Let me start off by saying that the game is very good and very promising. The graphics are amazing, storytelling and choices are good, companions are interesting and well fleshed out. Good stuff, all in all! I will be posting things I feel could use improvement here, but that does not mean I don’t like the game, quite the contrary.

Companions

Squishiness
On the whole, I feel the companions you get are rather squishy.
  • Shadowheart has low DEX and moderate CON and no access to heavy armor. Her stats are not chosen optimally (the half-elf +1 bonuses are not on stats >= 14)
  • Wyll is a light armor wearer and his DEX is not too great. His stats are also not chosen optimally (he could lose 1 CON for +1 in both DEX and either STR or WIS)
  • Gale has good stats, but as a wizard is stuck at AC15 with low HP
  • Astarion can actually become quite tanky with lvl ups if he is given +3 DEX and +1 CON, but still starts out quite squishy.

For Wyll and Shadowheart, you could fix them yourself by spending an attribute increase on DEX+CON, but it feels really bad not being able to increase their primary attribute
It almost makes Lae’zel feel like a mandatory inclusion. Either that or play a tanky character yourself.
I think the best solution would be to give Shadowheart +1 DEX and CON (at the cost of STR/CHA). This makes it so there is now 1 tanky companion, 2 semi tanky ones, and 2 squishies.

Customizing your party
The choice has been made to go for fewer companions but have them more fleshed out. I think this is the right call. I don’t think it should be possible to change their class (or even multi-class?) with them since their class is a major part of their backstory for many of them.

However, if you manage to anger too many of them, you can suddenly be left without a choice of who is in your party or worst case, have an incomplete party. I believe the cleanest solution to this problem is to allow the player to recruit mercenaries - Mute followers created in the same way as the player character.


Balance

Ray of Frost
Ray of frost seems overpowered. It’s a cantrip that casts a grease spell with the upside of doing some added damage.

Wizards
Other than that, Wizards feel underpowered. They pay a hefty price in the form of low HP and AC, and there does not seem to be a payoff for that. The price is doubly high since NPCs have a tendency to focus fire the weakest character.

Compared to PnP, they have lost access to rituals, which is one of their strengths and some of their strongest spells are either absent (e.g. shield) or tuned down (sleep has reduced duration, fog cloud is less effective at blocking line of sight due to elevation).

Rogues
I would not necessarily say rogues are underpowered per se, but it does feel like they are missing out. Compared to PnP, they lose out on expertise (this should definitely be added) and they already have access to 2/3 of Cunning Action. It remains to be seen how Uncanny Dodge is implemented, so maybe this is an opportunity to add some oomph to the class.

Clerics
On the other hand, Clerics feel very strong. Granted, they are just implemented according to 5e rules. That said, being a full spellcaster with medium armor and shield is very potent given how combat intensive the game is.

Humans
Standard humans are universally accepted to be one of the weakest races, while variant humans are considered one of the strongest. One suggestion I have seen and use in my D&D games is to give standard humans a bonus skill.


Combat

Variety
Combat in D&D 5e is very simple, so something needs to be done to make it more interesting. It seems this has been done by adding a good deal of verticality and some ground effects. I think the verticality is good. However, It would be cool to diversify combat a bit besides the vertical combats. There could be an encounter with lots of difficult terrain, smoke, hazardous terrain, … It would be cool to have some more unique “arenas” and/or combats with unique challenges.

Ground effects
The ground effects are very common. It feels a bit immersion breaking. It makes sense that a fire arrow would light up a grease surface after hitting the target. It feels less logical it has a molotov cocktail attached. I would only add these effects where they make sense, like on an acid splash spell, alchemist fire flask, ... The ground effects could still be included by equipping enemies with such flasks.

Enemy AI
Enemies have a tendency to focus fire the weaker party members. I don’t have a problem with this, it is just the smart thing to do. However, I don’t believe all enemies should do this, only the intelligent opponents should. Dumber opponents like beasts should just hit the first thing they come in combat with or retaliate against the party member that attacked them. There could be other forms of AI, like having a blood tracker that targets party members which are wounded, or a berserker that keeps attacking the same target no matter what, …


UI and other stuff

Githyanki correctly get a bonus skill but this is not mentioned on their character sheet

Spell descriptions should list their durations

It would be nice to be able to add your own map markers

It would be nice to have some kind of indicator showing whether a target is a valid target for sneak attack


Last edited by Ghorunt; 14/10/20 09:26 AM.