Earlier this year, I wrote an article on what I hoped to see in the next edition of Dungeons and Dragons. With the recent release of the Character Origins Unearthed Arcana for the so-called “One D&D,” I’m getting my first chance to see how closely my vision aligns with the designers at Wizards of the Coast. This article is split into three parts: the first covers changes to the foundational rules of the game, the second covers ancestries, and the third looks into feats and backgrounds. Since we only have a partial set of new rules to work from, I’m assuming that rules not specifically mentioned remain the same as they currently do in 5E, though of course that could change.
D20 Test
The term d20 Test encompasses the three main d20 rolls of the game: ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. If something in the game affects d20 Tests, it affects all three of those rolls. The DM determines whether a d20 Test is warranted in any given circumstance. To be warranted, a d20 Test must have a target number no less than 5 and no greater than 30.
ROLLING A 1
If you roll a 1 on the d20, the d20 Test automatically fails, regardless of any modifiers to the roll.
ROLLING A 20
If you roll a 20 on the d20, the d20 Test automatically succeeds, regardless of any modifiers to the roll. A player character also gains Inspiration when rolling the 20, thanks to the remarkable success. Rolling a 20 doesn’t bypass limitations on the test, such as range and line of sight. The 20 bypasses only bonuses and penalties to the roll.
A focus of this document is an effort to clean up the rules of 5E. The aggregation of ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws into the umbrella term D20 test is a good step in that direction. Alongside this wording improvement is a change to how natural 1s and 20s are treated. Currently in 5E, only attack rolls have the chance to automatically fail or succeed. In these new rules, any D20 test has a 5% chance to succeed or fail regardless of the roll’s difficulty or a character’s skill.
I’m not a fan of this change, as it takes the already swingy result of a single die roll and adds even more unpredictability. From a tiny child outwrestling a 20 strength barbarian to convincing the monarch to hand over their title, if a roll is called for, it can succeed or fail no matter how nonsensical such an outcome is. This puts more of a burden on GMs to know when a roll should be skipped since the task’s outcome is obvious. Experienced GMs probably won’t suffer too much with this rule change, but newer GMs who don’t know when to refuse a player’s request for a roll could easily find themselves in trouble because an unexpected 1 or 20 ruins the outcome they had planned.
This rule change also adds a hard maximum or minimum difficulty for any roll made. For the most part, this probably won’t matter, but at higher levels, making a character with enough skill bonuses to routinely reach or beat 30* means it is possible to succeed at a skill no matter how difficult the GM wishes to make the challenge. I don’t really know what the designers were going for with this inclusion, and the lack of value added by the change makes me hope it doesn’t survive test play.
Critical Hits
Weapons and Unarmed Strikes* have a special feature for player characters: Critical Hits. If a player character rolls a 20 for an attack roll with a Weapon or an Unarmed Strike, the attack is also a Critical Hit, which means it deals extra damage to the target; you roll the damage dice of the Weapon or Unarmed Strike a second time and add the second roll as extra damage to the target. For example, a Mace deals Bludgeoning Damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier. If you score a Critical Hit with the Mace, it instead deals 2d6 + your Strength modifier. If your Weapon or Unarmed Strike has no damage dice, it deals no extra damage on a Critical Hit.
As a grumpy old man who hates fun, I subscribe to the unpopular take that critical hits shouldn’t be in the game at all. They don’t change average damage by that much, but they can easily unbalance a fight in a way few other mechanics can, so anything that reduces the number of crits in a game is good in my book.
Monsters being unable to crit lowers the randomness present in a fight and prevents a random 20 from unexpectedly killing a player character. The designers have said that monsters will replace the ability to crit with potent recharge powers, and while the thought of managing a horde of different recharge rolls chills me to my very core, I’m still glad to see fewer crits in my game.
The way this change is worded also means that abilities like Sneak Attack and Holy Smite no longer double their dice on a crit. I have a feeling that such a change will be unpopular enough that either this crit rule will be reworded or special exceptions will be made for popular player damage abilities.
Grappled
While you are Grappled, you experience the following effects:
Speed 0. Your Speed is 0 and can’t change.
Attacks Affected. You have Disadvantage on attack rolls against any target other than the grappler.
Movable. The grappler can drag or carry you, but the grappler suffers the Slowed Condition while moving, unless you are Tiny or two or more Sizes smaller than the grappler.
Escape. While Grappled, you can make a Dexterity or Strength saving throw against the grapple’s escape DC at the end of each of your turns, ending the Condition on yourself on a success. The Condition also ends if the grappler is Incapacitated or if something moves you outside the grapple’s range without using your Speed.
The first of the reworked conditions, grappled is a mixed bag. To start with, I like the way this condition is formatted. The different effects that make up the condition are very clear, and it doesn’t mix in unnecessary flavor that could confuse the mechanics. I also like some of the mechanical changes made here. Suffering disadvantage against targets that aren’t grappling you makes thematic sense and helps grapple-based characters control where their target’s attacks go.
What I don’t like is when and how the condition is ended. In 5E currently, the grappled target must spend their action and make a contested check against the creature grappling them. Now, escape attempts are made passively each turn and are made against a set DC* rather than an opposed roll.
This is a huge hit to grappling’s power since it now costs nothing to try and escape and is much easier to do so. In the existing rules, characters who focus on grappling can easily increase their athletics skill until losing to any target is almost impossible. Under the new system, it’s much more likely your target will escape your grapple. Grappling was already a niche strategy that generally wasn’t that powerful, and I’m disappointed that it’s shaping up to be even weaker under the new system.
Incapacitated
While you are Incapacitated, you experience the following effects:
Inactive. You can’t take Actions or Reactions.
No Concentration. Your Concentration is broken.
Speechless. You can’t speak.
Surprised. If you are Incapacitated when you roll Initiative, you have Disadvantage on the roll.
The main point of interest here is the inclusion of the surprised effect. Currently, surprise is a condition that stops you from doing anything on your first turn of a combat. This new wording might point to the removal of the existing surprised condition. Given how swingy the current iteration of surprise can be, a rework can only be a good thing.
Inspiration
When you have Inspiration, you can expend it to give yourself Advantage on a d20 Test. You must decide to do so before rolling the die.
Gaining Inspiration
The main way a character gains Inspiration is by rolling a 20 for a d20 Test. The DM can also award Inspiration to a character who’s done something that is particularly heroic or amusing.
Only One At A Time
You can never have more than one instance of Inspiration. If something gives you Inspiration and you already have it, you can give Inspiration to a player character in your group who lacks it.
Losing Inspiration
If you still have Inspiration when you start a Long Rest, you lose that Inspiration.
The designers are tired of everyone forgetting about inspiration and plan to do something about it. Now, you gain inspiration automatically whenever you roll a 20 and can hand that inspiration to another player if you already have it. Given how many players seem to ignore the current iteration of this mechanic, I think these changes will help inspiration see actual use at the table.
Slowed
While you are Slowed, you experience the following effects:
Limited Movement. You must spend 1 extra foot of movement for every foot you move using your Speed.
Attacks Affected. Attack rolls against you have Advantage.
Dexterity Saves Affected. You have Disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.
Slowed is a new condition, and a decent one at that. So far we only know that this condition afflicts someone who is trying to move while grappling a creature, but I assume effects like the Slow spell will also cause this condition. I’m cautious of adding too many conditions to the game, as I don’t want to see the game transformed into a sea of keywords. But I do think that, currently, 5E goes too far in the other direction, which makes some new conditions a welcome sight.
Tremorsense
A creature with Tremorsense can pinpoint the location of creatures and moving objects within a specific range, provided that the creature with Tremorsense and anything it’s detecting are both in contact with the same surface (such as the ground, a wall, or a ceiling) or the same
liquid.
Tremorsense can’t detect creatures or objects in the air, and Tremorsense doesn’t count as a form of sight.
Given the gray area senses like blindsight and tremorsense currently occupy, any effort to clarify these mechanics is a good thing. However, I do not understand why the designers decided to add a sentence explicitly declaring tremorsense not “a form of sight.” Does this mean that creatures relying on such a sense still count as blinded? If so, what is the point of tremorsense? You are already aware of a creature’s location without seeing it unless it is actively trying to hide. Does that mean tremorsense bypasses any attempt to hide? I’m not sure, but even if it does, that is such a narrow use case that I would consider this almost a flavor feature.
Unarmed Strike
An Unarmed Strike is a melee attack that involves you using your body to damage, grapple, or shove a target within your Reach. Your bonus to hit with an Unarmed Strike equals your Strength modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, your Unarmed Strike causes one of the following effects of your choice:
Damage. The target takes Bludgeoning Damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier.
Grapple. The target is Grappled, and the grapple’s escape DC equals 8 + your Strength modifier + your Proficiency Bonus. This grapple is possible only if the target is no more than one Size larger than you and if you have a hand free to grab the target.
Shove. You either push the target 5 feet away or knock the target Prone. This shove is possible only if the target is no more than one Size larger than you.
I am glad to see unarmed strikes receiving some love in this new edition. Now instead of just dealing damage, you have the option to substitute that damage with a grapple or a shove. Given how weak grappling is now, I think knocking your target prone is the best substitution you can make with your unarmed strike. This is a power increase to any build that makes use of unarmed strikes, especially a dexterity-based unarmed character like the monk. In the existing rules, shoving requires a high strength to be effective; now, you can make a dexterity-based unarmed attack to knock your enemy prone before making the rest of your attacks with advantage.
Spell Lists
There are now three main Spell lists in the game: Arcane, Divine, and Primal. In future Unearthed Arcana articles, we’ll show how Classes use these lists and how a Class or Subclass might gain Spells from another list.
I really like the idea of spell tags being added to D&D. They are a great method of future-proofing. For example, a feat that lets you add a spell from the Divine list will now include any newly created Divine spells without having to errata the feat. I do worry that these tags could indicate a homogenization of spell lists between classes, but I’ll save my thoughts on that until we see how the casting classes have been changed in future UA.
That wraps up my thoughts on the major rules changes in the next edition of D&D. Now that I’ve gone over the foundational shifts in the game, I can cover the new feats, background, and ancestries without having to stop and explain myself whenever a changed rule is referenced.
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I quite like this so far. The formatting of the tests, conditions and spells is much clearer like this, and the changes to Slow, Grappling and Unarmed attacks are both very intuitive and make them more interesting.
I don’t agree that Grappling has been nerfed. Sure, it’s easier to shake off, but for me the added disadvantage to attacks except against the grappler offsets that. An impactful effect that doesn’t last long is more interesting than a long-lasting one that doesn’t do much. Anyway, it’ll last at least one turn no matter what, and a dedicated grappler might be able to increase their Grappling DC or impose Disadvantage on the save. I think as is, it’s situationally useful : it can be used to protect a weaker ally until they heal or get away, or to temporarily replace the tank if the latter is down/occupied elsewhere. And with some good grappling-related powers, it could make a viable tanking strategy.
The codification of the critical rules doesn’t really change much, since I think most tables already function like this (except for granting Inspiration). I would have liked them to stress more that the GM should just disallow rolling for something impossible, instead of setting an arbitrary D30 limit that’s much less clear (and reachable by some high-level characters, as you said!).
As for Inspiration… It’s the ultimate stopgap mechanic. We want to reward entertaining acting without changing anything else, let’s give Inspiration ! We want criticals to be a bit special but we don’t know how, let’s give Inspiration ! I wish they would just own up to this and change the Inspiration rule to “give the player a cookie”. Well, it’s not a very inspired rule (;p) but at least it’s mostly harmless.
I’d argue that the increased ease in breaking out of a grapple is the least of a grappler’s problems. Did you see the Slowed condition? While you are grappling someone who isn’t comparatibly tiny, all attacks against you are made with advantage. Including the ones by the grappled creature.
Actually, it says they suffer the slowed condition “while moving” so if you attack on your turn, they aren’t moving, so they aren’t slowed.
Good point. I guess it only affects attacks of opportunity then.
Comparatively*
While I like it, that loopholes and misunderstandings are removed or clarified there is one thing that really makes my angry:
What are those people doing during playtesting?
I am not looking at D&D alone, I am also looking at a lot of other games.
Rules are inconsistent (SR5 where you can never fully heal if you dont roll successes, SR6 where the cost of ammo for Shotguns was missing, Battletech where in a compilation of three Technical Readouts the values of Internal Structure of a mech was wrong – please get it: in the original TR the error was first made and then in the compilation itself. I long ago wrote a program in BASIC – very simple – where you couldnt leave the armor allocation section, when you made a mistake, so a multimillion Dollar Corporation could do better, right?)
I sometimes have the feeling that we Gamers are nothing more than Beta testers at best.
I remember when D&D Birthright came out there was a part of the playtesting mentioned: one of the playtesters used a spell to move an enemy army into the lair of a baddie. There the loophole was discovered and closed.
I think we all know some people who would find the most insane use of a spell / eqipment, that the designers never thought of. Those people should do the playtesting. Yes, they can be very extreme (think of Sabbat Vampires of Clan Tzimisce gone rogue) but it would be worth it.
I think that some of the playtesters of the companies itself have some rules blindness. They cannot see the faults in their own products (why didnt anybody of Catalyst spot that the main rules of SR6 1st Edition dont contain the ammo cost for Shotguns? Where was proofreading?) or think outside the box.
And yes, I feel ripped of.
Speaking of shifting the burden onto the consumer, I’ve always felt that the adventures written were half-baked. “But it gives DMs flexibility!”, which they pretty much *have* to exercise. But then, they’re not made for *us*: you don’t need much to play something on stream, which is where the real money comes in.
Meanwhile, Pathfinder’s put in so much effort into their adventure paths over the years and *still* only controls a sliver of the market. And that was probably *before* Mercer ditched them. A shame since the guy can act.
“I’m not a fan of this change, as it takes the already swingy result of a single die roll and adds even more unpredictability. From a tiny child outwrestling a 20 strength barbarian to convincing the monarch to hand over their title, if a roll is called for, it can succeed or fail no matter how nonsensical such an outcome is.”
But think of the *lulz* this’ll capture on stream!
By which I mean D&D’s primary marketing strategy: have some celebrity pro try to be Mercer and maybe we’ll get something for the highlight reel that’ll become a meme. Why make a good product when you can make a profitable one?
I actually prefer Pathfinder 2e to D&D. (Hey, Mythcreants, it’s a great system that you really should spotlight)
It’s one of the most balanced d20 systems on the market and I dare say the most balanced I’ve EVER come across. Best of all, they finally fixed the wizard/fighter power gap! (The current most optimized, min-maxed build on the forums is a gnome fighter, of all things.)
I suppose that the point of the grapple being easier to escape is that it prevents PCs being so completely locked down by octopi and krakens. Alongside the removal of monster crits and the increased incidence of Inspiration, I wonder if this is a deliberate move to put the heavy swing on the PCs side, so that the characters can perform exceptional actions, but not be subjected to them.
Both your analysis and predictions look spot-on, for the most part.
My major quibble is with Inspiration; does a player who just rolled a 20 (which will succeed on *anything* apparently) really need an Inspiration point?
If we’re going to award Inspiration based on dice rolls, I’d rather see it go to someone who just rolled a natural 1. With the caveat that they can’t immediately use it to re-roll the check that got them the Inspiration point, of course.
Sounds like the “tremorsense doesn’t count as a form of sight” is meant to mean that effects that require the target to see you, like a daylight spell or a medusa’s gaze don’t function on a target using tremorsense.
Maybe, but the lack of clarity worries me
As a DM I put together games that will make for fun, interesting, and challenging nights for my players. I use the rules aid see fit to that end. You should also. I have all nat 1s and 20s be crit fails and successes, but I define what that means. And I apply accordingly. Sometimes I’ll have a nat 1 mean you hit yourself or a friend. Sometimes a nat 20 will cleave an arm off an opponent. Use the rules to make a better game, but as a GOOD DM, do what it takes to make a great game for your players regardless of the written rule.
I’m going to heartily second this, because the fundamental purpose of RPGs is to have a good time with your friends. Rules provide a framework, but that’s all they are: agreed-upon ways to interpret a shared reality.
I like the way Pathfinder 2ed handled the crits (natural 20s and 1s just step up or down the grade of success, so with a 20 you are just guaranteed not to fumble and with a 1 not to crit; a critical success is always 10 or more over the target number and a fumble always 10 or less. That way no matter how well you roll, against a high enough difficulty you won’t achieve an over the top success.) Making a 1 and 20 the be all end all is just jarring.
I guess inspiration works like the Heroic Points from PF2 to grant a reroll, but in addition you can spend all of them on avoiding the death condition, which is pretty powerful. Just having a limit of one instance of inspiration don’t feel the same (plus the ackwardness of being able to “transfer” the inspiration to anyone else who don’t need to be near)
Oh no. D&D has taken the video game approach to counting. :(
Re: Tremorsense:
“Does this mean that creatures relying on such a sense still count as blinded? If so, what is the point of tremorsense?”
Nope, because there is no creature that relies solely on Tremorsense… There are 42 creatures (monsters, not playable races) with Tremorsense, and of those 42, 8 of them have regular vision, 23 have Darkvision, and 11 have Blindsight… The purpose of Tremorsense is so that the creatures who have it can sense hidden or invisible creatures nearby and take at least some of the guesswork out of the location, and so that burrowing creatures can sense where they need to jump out and attack their prey. It also serves as an additional sense for if the creature is Blinded…
Take the Umber Hulk as an example – Underground, it relies on Tremorsense, but above ground, it has Darkvision… If it’s Blinded, it can fall back on its Tremorsense as a secondary sense… In that scenario it still attacks with disadvantage, but it doesn’t need to first guess where it’s enemies are (if the enemies have moved and are touching the ground)…
The problem is that in 5e you already know a creature’s location regardless of whether or not they are visible unless they are attempting to hide. Tremorsense as it’s currently written only helps in the niche situation where a creature is trying to remain hidden in a manner that would deceive normal sight but not this special sense. Not without use, but very situational.
Maybe is a way to avoid being able to blind a tremorsensitive creature.
Will you be reviewing the new spelljammer set?
I plan to take a look at the ancestries, from what I understand there isn’t much else of substance to look at unfortunately.
Maybe not for players, but maybe DMs? There are so many different adventures and it can be hard to decide where to put your money when you don’t have time to make up your own.
You have interesting insights and it would be neat to see you break down adventures or say how you might change them
Reviewing an adventure is an interesting idea, but that kind of article would be a lot of work on my end to learn all about an entire adventure and I’m not even sure the result would be terribly useful to people.
You aren’t wrong about it being a lot, but I think it could be very useful.
I am a dm who likes always tries to look up reviews to adventures but they either are giant essays that feel more like novellas or have ton of home brew off the bat.
I think most people who really look at a lot of stuff are dms
It’s rare to find some give general opinions on adventures and what they entail. In my experience, dms are always looking for extra advice while Players can generally survive even a bad build, no one has fun with an underprepared dm.