D&D 5E D&D Next Design Goals (Article)

[P1NBACK]

You have failed your insight check.

Some DMs like to avoid DM fiat whenever possible. That isn't because DM fiat is bad, but because its traits are not the preferred traits.

I do not especially care for seafood. I'll eat it if it's what's there, and it doesn't taste bad to me, but I never have a craving for it.

That doesn't mean I'm saying seafood is bad, it means that I prefer not-seafood. It also doesn't mean anyone is sneering at you if you are a sushi hound.

Perhaps. But, read your post again. It added nothing to the conversation except to mock my post.

I'm not saying rules are bad either. So, there's a flip side to the coin.

 

[Incenjucar]

Efficiency is valuable in internet discussions, just as defining terms is.

 

[billd91]

I do not especially care for seafood. I'll eat it if it's what's there, and it doesn't taste bad to me, but I never have a craving for it.

That doesn't mean I'm saying seafood is bad, it means that I prefer not-seafood. It also doesn't mean anyone is sneering at you if you are a sushi hound.

Perhaps not, but if you look at a lot of uses of DM Fiat around here (take a look at the OA thread) and you really do get the impression it's a negative term. It frequently gets equated with "Mother May I?" gaming and that clearly is used pejoratively.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Perhaps not, but if you look at a lot of uses of DM Fiat around here (take a look at the OA thread) and you really do get the impression it's a negative term. It frequently gets equated with "Mother May I?" gaming and that clearly is used pejoratively.

Well, DM Fiat, whatever else it is, is seldom neutral, bland, middle of the road.

DMs use DM Fiat like axes. When they use it well, to go get that tree out of the road, I'm all for it. When it is the drunk guy running around swinging an axe by an old leather cord, yelling, "I left my chainsaw at home, but this will do," I'm less enthused.

 

[Incenjucar]

Perhaps not, but if you look at a lot of uses of DM Fiat around here (take a look at the OA thread) and you really do get the impression it's a negative term. It frequently gets equated with "Mother May I?" gaming and that clearly is used pejoratively.

DM fiat has many potential downsides, which many people have experienced, so some people associate it largely with those downsides. Similarly, "grognard" and "OSR player," while themselves perfectly fine categories, are very often associated with the very vocal, very negative people who happen to fall under those categories, even if most of them are perfectly pleasant.

It is a linguistic burden we'll have to shoulder if we want to have meaningful discussion without piling on pages of euphemisms.

 

[Steely_Dan]

I'm hoping this core chassis is HP, AC, and Ability Scores (replace Defences/Saving Throws), everything else is gravy (modules/options etc).

 

[infax]

I'm hoping this core chassis is HP, AC, and Ability Scores (replace Defences/Saving Throws), everything else is gravy (modules/options etc).

I believe that would be a sound core. What worries me is what will be the in first modules (and if any will be included with the main books). A game with just HP, AC and Ability Scores is not a game I would like to play. At the very least I want skills and I'd rather have skills more meaningful than a keyword that adds +1/+2 to an ability check. If it takes too long for such a module to be released it may kill my already wanning interest in 5e.

What modules will first appear, however, is likely to be something decided only after at least a couple of rounds of open playtest, so there is no way to assuage my worries for several months yet.

 

[Steely_Dan]

I believe that would be a sound core. What worries me is what will be the in first modules (and if any will be included with the main books).

Of course there will be modules/stuff you can slap on the base chassis in the core books, it sounds like Feats and Skills are already in; I would just like to be able to play Basic D&D style, roll ability scores, pick race and class (armour/weapons/spells etc), bam.

 

[pemerton]

Now... a question about Moldvay basic -- does anything like an ability check system for resolving stunts/non-standard actions?

I probably shouldn't have said "non-standard". I meant things not explicitly covered in the rules.

Under a heading along the lines of "things not covered in the rules" it talks about ability checks (or maybe it calls them "ability saves") - roll under, 1 is auto success, 20 is autofail, adjust by up to +4/-4 to reflect difficulty.

The same thing is reiterated in the Cook Expert rulebook.

 

[Libramarian]

Oooh, 4e players agreeing that DM fiat is not necessarily bad, but a tool that can be used wisely and unwisely. That's cool.

Now if we can agree that balance doesn't actually bring any fun itself, but it more like a tool to prevent people from getting pissed off and disengaging, we're really in business.