Tooling around with D&D 5e

Since my daughter Katie has started playing some D&D5e with some of her friends, that got me curious about it.   I wouldn't buy it when it first came out, since it was like $45 for the PHB, and we were deep in Adventurer, Conqueror, King at the time.


Now, you can get the PHB for less than $30 on Amazon, so I am giving it a look.




At first glance it seems most like 3rd edition,  uniform advancement, stat bonuses, multi-classing ascending AC and so forth are all very 3rd edition.


But, I am starting to notice some really cool things about 5th edition.


1)  AC inflation.    A few dragons and supernaturals (demons, devils, celestials etc,) have an AC over 20, but they are rare.    Also, the "to hit" bonuses are very, very narrow.   First level characters (and even commoners) have a +2 to hit, plus STR bonus, but 20th level characters only have a +6 to hit.


So, for example, an Ancient Red Dragon has an AC 22 (near the highest I could find), a common Guard has +3 to hit.   So, even a guard doesn't need a natural 20 to hit one of the toughest thing to hit.


With AC and to-hit flattened out, in actual combat  low-level monsters are still dangerous in large numbers.


Conversely, say you have a 20th level fighter with 20 strength, that's +6 to hit plus +5 more from Strength.  A guard has AC 16, so you don't even automatically hit him (you'd need a 5 or better).


I think that this is simply amazing and what I've been looking for in D&D for a long time.


2)  Spells:  casters can use Cantrips at will, and most casting classes have a cantrip that does some damage, so wizards can make some sort of magic attack all the time.   I mean that's why you want to play a wizard.
The other thing is that they've, in a way, nerfed most "Save or Die" type spells.   For example, the dreaded "Hold Person" requires that you maintain concentration.  Polymorph is the same.   Flesh to Stone requires several saves be failed before permanent stoning.   Even invisibility requires concentration.   Other spells, like Phantasmal Force, Phantasmal Killer, and Color Spray are actually much better described and mechanically clear cut.


It's a lot to chew over, but I am actually very pleasantly surprised by its general goodness.