I quit paying attention to D&D sometime around the time I realized 3.5 was way too heavy for me, and saw no reason to look at 4E with it's extreme emphasis on the tactical. However, I've heard that 5E was a step back in the right direction for me, and with the Essentials set on sale on Amazon for $12, I pulled the trigger and ordered it today.  What should I expect?  What are the big differences from earlier editions?

Quote from: Joey2k;1104538I quit paying attention to D&D sometime around the time I realized 3.5 was way too heavy for me, and saw no reason to look at 4E with it's extreme emphasis on the tactical. However, I've heard that 5E was a step back in the right direction for me, and with the Essentials set on sale on Amazon for $12, I pulled the trigger and ordered it today.  What should I expect?  What are the big differences from earlier editions?

It a fully functional ruleset up to level 5. Has some nice bonus features like a poster map. The Dragon of Icespire Peak is a decent adventure & campaign but really shines if you get the starter set and mix it in with the Lost Mine of Phandelver. The two together are one of the best low level campaign ever made for any edition of D&D.

Quote from: Joey2k;1104538I quit paying attention to D&D sometime around the time I realized 3.5 was way too heavy for me, and saw no reason to look at 4E with it's extreme emphasis on the tactical. However, I've heard that 5E was a step back in the right direction for me, and with the Essentials set on sale on Amazon for $12, I pulled the trigger and ordered it today.  What should I expect?  What are the big differences from earlier editions?

Here is a repost of my mini-review/overview in the Gnome King thread.

QuoteOk. Made it out to Target while on a shopping trip elsewhere and they had it in stock as hoped.

Got it home and opened her up...

And I have to say I am very pleasantly surprise. Very much so.

Whats in the box?

First off, a full spread of dice! Not the half assed partial set in the starter of one each + a extra percentile. Mine are transparent red. It actually comes with more than the standard array. 4 d6s, 2 d10s, and 2d20s, plus a d4, d8, and d12.

Next was the adventure book. 48 pages of various adventures and 14 more pages of monsters and NPCs. At least one new monster, a spirit beast. Map key on the back cover. A good variety of adventures and there is indeed a pair of married male gnome kings. More on that at the end.

Next was this weird folded thing. Looked like a McDonalds french fry holder... It is in fact as I suspected... a folded up card box. As what follows are several sheets of uncut cards. They are though perforated for separation. Theres cards for initiative, status effects, Sidekickss, magic items, quests, and 3 quick ref cards for combat.. 9 sheets in total, 9 cards each so 81 cards. Good cardstock too.

Next is a map of the Sword Coast with hex grid. The map states the hexes are 5 miles each. The area is not all of the sword coast. Just the lands stretching from the Mere of Dead Men up to about where Neverwinter is. The back of the map is the town of Phandalin.

Next is the rulebook. 64 pages of basic D&D pared down as it only takes the characters to level 6. Races are Human, Elf, Dwarf, and halfling. Classes are Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue, and oddly enough, Bard. Looks like the same basic backgrounds as in Basic as well. After that is the game rules, how advantage/disadvantage works, skills, general gameplay, environment, combat.
Then it gets into equipment. Followed by a few magic items. Even some new common ones from Xanithar. After that are spells, which is fairly short considering the level limit.

Lastly is something new. Rules for Sidekicks. These are NPCs, people or creatures, that tag along with your character and are divided into 3 sorts. Expert, a sort of jack of all trades as the book states it, spellcaster, could be healer or mage, and lastly Warrior, your all general combat types. And then some really really basic rules to take them to level 6. A bit more is explained on them in the Adventure book which doubles as a mini DMG. Sidekicks function alot like retainers did in BX and AD&D and are meant to bolster a party short on players.

Next in the box is a DM screen. Not badly done and I like the panorama on the front.

And finally a bunch of double sided character sheets.

And finally+1 is a flyer advertising D&D product and on the back are some codes for D&D Beyond.

Now regards the Gnome Kings... Honestly I have to ask... "What was the point of this?" it seems to have just been tossed in out of the blue and has ZERO impact on the adventure and ZERO explanation. One of them has indeed flipped out. But for good reason actually. But really them being both male is totally meaningless for the adventure. Its like the Vistani who has a "daughter" who is apparently really a boy, in Curse of Strahd. It is pretty much totally meaningless.

Considering the Rulebook does not have the same line on gender as the PHB does. It just notes that characters can be any gender and it has no real bearing on gameplay. Allmost makes you wonder if someone mandated a toning down of the SJW bits? Probably not. But one can fantasize.

And how the adventure book is arranged.

QuoteThere is a sort of "Help Wanted" board and initially there are 3 starting quests. One to a dwarven excavation, one to escort a priestess back to town, and one for the aformentioned gnomes.

After you do 2 of these jobs then 3 follow-up quests appear.

Once you have done 2 of those then 3 more follow-up quests appear.

So it is a cross between free ranging and and quest sites.

But there are also a few places that are not on the quest roster that PCs can come across via exploration, maps, NPCs they meet, or rumours they hear.

EK goes to level 6 actually Rob!

5e is a lot simpler than 3e, especially the basic game without Feats.

5e builds off mostly a 3e style chassis, but level bonuses are replaced by Proficiency Bonus (+2 at 1-4 to +6 at 17-20) to give smaller numbers and 'bounded accuracy', which also keeps low level monsters a threat much longer, while high level monsters are relatively weak. In terms of to-hit vs AC, a bunch of baseline archers can threaten an ancient dragon. Weak monsters & starting PCs have relatively better to-hit than in pre-4e editions, eg a goblin or skeleton attacks at +4, but to-hit improves more slowly.

A lot of 3e & 4e fiddly bonuses are replaced by Advantage & Disadvantage - roll 2d20 and take the better or worse.

One thing I noticed is that the actual numbers in play tend to come out very similar to OD&D or early 1e AD&D, but they are derived differently. Eg instead of Ogre having THAC0 15 (+6 over the base THAC0 21 in 1e) it has +6 to-hit, but that is derived from STR 19 (+4) and Profiency +2, rather than being a function of its hit dice. HD in 5e are vestigial and nearly meaningless, only used for Short Rest hit point recovery. You can 'spend' hd to recover hp on a 1 hour short rest like 4e's Healing Surges, only you have about 1/4 as much extra reserve hp than in 4e. AC numbers also look similar to early 1e, eg AC 25 (-5 in 1e) is really good; in 5e that's the Tarrasque's AC.

Also in 5e magic items are a bit rarer, but alot more potent as anything with a charge tends to recharge a little every day. Also bonuses cap at +3. So far. And there is a limit on how many magic items you can have as many require attunement and you can only attune 3.

Quote from: Omega;1104576Also in 5e magic items are a bit rarer, but alot more potent as anything with a charge tends to recharge a little every day. Also bonuses cap at +3. So far.

Yeah, the DMG says there could be +4 items, but none have been published. I'd probably restrict that to stuff like Gungnir and maybe Mjolnir.

I'd switch the Bard for a Ranger (and Halflings for anything else, hate those fokkers), but otherwise sounds pretty tight, and at a power and complexity level I'd be happy running/playing forever. Sidekick rules sound cool.

I am not sure. But the sidekick rules feel a little... incomplete? Like it is missing something? Pretty sure it isnt. I'll have to dig out the original sidekick playtest PDF and do a comparison.

Quote from: Omega;1104792I am not sure. But the sidekick rules feel a little... incomplete? Like it is missing something?

Levels 7-20?

Well that too. Unless capping them at level 7 was intentional.

I did a quick comparison and they are overall unchanged, just some name tweaks and slight power shifting here and there. Still a bit too powerful if used as anything other than party rounding out.

Quote from: Omega;1105206Well that too. Unless capping them at level 7 was intentional.

I did a quick comparison and they are overall unchanged, just some name tweaks and slight power shifting here and there. Still a bit too powerful if used as anything other than party rounding out.

The EK only goes up to level 6, that's why sidekicks are only statted to 6th.
I'm planning to use the Warrior stats today for a player's boyfriend playing, so he can be at the table & roll dice without affecting group balance too much - he's not played D&D and he'll be #8 in a group of 7 players.

Quote from: S'mon;1105264The EK only goes up to level 6, that's why sidekicks are only statted to 6th.
I'm planning to use the Warrior stats today for a player's boyfriend playing, so he can be at the table & roll dice without affecting group balance too much - he's not played D&D and he'll be #8 in a group of 7 players.

Meant caps at 6, not 7.

As for using it for a side player? Why not just hand them a standard fighter as that is just about what the warrior sidekick is? Just with a d8 instead of a d10 for HD and a bit of the barbarian class mixed in. Unless the sidekicks loadout better fits the character?

Apparently there are adventures available on D&D Beyond that are meant to follow Dragon of Icespire Peak:

Storm Lord's Wrath
Abandoned for many years, Leilon was once a fortified settlement midway along the High Road from Waterdeep to Neverwinter. Under the paid service of the Lord Protector Dagult Neverember, citizens of Neverwinter have returned, intent on reestablishing Leilon as a safe waypoint once more. Unfortunately, followers of Talos have also arrived, and they've brought the weather with them.
A D&D adventure for 7th-level characters

Sleeping Dragon's Wake
Despite the depredations of those in the service of the Stormlord Talos, citizens of Neverwinter continue their work to rebuild the town of Leilon and reestablish it as a fortified waypoint on the High Road betwixt Neverwinter and Waterdeep. However, to make matters worse, a cadre of villains devoted to both Myrkul, god of death and the Cult of the Dragon, have risen from the Mere of Dead Men to strike out as well.
A D&D adventure for 9th-level characters

Divine Contention
The ghosts of the Swords of Leilon have returned to bring warning so you might protect their beloved town and prevent two great evils, both competing for the same prize, from wiping it from the Sword Coast once more. You must enter the Ethereal Plane, prevent the followers of Talos and Myrkul from gaining possession of an artifact of great evil, and put down the forces of not one, but two vile deities.
A D&D adventure for 11th-level characters

D&D Essentials Is Only The Beginning

I don't use D&D Beyond so I don't know if these adventures are free if you purchase the Essentials Kit, or if you have to pay for them.

Quote from: Omega;1105299As for using it for a side player? Why not just hand them a standard fighter as that is just about what the warrior sidekick is?

Fair bit more complicated.

My son just picked up the Essentials Set today, which he intends to run at his college gaming club. We looked it over to assess.

Something that no one mentioned is the old west theme to it. Phandelver is a gold rush town, and there are a scattering of old west elements around -- up to an NPC commenting on "varmints" when he hears about were-rats in a location. We liked that - it made for a lot of ideas.

We thought the job board was a little too artificial-feeling as a transparent way to get a level-appropriate quest, which encouraged "video game logic". So we brainstormed about instead having a bounty board. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" fits well with the old west theme, and the amount wanted gives a rough idea how dangerous different figures are. They'll know the big bounties are too big for them to pursue. That seems like a more in-character way for them to have choices among different threats to deal with.

Other than that, the adventures looked good. I'm slightly concerned at the adventures being so divided into short separated encounters. I know some people have pressed the idea that having a long rest in between encounters is a bad idea.