Vikings don't cast cantrips

We resumed The Saga of Godlauggr last session using the new D&D rules. I converted the Old School Hack Characters to D&D 5th edition. Using the following guidelines:

D&D Ability Score	Old School Hack Ability Score
STR	Brawn
DEX	Daring + Cunning / 2
CON	Brawn + Commitment / 2
INT	Cunning + Awareness / 2
WIS	Commitment
CHA	Charm

Experience: 1 OSH level = 2 D&D 5th edition levels.

In general I tried to build the 5th edition characters to incorporate as close as possible the powers they had in OSH.

In the end, I think the characters came out pretty good. They constitute a formidable 8th level party.

I feel like I need to play more 5th edition before I pass a final judgment or decide to adopt it on a long term basis. One game does not do a system justice. However, after reading and rereading the books and running a long session I will elaborate my initial impressions:

Pros:

1. I appreciate the unified mechanic of almost all rolls being 1d20+ability score mod+ proficiency (if applicable).  

2. I love the advantage / disadvantage mechanic rather than having to rule situational +/- to to rolls.

3. The combat system of action, bonus action, and reaction is nice way to define what can be done in a round. (My players were a bit confused on this, but it was probably because I didn’t explain it well enough.)

4. The ability based saving throw mechanic is good. It is similar to what we already do (from Swords & Wizardry) and the having formulas for the DC of saves is a welcome change from rolling against mysterious numbers.

5. Character backgrounds are neat, and seem easy to modify. The skill and proficiency system is not too burdensome.

6. The PHB and especially the DMG have lots of random charts. I love random charts.

Cons:

1. Number bloat.  I like d4, d6, d8 for HD. (Actually I really prefer everyone gets a d6) I can’t figure out why the hit dice are bigger than older D&D, when the weapon damage dice, spell damage etc are all correspondingly bigger as well. It just seems like unnecessary bloat leading to longer and more complicated encounters.

2. Why not use Hit Dice as a measure of power scale? What’s with the CR formula? It seems overly complicated and makes my work as a DM much harder. I don’t really care about balanced encounters per se, but I do want to be able to make up monster/npc stats on the fly. This is easy in old school D&D, monsters advance a step on the attack matrix by HD, npc’s by class. In 5th edition, ability score modifiers + misc. class skills + proficiency bonus etc. are required to stat an encounter. I can’t imagine I will ever memorize all the various class abilities and such. The brass tax is 5th edition just seems like more work!

3. There is WAAY to much magic. D&D has always had some sort of implied setting (by spell list, monsters, equipment, alignment, and classes) but the integration of the implied setting (a highly magical fantasy world) into the mechanics of 5th edition seems like it will be hard to separate if you want to play in a world with less (or no) magic. Cantrips in particular are troublesome. The idea that a wizard can produce offensive magic every six seconds is …odd. This is like comic book level power and I don’t like it. I think that this was an effort to “balance” the power level of classes which allows the use of a single XP chart for everyone. I understand the idea, but I actually prefer that some classes peak in power at different levels.

4. There is too much definition of abilities. The classes all have various “powers”. These powers each have associated mechanics. This complicates the game. I would argue that it also limits imagination and “role-playing”. Rather than inhabiting the imaginary space of the game and acting in novel and entertaining ways, players will peruse the list of things they can do on a record sheet and select the most appropriate action. This might make the game easier in a sense, since players do not have to actually be creative and DM’s don’t have to make rulings on impromptu actions, but it is antithetical to my preferred style of play. Rulings not Rules!

5. The game is very forgiving, almost to the point of what I would call “carebear”. Healing is easy, and it literally takes three failed saving throws to die. (With the exception of massive damage, but even then players start with max HP.) To me without the very real possibility of death, combat is dull and a character's actions are somewhat less than truly heroic. It also removes the sense of accomplishment a player has when their 1st level nobody with 3 hit points survives to become a Lordly Fighting-Man, or Omnipotent Wizard.

6. The books, while well written are irritatingly labeled by “part” rather than chapter at the bottom of the page. This annoyance is compounded by the text being a light brown on a beige background. Not very user friendly. The books also seem to be of poor physical quality, my DMG has “wavy” pages and the binding of all three seems dubious. I can deal with poor layout in a short book (I use the 3LBB for example) but these books are tomes with 300+ pages. Also, give me some .PDFs! I play online, and juggling the books and Roll20 is a pain. WOTC needs to release PDFs soon or I (and I’m sure others) will go get them in less than legal ways.

Perhaps some of these complaints will seem frivolous after more play. More likely, I need to approach the game from a different paradigm. This is not old school D&D. 5th edition is more like playing a board or video game about a medieval superhero on easy mode rather than the freewheeling and deadly improv of OD&D. I can dig a casual game; the problem is this game is complicated. Number bloat, lots of mechanically defined skills, difficult encounter creation. Perhaps experience will mitigate some of these complaints.

As it stands, I don’t think 5th edition is appropriate for The Saga of Godlauggr. The campaign is supposed to a dark and gritty exploration of 9th century Norse life. There are some fantastical elements, but not Clerics raining Divine Fire on their enemies ten times a minute. If I were more familiar with 5th edition, I would just hack it to accommodate my desired campaigns as I do with old school D&D. I get the impression however that the game is not as easily modified as say b/x without “breaking” it.

I still want to explore the new D&D if no other reason than to figure out what to steal for my old school games. I’m just not sure what an appropriate campaign is. I don’t really care to DM traditional D&D high fantasy with super powered Tieflings and such flinging magic willy-nilly. Perhaps I can convince someone else in my group to run by the book 5th edition…