the Coppola movie) Lucy succumbs and becomes a vampire herself, forcing the people who care most about her to kill her (now, I don't have the energy to unpack the gender politics surrounding that, but holy shit).

The point is, though, that if we are looking at the suitors and Doctor Van Helsing (and later, Jonathan) as our "adventuring party," Dracula doesn't actually really threaten any of them (well, except Jonathan early on,) but instead preys on a woman who, in D&D terms, would probably use a Commoner stat block, or something similar.

D&D player characters are adventurers - the whole point of the way they are built, mechanically, and the way they're conceived of, is that they are equipped to face down dangerous monsters. Horror, by contrast, functions on disempowerment. In most horror RPGs, the characters' skills are offset by an expectation of failure. And in many cases, as the campaign goes on, they accrue injuries (both mental and physical) that will ultimately force them into retirement if they don't outright die.

A D&D character bounces back from most things if they're able to get a good night's sleep.

Therefore, my sense is that if you really want to make a horror-themed D&D campaign, you've got to have the players get invested in NPCs - characters who are not nearly as resilient as the player characters.

I was looking at the Vampire earlier - a classic horror monster - and noting that they have 144 hit points. Ok, so for a party of four, each will need to do an average of 36 damage to the thing to take it down. Now, yes, it has regeneration, getting 20 HP back per turn unless it takes radiant damage. Let's say the fight takes 4 rounds and they don't have a source of radiant damage (maybe they have a druid healer and no paladin). So that adds 80 hp, meaning that each party needs to do 56 damage. By the level you expect to fight a CR 13 monster, that's not honestly all that much to ask - a Warlock with, say, Summon Aberration at level 10 can do 21 force damage with eldritch blast and 25 psychic damage with a Beholderkin or Star Spawn if they hit on all attacks, meaning they can do most of that all in a round. 

However, let's change the scenario - instead of having our party face a vampire in some dungeon environment with no innocents in the way, instead let's say that there's a young noble the vampire has targeted to turn into one of its spawn. Slightly more resilient than a Commoner, sure, but our young noble still only has 9 HP. And even in their standard breastplate armor, the vampire is going to be able to grapple and bite them with a roll of 6 or higher on the die. And the 3d6 necrotic damage done by the bite could easily reduce their max HP to 0, turning them into a vampire spawn.

If the party cares about this NPC, the stakes get high. A vampire is nothing if not slippery - They have a +9 to Stealth, can change into animal forms an a Mist form that allows them to go through cracks, say, under a door. Are they barred from a house because they're not invited? Easy, they use their Charm to convince someone to invite them in. They can even distract the party with the Children of the Night summon. And legendary actions let them move without drawing opportunity attacks.

So, seriously, you will have a hard time keeping this vampire from getting to their target.

And that, I think will make for a tense, dangerous encounter - even if the player characters aren't in any super significant danger, it doesn't mean there isn't danger.

Evaluating the Vampire

 So, I'm currently writing a novel whose protagonist is a dhampir, and I'm also finally reading Dracula as research for the story (though my novel uses gothic horror tropes, the overall narrative is more weird fantasy.) Anyway, while I intended to make one a major villain in my original campaign, the game sort of fell apart before I could get to the confrontation, and so I've never run a Vampire (except briefly as a friendly NPC) in D&D before.

Vampires are iconic, and in D&D none are as iconic as Strahd von Zarovich (who is considered the first vampire in the D&D multiverse). Now, Strahd has a unique stat block in Curse of Strahd, though it's not too dissimilar to the standard Vampire. He's effectively the Spellcaster variant vampire with a couple of different spells and several lair actions (something that the standard vampire oddly doesn't have).

Vampires CR 13 (Strahd's spell choices and lair actions upgrade him to 15, along with some bonus necrotic damage and, of course, a lot of stuff from the adventure that makes him tougher to take down (and as a Darklord, never permanently).

However, a close reading of the stat block reveals some surprising things:

The first is that their damage output is laughably low. Their unarmed strikes deal only 1d8+4 bludgeoning damage, and their bite does only 1d6+4 piercing and 3d6 necrotic - and they can only bite once per turn. That amounts to a total (when striking and biting) of 25 damage in a turn - way below what we'd expect from most CR 13 monsters.

Now, I brought this to the attention of a friend who is also a forever-DM (we only play in one anothers' games) and he pointed out that there are factors in the CR calculation that manage to bump the thing up to its 13 level, including its 20-HP regeneration per turn (shut down with radiant damage or some of the vampire weaknesses,) along with legendary resistance (something I often don't include in my CR calculations) and, most importantly, the wording of its Charm ability.

Also, we had a somewhat heated discussion of Misty Escape, where I argued it was confusingly worded, but we'll talk about that later on (and I think to a large extent it serves as a less-impenetrable version of a Lich's Rejuvenation trait, allowing the DM to mostly get to have a recurring villain as long as they want, though there are player work-arounds).

But, if you glance at the Charm ability, you know that it's an action that causes the target to need to make a DC 17 (pretty high DC in any scenario) Wisdom save or become charmed by the vampire. The thing is, this is not just the charmed position - the target isn't dominated, but it will "take the vampire's requests or actions in the most favorable way it can" and treats the vampire as someone to be heeded and protected.

And this, I think, is the key to making the Vampire a properly scary challenge - indeed, you can do all the grappling and biting with legendary actions, but the Charm effect (which has no 24-hour immunity) can potentially be devastating.

I'd argue that it doesn't necessarily force a player character to attack the party, but it could force them to, say, restrain other players - you charm the fighter and have the vampire tell them to drag the blade-lock away.

Now, there's a sort of interesting question about the bite - the damage it does is not that scary to a party high enough to fight a vampire - though the max HP reduction does give it a bit more of a sting. However, if we imagine the vampire is mainly preying on commoners, this is a lethal threat the vast majority of the time (actually, it's always lethal to someone with 4 HP, and will only miss on a nat 1). The bite creates vampire spawns, so in a way I think we're seeing the vampire biting NPCs and thus creating all manner of "Bloofer Ladies" (what the child victims of the vampiric Lucy Westenra, Dracula's initial victim, call her) to vex the party. Notably, a vampire spawn does nearly as much damage as the vampire itself (though with only a +6 to hit and no charm ability).

Now, let's talk Misty Escape. The vampire can turn to mist normally with its Shapechanger ability, but as my friend argued, and I came around to believing his was the correct interpretation, when the vampire uses Misty Escape, damaging the mist form even with radiant damage doesn't do anything - it's already at 0 HP, and it simply returns to its resting place. Now, even if the party follows it there and drives a wooden stake in its heart, this doesn't actually kill it.

The only permanent way to kill a vampire is to prevent it from getting to its resting place within 2 hours. And that's actually super difficult to do, because unless you keep it in an airtight chamber for the duration (Otiluke's Resilient Sphere only lasts a minute - Magic Circle could work, though you'd need to get them more than an hour from their resting place first, and somehow get them inside of it before you put them to 0).

In other words, I think the Vampire is designed in a way to let you fuck with the party - you can send one against them at much lower levels than a CR 13 monster would usually imply, but it won't be the last time they face off. Misty Escape isn't as ironclad as a Lich's Rejuvenation (where it's fully at DM's discretion to just say "nah, you don't know where the Phylactery is,") but it's close to being a way for the DM to be able to use the vampire as long as they want to in the story.

As a combat threat, the Vampire is not actually that scary - a tier 3 party would blast it apart in a round with relative ease, and it's not going to take anyone down. But it can be used to harass and torment a lower-level party - I honestly think you could even have a tier 1 party face one (though DM should show restraint because they could, honestly, kill a PC) and maybe escape after demoralizing the party.