Quote from: Bill;755377Current hp of 40, or max hp of 40?

Current.

Quote from: Marleycat;755379So what a 5e mage does is prepare her save or die spell and wait to drop the hammer after the front line guys soften them up.

Yep.  It also makes lower level spells like sleep still effective at high levels, where in older versions of D&D, most targets would make their saving throw or had too much HD to be affected.  In 5e, the total # of spells might be a lot less than AD&D, but each spell level still remains effective.

Another thing I like.  It also  makes sense, IMO.  If you look at HP like energy, once you get a target worn down, beat down, wounded, and near exhaustion, a low spell like sleep can still work when it normally wouldn't when they are full of energy.

Quote from: Marleycat;755380Current.

Mmmmm...Tactics.

Quote from: Bill;755387Mmmmm...Tactics.

The kind of tactics you do without needing grids, maps, or minis.  Otherwise known as, the kind of tactics I like

Quote from: Bill;755387Mmmmm...Tactics.

Yessir, that's why you have at-will cantrips. You have your slot spells ready for when an opportunity presents itself. Let the fighter be the hammer because you're the nail in the coffin.

Quote from: Marleycat;755389Yessir, that's why you have at-will cantrips. You have your slot spells ready for when an opportunity presents itself. Let the fighter be the hammer because you're the nail in the coffin.

Wizards are good problem solvers.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;755375There is no level drain in 5e. Not that I remember anyway.

These days, when I even bother with scary effects like that, I prefer "level lock" effects where you don't lose any XP but you can't gain any XP until the effect has been removed. You get the same amount of healthy metagame fear out of the players with 75% less of the table-flipping outrage and despondency.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;755375There is no level drain in 5e. Not that I remember anyway.  The other big one is stuff like finger of death.  In 5e, it auto kills anything with less than 40 hp.  For creatures with more than 40hp, they get a Con save and take 12d8 damage (half on save)

No level drain per se, but most  of the attacks that once did that have been replaced by an energy drain mechanic that reduces your hit point ceiling (by the amount of level draining damage you take) until you take a long rest. This also prohibits most "magical" healing in the interim. (Unless you're the target of a greater restoration spell - which is 7th level.)

Quote from: Saplatt;755406No level drain per se, but most  of the attacks that once did that have been replaced by an energy drain mechanic that reduces your hit point ceiling (by the amount of level draining damage you take) until you take a long rest. This also prohibits most "magical" healing in the interim. (Unless you're the target of a greater restoration spell - which is 7th level.)

Ahh, the old "save or suck" for a long time is back.

Quote from: Bill;755354Technically it has always been possible to make one hit minions in any version of dnd.

A 1E 2HD Gnoll with 2 hp is pretty darn close to a one hit minion if the pc's minimum damage is a 2+ (very likely)

Personally I think 4E minions work wonderfully mechanically, but I don't think 'high level' monsters minions make as much sense as low level ones.

A level 12 fighter cutting down 'average' ogres works for me. But a level 12 fighter cutting down fire giants with one hit is iffy.

Depends on the setting.  Play a game as gods and the fire giants would be minions.  Play a game of mortals and the fire giants would be at least elite.

Quote from: Haffrung;755359I didn't keep up with the later playtests - is 5E incorporating the 4E save mechanic? Where saves are always a simple 10 or higher, and the duration of an effect lasts until a save is made? Because that just made so much sense and is so much easier than tracking durations that it's a no-brainer for me to use with any D&D going forward.

4e saves make logical sense, but I found them one of the worst in-play mechanics there is.

Player A does her thing on her turn.  The table is excited and high energy.  Player B immediately starts jumping into his turn describing what he is doing.  Everyone at the table forgets about the turn-end save (or was it turn beginning save, cannot recall offhand).  

Then halfway through Player B's turn, somebody remembers Player A's save.  The whole table's attention shifts from the fun stuff happening for the roll of the save die.  This juxtaposition cuts straight into the table's excitement level.

Old style duration in rounds has a die sitting next to the player as a reminder.  Also, simply ticking off another round does not divert table attention to nearly the extent of a roll.

In fairness, the overwhelming majority of DMs I've played with do not emphasize increasing the table energy in combat to nearly the extent I do when I DM.  A more placid table mood in combat doesn't suffer from this like my style does.

Quote from: Old One Eye;755415Then halfway through Player B's turn, somebody remembers Player A's save.  The whole table's attention shifts from the fun stuff happening for the roll of the save die.  This juxtaposition cuts straight into the table's excitement level.

In practice, I found that rarely happened - most players wanted their conditions removed enough that they *damn well* remembered they had an opportunity to save.

Quote from: Marleycat;755412Ahh, the old "save or suck" for a long time is back.

Until you sleep is a long time?

Quote from: CRKrueger;755425Until you sleep is a long time?

From what he said it monkeys with your HP cap in some way. I could have misunderstood though.

Quote from: Marleycat;755412Ahh, the old "save or suck" for a long time is back.

I don't think it's quite as bad.  The hit-point penalty does suck, but at least you keep your ability scores, saving throw scores, attack and damage bonuses, all your spells and so forth. Unless they kill you, you don't have to sit out the rest of the encounter or adventure and twiddle your thumbs.

And regaining your full health with one long rest is a lot easier than regaining enough experience points to get back a lost level.

But a number of hits from energy drainers before you get to some sort of sanctuary could definitely be deadly - which, I think, is a viable way to make them dangerous in a special, creepy way.
       
So, I'm fine with it. If anything, I bet players underestimate energy drainers the first time they meet them.