Hallo
I have never played PnP games, but I have played computer games based on DnD 2 (IE games), DnD3 (NWN1+2), Pathfinder Kingmaker and DSA (Realms of Arcadia, Drakensang). I did some reading about the basics of DnD5, but there are some things still unclear.
- Are alingnment restrictions gone?
None of the class descriptions talk about alignment. The text shows also no negative consequences for your actions, except when they talk about paladins breaking their oath. So can we have lawful barbariens, chaotic monks, evil clerics of a good god or evil paladins?
I really like the paladin concept from Pillars of Eternity. They are faithful warriors of any god or ideology. In DnD terms you could be a paladin of any god, as long as the god is willing to give a warrior some divine powers to fight for him/her. So a chaotic evil god gave an evil paladin unholy powers when the paladin made an oath to ruin good or lawful kingdoms and to kill and torture people who try to achieve good or lawful things.
- Does your hit chance improve as you level up?
In DnD2 your thaco improved, in DnD3 it was BAB. In DnD 5 I saw no hit chance increase except your profiency bonus improves over time and you gain stat points.
So a wizard and a fighter have the same hit chance if they have the same strengh and the same melee weapon they are profient with.
- Animal companions are gone forever?
- Is there any reason to take a fighter instead of a paladin?
Fighters get 4 attacks at level 20. Paladins get spells and lots of bonusses and resistences for themselves and the party, plus turn undead and empowering their attacks with divine power.
In DnD3 fighters got more feats than other classes and they had greater weapon specialisation and focus.
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I do not know how many party members you can have but if it is at least 4 I will stay with the usual stuff.
Unless they are complete junk I will use only origin characters in my party for story reasons.
- Half elf paladin with melee weapon+shield as tank (maybe the githyanki fighter if there is no paladin origin char)
- Cleric with weapon+shield for buffs, healing and as second tank. Dwarf or elf so I can use some martial weapons. Was the cleric companion an elf?
- A rogue or bard as skill monkey. Somebody needs to do all those locks and traps. The vampire rogue was nice.
- A wizard or sorcerer. If nothing has changed they are gods at higher levels who destroy everything by just looking at it. The human wizard companion seemed excentric enough.
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personal opinion:
I am happy that Larians new game uses the DnD rules because:
- I dislike the inflating numbers in D:OS2. At the beginning you do some points of damage later hundrets and then thousands. DnD should help to keep the numbers low.
- I dislike random equipment with random bonusses. I also dislike that equipment has a level and that stuff from 1 level higher was always better than the old stuff. I also dislike that shops get new stuff all the time. This forces you to run back to town every time you level up.
BG1 was the opposite of this. It felt great and importent when you found your first magic weapon or when you could finally afford your first plate armor. BG2 was nice but ToB was too epic for my taste. If you find an epic item around every corner, it does not feel importent anymore.
I hope it takes some time until you have a magic item in every equipment slot.
- The character developement of D:OS2 was very simple: Just maximize your main stat and maximize the skills of your preferred fighting style.
- I think it will be hard to prevent players from resting after every combat. I do not think the main quest and most sidequests will have a time limit. In most modern games you recover fully after combat (D:OS2, PoE2). I think Pathfinder Kingmaker had the best approach. You need space and supplies to make a camp and supplies are heavy.
Alignment in the 5th D&D edition is about reminding yourself the basic moral compass of your character and how he is expected to act in daily life. WotC wanted alignment to be less of a restrictive rule and more of a role-playing guideline. Which is why you can have a Lawful Neutral barbarian if you like - which in 5th Edition would translate to a barbarian who is say, quick to believe and follow the chieftain of the tribe and not be in any hurry to save or condemn other tribe members when left in his own devices.
Where alignment plays a crystal clear purpose in gameplay is in spells like detect evil (which will locate creatures like fiends and evil dragons).
Rangers have animal companions and wizards have familiars.
In 5th edition, all classes automatically become prestige classes after a while. Fighters must choose Martial Archetype which either makes them a spellcasting fighter, a fighter who performs dozens of combat maneuvers or a fighter who gets numerous buffs on his standard abilities. So, whichever class you take, you eventually get abilities no other class has (even your own once you take a different class 'path').
As for the usual 4-party member thing with D&D, I'm not an experienced DM myself, so I cannot really see how a party can survive without having at least one tank, one healer, one spellcaster and one heavy-damage dealer. For example, I think a Paladin can take the fighter's place, but is a poor substitute for a cleric with the life domain chosen as his prime focus.
While in the beginning a party with only melee-focused characters may seem more than enough, as the game gets harder, spellcasters become more and more necessary.
