Saint&Sinner
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Sage has been doing a series of responses to the L&L columns. The latest is very very interesting.
Syntax Error | How I’d Make D&D Next
Syntax Error | How I’d Make D&D Next
The cost to play DND would skyrocket, and, in the end, won't be for anyone.Sage has been doing a series of responses to the L&L columns. The latest is very very interesting.
Syntax Error | How I’d Make D&D Next
The core rule book, the first thing a new player sees, absolutely must have a simple set of rules that the player can read through and understand right away. The worst possible mistake Wizards can make is to make the core books too intimidating for new players. A group of five kids, having never seen a D&D book before, should be able to skim the books and be able to run a game on their own. Any sort of modularity should be listed only in the DMG or in the back of the PHB, with a warning in bold that this is only for advanced players.
The Spycraft system handles modularity very well. The core game is a modern James Bond style d20 system, but the system can be adapted to other settings with the use of qualities, each quality changing one rule about the game. Then there are different campaign settings, each setting applying a few qualities. For example, a quality might be "Bottomless Bullets: You have unlimited ammo," or "Extra Deadly: NPCs die as soon as they reach zero HP." Then, to play a Rambo style setting, you'd apply the Bottomless Bullets and Extra Deadly qualities, and maybe a couple others. I could see D&D going this route, where each DM is free to add a set of patches on the core rules.