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oldschoolfrp:

Clash of the Gods

(Erol Otus, from AD&D Deities & Demigods, TSR, 1980.)

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guilestheme:

If you’re playtesting D&D Next, and would appreciate an enhanced look at the map for the Caves of Chaos, check out this version~!  This isn’t my map, I just stumbled across it on google images.  :<

noisynight:

A naff comic by yours truly! It’s a joke about terrible loot from awful dungeons. Awww yeah.

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hallopino:

This was a lot cooler in my head then it came out.

I liked the idea of having a group of people playing the game, and then seeing the same people in the same actions dressed as their characters. It’s something I should have gone a lot further with. Also I think I would have like to completely switch out a person with someone else, as their character looks nothing like them.

I, for one, like this.

onlydashes asked: It sounds like you enjoyed D&D next, but was there anything that you didn't enjoy about it? Any part of the system that quite didn't live up to your expectations?

Okay, current list of peeves:

• Armor is a bit messed up. There is almost no reason to wear a cheaper medium armor due to the way heavy armor works. You never get your Dexterity bonus to armor class with heavy armor and the armor class bonuses granted by heavy armor aren’t that much higher than with medium armor.
• Related to the above, at the moment there seems to be very little reason for a melee combatant to focus on Strength over Dexterity: Dexterity is a Godstat that can do triple duty as your melee to-hit, damage and AC stat if you use a finesse weapon and wear medium armor. This needs to be fixed by making heavy armor a more viable option.
• The Fighter. I know they’re only showing us the most bare-bones “simple” Fighter build, but the Fighter as presented simply does not match up to the other classes at face value. I mean, the Fighter only gets one class feature at 1st level, which is “You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls,” whereas the other classes seem to get a bunch of class features.

kingofcluck asked: Could you explain hit dice? Oh, pretty please!! :D

Sure. First of all, starting hit points seem to be based on your Constitution score (as in 4e) + your class’s hit dice per level (as in previous editions). So, for an example, a level 1 dwarf fighter with a 16 constitution would have 16+1d12 hit points (yes, fighters now have d12 as their hit die).

EDIT: Reread some of the rules. Yes, according to the rules as written, you roll your hit points whenever you level, but if you roll lower than your Constitution modifier, you use your Constitution modifier instead.

Other than that, your character’s hit dice work exactly like healing surges: whenever you take a short rest you are allowed to spend one or more of your hit dice to heal some of your damage. So, in that way your hit dice do double duty as determining your maximum hit points but also pacing how much you can heal through natural means during a short rest.

As with healing surges, hit dice are recovered with a long rest.

insertstupidblogname asked: Did you enjoy it? Did it feel reminiscent of an earlier edition or like something totally new?

I enjoyed reading it immensely. I think it personally strikes a balance between the two: there are some obvious nods towards previous editions (and the basic system is just a streamlined version of 3e’s and 4e’s d20+modifiers vs. target number), but it mixes and matches the best from many different editions. At the same time, there are a couple of novel ideas there, like the way Backgrounds and Themes seem to interact with the characters.

The feel of it is very reminiscent of Rules Cyclopedia powered by the d20 system.

D&D Next Playtest Materials

Okay, I have them and am willing to share my thoughts on them, as long as it falls under my agreement, so I won’t be able to copy any parts of the rules in full. If you have a question burning in your mind about it, drop me a PM.

D&D Next Playtest Package

Got my package working. It looks really good. There’s a lot of stuff to like in here.

Also, an idea arises: put the Slayer theme on top of a Wizard. Use attack spells. Deal damage with your attack spells all day every day!

As pointed out by a poster on RPG.net, “Slayer Wizard” sounds fucking metal.

Torn

It’s kinda hard to feel enthused about the D&D Next playtest beginning since only yesterday I received my Labyrinth Lord Referee Screen and have a Labyrinth Lord game to run on Sunday.

I mean, I want to be excited about an entirely new game, but at the same time I have this totally awesome game that’s begging me to run it and I totally have the snazziest referee screen ever made for anything.

Also, trying to start a trend by tagging all D&D Next related stuff as #dndnext.