While I'm also not a big fan of tieflings and dragonborn--and kind of wish they'd been reserved for a second PHB, so as not to taint the primary PHB
--I do appreciate that WOTC put everything in one book. Because, let's face it, having to buy a second PHB is dumb. That's one of the things I hated about 4E: no half-orcs or gnomes in the first PHB. Having all race and class combinations is strange for old-timers like us, but I guess it makes sense for people who don't want to be limited, or who want to play against type. Of course, with no restrictions, there's no real type to play against!
I like the advantage/disadvantage mechanic, and the emphasis on story-telling versus minis and battle maps. While I do like the idea of character backgrounds, with ideals and flaws and the like, I can see many experienced players ditching the formality that goes with them, not wanting to pick a flaw from a list, for example. It's a little too close to rolling for personality traits in the original DMG, which Mr. Gygax explicitly told players NOT to do.
Anybody get the starter set? Mine arrived in the mail yesterday. It looks pretty good. One thing that's kind of funny, though: while the basic rules PDF available for free is a subset of the rules in the PHB, the Player's Guide in the starter set is a subset of the basic rules, or a
sub-subset of the PHB. I printed out the basic rules when they first came out, but of course they've been revised since then. It seems wasteful to print out the rules all over again just for a new background and a few spells. While I'm tempted to see how far I can go with just the free basic rules and the starter set, I'm also tempted to just say, "Screw this," throw out the basic rules and just buy the PHB. Hmmm...maybe that was the master plan all along...
The Lost Mine of Phandelver looks decent. I like how it's a real mini-campaign, whereas prior starter sets, because they've included battle maps and minis, had very short adventures. Here's 3 or 4 rooms with goblins and kobolds. Go nuts! Phandelver is much better in that regard. Also, the wilderness map is printed on hex paper, which bodes well for more old-school awesomeness to come.
The only thing wrong with the intro adventure so far is that it doesn't start with one of the following two sentences:
1. Your party is now approaching the Village of Hommlet, having ridden up from lands of the Wild Coast.
2. The Realm of mankind is narrow and constricted.
There's really just no topping T1 and B2 for introductory modules.
Get thee to the dungeon. Get thee to the dungeon forthwith. Pass not the barbican. Amass not 200 GP.