The optional part seems to have become mandatory. The bottom line is the current iteration does not feel very good to play. Combat is tedious and boring. The dialogue is a chore to slog through. Too many things pull me away from the game and all the companions are a joke. They are all assholes. There is very little attachment to your character as you are just slung into a massive fight which makes no sense because you are not continuing a person you know about, this is a totally new PC. Meaning they should have done some time before being captured to give some attachment. Combat is more about all the junk added than the class skills. It all just feels bad.
We do not have all the companions yet. There will most likely be some nicer ones but if you take the time to understand the ones we have, then you will know why they act as they do. I would say there is more attachment to your character this way, it allows you to create almost any backstory you want rather than being forced into one. There are too many ways to make environmental effects, hopefully this can be toned down a bit, like less barrels and more realistic movement of them (can only be carried in the arms not in the backpack, and npcs will not ignore the rearranging of their furniture.)
Originally Posted by bringemichum
i am totally new to DND. And if fire bolt can't create a flammable surface, but merely deal with 1d6 damage, while ray of frost can deal with 1d8, which means fire bolt became a useless cantrip.
There will be resistances and vulnerabilities to certain types of damage. Fire bolt will do more damage than ray of frost on enemies vulnerable to fire. My issues with the cantrips is that they should be able to target an enemy or an item (like a flammable object or a blood pool) that creates the ground effect, not both. Perhaps have a small chance at hitting the item if it misses the enemy only if they are standing close enough (like in a pool of blood.)
Originally Posted by Traycor
Yeah, dipping a mundane sword into candle light to turn it into a flaming weapon is pretty silly. Especially so when you consider that the plot of the first game revolves around weapons breaking from being poorly made/poor materials.
If the sword is coated in oil, THEN lit on fire, that would work. But it should give the weapon afterward a permanent, cumulative -1 penalty each time it's done, and give the weapon a chance to break when it's used. That would feel very Baldur's Gate.
I would like this idea but doubt most others would. The candle thing is stupid anyway. Having that light near you should at least give the enemy a bonus on their attacks.
