D&D3D Playtest Notes

Well, I got to see some of the Third Edition last week at an event for retailers. There was a slide show presentation, a demo of the game, a question-and-answer period and, of course, a goody bag.

Some notes:

• Player's Handbook: I got to flip through a copy of the Player's Handbook. It's attractively put together, and the binding seems strong. The information, as well as I could tell in my brief examination, appears to be well-organized. Alas, I did not have a chance to check the index.
• Artwork: Between the slideshow and the PH, I got to see a lot of new artwork. I was most impressed by the bullette and the illithid, but I didn't see any of it that I didn't like.
• Miniatures: The display models that they had were professionally painted and looked quite good. The sample that came in the goody bag left me unimpressed. Then again, I don't care all that much for miniatures anyway. I use pieces of colored plastic and am happy enough with them. Actually, I've considered getting fancier layouts to more properly show people their surroundings, but will probably still use them with those plastic game pieces.
• The Demo itself: I think that the new edition of D&D has a lot going for it. We had only three in our group, to take on a scenario designed for a group twice our size. We were powered up for it slightly (the GM doubled our hit points) and faced it as we were. I came away with the following impressions:



• Initiative: This new initiative system they go on and on about works. I never thought they'd get me to go along with this one-roll system, but it flowed smoothly through the combat. It helped that there are two specific maneuvers that can change your place in the initiative cycle: refocus and delay. Delay can take your higher initiative total and let you choose at what later point in the cycle you act. Refocus allows you to skip one turn (in 6 second rounds) and go first as of next turn (if multiple people refocus at the same time, who goes first between them is based on their initial rolls). I do not yet know how this will handle coordinated attacks. Still, I find it a workable system, and since it cuts out the time spent rolling initiative every round it's bound to speed up the process.
• (Difficulty Class) DC: The concept is simple enough, roll higher than the DC on one modified d20 roll and you succeed. Don't and you fail. Again, I think that it works. It provides one neat mechanic for handling combat, attribute rolls, skill rolls, saving throws and so forth. It's easy to track and easy to remember. It's the same linear scale as previous D&D systems, but I find that this retooling of it flows more smoothly.
• Skills: In Dungeon Mastering my last campaign, I had grown quite discontent with NWPs. I had always found them more than a little clunky, but with their explosive proliferation in the last few years, I hadn't really appreciated how bad it had gotten. There were no clear lines about what needed a NWP and what simply came with the class or kit. There was no clarity about how good they should be when pitted against class abilities (such as the Concealment NWP vs. Hide in Shadows). I had to use a pretty big hammer to get it working the way I wanted. The skills system is far more elegant. Hide in Shadows is now a skill to be pitted directly against other skills (such as Spot). You can develop your skills in a natural progression, as opposed to the awkward NWP progression.
• Feats: Okay, so far we've been talking about elements of the game that have been retooled from previous editions. Now we are onto something news, and it is cool! Feats include all the cool ways that characters distinguish themselves. Some feats are obvious, such as blindfighting, fighting with two weapons and training with an exotic weapon. Some feats are less-obvious, such as Spell Penetration (I think I have that title right), which makes your spells harder to resist (see below). In the demo I was playing a bard who had a feat that let me inspire courage in my allies by singing during battle (giving them a +1 to-hit). This allowed me to make a difference in the battle even though I had the worst night I've ever had with a d20.
• Spells: I didn't actually cast any, so I don't know how the mechanics of that have changed.
• Saving Throws: The saving throw system has been completely revamped, along the DC lines. There are now three types of saving throw: reflex, fortitude and will. Bonuses come from high attributes (high Dex, Str and Wis respectively, as I recall), racial adjustments (such as dwarves against poison and elves against charm) and, of course, class and level. This completely drops the "spell" category, under the basis that saves vs. spells still fall into one of the three categories. I'm curious as to which they feel is appropriate for resisting a polymorph spell. That answer alone says a lot about how they see the nature of the spell. But I digress. Another interesting thing about saves vs. spells is that the caster imposes a penalty on the save based on her level (and if she has a feat like Spell Penetration above, her level is considered two higher for purposes of resisting her magic).
• Criticals: Each weapon now has its own rating for crits. First, it has its "critical threat chance." This is the number which, when rolled naturally on 1d20, turns a regular hit (and it must be a hit) into the threat of a critical hit. For example, on most weapons, this is a 20, but some, such as a light crossbow and some swords, have a 19 and 20. If this number is rolled, a hit is scored and a second roll is made against the same DC (with the same modifiers). If the second roll is successful, the first is a crit, if not then the first is a normal hit. If a crit is rolled, you roll your damage as normal, add any modifiers, then multiply the whole total by the weapon's crit rating (usually x2, sometimes x3).
  
  This system clearly favors better fighters, because they have a better shot at making that second roll. After all, if a fighter only hits on a 20, he may have a 1 in 20 chance of hitting, but only a 1 in 400 chance of a critical hit (assuming a critical threat of 20). If the warrior would hit on an 11 or better, it becomes a 1 in 40 chance of a critical hit on any given attempt.
• Fumbles: There are no fumbles, period. In fact, rolling a 1 is no longer an automatic failure. If, say, a fighter attacks an unarmored man (DC 10) and gets a total of +10 to-hit, he cannot miss. He rolls only for the chance at a critical hit. I don't know yet how I feel about this one. On the one hand, I can understand how a sufficient level of skill could make some actions automatic (read no chance of failure) whereas an individual of lesser skill might struggle in the attempt. On the other hand, though, the implementation means that even direct opposition (which, although the mechanics do not directly reflect this, is what combat is) is not always enough to provide the chance of failure. If Artemis Entreri throws a dagger across a bar at an insulting but unskilled patron, should there be at least a chance that he might miss? In my mind, the jury is out on that. I'll simply have to test it in practice to see how I feel about it.

Shoot. That reminds me. I forgot to ask if a natural 20 was always a hit. Ah, well.

In conclusion, I think they've revamped the system well. What I have seen of 3rd Edition leaves me wanting to play it, which, in my mind at least, is the ultimate test of the system.

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