There are just some more questions that I need to know before I can get into this edition for real:
If you have the Player’s Handbook, the Monster Manual and, in the future, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, do you still need to read the free PDF? I mean, the content of the books are enough or reading the free pdf is necessary?
What the developers have showed, or said, in terms of alternative casting systems?
What about setting/cosmology issues? Which settings will get support? Cosmology would be more fixed or more flexible? What the developers have said about it? I’m greatly worried about Nerath setting, for personal reasons, so, this is kind of a big deal.
1. If you have the Player’s Handbook, the Monster Manual and, in the future, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, do you still need to read the free PDF? I mean, the content of the books are enough or reading the free pdf is necessary?
The Content of the books are enough. The PDF just repeat portions of the books, while the books have all the content of the PDFs plus more.
2. What the developers have showed, or said, in terms of alternative casting systems?
They have said there will be alternatives in the DMG, and I believe they said it will at leaat include a spell point system.
3. What about setting/cosmology issues? Which settings will get support? Cosmology would be more fixed or more flexible? What the developers have said about it? I’m greatly worried about Nerath setting, for personal reasons, so, this is kind of a big deal.
They have not confirmed anything, other than there is some existing support for Forgotten Realms (with reference to some other settings) and Mearls personally likes Greyhawk and they have said there is no single setting that is the default. The PHB makes references to a great many settings, such as including dieties from many settings. I do not know about Nerath.
Mistwell and CCS are, strictly speaking, corrent on the PDF vs book point. I would like to point out that the PDF can make a good table reference for players with digital devices, assuming your group is okay with these devices at the gaming table. This way you can get by with one PHB for a group.
As for Nerath, the current books don't really make direct references to specific people or places in Nerath, but a lot of the lore includes references that are consistant with 4e lore.
I have all of the books released so far, but I still use the PDFs sometimes. Like everyone has said, you don't need them at all, but they are handy (at least the "printable" versions) for super quick searches using CTL-F on a computer rather than having to skim through the book/indexes, at least for the basic parts of the rules.
Well, let’s comment the responses:
- Oh, good. That was just a question because I didn’t want to read the pdf and then read the same stuff in the core books, you know. Well, that was useful advice.
- I don’t like the current magic system, so alternatives would be great! I mean, I could live with it if the #3 went well, but that would be much better.
- Well, this is the biggest point. I like both 4e and previous editions, but the setting was great! I just need to put the setting into the game and run, perhaps with small changes; I accept that possibility, but not a ton of work.
To be fair, since I left the playtest, I was pretty afraid of the new edition, but, as people have talked here and there, I think I will like it. My left had a great deal of “politics” issue. Well, we’ll see what happens.
alienux wrote:
cassi_brazuca wrote:
Dracones wrote:
There are a number of Nentir Vale elements borrowed from Greyhawk, and some have arguied Nentir Vale was originally intended to be Greyhawk, advanced by quite a bit of time. Here is a list of some borrowed elements.
As for the Nerath deal, if you have (or access to) any previous edition material (as in all settings), you're set. I am not holding my breath for an "official" 5th Ed Al-Qadim campaign setting.
They would probably screw it up anyway, as they seem to do when carrying over a campaign setting to a new edition.
Mistwell wrote:
cassi_brazuca wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
cassi_brazuca wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
cassi_brazuca wrote:
5E already explicitly references the World Axis Cosmolgy of the Feywild, World, and Shadowfell. It just nests all of those inside the Prime Material Plane of this editions version of the Great Wheel.
Brock_Landers wrote:
Always thought the story pushing forward really made dragonlance and forgotten realms great, greyhawk is good too, but i tend to static that one, but always make the players the motivators of change.
DemoMonkey wrote:
cassi_brazuca wrote:
cassi_brazuca wrote:
caridhor wrote:
cassi_brazuca wrote:
Well, I got a very strong mixed reaction. They put some 4e things in the PHB, but many of them are very different. For example, the Feywild is described as 3e Plane of Faerie. The Shadowfell is described as 3e Plane of Shadow. The Elemental Chaos is described in a new, Planescape-y fashion, and there’s no mention of 4e pantheon. I think I’ll need to know what’s in the DMG and the MM before I can get into the edition for real.
Default is essentially the Great Wheel as we know it, with some minor modifications and some World Axis names mapped to Great Wheel locations
Mirtek wrote:
5e's multiverse is 4e's and 3e's mashed together. (ie: great wheel, individual elemental planes, positive and negative energy planes + shadowfell and feywild...and an elemental chaos, sort of.)
I personally don't mind, as I like a book to publish it all, which allows me to take away. That's much easier than having to add stuff I want.
I also think that when and if we get setting books, they will have their classical interpretations. Eberron will have its thing, Dark Sun will have its thing, etc.
To the OP: In my opinion, if you like 4e, keep playing it. The world needs more 4e players 
If you like 3e/Pathfinder, but think it's too bloated, imbalanced, and/or complicated...5e is great. 5e is still all about caster superiority, but it's a lot better than it was in the TSR era, and the 3e era. I personally prefer 4e, but 5e has a lot of great ideas. Plus, the 5e books (all 2 of them) are very pretty to look at. My plan is to take what I like from 4e and 5e, and run with that. But I also just DM a small group of close friends, and I never play at stores or cons or with strangers...So, it's easy for me to cobble together my own edition.