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Well, I finally got a chance to look through the PHB last weekend and I have to say I'm not particularly impressed unfortunately. I peripherally followed the Unearthed Arcana releases both in pdf and on youtube recaps but I wouldn't consider myself more than casually acquainted with the details of the rules.
The most surprising thing (in a bad way) was the art. Yeah, I saw videos and posts lambasting certain admittedly cringey infamous pictures but I was disappointed with the art overall in addition to the notable ones. It was quite inconsistent which wasn't really the case with prior editions both in terms of style, color, and detail. Additionally, the tone felt way off for me as it seemed like they were going for a more cosplay Harry Potter Faerun by gaslight Victorian vibe than medieval to dark age fantasy. While there were some admittedly good examples of art (one with Raistlin and friends fighting a dragon comes to mind) but I'm not entirely sure if that's new or reused (or if any pieces were reused) to be honest. Overall, though, it doesn't feel like they were trying to make it visually D&D but I may be an old man shouting at the clouds in this regard given I started regularly playing the game 25 years ago (and collecting books almost 30+ years ago).
On the rules side, it's hard to get too indepth from a quick tableside readthrough at the FLGS but things I liked about the early UA (like druid wildshape changing from individual creatures to land/sea/air templates) seemed to have reverted back to more 2014 style. Other than expanded backgrounds (all with feats now), I can't quite say there was anything overall that felt from my quick reading to be a noteable improvement. Obviously, I didn't play the actual game which would be key to making a truly informed opinion.
Overall, what I saw definitely didn't make me want to buy my own copy of the PHB or other core books so I may sit out this edition. I am curious to see what they do with the 2025 starter set though from a production standpoint (rules and components included, methods to introduce new players to the game and RPGs in general, etc) and how it compares with what I consider to be stellar products with incredible value for gamers like Dragonbane, Pathfinder, and Zweihander (regardless of what I think about the actual rules/systems themselves).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/01/31 02:32:43
My impression was that they were moving the game away from the style I liked, and so I was happy enough to give it a miss. I'll keep my 5e books but these days I'm more interested in running retroclones of Original D&D or stuff like Dungeon Crawl Classics.
First starter set preview is out with more info to come later this week. Not that I was realistically expecting otherwise but unfortunately it looks like the art style/tone/asthetic from the core books is continuing into the starter and likely all future products. Smiling cosplayers posing for the camera in 5.5e it is...
I started DnD only shortly before the 2024 rulebook came out with DnD 5 source books, Played a little bit, then tested to switch to 2024 versions of the characters. For context: I played another RPG that is a lot more complex for 20 years and DnD for me is a nice escape to a more streamlined, straightforward system I can play with my kids.
Overall I find a lot of changes pretty good from a functional point of view. The monk works better and seems more fun to me, getting a feat right from the start feels good for my players. Also getting the subclass at level 3 for all classes is fairer (that 1 level cleric dip was a bit too good and even without subclass it stays very solid).
So far my first impression
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2025/03/05 07:06:27
~7510 build and painted
1312 build and painted
1200
Pyroalchi wrote: The monk works better and seems more fun to me, getting a feat right from the start feels good for my players. Also getting the subclass at level 3 for all classes is fairer (that 1 level cleric dip was a bit too good and even without subclass it stays very solid).
Yeah, the feat at 1st level seems like a no brainer to me if you're allowing feats at all in the game since it was a variant option in the 2014 rules. I experienced first hand, as both a gm and player, the massive 3.x feat tree bonanza that you were incentivized to plan for 10 levels in advance and I get why the pendulum swung in the opposite direction but I always felt like it swung too far in not allowing one at 1st. I got into 5e only during the pandemic so by the time I did some backgrounds had a feat and I never bothered looking at the ones that didn't nor did I ever bother with an ability score increase as I strongly preferred the additional customization they allowed.
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Lathe Biosas wrote:Im.just dissatisfied with the art department. Usually D&D has a great style. This version. Not so much.
Pyroalchi wrote:Yeah, I agree. A lot of the artwork was... strange. But I'm used to even worse ones from the other RPG I play.
Other than the obvious placeholder box cover art, I actually think it's technically well done in terms of detail and talent... but the art direction/style is just horrible in my opinion. Everyone has a goofy convention cosplayer pose and smile seemingly and half the time look more appropriate to an off brand Harry Potter setting rather than D&D. While I fully admit that I prefer my fantasy a bit darker and more grity than the typical D&D setting, I still don't want it to go fully dark ages/early medieval overcast raining like every day during an active plague infestion where just stepping outside can kill your character. Just like with getting rid of feats completely as the baseline in 2014, I think they went way too far into the goofy sanitized whimsical direction in their art style this time around (with only a few exceptions in the PHB from my look through).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/03/05 14:56:33
Looks like they're supposedly making good on their OGL debacle promise of releasing the 5.2 SRD directly into creative commons. I'll be curious to see how much of it differs from the free rules on D&D Beyond in terms of content and options (subclasses, feats, races, etc).
The new SRD 5.2 is now out, free, and in creative commons for anyone interested. I'll give credit where credit is due as WOTC did live up to their promise after the self inflicted disaster that was the OGL debacle in 2023.
A nice overview for the upcoming D&D starter set coming out in the US on Sept 16th for $50...
I haven't bought any 5e products (whether 2014 or 2024) other than some individual minis on the secondary market so this might be my first purchase just because I like checking out starters but I'm having second thoughts. Maybe it was naive of me but I was hoping they had simplified the 5.x rules for the starter (like the B/X and BECMI starters did compared with AD&D 1e back in the day) but it looks like they instead tokenized them with cards. I'm not sure if that will be enough for normies as well as folks like myself looking for a more rules light experience. I'm guessing we'll probably see alot more coverage about this starter from Gencon in a couple weeks as I'd be shocked if they didn't have demo games of it going there both public and private.
An updated Keep on the Borderlands isn't exactly a new concept but it does still have some appeal. It is a little amusing that the greybeard influencer is confused about what content might be in the 3 books. Maybe he came to D&D later in life and never played the original or it's many clones. Or maybe it is like those reaction channels where they pretend they have never heard or seen these enormously popular songs and movies.
I think the jump from a 5.5E starter set to regular 5.5E is a lot shorter than going from BECMI to AD&D was as the classes are much better balanced and the rules more intuitive. You need to get an 18 on your roll plus bonuses to hit AC18 vs going through the THACO charts enough times to realize that those charts represent a "to hit" bonus, that the ACs are inverted, and that you need to get an 18 plus bonuses to hit AC2. If you pick a Wizard/Magic User you can still contribute outside of spending the whole game trying not to die until you can cast your one spell.
I'll probably get this, although $50 seems like a lot for it. After having some time to digest the new books I'm curious to see how the significantly more dangerous encounter budgets using slightly more dangerous monsters play out with the slightly more powerful PCs. And I'm curious to see how my own updated version of this adventure stacks up to this one. That said, I already see one error on the Spear card, unless there has been some errata on the weapon masteries, so the QC on this might be less than ideal.
I think the jump from a 5.5E starter set to regular 5.5E is a lot shorter than going from BECMI to AD&D was as the classes are much better balanced and the rules more intuitive. You need to get an 18 on your roll plus bonuses to hit AC18 vs going through the THACO charts enough times to realize that those charts represent a "to hit" bonus, that the ACs are inverted, and that you need to get an 18 plus bonuses to hit AC2. If you pick a Wizard/Magic User you can still contribute outside of spending the whole game trying not to die until you can cast your one spell.
Most definitely and, despite what my post might mistakenly imply with the mention of B/X/ECMI, I don't want an OSR retroclone return to the early 80s in the starter but rather a more rules light experience still rooted in 5.x that players could then graduate from to the full game. I think I'd either have to go OGL/CCBY or make it myself to scratch that itch though judging from the preview.
Looks like there is another boxed set just recently announced that kind of doubles up with the starter set in terms of components and possibly target audience of new players. They're not calling it a starter/beginner box though. The art style looks like a cool nod to 80s starters and the timing works with the premiere of the final season of Stranger Things so at least they have better timing this time around.
~7510 build and painted
1312 build and painted
1200 
