Transformer
Explorer
Now that we've talked about everything important from the second packet, it's time for a thread about incredibly petty things from the playtest that bug you. As in, you'd deserve to get snarked at if you ever called them dealbreakers.
1. I hate 3 foot tall halflings. Seriously. I know this debate has been had before, but I remain convinced that most people who think they want 3 foot tall halfling simply aren't picturing it right. Stand up from your computer, right now, and go get a yard stick. Please, just do it. Stay standing, and set the yard stick on the ground. Now imagine a person of normal human shape whose head juuuuuuust barely touches the three foot marker. It's ridiculous. I've heard it said that halflings are comically as small as toddlers; I'd say that's wrong. They're even smaller than toddlers. Toddlers are at least kinda round and broad and have big heads. 3 ft. halflings are just absurd. Halflings should be at least in the 3 1/2 to 4 ft. range, and dwarves in the 4 ft. to 4 1/2 ft. range.
In fact, I hate a few of the racial flavor conventions we've gone back. Elves spending 20 years in diapers, anyone?
2. The DM Guidelines packet actually tells DMs that they don't have to pick a DC before asking for a skill check, and that they can instead wait for a die roll and then just kinda decide on a whim whether it was a success or failure. No, no, NO! That's an awful habit to get into. It's too easy as a DM to let your psychology get in the way. Always try to set a DC before you see the roll. Otherwise you'll find yourself doing things like "well, the result was a 16, but the guy only rolled a 9 on the actual die, so no..." or "well, he got a 22 on the roll, and that probably would've been my DC, but you know, this was really supposed to be a hard thing to accomplish, and I was kinda expecting the roll to fail, so no..." Just remove the temptation and set the DC beforehand. That's the right advice for new DMs.
3. One ounce of ink costs 10 gold? What the heck? I mean, even if we're assuming a medieval-esque setting where most people can't write, and ink is reasonably expensive, seriously? 10 friggin' gold? That's what a normal D&D denizen makes in three months isn't it? How about 1 gold.
1. I hate 3 foot tall halflings. Seriously. I know this debate has been had before, but I remain convinced that most people who think they want 3 foot tall halfling simply aren't picturing it right. Stand up from your computer, right now, and go get a yard stick. Please, just do it. Stay standing, and set the yard stick on the ground. Now imagine a person of normal human shape whose head juuuuuuust barely touches the three foot marker. It's ridiculous. I've heard it said that halflings are comically as small as toddlers; I'd say that's wrong. They're even smaller than toddlers. Toddlers are at least kinda round and broad and have big heads. 3 ft. halflings are just absurd. Halflings should be at least in the 3 1/2 to 4 ft. range, and dwarves in the 4 ft. to 4 1/2 ft. range.
In fact, I hate a few of the racial flavor conventions we've gone back. Elves spending 20 years in diapers, anyone?
2. The DM Guidelines packet actually tells DMs that they don't have to pick a DC before asking for a skill check, and that they can instead wait for a die roll and then just kinda decide on a whim whether it was a success or failure. No, no, NO! That's an awful habit to get into. It's too easy as a DM to let your psychology get in the way. Always try to set a DC before you see the roll. Otherwise you'll find yourself doing things like "well, the result was a 16, but the guy only rolled a 9 on the actual die, so no..." or "well, he got a 22 on the roll, and that probably would've been my DC, but you know, this was really supposed to be a hard thing to accomplish, and I was kinda expecting the roll to fail, so no..." Just remove the temptation and set the DC beforehand. That's the right advice for new DMs.
3. One ounce of ink costs 10 gold? What the heck? I mean, even if we're assuming a medieval-esque setting where most people can't write, and ink is reasonably expensive, seriously? 10 friggin' gold? That's what a normal D&D denizen makes in three months isn't it? How about 1 gold.
