Jacob Lewis
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Jacob Lewis Do you do weddings as well?

Good news, everyone! D&D came out with a new product this year, which can be purchased multiple times in multiple formats! And as always, it's not really D&D unless it skews common perceptions of classic races, displaces iconic characters into a catch-all setting that has become a distant echo of it's former glory, and has been preceeded by more sneak peeks and tantalizing previews than a traveling showgirl troupe performing an outside show in the park. Let's move on already to the next item hinted at for release and begin the 6+ month journey of hype and speculation for another collection of uninspiring and recycled ideas! 5e 4evar!! ;) Whats your issue. Cause very little of the stuff you stated there is true. I actually don’t think of Elves as frivolous or carefree. To me that describes Halflings moreso than Elves. I think of Elves as being quite haughty and a bit solemn (like most of the Lord of the Rings Elves), even though they do appreciate the finer things (fancy attire , arch...

Good news, everyone! D&D came out with a new product this year, which can be purchased multiple times in multiple formats! And as always, it's not really D&D unless it skews common perceptions of classic races, displaces iconic characters into a catch-all setting that has become a distant echo of it's former glory, and has been preceeded by more sneak peeks and tantalizing previews than a traveling showgirl troupe performing an outside show in the park. Let's move on already to the next item hinted at for release and begin the 6+ month journey of hype and speculation for another collection of uninspiring and recycled ideas! 5e 4evar!! ;) Rawr

So the son of legendary personality who helped create the world's most popular role-playing game, that is now more popular and profitable than it has ever been, believes someone should help invest and create a video game based on his father's other works using another pen and paper role-playing system he designed, but feels that pen and paper role-playing is dying...? Maybe someone could invite him to a game, or a convention, or an organized event, or board game group, or tournament, or this forum! He is obviously out of touch with the reality of our alternate realities. He is a big Magic The Gathering player and attends GaryCon. IIRC Alex ran a game at GaryCon X (2018).

Good news, everyone! D&D came out with a new product this year, which can be purchased multiple times in multiple formats! And as always, it's not really D&D unless it skews common perceptions of classic races, displaces iconic characters into a catch-all setting that has become a distant echo of it's former glory, and has been preceeded by more sneak peeks and tantalizing previews than a traveling showgirl troupe performing an outside show in the park. Let's move on already to the next item hinted at for release and begin the 6+ month journey of hype and speculation for another collection of uninspiring and recycled ideas! 5e 4evar!! ;) I am looking forward to it. The "skewing" is irrelevant, as I modified such things for my world anyway.

Good news, everyone! D&D came out with a new product this year, which can be purchased multiple times in multiple formats! And as always, it's not really D&D unless it skews common perceptions of classic races, displaces iconic characters into a catch-all setting that has become a distant echo of it's former glory, and has been preceeded by more sneak peeks and tantalizing previews than a traveling showgirl troupe performing an outside show in the park. Let's move on already to the next item hinted at for release and begin the 6+ month journey of hype and speculation for another collection of uninspiring and recycled ideas! 5e 4evar!! ;) You seem angry about something. What's up?

The cast of Critical Role has a long history of voice credits in video games, including Shadows of War and Hearthstone. Johnson won an award for a horror game, I think it was The Last of Us. And so on. I believe the significance of this game is that it could be the first time that everyone from the show has worked together for a single project. Yes...that's what the first two sentences of the column said... They're well-known voice actors, and this is the first time they've worked together as a group as "Critical Role". As in that's how they're being billed and promoted, instead of as individual casting.

Here's what had bothered me for the longest time, and I am quite serious on this: "Race" is largely acceptable in fantasy genres where they were once classified in older games as "human" and "demi-human". The connection was the assimption that all human-like races were evolved or created from the same mold in the same world by different deities as different expressions and aspects of the world created. I find this acceptable and meaningful and not overly concerned with modern alertism and hyper-sensitive overreactions. Yeah, makes sense to me. My only beef, speaking strictly in game terms, is how there is little emphasis on actual cultural differences for humans. Elves have come in all kinds of flavors, complete with significant changes in character packages, options, midifiers, etc. Elves being the primary example, of course, as we see similar treatments for dwarves, halflings, and other fantasy staples. But humans, who traditionally dominate the landscape as the most numerous, most varie...

My only beef, speaking strictly in game terms, is how there is little emphasis on actual cultural differences for humans. Elves have come in all kinds of flavors, complete with significant changes in character packages, options, midifiers, etc. Elves being the primary example, of course, as we see similar treatments for dwarves, halflings, and other fantasy staples. But humans, who traditionally dominate the landscape as the most numerous, most varied, and most adaptable race on nearly every world is left flavorless, untouched, and purely vanilla.Going back to 3E, humans were given an extra skill point and an extra feat specifically for the purpose of reflecting their many varied cultural backgrounds. Where all elves are proficient in swords and bows, because there's only one elven culture and this is a feature of that culture, there's such a wide variety of human cultures that some of them are going to have proficiency in Swimming and the Trident while others are proficient in Rope Use and Toughn...

You totally missed the funny parts!! And then turned it into a serious reply!? Look at the laugh clicks, man! Okay, fine. Happy now? :)

My only beef, speaking strictly in game terms, is how there is little emphasis on actual cultural differences for humans. Yes, but I wouldn't touch that with a 31 1/2 foot pole. I agree that there are cultural differences between humans, and I've even experimented with allowing players to choose "culture" when they choose race. (Unlike most games, all elves in my game belong to the same race. There are no packages for wood elves, snow elves, or high elves.) The problem is that I started listing out culture packages for Concheeri, Averni, Har, Destrian, Tumeesi, and things were fine but as soon as I started working on ethnic groups in the fantasy world with darker shades of skin color, I realized that someone would come along and assume that my fantasy culture packages were in some way commenting on the real world. And to avoid that I'd have to go out of my way to explode expectations and that would put constraints on my fantasy world that were still based on the real world, in the sa...

Well what would you suggest they wear for protection? As Tony Vargas has already pointed out, scale mail + 14 Dex is just as good as chain mail + 14 Str. It's six of one and half a dozen of the other as far as I'm concerned.

Any revised setting: not compatible with 5th edition. Otherwise I won't care what they do with it. (Sounds harsh that way, doesn't it? Oh well. Can't really dress that up.) You don't need to dress it up, because there's literally zero value in posting it. Seriously, you're more than welcome to dislike 5E, but exactly what's to be gained from posting--in a 5E thread, on a 5E forum, specifically about reviving settings into 5E--that you don't care for it? It's negativity, not for any constructive purpose but for its own sake, and I honestly can't imagine you didn't have a better use for the time and effort, minor as they both must be, that it took to post that.

That's cool. Now I know what to play if I don't want to waste time counting experience points and leveling up! OR: you could skip jumping through proverbial wild shape/rest mechanic hoops & just ask your DM if you could play a bear....

(Seriously, though. How has the concept of "sources of power" eluded you? Arcane is mystic (wizards, sorcerers, bards, swordmages). Divine is blessings (clerics, paladins, avengers, invokers). Primal is nature (druids, barbarians, wardens, and shamans). Martial is mundane (fighters, rangers, rogues, and warlords). You really don't see it?) Sources of power haven't eluded me. Sources of power when strictly speaking about the realm of tactical combat as you defined are the puzzle. When you limited the discussion to just that, but then said that power source was just as big a choice as the role, I am missing what the role of power sources is on combat. For example, how does 4d12 fire damage in a 20'r sphere with a DEX save differ based on if it's an arcane striker vs. a primal striker? How does 4d6+4 healing as a bonus action at 30' range differ if it's from a martial leader vs. a divine leader?

Since this is primarily a game of tactical combat (you're only fooling yourself if you want to argue otherwise), I would start by looking at what role the class is intended to play on the battlefield, and then the source of it's power. On the first order, which some have already pointed out, you have tanks, damage dealers, manipulators, and support. Let's call them Defenders, Strikers , Controllers, and... I suppose Leaders? Then we look at sources from which classes derive their abilities. For example, melee or weapon users use Martial abilities, wizards use Arcane, and clerics have Divine.... Hold on. This looks familiar. Has this already been done?! Not well. *ducking* On a more serious note, staying within the bounds you set of focusing on the game as tactical combat, where does the power source enter into it? Early in the thread there was a power-source as recharge mechanic for mudnane=at-will, divine=short rest, and arcane=long rest, but no, that actually hasn't been done be...

It is far more accessible than any other edition to date. Simple, solid, streamlined rules with a very light and focused production schedule allowing for easy entry into the community at any given time. Open exposure and endorsement over social media outlets, along with online streaming and support. 5e has everything going the right way for new players, and old players who may have felt left out by the departure of classic designs during 4th edition's brief tenure. How could it possibly fail? Don't get me wrong, though. I am not a fan of the game. To me, they played it too safe, and that is boring and uninteresting to me. I am no longer in the target demographic. I have played the system for many years since the early 80s when it was never as popular. My best experiences happened during that brief period of dangerous innovation in 4e. Now I have discovered more sophisticated and satisfying games better suited for my personal style of gaming and narrative. And I cannot help but look at this ...

I'm looking at this in game terms. When you were learning the skills in real life, I doubt (hope) someone wasn't telling you how to use your three actions and only one opportunity to react on your opponent's turn. At any rate, I think this is better than just having a passive bonus for just holding it, which anyone can technically do. The game only requires proficiency, which assumes the character is doing more than just holding it in front. But someone trained to fight and use one effectively as yourself, and like the fighter, can also use it to bash foes unexpectedly, throwing them off balance, shield nearby allies without losing his own footing, or whatever extra tricks he might learn so that is more than just a portable wall. There were tricks you could do, but I always felt that the game over-estimated the facility/utility of a shield as a weapon. A shield bash with the flat of the shield was really a *shoulder* bash, done with your shield held fairly close to you. If you over extend ...

I love the idea of shields as an active component rather than a passive bonus. You *choose* to wield a shield, and decide *how* to use it each round. Raise for defense. React to bash. Defend an ally. All interactive decisions. Brilliant! And how many editions before someone finally figured a way to make shields so appealing and fun? As someone with some experience* with sword and shield fighting... I don't know how I feel about this. You sacrifice an action to use your shield... but I can tell you that just holding your shield tight to you you already have denied your foe a lot of angles of attack (in fact, using your shield *too much* makes it easier for the foe to knock it out of alignment and creating an opening). (this was a fairly large shield, not a buckler, but not quite a tower shield either). So it's silly to me that you are sacrificing an action to use your shield! On the other hand... part of learning how to use a shield is not just about learning how to use it for defense - it...

These are not improvements, they are straight-jackets. The absolutist statements are the straightjackets. The flaws that ban good alignment are more straightjacketing than my revisions (excepting the cases where there are multiple revisions presented where one is clearly intended to not be used for good alignment characters). Flaws that aren't flaws aren't straightjackets, necessarily, but they're not flaws either. You are simply removing the players' ability to interpret the vague suggestions into your own personal interpretations. Untrue. Absolutist statements are excessively specific. Reading over the list again. They're not very good examples. I was just being nice. That's nice. You litter strong writing with vague, weak descriptors, like "very", "sometimes", and "often". Hmm... I thought your complaint was the opposite of this one? Remember the awful straightjacketing? Now, you're complaining that the flaws are too loosely-written. Hmm... Then you include your own personal motivatio...

I thought D&D Beyond *was* the Infernal option... Do you have to sign a contract to use it? :devil: Better read the fine print....