D&D (2024) Do you plan to adopt D&D5.5One2024Redux?

[Hriston]

there were several in this thread already,

Actual gameplay? Where?

if you disagree then another example won’t make a difference either,

Another example wouldn’t be needed if you could produce the examples you claim were already posted.

and to be clear, the illogical thing is the feature working, not the outcome of it

I wrote some days ago already that it is not causing gameplay issues, if you can overlook that the feature actually working is illogical

What’s illogical about the features working? None of the things the features describe happening are illogical, so I really don't know what you mean.

 

[Cadence]

This is a good template, borrowed from PF2.

"You can frighten foes so much, they might die. Attempt an Intimidation check against the Will DC of a living creature within 30 feet of you that you sense or observe and who can sense or observe you. If the target can't hear you or doesn't understand the language you are speaking, you take a –4 circumstance penalty. The creature is temporarily immune for 1 minute."

Note the penalty for no shared language and the fact that specific creatures might be immune (because they are not living) and some might have an immunity to emotional effects, which this is per the rules.

Edit: The above ability is non-magical.

I mean, anything can be listed as non magical but I wonder what it is that would, say, affect both a person, a mother animal defending its young, and a nest of bald hornets.

As @Maxperson notes, something chemical might be a mundane idea (phermoneish?).

 

[mamba]

What’s illogical about the features working? None of the things the features describe happening are illogical, so I really don't know what you mean.

let me make it as simple as possible

1) the feature says you know some people who can get word to your contact
2) you are in a world you have never been to, so you do not know anyone here
3) your feature that relies on knowing contacts working despite that fact is illogical

 

[Faolyn]

so you agree that the sailor would not know any ship on the south sea when he ever only worked on the inland sea?

Here's where you would ask your player, "So, you only ever worked on the inland sea. How do you know ships from the south sea?"

They may have no justification. They may have an amazing justification. But, IMO, putting a blanket "no, you can't" prevents the player from even trying to come up with one and doing a bit of potentially fun or useful roleplaying.

 

[Faolyn]

So you're saying the background allows the player to make this up on the fly?

Sure, why not?

In GMing a PbtA game, I've learned that letting the players make stuff up on the fly makes for a far more interesting and dynamic game than forcing them to come up with everything ahead of time.

Saying "I've sailed the inland sea" is fine, but using that sentence to prevent the player from ever having sailed anywhere else means that the game can stall elsewhere down the line. It's like putting the means of finding the Very Important Clue or getting to the Very Important Area behind a single die roll--on a failure, the game can basically end there. Most tables find that to be Not Cool.

That they know a ship that calls here frequently (and further, know its captain)? Sure, OK - but only if the PC is at a location where his having that knowledge makes sense.

One thing I've perhaps not mentioned is that the player and I would long since (probably at char-gen when the background was chosen) have fine-tuned that background a bit in terms of roughly where the sailor had voyaged, what type(s) of ships he'd sailed on, how long he'd been at it, and so forth.

For example the experiences and knowledge of a sailor whose sailing career had nearly all been on oar-powered merchant traders on the inland sea wold be vastly different than one whose sailing career had mostly been on an age-of-sail pirate ship that had been many places but had never stayed in any one area for long enough to get to know much.

Some of it would be different--the propulsion method of the ship--but a lot of it? The day to day mechanics, knowing how to read the movements and color of the sea and sky, knowing sailor slang, knowing how many supplies you'll likely need on a voyage of roughly X weeks, knowing what it means when you see a whale or sea serpent breach nearby--that's all going to be the same.

So at most you'd say, "Well, you're used to oar-powered merchant traders, so you're not entirely how the spar and boom works If you want to try to fiddle with it, roll with disadvantage." Or more likely, you've just hitched a ride on a boat manned by sailors who know what they're doing, so the vast majority of time player probably wouldn't need to fiddle with the spar and boom. Ditto anything else. "You know what it means when blue-scaled sea serpents breach and do back flips, but you've never seen a gold-fringed sea serpent before. Roll Nature at disadvantage."

 

[Faolyn]

The however states that you can become hidden from infravision. But that doesn't help you in completely dark places, since you can't use the ability at all, so it just means infravision isn't an instant counter to all uses of the ability.

Wait, you can't hide in total darkness, but you can prevent your body from emitting heat?

 

[Faolyn]

You just insult the enemy even if you don't share a language, threaten the wolf cubs that suddenly appear, get in the way of the enemy without moving somehow.

Insults: The nice thing about insults is that they're often (but not always) more than just a word. They frequently are coupled with tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. If someone calls me a bad word in a language I don't know but in a pleasant tone of voice, I'll have no idea I've been insulted. But if someone calls me a bad word in a language I don't know and at the same time glares at me, says it in an angry or disgusted tone, mutters it under their breath, makes a rude or lewd gesture, spits, turns away sharply, sticks out their tongue or waggles their fingers in their ears--I can usually figure out I've been insulted.

Wolf cubs: The actual example (assuming this is the correct one) doesn't say the cubs suddenly appear. They could have been part of the narrative all along. If the DM said "eight wolves step out of the bushes and surround you, snarling" then yeah, I could see not allowing someone to loom over cubs--the DM has established that there are eight (8) wolves, and that they're all actively engaged in the adult activity of ambushing player characters (cubs will be at home with mom). But if the DM said "eight wolves of various sizes and ages step out of the bushes" or "you stumble into a wolves' den, and eight wolves stand up and snarl at you" and the player says, "are there any cubs around? I want to loom over them threateningly," then sure--it's reasonable to assume that "various sizes and ages" means that some are cubs, and it's reasonable to assume that in a wolves' den, there would be cubs around.

But! I see that a post later you talk about mindless undead or constructs. Well, that's a completely different thing that has nothing to do with the power and everything to do with the choice of enemy. I searched for the power name and I found this description for Come And Get Me: While raging, as a free action the barbarian may leave herself open to attack while preparing devastating counterattacks. Doesn't say you have to do anything to the enemy; you're just leaving yourself open to the attack. And I think it's reasonable to assume that mindless undead or constructs would have been programmed to go after a particular type of target first: closest, largest, smallest, most armored, least armored, etc. You the DM don't have to actually decide what that programming is ahead of time (unless it's really important to the adventure), so if the barbarian steps up and uses that power, then you say that something about the barbarian triggers their movement.

Getting in the way without moving: I can't find the original post for that, but "moving" in D&D typically means actually moving, as in from point A to point B. If the Bad Guys are within reach of me or my weapon, I can definitely get in their way without leaving my space.

 

[Hriston]

Is there anything new here? I don't know why you keep wanting to die on this hill, there's no new spin on this question. In many cases, the feature only works because of connections the PCs have or because of their reputation. Doesn't matter how often you ask that question, it's not going to change and I'm not going to bother copying/pasting the text yet again because you'll just ignore it. Again.

I don't know what question you're talking about. I didn't ask any questions, and I'm not ignoring anything. I'm responding to each and every one of your posts.

 

[CapnZapp]

This isn't a rebuttal, it's just, I'm converting some old 2e modules for my upcoming 5e game (delayed until next month, boo) and "strings of combat set pieces" totally describes the one I'm working on now, so this comment amused me.

Yes, a 2e (or 3e or 5e) scenario can totally consist of combat only, but you appear to know what I mean

 

[James Gasik]

Wait, you can't hide in total darkness, but you can prevent your body from emitting heat?

Thieves are strange and wonderful creatures, as beautiful and delicate as spun glass, their abilities simultaneously being invaluable and valueless.