MCDM Update: The Power Roll

[MichaelSomething]

Can one hope for Dungeon Crawl Classics spell charts??

 

[Staffan]

That's a shockingly large number of different tables for an L1-equivalent character honestly.

Really? A D&D 5e caster likely has four or five spells prepared, plus some cantrips. A D&D spell seems to have more mental overhead than a MCDM power.

 

[darjr]

Can one hope for Dungeon Crawl Classics spell charts??

We need a DCC martial that uses that idea!

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Really? A D&D 5e caster likely has four or five spells prepared, plus some cantrips. A D&D spell seems to have more mental overhead than a MCDM power.

Yeah really - it's much higher than I would expect from a game like this re: different tables you have to consult. It's probably fine if they're presented in a power-card-type structure, all next to each other, but if they're all over the place, or some of the tables aren't inherently shown on the character sheet, then that'd be pretty bad. Also, if you've got 4-6 at L1, how many do you have in the mid-levels? How many in the high levels? A level 10 Wizard knows 15 spells, but I somehow don't think you'd be defending having to consult 15 different tables lol.

 

[level2janitor]

That's a shockingly large number of different tables for an L1-equivalent character honestly.

iirc they've said in a Q&A that they're going to spread that out across early levels, and 1st-level PCs will be simpler than the ones handed out in their first playtest.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

iirc they've said in a Q&A that they're going to spread that out across early levels, and 1st-level PCs will be simpler than the ones handed out in their first playtest.

That makes more sense, aha. I wish it was easier to find all this stuff, but Matt does seem to love having a bunch of info channels, some of which are pay-only. I don't really begrudge him, it's just a bit "Oh, I see...".

 

[overgeeked]

We need a DCC martial that uses that idea!

Get to work. You can do it.

 

[mamba]

That's a shockingly large number of different tables for an L1-equivalent character honestly.

I don't see them as all that different from spells, and 4 to 6 different spells is not all that much

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I don't see them as all that different from spells, and 4 to 6 different spells is not all that much

I feel like you people have forgotten the face of your father the scourge that is excessive numbers of similar-but-different tables, but if they go ahead this, you're going to learn so < shrug >

 

[Staffan]

Yeah really - it's much higher than I would expect from a game like this re: different tables you have to consult. It's probably fine if they're presented in a power-card-type structure, all next to each other, but if they're all over the place, or some of the tables aren't inherently shown on the character sheet, then that'd be pretty bad. Also, if you've got 4-6 at L1, how many do you have in the mid-levels? How many in the high levels? A level 10 Wizard knows 15 spells, but I somehow don't think you'd be defending having to consult 15 different tables lol.

Given that the tables will have the same structure, I don't see the problem. We're not talking Rolemaster-style tables here.

Look at, for example, 5e's thunderwave. The spell description says:

A wave of thunderous force sweeps out from you. Each creature in a 15-foot cube originating from you must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d8 thunder damage and is pushed 10 feet away from you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn't pushed.

Compare it to what a hypothetical similar MCDM power would look like:

A wave of thunderous force sweeps out from you. It affects each creature in a 3-square blast:
Meh: 2 sonic
Good: 4 sonic + push 2
Great: 6 sonic + push 2 + prone

Now, if each power had a different definition of what roll meant meh, good, and great, but I don't see the above as particularly complex. Now, you might argue that you could simplify the description of thunderwave when writing it on a sheet to something like: "15 ft cube, 2d8 thunder + knockback 10 ft, Con save half damage + negate knockback." But you could do the same with the MCDM version: "blast 3, 2 sonic/4 sonic + push 2/6 sonic + push 2 + prone."

I mean, I've played Pathfinder 2 where most spells have four different results, e.g. slow:

Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target is slowed 1 for 1 round.
Failure The target is slowed 1 for 1 minute.
Critical Failure The target is slowed 2 for 1 minute.

And while PF2 is pretty rules-heavy, the different spell results is not where the majority of the cognitive load is. That comes in in a lot of other places.