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Arcane/Divine/Primal Spell Lists: Are the Benefits Real?
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<blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 8804719" data-attributes="member: 6988941"><p>In my experience pre-gens and suggested options are great for a few new players who just want to get into the action, but that the majority of new players are drawn to some degree by character creation and don't particularly want to make a character like every other character of that class. Even new players who will mostly unquestioningly accept the recommendations of a veteran player for spell choices or what have you, often seem to turn up their noses at WotC's suggested list (they don't want to build <em>the man's </em>Wizard). Ultimately pre-gens and quick-build suggestions are great to have, but they are not a replacement for accessible game design. </p><p></p><p>What makes game design accessible is not to make it simple so much as to have players introduced to systems gradually. People aren't dumb, but there is a limit to how much new stuff they can process when the whole game is still abstract. If anything 5e D&D was already too front-loaded with stuff you need to digest right off the bat before you can play your first session, and so far OneD&D is just shaping up to be worse on this front.</p><p></p><p>The reason I take particular issue with the three spell list system is not because it is, in itself gamebreaking, but that I worry that the designers, like some commenters, think that "three is a smaller number of lists than one for each spellcasting class, hence it is simpler". It is "simpler" for people who have achieved a high level of system mastery and already know it, but it is not "simpler" for beginner or intermediate players trying to digest it an make informed decisions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Benjamin Olson, post: 8804719, member: 6988941"] In my experience pre-gens and suggested options are great for a few new players who just want to get into the action, but that the majority of new players are drawn to some degree by character creation and don't particularly want to make a character like every other character of that class. Even new players who will mostly unquestioningly accept the recommendations of a veteran player for spell choices or what have you, often seem to turn up their noses at WotC's suggested list (they don't want to build [I]the man's [/I]Wizard). Ultimately pre-gens and quick-build suggestions are great to have, but they are not a replacement for accessible game design. What makes game design accessible is not to make it simple so much as to have players introduced to systems gradually. People aren't dumb, but there is a limit to how much new stuff they can process when the whole game is still abstract. If anything 5e D&D was already too front-loaded with stuff you need to digest right off the bat before you can play your first session, and so far OneD&D is just shaping up to be worse on this front. The reason I take particular issue with the three spell list system is not because it is, in itself gamebreaking, but that I worry that the designers, like some commenters, think that "three is a smaller number of lists than one for each spellcasting class, hence it is simpler". It is "simpler" for people who have achieved a high level of system mastery and already know it, but it is not "simpler" for beginner or intermediate players trying to digest it an make informed decisions. [/QUOTE]
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Community
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Arcane/Divine/Primal Spell Lists: Are the Benefits Real?
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