NecrosaroIII
Ultimate DQ Fan
My background with DND, so you can see my biases:
I first started playing when 3.0 came out. Skipped 3.5 because it seemed like an incremental change and because I was a poor kid that didn't want to buy new books. The new rules seemed clean though. Didn't play again until 5.0 came out and I bought the starter box. I have the most experience with 5. Had some minor gripes with it, but was mostly happy until Tasha's Cauldron came out and they started fucking with what made DND great.
Anyway, I approached this new edition apprehensively but still was eager to pick up the new PH. I'm still going through it to find out what is different, but have reviewed the whole book already. I'm still processing the changes. Fundementally the game isn't that different from 5e, though there are changes to things such as Heroic Inspiration. Most of the changes are to how classes, backgrounds and species work.
Pros:
Starting with what I like about the book, the organization is phenominal if I'm being honest. The entire mechanics rules are front loaded into the first 30 or so pages, so you don't have to go throughout the entire rule book looking for how to ritually cast a spell and what a stealth check. Even better, there are tons of intext examples of what DND play actually flows like through examples, with notation markers describing in detail what is happening. It feels like one of the most organic ways to teach people who to play DND.
After that is an indepth look at the character creation process, and it is VERY detailed. I love it. They've changed the way character creation goes now: Before it was Race > Class > Background. Now its Class > Background > Species (the new term for race). They even given different uses of the Standard Array for each class, which is kinda cool.
Overall, this book is an editing and layout masterpiece. The layouts are the cleanest they've ever ever been. I especially love the changes to the equipment section. It goes SUPER indepth. Another cool feature is that each Class gets its own Full Page Artwork at the beginning of the section, really highlighting and making the class look cool (in most cases). Class spell lists are inside the section for each class now, by the way!!
There is a rules glossary at the end of the book as well, which seems super helpful.
Cons:
The artwork used in the book is a mixed bag. Some of it is nice, but a lot of it doesn't really "feel" DND to me. In previous editions, you could clearly tell which each character was supposed to be (where its an elf ranger or a orc barbarian). A lot of it feels just loud and generic fantasy art, which is a shame. There are some pieces that are kinda ugly too.
There is a lack of flavor through the book. The most notable section is the Species section. Previous editions would go into detail on each race's descriptions, outlooks and cultures. Now you get basically a halfpage for each race, giving only the barest of bone picture of each race...er species. Species traits are still a thing, but only just barely. Subraces are flavor only for the most part. They don't even have a section for deities / pantheons. You'd think that would be important for clerics and paladins.
It's just kind of a same, because flavor is what makes DND DND. Without it, you just have math. Hopefully the DMG will have more world flavor stuff, but I somehow doubt it. We'll see.
Also - weirdly enough, the book doesn't have a copy of a character sheet you can scan and use. Not the biggest loss, since you can just download a free PDF, but still sad to see. From the diagramed up example they have in the book the new official sheet is quite thoughtfully organized and executed.
Also they got rid of Appendix E - Inspirational Reading, which is something I've always enjoyed. In the DND adventures I've published, I've put it there myself.
I first started playing when 3.0 came out. Skipped 3.5 because it seemed like an incremental change and because I was a poor kid that didn't want to buy new books. The new rules seemed clean though. Didn't play again until 5.0 came out and I bought the starter box. I have the most experience with 5. Had some minor gripes with it, but was mostly happy until Tasha's Cauldron came out and they started fucking with what made DND great.
Anyway, I approached this new edition apprehensively but still was eager to pick up the new PH. I'm still going through it to find out what is different, but have reviewed the whole book already. I'm still processing the changes. Fundementally the game isn't that different from 5e, though there are changes to things such as Heroic Inspiration. Most of the changes are to how classes, backgrounds and species work.
Pros:
Starting with what I like about the book, the organization is phenominal if I'm being honest. The entire mechanics rules are front loaded into the first 30 or so pages, so you don't have to go throughout the entire rule book looking for how to ritually cast a spell and what a stealth check. Even better, there are tons of intext examples of what DND play actually flows like through examples, with notation markers describing in detail what is happening. It feels like one of the most organic ways to teach people who to play DND.
After that is an indepth look at the character creation process, and it is VERY detailed. I love it. They've changed the way character creation goes now: Before it was Race > Class > Background. Now its Class > Background > Species (the new term for race). They even given different uses of the Standard Array for each class, which is kinda cool.
Overall, this book is an editing and layout masterpiece. The layouts are the cleanest they've ever ever been. I especially love the changes to the equipment section. It goes SUPER indepth. Another cool feature is that each Class gets its own Full Page Artwork at the beginning of the section, really highlighting and making the class look cool (in most cases). Class spell lists are inside the section for each class now, by the way!!
There is a rules glossary at the end of the book as well, which seems super helpful.
Cons:
The artwork used in the book is a mixed bag. Some of it is nice, but a lot of it doesn't really "feel" DND to me. In previous editions, you could clearly tell which each character was supposed to be (where its an elf ranger or a orc barbarian). A lot of it feels just loud and generic fantasy art, which is a shame. There are some pieces that are kinda ugly too.
There is a lack of flavor through the book. The most notable section is the Species section. Previous editions would go into detail on each race's descriptions, outlooks and cultures. Now you get basically a halfpage for each race, giving only the barest of bone picture of each race...er species. Species traits are still a thing, but only just barely. Subraces are flavor only for the most part. They don't even have a section for deities / pantheons. You'd think that would be important for clerics and paladins.
It's just kind of a same, because flavor is what makes DND DND. Without it, you just have math. Hopefully the DMG will have more world flavor stuff, but I somehow doubt it. We'll see.
Also - weirdly enough, the book doesn't have a copy of a character sheet you can scan and use. Not the biggest loss, since you can just download a free PDF, but still sad to see. From the diagramed up example they have in the book the new official sheet is quite thoughtfully organized and executed.
Also they got rid of Appendix E - Inspirational Reading, which is something I've always enjoyed. In the DND adventures I've published, I've put it there myself.
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