One DnD - Rules Glossary - Part II

 More on the New Conditions

Slowed – New

·       New condition.
·         Limited Movement requires an extra foot of movement for every foot you move. In other words – half movement.
·         Attacks against the creature have Advantage.
·         Dexterity saves and at Disadvantage.
·         Interesting that it does not incorporate the Slow spell (-2 penalty to AC, Dex saves and cannot use reactions).
·         Interested to see implementation

Tremorsense – Clarified but not buffed/nerfed.

·         Tremorsense was a creature can detect the origin of something in contact with the same ground or substance. This is the same except its changed from “ground” to “surface (such as the ground, wall or ceiling) and  “substance” to “liquid.”
·         Tremorsense used to not allow the detection of flying or incorporeal creatures. Now its changed to “creature or objects in the air.” Flying and incorporeal are removed.
·         Also it is changed that Tremorsense is not a form of sight.
·         Seems to clarify.

Unarmed Strike/Grappled Condition – Buff/Nerf/Too Early to Tell!

·         This is a big change.
·         Unarmed Strike was a  Proficient, bludgeoning hit equal to 1 plus Strength modifier.
·         The new rule is a Proficient, bludgeoning hit equal to 1 plus Strength modifier.
·         What is new is that on a hit the creature has a choice of Damage, Grapple, or Shove.
·         Grapple was an Attack without a To Hit roll where a Strength (Athletics) roll is contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics).
·         Now it is “automatic” Grappled if the target is hit as long as the target is not more than One Size larger and you have a free hand.
·         So, a Strength 3 Gnome can grapple a Strength 20 Orc by hitting it.
·         So lets turn to the Grapple rule.
·         It was that a target was speed 0, the condition ends if the grappler is incapacitated, and it is removed if something removes the grappled creature from the reach of the grappler/grappling effect.
·         Now speed is 0 (same).
·         A Grappled creature has Disadvantage on attack rolls against any target except the grappler (new). This actually encourages grappling – use that free hand to cause disadvantage on all attacks is not to be taken lightly.
·         A grappler may drag or carry a grappled creature. Same.
·         A grappler now is subject to the Slowed Condition. At first I thought this was a big nerf. However it says "while moving." So that condition only applies while the grappler is moving. It used to slow speed by half – now Dexterity saves are at Disadvantage and…

·         Escaping a grapple used to require an action to escape. This is much better as it is now a check at the end of the grappled person's turn and does not require an Action.
·         Back to the Unarmed Strike – so the Grapple escape is DC 8 + Strength bonus + Proficiency. It used to be a contested roll of Strength (Athletics) versus Str (Athletics) or Dex (Acrobatics). So Dexterity is now out on an escape and it’s a Strength bonus.
·         So my glib gnome remark above notwithstanding – it looks like that Gnome is not going to hang on for more than its turn when the Orc rolls (anything but a 1).
·         Shove used to be an attack that used be a contested roll of Strength (Athletics) versus Str (Athletics) or Dex (Acrobatics). The result was either knocking a target prone or shoving it 5 feet away. Now it requires  a To Hit roll and then a selection of knocking prone or shoving it 5 feet away.
·         Interestingly the rule no longer mentions that being Incapacitated is an automatic success.
·         This one needs some playtesting.

One Dnd - Rules Glossary Part I

 

Now we are talking. Time for some bigger changes.

Arcane Spells/Divine Spells/Primal Spells – This is a rework of spell lists to something simpler. Discussed below.

Artisan Tools/Tool Proficiency/Gaming Set/Musical Instrument – Tools all now cost 15 gp and characters gain Tool Proficiency. Tool Proficiency allows a character to add a Proficiency Bonus with the Tools and Advantage. The Advantage is a buff.

Creature Type – No material change.

d20 Test – NERF

 d20 Test means ability check, attack rolls, and saving throws. Rolling a 1 is an automatic fail/Rolling a 20 is an automatic success. Homebrew rule forever – so not material to me but likely big for some.

The real issue is the change to Critical Hits.

Critical Hits was “you get to roll extra dice for the attack’s damage” then “add any relevant modfiiers.” This meant “if the stack involves other damage dice…you roll those dice twice as well.” Let’s ignore most folks also doubled the attack modifier (and should not have done so).

Now Critical Hits is “you roll the damage dice of the Weapon or Unarmed strike as second time.”

So this means Rogue do not get to double Sneak Attack damage, Paladins do not get Divine Smite damage, etc. It also means that spells do not critically hit. This is a tremendous change.

I expect a lot of homebrews will allow spells to critically hit. However, for now as written Critical Hits are much less potent.

One other note. If you have a Vorpal Sword with the +3 bonus to damage (lucky you). It does not turn it into a +6. It is only a +3.

Incapacitated – No Material Change.

Previously incapacitated meant that a creature cannot take actions or reactions. That is straightforward

Now Incapacitated adds that Concentration is broken, a character cannot speak and when an Incapacitated character rolls initiative the character has Disadvantage.

Honestly, I would make the Incapacitated character Initiative zero. However, none of this is game changing.

Inspiration – Buff.

Previously this was a reward by a DM to give advantage to an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. This is now renamed a d20 Test.

Also, you could only have one inspiration at a time. This is the same.

What is new is that if a game mechanic gives inspiration (rolling a 20, singing a song, or being human after good night’s sleep apparently) a character can give that inspiration to anyone who lacks it.

A slight nerf is that Inspiration resets when a character takes a long rest.

So, the reward of inspiration is being codified and gives the DMs less discretion. I do not think this is a per se bad thing. It just means that there will be a lot of rolls with advantage where there were no fewer rolls before.

Long Rest – Mild buff.

Previously this was a period of extended downtime 8 hours long with 2 hours maximum of light activity. Now it is the same.

Previously a character regained all its lost HP. This is the same.

Previously a character regains all spent Hit Dice up to a number of dice equal to half of the characters total number (minimum one). Again, same.

Previously a character cannot benefit from more than one long rest in a 24 hour period and must have at least 1 hit point at the start to gain the benefit. Same.

The new rule is on interrupting the rest, right? The old rule said if there is at least 1 hour of walking, fighting, casting spells, or adventuring activity – the character must rest again to gain the benefit. Now if it is interrupted, a character gains the benefit of a Short Rest.

The Short Rest benefit notwithstanding, this seems to be the same rule.

One DnD - Backgrounds and Feats

Backgrounds – Variety is the Spice.

Everyone gets the same:

·         +2/+1 to ability scores.

·         Add two proficient skills.

·         Add a tool proficiency.

·         Select one Standard and one Rare language.

·         Select a Feat.

·         Have fun with 50 gp.

The big move here is the Feat. Personally, I love the flexibility and the inventiveness the backgrounds bring to the table.

However, think on this – a Human could have four proficient skills, add two more from the background (for six out of 18 – so a third of the skills the human is proficient), and get a feat.

Feats.

Love them. Hate them. Totally unbalance them. Feats are going to be strongly back. Homebrew Feats and third party feats are going to make this crazy. For now, lets look at the “new” feats.

Alert – Ruling: Nerfed

·         Alert was +5 to Initiative. Now it is Proficiency Bonus. Must wait until level 13 to get the old bonus. Nerf.

·         Removed cannot be surprised or advantage for hidden attackers. NERF.

·         May swap Initiative with a willing ally. Ok.

Crafter – Ruling: New

·         Gain Tool Proficiency with three different Artisan Tools.

·         Automatic 20% discount on nonmagical items. Goblin from Warcraft what?

·         Faster Crafting – reduce crafting time by 20 percent. Ok.

Healer – Ruling: Buffed.

·         Battle Medic allows an Action within 5 feet for a creature to use its own Hit Dice plus your Proficiency Bonus. Was 1d6+4 plus the number of the creatures Hit Dice. So Paladin level 3 from a level 3 compatriot with this Feat would get 1d10+3+2 (10). Previously the paladin received 1d6+4+3 (10). At level 10 the paladin from a level 10 compatriot would receive 1d10+10+4 (19) instead of 1d6+4+4 (10), so a buff at higher levels.

·         Healing Rerolls – allows a reroll of any 1 when casting a spell that adds hit points or the Battle Medic benefit.

·         Removes the addition of 1 hp when stabilizing. However, the Battle Medic would override.

Lucky – Ruling: Buffed.

·         Luck Points increased from 3 to Proficiency Bonus. Buff.

·         Advantage – limited to on a d20 Test. Same.

·         Disadvantage – May impose a disadvantage on an attack against you. Previously would allow you to roll the die. Also removes the notation on the usage of more than one luck point (fun at halfling get togethers).

Magic Initiate – Ruling: No material change.

·         Two cantrips. Same

·         Add one first level spell. Reworked language for a similar effect.

Musician – New and Strong

·         Gain Tool Proficiency with three Musical Instruments.

·         After a Short or Long Rest may play a song to give Inspiration to a number of allies up to Proficiency Bonus. (Raining Blood anyone?).

Savage Attacker – Ruling: No material change.

·         Reworked language for the same effect.

Skilled – Ruling: Mild nerf.

·         Changed to limit to Skills in which a character lacks Proficiency.

Tavern Brawler – Ruling: Buffed.

·         Does not increase Strength or Constitution.

·         Enhanced Unarmed Strike modified to the new version of Unarmed Strike. Still grants a 1d4 for damage.

·         Damage Rerolls – new and allows a re-roll of 1. Buff.

·         Shove – allows a Shove on top of damage. Buff.

·         Furniture as Weapons – Jackie Chan is proud. Specifies Club and Greatclub instead of an improvised weapon.

Tough – Ruling: No material change.

·         Reworked language for the same effect.