D&D 5: Players Handbook, First Impressions

This is a well put-together book. I am not reviewing the rules here, and those will rise and fall on their own, but I just wanted to capture some of my feelings on opening it and skimming through the book for the first 10 minutes.

I like the consolidated lists of deities in the back of the book, including the pantheons of all the major D&D worlds (Eberron, Dragonlance, Faerun, Krynn, etc), plus the DDG deities of Earth from Norse, Greek, Celtic, and Egyptian pantheons. It feels like an answer to the single world-centric flavors of D&D3 and D&D4, and it is a very good thing to not paint the PHB into the corner of one world with a default set of deities to choose from. Wizards deserves major kudos for taking this step.

Bonus points for mentioning Mystara in the book. Minus points for not mentioning Nerrath and the Points of Light 4E setting, or at least I have not found it yet. Has Nerrath been destroyed? What happened to the Great Wheel? Wow, they sort of mixed 4E's fractured and decentralized cosmology with the traditional AD&D wheel. It feels very strange.

It is also interesting Wizards has circled the wagons and even included Birthright in its official settings list. They seem to be saying, 'if you want to play in our worlds with our IP, you play by our rules.' It's probably long-overdue, and it is good to see the older settings mentioned and celebrated again. It is a long way from the freewheeling 'you make it up' settings of 4E, here, the Wizard's IPs are taking center stage, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

There's no mentions of timelines? Wow, you mean the 4E changes can be rolled back, and you can play in classic Faerun again? Here's a big thank you from me, and it is about freaking time. Please, continue the 'play in the classic setting' feeling here. I have always felt the settings of D&D should be rolled back and rebooted, like they do from time to time with Batman, and allow a new generation to experience the classic Realms and other settings without all the heavy historical spellplague, shatterings, and other BS that was layered on by new versions of the game. Timelines suck for new players, I'd rather my new players have the experience of dealing with that bastard Elminster themselves, and have the entire set of classic Faerun NPCs to play with every time I start a new campaign there.

Wizards, please, from now on, treat your settings like comic book franchises and reboot them from time to time, or at least support players who want to start fresh with the stock setting. Support "day one" play in all your settings! But as for rolling things back in every setting and supporting the concept of day one play?

Thank you thank you thank you.

Where are the magic items? I still haven't found them.

That monster list in the back seems really weak, I would have thought twice about spending pages on it. I know some of those are for spells or class features, but it does seem like something that I would have liked to have in a web-extra. I guess they need to be included, but as a world's monster list they are not, unless this is a really, really basic world where the big bads are first level skeletons and zombies, and maybe some wild animals. And of course, other NPCs with classes.

I may play it this way until the Monster Manual comes out and drive players crazy.

The combat chapter is short, minuscule in fact. I remember the days where this took up most of the book in many roleplaying games. To flip through a D&D book and not have an illustration of a combat map showing line-of-sight examples feels strange.

I get a feeling this game is closer in spirit and feel to Labyrinth Lord or Basic Fantasy than it is Pathfinder. Pathfinder clearly feels like the AD&D of our age with its complexity and rules for everything, and D&D 5 feels like the old "red box" Basic D&D. It's interesting things feel like they went this way, and I think there's room for both to be played and celebrated.

The game feels like it is narrowed down and has a tight focus on just the highlights of D&D. It is not very deep, but it is very broad. I get this feeling this edition is the 'rules light' sort of 'board game rules' of D&D, like a universal Monopoly rules set to be followed by every version of Monopoly.

Now the rules, we shall see about the rules. My group had a terrible experience with them with the Starter Set, and I found that product difficult to use. With the Players Handbook, I am not seeing where the criticism of some reviews is coming from saying this book is disorganized. It looks more organized than the Starter Set by far. We shall see during play, of course.

What, no PDF to buy for the Players Handbook on launch day? Are you serious or have I not found it yet? My tablet with my complete library of Pathfinder books curses you, my friend. How am I supposed to play this outside my house, by carrying my actual books to the hobby store? You, my good friend, must be out of your mind. Books are for collecting, and PDFs are for playing. I can't wipe the Cheetos stains from my book, but I can disinfect my old 'pass around' tablet from my grubby player's filthy hands. I don't care if you have to get Paizo to do the PDF download for you, just get it done Wizards.

You think it was 1980 or something where we actually had to use real books. Please.

Overall, I am more positive about my first impressions with this book than I expected. I am also strangely reassured that Pathfinder will also be secure at my table, because the two games are so different. Step back and take a look beyond the two games, and the false competition some people are trying to foist on us to create silly arguments. Pathfinder and D&D 5 are really two very different games, a Risk to a Monopoly in fact, and both can be enjoyed by the same group at the same table. They both fill different play styles, and they both have their own 'tabletop game' appeal to me.

Pathfinder is without competition in the character building and 'what was that' monster encounter sheer terror and you cannot expect what is in the next room sort of game play. For players that enjoy tactical challenge and taking down an encounter by the numbers, Pathfinder's refinement and sheer weight of options can not be beat. There is also a great world story and incredible art that you are missing out on if you are not a fan, not to mention the inspiration of adventure paths and the story of that world is just captivating.

D&D 5 feels like a 'greatest hits' album of a band you love, but overall feels simplified and a 'basic rules' sort of version of the game you would find in a box set somewhere. It is a tight rules set, pared down after years of exploits and problems with the rules, so you aren't going to get the 'Wild West' feel of the older games, and some may miss that, like the old World of Darkness versus the new. We have Pathfinder for that Wild West zany do-anything feel, so we are covered. With D&D 5, it feels like the older retro-clone systems came back and changed the narrative of what D&D should be, and there is a place for that game at my table.

Both can exist and be enjoyed? Heresy, I know. Well, count me in the heretics column then, I appreciate them both.

As for actual enjoyment and the rules? Again, it is too early to tell for me. These are just my first impressions from my first 10 minutes of the book, so take them how you will. We will not have a complete view of the game until the end of November, when the last piece to the puzzle is released, the Dungeon Master's Guide. We still have a long road to go, games to play, and characters to design, and adventures to be had. I am still skeptical of the tight focus of the system, my experience with games with tight math is that they are more prone to power-gaming and exploits than in systems where the rules are looser. We shall see, and we won't know more about balance until the complete Monster Manual comes out here in a couple weeks.

Overall? Slightly weak on content, very simplified, but a good feeling of support of the classics. I'm more positive than I expected to be, but I still have concerns on balance, options, and the fun factor for my groups. I'm happy this is a different game than Pathfinder though, and the two don't need to compete at my tabletop.