D&D 5E Do we know if they are keeping the 20 Natural score cap? What about expanded backgrounds?

[Blackbrrd]

I'm sure you do look at it that way, but it's not RAI or RAW, especially as PCs progress from level 1 to level 3 very rapidly, RAW, in 5E. Likely in adventures that take a period of days. Level 1 to 2 apparently takes about 1/4 or 1/3rd as long as the rest of the levels.

So now you have PCs are who are 16/17-year-old runaways who level 3...

A more sensible split, given humans are a long way from physically or mentally fully developed at 16/17 (human males cannot remotely approach their peak strength or endurance at that age, for example, and even fantasy novels, they're not going to), would be to use a different stat-generation mechanism for teenagers (or modifiers), than from adults, if that's the differentiation you want.

You are quite right, my argument didn't hold water. The level advancement in D&D doesn't really make much sense when you look at the time it takes to get from level 1 to 20. Depending on the campaign, it can easily be done in something like 2-3 months game time, at least in 4e: 4 encounters/day, 10/encounters a level = 50 days to level 20, 75 days to level 30.

A better to look at it to make sense is that before you have been in combat (and gained xp/levels), you just can't translate what you know (archery for instance) into good attacks.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

A better to look at it to make sense is that before you have been in combat (and gained xp/levels), you just can't translate what you know (archery for instance) into good attacks.

I think that's reasonable.

I'll be interested see if 5E does have some "runaway"-type rules. I don't think that works any better as "Level 1" in 5E than it did in 4E or 3E, though - I think for teenage runaway-types, you need some "level 0" rules, which pretty much every edition of D&D (including 4E) has had, where, when the PCs get enough XP to get to level 1, you like, cut away from for a year or three, then come back.

(Though this does border on a bugbear I have with 5E - the whole "Elves don't mature until 100+ years old!" idiocy coming back to haunt us, with all it's "elven learning disability" quips and so on).

 

[Thaumaturge]

You are quite right, my argument didn't hold water. The level advancement in D&D doesn't really make much sense when you look at the time it takes to get from level 1 to 20. Depending on the campaign, it can easily be done in something like 2-3 months game time, at least in 4e: 4 encounters/day, 10/encounters a level = 50 days to level 20, 75 days to level 30.

I'm hoping to use the downtime rules to help combat this. I want the players to engage in the world around them and spend weeks doing things other than hunting monsters down and killing them. It seems like if a few weeks are placed between each adventure, things become slightly less ridiculous.

Thaumaturge.

 

[fjw70]

I'm hoping to use the downtime rules to help combat this. I want the players to engage in the world around them and spend weeks doing things other than hunting monsters down and killing them. It seems like if a few weeks are placed between each adventure, things become slightly less ridiculous.

Thaumaturge.

This is is something I want to work on in future campaigns as well. As thinking about adventure locations I will probably put the adventure locations much further apart so you have to spend weeks or months traveling between adventures.

 

[SkidAce]

I'm hoping to use the downtime rules to help combat this. I want the players to engage in the world around them and spend weeks doing things other than hunting monsters down and killing them. It seems like if a few weeks are placed between each adventure, things become slightly less ridiculous.

Thaumaturge.

This is is something I want to work on in future campaigns as well. As thinking about adventure locations I will probably put the adventure locations much further apart so you have to spend weeks or months traveling between adventures.

This normally something I try not to point out...but...

Some DMs have been doing this for ages.

It adds to the verisimilitude of the setting, allows for events to occur at a natural pace but not be overcome by the artificial pace of leveling (such as building a small keep).

It even allows for the SEASONS to pass in a campaign, which is really awesome if you look at it in a certain way.

Brogar the Barbarian: "Brogar wishes it was cold again...summer to sweaty...even with loincloth"

Rest of Party: "TMI Brogar, TMI".



Great idea...glad to have the two of you on board.

 

[Mistwell]

Unless you know something I don't, which you may well, it seems premature to say this. Is there somewhere I can find all the collected stuff we know about Traits, Bonds and Flaws? Because I can't really find anything beyond that they are things.

It's from one of the live games, which were followed by a live Q&A session, where they used Traits, Bonds and Flaws, and then answered a question about how mechanically it would work when a DM rewards role playing related to one of those thing with a bennie that can be used on a check related to one of those things. Followed by a tweet explaining a bit more. From Feb 28, 2014:

Q: I noticed in your livestream game Greg gave out an inspiration point. What can you tell us about that mechanic?

A: It's basically a micro-reward a DM can hand out for good roleplay or any other reason. Spend it to gain advantage on a roll.

Q: You also mentioned traits, flaws, and bonds. Are these, along with the inspiration points, elements of the storygame module?

A: They're not a storygame thing - just roleplaying elements that a DM can reward mechanically. With caveat that to me, storygame is much more about plot control in the game for players.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It's from one of the live games, which were followed by a live Q&A session, where they used Traits, Bonds and Flaws, and then answered a question about how mechanically it would work when a DM rewards role playing related to one of those thing with a bennie that can be used on a check related to one of those things.

Interesting. I notice the character sheet has them, but no info for the player on how they work, which kind of suggests that they have limited/no mechanical effect (at least in Starter/Basic), but maybe it's just somewhere off-sheet.

 

[Wraithdrit]

Interesting. I notice the character sheet has them, but no info for the player on how they work, which kind of suggests that they have limited/no mechanical effect (at least in Starter/Basic), but maybe it's just somewhere off-sheet.

What I proposed to my players was just that anytime the use them in roleplaying that has an impact on the game (not just trivial mentioning of a flaw or trait) they would get a point that they can later spend to gain advantage or grant a disadvantage. Not sure about restricting them to the things in the flaws, traits, etc. Seems they would then be too limited.

We'll see when we get the rules on the 3rd though.

- Wraith

 

[Mistwell]

Interesting. I notice the character sheet has them, but no info for the player on how they work, which kind of suggests that they have limited/no mechanical effect (at least in Starter/Basic), but maybe it's just somewhere off-sheet.

Works like this. If you roleplay a trait, bond, or flaw in a way the DM thinks is a good representation of that trait, bond, or flaw, the DM can reward you an inspiration point. The inspiration point can be used to gain advantage on a future check relating to a trait, bond, or flaw. At least, that is what they seemed to be saying about them.

 

[TheWriterFantastic™]

From my understanding, when they first discussed the Inspiration mechanic in Legends and Lore last year, Inspiration points are awarded when a player roleplays in line with their Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws when it may cause an obstacle to completing the party's goals -- the Inspiration point is supposed to, at least partially, offset the hardship he's causing to the rest of the party with a mechanical perk.