D&D Next

[Cute Things In Jars]

So my DM put aside our weekly campaign to playtest the D&D Next, and I was wondering what everyone [if anyone] thought of it. I'm not a fan. While I'm glad there is an amazing bard class, it feels dumbed down. My biggest gripe was the lack of skills...it just felt like they took huge chunks out of regular play...i dunno...it's still being tested right now, so maybe they'll change things...what did y'all think?  

[Mongooseh]

I've only heard what it's like from the PAX dnd sessions and it seemed alright but it must of changed since then it seemed.  

[Liquidor]

Right now, you have to consider D&D Next to be in bare bones form. Minimal amount of stuff in order to "Playtest" certain aspects of the game. The open beta was more for what people wanted to play and how people want to play. From what I remember, they are in the "math" section of testing which should take the longest amount of time.

That said, I like the direction that it is heading in. It's going to steal things from other games what work (and fall under OGL) while trying to maintain the whole "old school" feel. But as all RPG games, it falls unto the group to make it playable.  

[Archangel_Crow]

I really like D&D Next.. we're actually starting it up again in our group. We stopped for a while because our DM needed to go over the rule changes.  

[Lord of the Vine]

There are two good reasons why Next is excellent:

1) Backgrounds. Backgrounds are important to a character; sure you can be a general warrior, but it helps to establish why you are the way you are. The preset ones aren't bad, and customizing makes your character even better.

2) Feats. At long last, no more ridiculously huge lists of feats.  

[Crazy eyes for life]

I have a question about D&D Next.
While I haven't played it, nor have any in my usual group, what I have been told is that its become extremely streamlined, with a focus on pandering to new players, stat focus, and much less customization.
How much of this is accurate?
One of the things I enjoyed about 3.5 was that you could create just about any character you wanted by scouring enough books, and finding the right feats and what not.

Are the customization problems and pandering due to the game still being created and having a small information base, or because the system is built for the COD generation?  

[Cute Things In Jars]

it is more stat based...like, you dont have knowledge arcana or local or anything now, you just have like...an intelligence check....if your int score is high enough, you know everything about everything. While it works with things like strength checks for swim, climb and what not, you cant just say "Oh i'm a wizard who's spent his whole life studying arcane magic" and then getcrazy good scores on stuff like identifying wild life from knowledge that'd be dungeoneering...  

[Archangel_Crow]

there isn't a lot of customization.. because it is still in beta.. and there are skills, not many but there are skills. there's about 4 knowledges, arcana, history, local and religion, that I can think of off the top of my head.. in the mopst recent update they added a bunch of races. I don't think D&D Next will become as big as 3.5, because the system for 3.5 spreads far beyond D&D, and there is SO much you can do with it. They streamlined a lot of things, but it isn't to make it easy for new players. We have a new player that likes 3.5 more than next.. literally she has played like 8 sessions. D&D Next made a lot of things simpler, for those that don't want to do a lot of high stat based stuff.. for one you CANNOT raise a stat above 20... at least without the aid of magic. it actually says that in the rules. DMs that don't want to deal with overpowered characters will really like Next.  

[LuigiMario98626]

I'm still into the D&D 3rd Edition that was what I am used to and I think I will play that forever lol. It's alot better to me anyway lol.  

[Lord of the Vine]

Crazy eyes for life

I have a question about D&D Next.
While I haven't played it, nor have any in my usual group, what I have been told is that its become extremely streamlined, with a focus on pandering to new players, stat focus, and much less customization.
How much of this is accurate?

Probably accurate from people who don't care for Next.

Quote:

One of the things I enjoyed about 3.5 was that you could create just about any character you wanted by scouring enough books, and finding the right feats and what not.

Next streamlined that process.

Quote:

Are the customization problems and pandering due to the game still being created and having a small information base, or because the system is built for the COD generation?

There were limited customization options for 4th edition as well at its inception. Its really only because its new.  

[Kain Almasi]

I really want to try Next but I can't find anything for it online just articles and transcripts from play testing. Does anyone know where I can find the open beta content so I can try it out?  

[Liquidor]

saint odium

I really want to try Next but I can't find anything for it online just articles and transcripts from play testing. Does anyone know where I can find the open beta content so I can try it out?

Officially the open beta has been closed and all content removed.

It used to be a simple, sign up for the wotc forums, log in, download direct.

unofficially i think there's a torrent or two with the info.