- \n
- This edition is considerably more specific about what the hell is meant by \u201cpreserving the balance.\u201d It\u2019s an improvement for the game, but it ruins my Thanos joke.<\/li>\n
- Every time they refer to \u201cthe Old Faith,\u201d I picture Nicol Williamson.<\/li>\n
- I still don\u2019t get the \u201cdruids don\u2019t use metal\u201d thing. It\u2019s not like metal is some unnatural synthetic material from outer space. \u201cDruids don\u2019t use alloyed metals\u201d might make sense, like some kind of Leviticus polyester thing, but it seems like regular old metal that you dig up from the earth would be perfectly Druid-friendly.<\/li>\n
- Other than spellcasting, the attribute bonuses every class gets, and slow aging after 18th level, the druid\u2019s only special ability is shapeshifting. The other traditional druid powers that are still around are mostly in the \u201cCircle of the Land\u201d subclass thing (the other, \u201cCircle of the Moon\u201d is just super-shapeshifting).<\/li>\n
- \u201cThese druids [Circle of the Land] meet within sacred circles of trees or standing stones to whisper primal secrets in Druidic.\u201d This seems like a weird hobby. \u201cAny plans tonight, JIm?\u201d \u201cOh, you know, I\u2019ll probably just go down to the grove and whisper primal secrets in Druidic…\u201d<\/li>\n
- \u201cTheir order [Circle of the Moon] gathers under the full moon to share news and trade warnings.\u201d This seems much more productive than standing around whispering in a secret language.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Fighters<\/h1>\n
Fighters. The class you play when you don\u2019t want to deal with high-falutin\u2019 character concepts or tricky special ability rules. Just a guy with a sword who wants to kill some stuff. Good ol\u2019 Stabby McPunchyblade. What could go wrong?<\/p>\n
- \n
- In a break from tradition, every Fighter has to choose a preferred fighting style: Archery (ranged weapons), Defense (AC Bonus), Dueling (single weapon, no shield), Great Weapon Fighting (2-handed weapons), Protection (Meat Shield), and Two-Weapon Fighting (Drizzt).<\/li>\n
- Most of the Fighter\u2019s class abilities are basically cheat codes for various standard (mostly combat-related) rules: healing surge, extra actions, and saving throw re-rolls.<\/li>\n
- Fighters get three Martial Archetypes (subclasses) instead of the standard two: Champion (Bruiser), Battle Master (Tactician), and Eldritch Knight (Battle Mage)<\/li>\n
- High level Eldritch Knights can teleport short distances, so we can finally make Jason and Michael Myers as D&D characters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Monks<\/h1>\n
This version of D&D just accepts that monks are ninjas and Kung Fu masters. It makes everything less awkward.<\/p>\n
- \n
- D&D finally gets a spell point system, but it\u2019s for Kung Fu powers.<\/li>\n
- The Kung Fu-centric Monastic Tradition (subclass), \u201cWay of the Open Hand\u201d\u00a0 is the only one that still gets Quivering Palm.\u00a0 Quivering Palm will still fuck you up.<\/li>\n
- The ninja subclass, \u201cWay of the Shadow,\u201d might just be my favorite D&D ninja class yet. They have actual magic powers instead of just really good Thief skills.<\/li>\n
- The final subclass, \u201cWay of the Four Elements,\u201d basically has elemental super-powers, often in the form of standard spells.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Paladins<\/h1>\n
- \n
- They don\u2019t have to be Lawful Good. In fact, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen any alignment restrictions so far.<\/li>\n
- The Paladin subclasses are based on the character\u2019s Sacred Oath: Oath of Devotion (traditional vanilla paladin), Oath of the Ancients (kind of a Druid Paladin), and Oath of Vengeance (Batman).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Rangers<\/h1>\n
- \n
- \u201cHumanoids\u201d as a group no longer count as a favored enemy. You can either choose one of the standard groups (dragons, elementals, undead, etc.) or choose 2 specific races of humanoids. In previous editions it was kind of dumb to choose anything but humanoids, given that they make up a huge percentage of D&D encounters. Making those other enemies more viable is a good idea, since some of the weirder ones (like oozes or constructs) could lead to some very interesting rangers.<\/li>\n
- At 10th Level, Rangers gain the ability to Dutch.<\/li>\n
- Ranger subclasses are just called \u201cRanger Archetypes,\u201d which is kind of boring. The options are Hunter (Combat Monster) and Beast Master (Marc Singer).<\/li>\n
- One of the Hunter\u2019s special abilities is \u201cYou\u2019re totally like Crow from Hawk the Slayer, dude!\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Next Week: Rogues and Spellcasters, then we\u2019re out of the stat block section of the book. Hopefully it\u2019ll go faster from there on out.<\/p>\n
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