How Mythusmage Would Change D&D for 4th Edition if Wizards Hired Him

[barsoomcore]

Graphic design is not to be done by amateurs. It's hard to do well, and WotC has done a pretty good job, says I.

Not as good as Green Ronin did on Mutants and Masterminds, but pretty good all round.

I don't see how any of MM's suggestions would improve things. Certainly DON'T want to see 12-point type in my RPG books anytime soon. Good grief!

 

[Hussar]

On the bit about armour - Umm, I ran a Scarred Lands campaign set in Mithril. Are you going to tell me that in my city with a 100 foot tall statue made of mithral it's going to be difficult to get a suit made? Just because mithral is rare in your campaign does not make it universal.

But, the point is well taken. If a player wishes to focus on defense, there are very few choices featwise and equipmentwise after a certain point. Offensively, there are a plethora of choices and styles, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. But, defensively, there's not a whole lot and you hit a ceiling pretty quickly, either because of cash limits at a particular level or a nearly complete lack of feat or ability choices which help defense.

This could certainly be a useful idea for a future editions.

Barsoomcore - Yup, I'll agree with that. 12 point is great for an undergrad paper when you want to fill those pages, but, NOT something that should see its way into an RPG book. The bloody PHB would be 900 pages long.

 

[Numion]

Dear WotC, for once I hope you don't listen to your fans :\

 

[feriblan]

Hello everyone,

I just joined, so this is my first post
I for my part really enjoy the graphic design of the books. We had black and white books in 2nd Edition and I believe the actual design is a vast improvement. So they should keep it.

@the topic of the mithril full plate and delericho:
Actually there is some rule about armour sizes beyond large, medium and small especially for full plate. If I may cite the SRD:

Full Plate: The suit includes gauntlets, heavy leather boots, a visored helmet, and a thick layer of padding that is worn underneath the armor. Each suit of full plate must be individually fitted to its owner by a master armorsmith, although a captured suit can be resized to fit a new owner at a cost of 200 to 800 (2d4x100) gold pieces.

(Bold text by me).

 

[delericho]

@the topic of the mithril full plate and delericho:
Actually there is some rule about armour sizes beyond large, medium and small especially for full plate. If I may cite the SRD...

Ah yes, my mistake. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[mythusmage]

Content

(Please note: The following was edited to switch a few things around and change others.)

Each book will focus on its subject matter. The DMG on matters of concern to the DM, the PHB on matters of concern to players, and the MM on monsters. To get more specific:

DMG: The DM's role in the game; getting the Players engaged, and keeping them engaged; problem players; setting design, campaign design, location design, and adventure design; NPCs and professions; running the setting, running the campaign, running the location, and running the adventure; magic, including magic items and magic in the setting, campaign, locaton, and adventure. (Suggestions for additions welcome)

PHB: The PC's role in the game; the core mechanic; characteristics; races; family, friends, and society; classes; organizations; traits and background; skills, knacks, and tricks; combat; magic. (Suggestions for additions welcome)

MM: Monsters in the game; monster listings and write-ups; template listings and write-ups. (Suggestions for additions welcome.)

Basically, each book would concentrate on matters primarily of interest to a particular segment of the group. All information on playing a character would appear in the PHB, all information on running a game in the DMG. With the exception of monsters, since cramming all that information in the DMG would result in a tome requiring a dictionary stand.

Discuss freely. I'll have my suggested rule changes up in a few days. The above should give you a hint of some of the changes.

 

[mythusmage]

Rule Changes I

Quoting myself ...

PHB: The PC's role in the game; the core mechanic; characteristics; races; family, friends, and society; classes; organizations; traits and background; skills, knacks, and tricks; combat; magic.

We'll be taking a closer look at each section in this post.

The PC's Role in the Game (aka The Introduction)

What Dungeons & Dragons is about and the role of the player character in it. Covers in basic terms adventuring, encounters, non-player characters, and the role of the DM where the PCs are concerned.

Contains nothing about what roleplaying games are because new players can figure it out as they play.

The Core Mechanic

Roll a 20 sided die (1d20). Add any bonuses and subtract any minuses. If the modified roll is equal to or higher than a target number (the difficulty) the attempt succeeds. If the modified roll is less than the target number, the attempt fails.

The roll is either unopposed or opposed. In the case of unopposed rolls the target number is determined by the DM; the lower the number the easier the task is to perform. In the case of opposed rolls the target number is determined by a second party (often, but not always, the DM) rolling a d20 and modifying it as above. Obviously, the worse the other guy rolls the better for you.

Examples of unopposed rolls include bashing down doors and walls, dashing across a muddy street in a heavy rain, cooking for a small army, and crafting. Examples of opposed rolls include most combat (see Combat for details) and contests. Something like picking locks can be either opposed or unopposed, depending on how the DM feels at the time.

Characteristics

No changes here.

Races

Each race gets two pages for information and description, with a half page illustration of typical members of the race. Information to include basics on families, society and culture, and interaction with other races.

Family, Friends, and Society

The PC's family, his friends, and how he fits into society. The DM is encouraged to use this information to make PCs' lives difficult.

Classes

2 to 4 page description (full pages) with a half page illustration of typical members of the class. Information on class abilities, and guidelines for adjusting abilities to create a variant on the class (a knight or samurai starting with a Fighter base for example).

Organizations (Note, this takes the place of prestige classes)

Clubs, bands, fraternal orders, and the like a PC can join so long as he meets the qualifications. Organizations provide special training and equipment which will often give a PC member an advantage over non-members of the same Character Class.

However, membership in an organization also entails extra obligations and can mean less free time to go adventuring. Thus less experience resulting in a lower level than a non-member. For example, an 8th level Knight of the Lesser Moon (not a real organization) will be better than a regular 8th level fighter, but by the time the PC in question has reached 8th his compatriots may have reached 10th.

(And I'm ending this here. In my next post I'll finish up my version of the D&D 4e PHB.)

 

[Belen]

The Core Mechanic

Roll a 20 sided die (1d20). Add any bonuses and subtract any minuses. If the modified roll is equal to or higher than a target number (the difficulty) the attempt succeeds. If the modified roll is less than the target number, the attempt fails.

The roll is either unopposed or opposed. In the case of unopposed rolls the target number is determined by the DM; the lower the number the easier the task is to perform. In the case of opposed rolls the target number is determined by a second party (often, but not always, the DM) rolling a d20 and modifying it as above. Obviously, the worse the other guy rolls the better for you.

Examples of unopposed rolls include bashing down doors and walls, dashing across a muddy street in a heavy rain, cooking for a small army, and crafting. Examples of opposed rolls include most combat (see Combat for details) and contests. Something like picking locks can be either opposed or unopposed, depending on how the DM feels at the time.

Dude, this would add needless complication to the game. The DM has to roll off the the players?! Target DCs and ACs make the game run smoothly. Having a roll off would be a nightmare.

 

[mythusmage]

Dude, this would add needless complication to the game. The DM has to roll off the the players?! Target DCs and ACs make the game run smoothly. Having a roll off would be a nightmare.

How so? You roll, he rolls. Whoever has the higher modified roll wins. In the case of a tie the defender wins. That's complicated?

 

[Belen]

How so? You roll, he rolls. Whoever has the higher modified roll wins. In the case of a tie the defender wins. That's complicated?

Yes. With everything else that goes into D&D combat, adding a bunch of unnecessary rolls makes it overly complicated. It would significantly increase the time combat takes, especially at high levels.

And, if the rules are written this way, then you will have feats and spells that add even more modifiers to these rolls.

So, yes, this is overly complicated and an unnecessary addition to the rules. It would be a pain in the arse to play and adjudicate.