Broken NDAs or Elaborate Trolls?

Oni · Feb 16, 2012

Mircoles said:
The return of vancian magic means that I won't be playing it.

Couldn't you just drop the wizard and use the sorcerer and warlock for instance?

You know, provided they don't build enough alternatives into the "Vancian" classes in the first place to make it a moot point.

JamesonCourage · Feb 16, 2012

Well, if it's accurate, it's pretty "meh" right now. But, it's early. Let's see where it goes.

Siberys · Feb 16, 2012

Alaxk Knight of Galt said:
I'll point out that this information falls into one of two catagories

1. Hoax / Troll
2. Violation of NDA material that is still in development

I'll wait patiently for the beta playtest this spring.

Well, of course. That's a given. Doesn't change that I don't like what I'm hearing. I'm excited for the playtest, too, but reports like this continually erode my confidence in it.

I won't make a final judgement until at least after the playtest, and maybe not until the official release. It's just that stuff like this ain't heartening.

FitzTheRuke · Feb 16, 2012

Iosue said:
Personally, the rest system makes sense to me. If we look at loss of hp as being loss of energy and vitality (until that last few critical hp), it jives very much with my own experience in sustained exercise. At first short rests have an effect, but as the sustained exertion continues, short rests have less and less of an effect, and longer ones need to be taken. An hour into mountain hiking, a short rest does wonders. Two, three hours later, the same rest hardly seems to help. It feels nice when you're not doing anything, but as soon as you start hiking again, the soreness and tiredness returns. As a matter of fact, I'd adjust the system even further: first 10 minute rest gives you level x2 hp back, second 10 minute rest gives you level x1 hp back, third gives you nothing. An hour long rest gives you the level x1 hp rest back, and the eight hour rest resets the whole thing.

Of course, I don't need all the complication, so I'm just as likely to go with the system as detailed by the playtester. But, yeah, I totally buy how it works. It fits my experience.

I think it's the best of both worlds. Has a little simulation, but it's not as cumbersome as some are trying to make it sound.

All you'd need is a little spot on the character sheet that says "Rest" and lists the HP's you'd receive. Like a 1st level character with a 12 con would say:

Rest: 1/1/6/6 (Listed as 10 min / 10 min / 1 hour / 8 hour)

As you take your rests you just scratch 'em out and and the HP and erase your scratches in the morning (of course, that means you wouldn't need to scratch the extended rest.

Not exactly a lot of bookeeping. I think one of the problems people have with it is it SOUNDS complicated, not that it IS complicated.

Besides, without going all the way to "Warrior Needs Food... Badly" I've always wondered why rests weren't more connected to breaking-out-the-rations meal times. (Seriously!) This makes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a night's sleep.

All things *I* need to regain hit points.

Tom Servo · Feb 16, 2012

I mean, it's literally modeled after a work day, isn't it? Two ten minute breaks and a lunch.

Great, now all I can picture are the characters and monsters punching-in at a dungeon a la Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog.

"Mornin Tordek"
"Mornin Slognar"

Alaxk Knight of Galt · Feb 16, 2012

Siberys said:
Well, of course. That's a given. Doesn't change that I don't like what I'm hearing. I'm excited for the playtest, too, but reports like this continually erode my confidence in it.

I won't make a final judgement until at least after the playtest, and maybe not until the official release. It's just that stuff like this ain't heartening.

I wasn't pointing at you in particular Siberys, but the group of people who are looking at a spilled glass of milk and saying that the cow must be bad.

Until the NDA is lifted, I'm assuming that my fellow DnD players are honorable enough not to break their word or smart enough not to cross a multi-billion dollar corporation (Hasbro).

If you are unfamilar, WotC takes posting classified information seriously. The saga of Rancored Elf (aka Hasbro v. Rutter) from Magic the Gathering fame should be warning enough.

ggroy · Feb 16, 2012

Alaxk Knight of Galt said:
If you are unfamilar, WotC takes posting classified information seriously. The saga of Rancored Elf (aka Hasbro v. Rutter) from Magic the Gathering fame should be warning enough.

First they'll have to be able to trace it precisely to a particular individual doing the leak. Otherwise it will be a difficult "Joe Doe" lawsuit.

Dragonblade · Feb 16, 2012

I can't believe that they have rolling for critical confirmation!!!!! Grrr!!

Thats such a stupid rule. It was one of the first things we house ruled out of 3e and our Pathfinder games. Even the Pathfinder diehards in my group think its stupid.

As far as healing goes, I'd rather have the healing system be a 3e OR a 4e style healing and you choose which. Rather than some weird hybrid compromise.

FitzTheRuke · Feb 16, 2012

Dragonblade said:
I can't believe that they have rolling for critical confirmation!!!!! Grrr!!

Thats such a stupid rule. It was one of the first things we house ruled out of 3e and our Pathfinder games. Even the Pathfinder diehards in my group think its stupid.

While I don't like "confirming crits" either, it's not really what was described (though I'm not sure what was described was all that good either).

What was described was that you roll a 20, you get max damage (like a 4e crit) and then you can roll an additional attack for an extra die of damage equal to your classes' hit die (weird idea).

Not really the same thing as "confirming crit" - more like "Crit, then roll to see if your crit's even better".

This is one of those ones that, assuming it's even true at all, is probably just something they're testing out.

In fact, this is something everyone should keep in mind:

WotC could very likely put stuff into the playtests as "control" elements. In other words, they could put in experimental stuff that they have no intention of keeping, just to see what the feedback is like on it. This information could give them a better idea of how their feedback is working and is another big reason why the NDA in the first place.

Lab Monkey · Feb 16, 2012

Unlike the hoax from yesterday, I think this leak is real. The same information on resting was posted at the forms at forums.somethingawful.com right after D&DXP. It's still worth being skeptical as it could be the same person posting in multiple locations.

I find the resting mechanic to be really clunky and ineligant. As with much of the information that has been revealed so far, I prefer the 4e approach. Hopefully the playtest feedback will lead to an improved final product.