Wizards of the Coast recently released the Fifth Edition (5E) of Dungeons & Dragons. After years of playing Pathfinder, having been disappointed by 4th Edition, my friends and I have decided to try out Fifth, and I’m really pleased with what they’ve come up with.

Generally, they’ve streamlined the rules a lot compared to 3rd Edition, 3.5(th?) Edition, and Pathfinder. This means quicker play with heavier emphasis on ad hoc rulings and DM judgment calls. There are fewer modifiers that you have to keep track of, which means that the fighter isn’t attacking with his +1 abacus anymore. Wizards and clerics are also much more flexible now, which makes them much easier to play for novices.

The game feels more rooted in story. More than half of the races in the Player’s Handbook, for example, are considered “uncommon” races, and players are cautioned to check with their DM about whether these races are allowed, because they might not make sense (or might not exist at all) in the campaign the DM is running. Usually DM discretion about such things is focused on situations where picking a particular build option might break the game mechanically.

Maybe my favorite little piece of flair is a mechanic called inspiration. A player can gain inspiration at the DM’s choosing when they’ve done something that the DM feels deserves it, usually rooted in the character. So if your character has a thing against enslavement, and picks a fight with a slaver that wasn’t otherwise necessary, the DM might give the player inspiration, because the character is inspired to right this wrong, or get their MacGuffin, or what have you. When a player has inspiration, they can use it to gain advantage on an attack, ability check, or saving throw. It’s not huge, but there are also no rules or even guidelines suggesting how often a DM should give it out, so you could be quite liberal with it.

I’m still cherry picking through the Player’s Handbook—I’ve read some comments on Reddit from people saying they’re reading it cover-to-cover, but this seems very tedious—and I’m discovering little changes from 3.5 here and there pretty much every time I pick it up. So far, I’m not displeased with any of them at all. I tend to compare it to 3.5 more than 4th Edition because 4th Edition was dramatically different in so many ways, and Fifth is much closer to 3.5 than it is to 4th; it feels like a return to form, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

The Monster Manual and the Dungeon Master’s Guide come out in the next months. I’m itching to get my hands on them. Now please!