2e GCP Playtest Breakdown

I listened to the first 4 episodes of the Glass Cannon Podcast playing the 2e playtest, and I took notes! The first two episodes I didn’t think to write down times, but I did for 3 and 4. I will continue collecting the notes into a Google Doc as more playtests release (if they do). My Google Doc


Episode 1

perception is no longer a skill. classes not trained in perception roll a wisdom check. classes trained in perception roll wisdom + level. experts in perception roll wisdom + level + 1

initiative is now based on what you are doing. if you are tracking, you roll survival. if you are sneaking, you roll stealth. otherwise, you roll perception

3 actions a round. 1 reaction a round. 1 attack is an action. move is an action. most spells are two actions. you can attack 3 times at first level, with penalties for each additional attack. magic missile is one action, and you can cast it 3 times in a round.

each component of a spell (V, S) takes an action for a spell. which is why magic missile is only one action

CMB/CMD are gone. Athletic skill check as an attack to grapple

fighter had “sudden charge” that took two actions to move double speed and attack once, not requiring a straight line

drawing weapons, sheathing weapons, jumping, climbing on things, “seek” to use knowledge (arcana) against an illusion … all actions

step action replaces 5-foot adjust … it is a move that doesn’t provoke a reaction

skill checks, including perception/knowledge, in combat are actions

getting an AC bonus from an equipped shield requires an action; but enables a reaction (i think related to being attacked)(edited)

unless the reaction is something like counter/block/stop an attack(edited)

reaction options are based on class; attack of opportunity is a fighter reaction(edited)

alchemist can use “quick bomber” feat to draw two bombs with one action, and one action each to throw them

wizard used action to recall arcane knowledge (knowledge arcana check) then used action to move to ally then waited to use reaction to aid that ally in disbelieving(edited)

Episode 2

skill unlocks to heal hit point loss

sounds like skill unlocks are a core mechanic?

class feats roughly every other level

martial/skill class gets a class feat at 1st, spellcasters don’t

lay on hands 1d4 + spellcasting modifier (level + attribute mod = spellcasting modifier); class feat bumps from 1d4 to 1d6

channel energy is now free uses of heal spell; 1 action touch, 2 actions within 30 feat, 3 actions burst of 30 feet

3 action burst does both heal living *and* harm undead

i missed the exact way he worded it, but i believe yes, there is negative(edited)

they aren’t discussing it straight up, i am literally pausing to type out questions they ask about their sheet and feats :laughing: (as they play)(edited)

they have used the word “proficiency” a couple times, so it might be there

i think “cure light wounds” is now “heal” and i think the “heal” spell simply scales with level … so “channel energy” is a class ability/feature that lets you use “heal” @CreeperCoffin

it seems like the wizard might be reading from his book in combat to cast, but it could just be the character’s quirk of keeping the book handy

expert quality shortsword (replaces masterwork)

master quality shortsword has +2 bonus

poor quality is less than normal (seems like -1)(edited)

legend quality is +3 (and is best without magic)

sounds like expert crafter and master crafter and legendary crafter is/are a feat chain

Perception (or any skill) DC is your bonus +10; Stealth isn’t opposed, it is your Stealth vs. their Perception DC(edited)

especially to aid saves!

illusion magic now can foil detect magic !!!

many spells increase in level as you do (heal, detect); and so a detect magic of lower level than the illusion spell will not notice the illusion

cantrips still exist; so my idea of just renumbering current 0-9 to 1-10 is wrong

it would seem the scaling spells from occult adventures is a part of core now(edited)

medicine check (likely replaces “heal”)

climbing down a hill, using rope, required acrobatics skill check … further implies consolidated skills

untrained acrobatics was dex mod – 1

hp comes from class + race (assume ancestry) + con

missing a check by 10 or more is a fumble

hampered condition: hampered 5 means speed reduced by 5 feet

human starting speed 25; human in chain mail speed 20

encumbrance is replaced with bulk

you can carry bulk equal to half your strength (based on the way it was explained that two characters with 18 strength each can carry 18 bulk)(edited)

alchemists make bombs (and stuff) in the morning when wizards prepare spells

acid splash: verbal action and somatic action

the wording of low light sounded like they tweaked the way in which light works

possibly removing “distance limits”

i heard simply “low light lets you see in dim light as if it is normal light”

no distance was mentioned

exceeding armor class by 10 is a critical hit; causing double damage

fire ray; ranged touch spell (assuming 1st level)(edited)

it does sound like that, yes

athletics skill check against reflex DC to disarm an opponent

reflex dc (and thus fort/will) work like skill dc; modifier + 10

shield block: when you take damage while having your shield readied, use reaction to block damage equal to its hardness(edited)

shield only takes damage if it blocks more damage than its hardness, taking damage equal to the excess beyond the hardness

shield spell has only verbal component (and is cantrip)

you can cast multiple spells, same or different, per round

casting shield spell counts as the raise shield action; raising AC +1 till next turn; also allowing the shield block reaction; has hardness 4 only; dissipates when block used; shield block reaction can be used v magic missile(edited)

acid splash targets one 5 ft. square

fumbled save (failed save by 10 or more) causes spell to do double damage

fighter is trained in shield, thus shield bash is a normal attack just like a weapon attack

revision (Buhlman did it wrong the first time): 3 action burst positive energy heals living harms undead as said, but no die roll, just a flat value equal to your wisdom mod, undead don’t get a save; the skeletons they fought had weakness positive energy 2; when they take pos. energy damage, they take 2 more points of damage

Episode 3

(Times are the hour:minutes:seconds of the audio file)

7:15 – check for traps; GM asks for your perception value and rolls for you; bonuses for rogues to detect better are class feats (not selected on this character)

13:20 – damage for falling is 1 point per foot

15:00 – reflex save to avoid falling in pit, fumbled, doubled damage of fall

20:25 – nonlethal only matters for going unconcious, otherwise treated as normal damage

29:10 – in exploration mode, GM notes you are being stealthy (possibly he uses your stealth DC for enemy perceptions? But nothing is said either way)

32:50 – picking a lock is a thievery skill check; fumble broke pick in lock, giving it the “dented” quality, and thus penalties to use the picks (he said the pick set was “dented” and it sounded like it meant something, but nothing further was mentioned)

34:45 – occultism is a skill (use for identifying strange runes or symbols)

37:10 – natural 20 on attack is a critical hit, no need to confirm. Generally double damage on a critical hit. Deadly is a weapon property that does an additional 1d10 damage on a crit; Short bow has double damage on crit *and* the 1d10 from “deadly”. (didn’t say base damage for either crossbow or short bow)

39:40 – delay is still an option

39:50 – forbidding ward is a cantrip where you select one ally and one enemy, the ally gains a +1 to AC and Saves against that enemy

41:50 – 1 action, untrained diplomacy, charisma check -1

43:30 – society skill check to recognize a person from town

45:40 – multiple diplomacy checks have diminishing effects (not sure if a rule thing or a GM thing)

53:30 – lore/knowledge can be done untrained, but GM will limit what you can or cannot learn/know

54:20 – lore (underworld) is a skill about criminal underworld and thieves guilds

59:00 – potions of health (could have just been the in game label). Characters have a resonance score = level + charisma modifier. Activating magic items or drinking potions takes resonance. When your resonance reaches 0, you must start making checks to continue using magic items. A failed check, causes the use of the item to fail. A fumbled check cuts you off from resonance for the rest of the day. This means drinking a potion after being cut-off does nothing and wastes the potion.

59:40 – putting on magical breastplate cost resonance. When you put on items and prepare for the day, you “invest” resonance in them and they function for the rest of the day, even after you are cut off. If you have a magic sword that shoots a ray of fire, each use requires resonance.

1:01:05 – overspending resonance is a “flat check” (rolling a d20 with no modifiers) with a starting DC of 10 and goes up by one for every point you overspend your resonance. You are not cut-off until you fumble.

1:06:35 – condition: Sick 1; penalty of -1 to all checks/dcs … cannot eat or drink, including potions. Can spend action retching to remove condition. Fort save can reduce the effect by 1, or 2 on a critical success.

Episode 4

(Times are the hour:minutes:seconds of the audio file)

2:00 – perception dc is 10 + perception modifier

3:45 – “incorporeal/shadow” creature used an action to draw strength from PC (after a successful touch attack). Gives Enfeeble 1 condition. Penalty to all attack rolls, strength based checks, and damage equal to the value. (Wording used “conditional penalty” so there might be stacking of penalties based on what type of penalty, but I am speculating on this).

5:30 – “Tumble Through” action cannot be done untrained. Uses acrobatics check against Reflex DC. Fail means you don’t move, and could trigger reactions. Can try again if not stopped by a reaction. The check is a free action as part of the move action. Moving while tumbling doesn’t half speed, but a creature’s space counts as difficult terrain.

9:40 – two actions to ready an action

11:30 – walked through “incorporeal/shadow” creature. It had no reactions to attack with, so no harm was done.

15:25 – grabbed dagger and felt that it was magical

15:55 – +1 magic dagger deals 2d4 dice instead of 1d4 die

19:40 – perception to spot creature in combat is a “seek action”

22:30 – recall knowledge action – religion check; knows undead and incorporeal, positive energy does extra damage; magic weapons harm it

24:50 – Shield improves Touch AC

26:20 – nimble dodge reaction … improves AC, this use helped avoid a crit. (This implies that 10 above AC *and* nat 20 are crits.)

28:30 – attack against enemy, success (don’t know what the value was) provides bonus to ally’s attack bonus

29:15 – touch attack to lay on hands. Failed, but charge is still held.

30:35 – acid splash went through “shadow” creature (had no effect) and hit wall behind

33:00 – channel energy burst, healing 4 to all living and doing 6 damage to “shadow”; no conditions removed via channel

34:40 – enfeeble condition stacks; taking Enfeeble 1 twice becomes Enfeeble 2. Normally there is a cap on Enfeeble, except with shadows.

35:20 – aid another bonus is +2 to attack, for only one attack

36:25 – a second attack with an agile weapon (dagger) is only -3

37:44 – alchemist’s fire is not considered magical (assuming they meant bomb, and just mentioned this in case)

38:00 – can use multiple actions to aid multiple allies, but each action uses iterative penalties per normal attacks

39:50 – paladin lay on hands, has a class feat to do 1d6 (instead of 1d4) and adds spellcasting modifier

41:00 – wielded weapons (such as the magic dagger) do not require resonance or resonance checks to get the attack bonus and damage bonus

41:45 – items you wear have an entry in their listing that says “worn” telling you where and how you wear them. Items no longer have a “24 hours until considered permanent” note. No more limitations on how many of a type of items you can wear … other than physical … only one pair of boots because you only have two feet. 4 amulets ok, 10 rings ok. no ring of protection in the game anymore

44:00 – significantly fewer categories of bonuses you can get, and you only get best from each category

47:00 – Enfeeble penalty from Lesser Shadow fades away at a rate of 1 per hour

49:00 – preparing detect magic as a higher level spell will let you cast it to identify a magic item’s properties

51:10 – That particular sickened condition went away once the source was gone. Resting regains HP equal to Con mod (minimum 1) times your level = Con Mod * Level.

52:50 – alchemist doesn’t need resonance to use his own elixirs/potions

54:15 – alchemist elixir of life, minor: upon drinking this elixir, the alchemist regains 1d6 hit points. If you are at max HP when drinking this, you gain a +1 item bonus to Fort saves against toxins for 1 hour instead.

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