I've finally finished a sufficiently detailed reading of the 5E PHB that I feel I really grasp how magic works. The most important impression I came away with is that they succeeded, after several abortive efforts, in making a modern version of D&D in which magic is genuinely cool. Magic in a corporate, polished, wide-market game can never be as cool as magic in a crusty old game or indie darling; super cool magic systems require too many rough edges for a company like WoC or a game like D&D. But they have gone as far out on the cool axis as I think they could get, and it is plenty cool.
As proof, I submit to you a few character sketches that are clearly and concretely supported/shaped/enabled by the 5E rules. In fact, magic using characters like this practically jump out of the character generation mechanics, like Athena from the head of zeus:
— An acolyte of the catholic church in medieval rome, who, while dusting a prelate's private library, peeked inside a peculiar tome from a high shelf. Ever since, he has awoken every morning bathed in sweat, dreams of the Great Cthulhu and the Outer Dark ringing in his mind. Last week, he discovered he could read the thoughts of his monastic cell mate. He doesn't know whether this is a newly awaked power derived from his constant contemplation of the great old ones he glimpsed in the tome, or a sign of his raging insanity. [Acolyte background, Warlock class, with a Cthonic patron, chaotic neutral alignment, various colorful traits having to do with madness]
— A young prince whose scholarly father has long bored him with lectures on the wisdom of the ancients and the moral advances that can be had through the discipline of alchemy. One day the boy explored his foolish father's work room and stumbled across a tome that was chained shut. Prying it open, he discovered gruesome drawings and disgusting descriptions of necromatic lore. Now here is power! [Noble background; Wizard class, with a focus on necromancy; lawful evil alignment; various traits having to do with deceit and raging megalomania]
I could go on. It is just automatic to read the class descriptions and abilities, tie them to a background, and come up with a vision of a magic using character that is distinctive, interesting, maybe a little creepy.
A few other good things:
- Old favorite spells from the PHB
- Nice short, punchy spell descriptions, and not too much overlap between spells. An excellent consequence of the rule permitting casting of simple spells as higher level versions.
- The three flavors of magic - sorcery, wizardry and 'warlock-ry' - feel genuinely different and lead to characters with very different abilities, behaviors, approaches to magic, and relationships to other characters.
- It all flows at a nice clip — no goof-ball mechanics or over-blown blathering to confuse and slow down how magic manifests during play.
A surprising amount of the discussion on this site and (especially) TBP focus on the details of the 'pew pew' cantrips that allow spell casters in 5E to deal out damage every turn. My reading of the game, and my experience playing, is that these are harmless but irrelevant. Almost not worth talking about. Why would you look at a character capable of re-shaping reality through magic and be most interested in figuring out how he or she can manifest combat powers comparable to those normally associated with a farmer armed with a short bow? I can't even be bothered to pick these sorts of cantrips for my 1st level characters because it seems so much more interesting and useful to be able to do other things — minor acts of illusion, detection, etc. Why waste a good Sorcerer when you already have a half dozen people in the party capable of doling out 1d8 damage at short missile range?
To me, the most crucial aspects of D&D magic will always be: What are the spells that can blindside a GM, how many are there, what are their countermeasures, and have the settings been designed to accommodate them?
I don't give a fuck about cantrip damage, it's the mind-reading, the lie-breaking, the magic detecting, the instant teleportation, the security bypassing, the spy-on-anyone-anywhere stuff that gives me the nervous shakes.
I hate having to relearn all the poorly documented preventative steps with each edition.
'Pew pew' cantrips are the least of my at-will concerns. This isn't my first time at the rodeo. I know where the real table disruption lies.
That said, yes, it has been a long time since WotC left me inspired, especially about magic users. Even without backgrounds there is plenty to play with. With backgrounds, there is so much more it seems even more fun to deliberately narrow off PC demographics.
My single class challenge sounds like it will be a hoot, and the introduction of single background challenge sounds like it will light the table aflame with inspiration:
"You're all traveling charlatans. These 3 classes and 2 races are all you can choose from in your traveling caravanserai. Go forth & prosper."
Yeah, I'm pretty impressed with the magic system; as with most things in 5e, I think it's a lot better than 3e and obviously 4e.