Would D&D be easier if...

[Umbran]

I think you can still have options with less complexity.

That may be possible, but let's take a look...

I like the idea of one metamagic ability rather than five or six metamagic feats.

I like the idea of making some spells simple, some complex, and some exotic.

I like having one spell list for all the classes, but preserving that idea that some classes are better at using spells than others through the simple/complex/exotic system and the spell descriptor - much simpler than having a number of different spell lists.

"I like the idea" and "The idea is simpler" are clearly not the same

The first on this list I can grant you, the latter two, not at all. From the user's point of view - in D&D he's told straight up what spell list he can use. He can completely ignore the others. In AU, the user is given the entire list, and then told he has to go subdivide it himself and make his own lists to figure out what he can use. That is not simpler in action.

Simpler in theoretical concept is not the goal. New gamers don't care about design theory. They care about how many fiddly-bits they need to work with in order to play.

I like the 'weaving' of spell levels and slots. It adds options without a large amount of verbage needed to explain the concept; I don't think it's appreciably more complex than the current system even though it gives you more options.

I think it is a whole lot more complicated. You have to remember the levels of things, and weaving up and weaving down are not the same. My players who don't like having to remember rules details looked at it and said, "That's *waaaay* too complicated. Too many steps to figure out what I can do. Just give me the list of spells I can cast, and how many per day".

I think the whole weaving concept was a way to try to trick vancian-philes into using a spell point system. It would have been far simpler just to give each spell level a number of points, give a caster some number of points to spend each day, and be done with it.

 

[sniffles]

Something I just commented in another thread made me think of this: D&D would also be easier for newcomers if the materials included pronunciation for obscure terminology. How often do you use "paladin", "geas", "dweomer", or "falchion" in casual conversation, not to mention all the monster names?

 

[BryonD]

Grim Tales goes the opposite path.
Six classes (D20 Modern classes, with some expansion)
Talents trees and feat trees from there.
Vast potential for just about any character you want to imagine. (within the GT idea, and if you want to go outside that you just introduce new Talent Trees)

Flexible and easy.

In a word:Awesome.

So I gues my answer is "No"

 

[Odhanan]

OH! You don't want an intro product that will allow younger players to eventually upgrade into the full-fledge game, you want a simpler version of D&D that harkens back to the Basic/Advanced/Expert/Companion/Cyclopedia era of D&D...

They have one of those too...

I get it now.

Well, I don't think there actually is so much of a contradiction here. I think that the Basic/Expert/etc boxed sets were perfect on a packaging and marketing standpoint: the Basic game was playable on its own indefinitely. How many of us started with it or with one of its copies? Later you could upgrade to Expert Rules ... or not, and play other characters. Now, how many upgraded to the Expert Rules back in the day? I'm sure many. It's said, comparatively (and to be clear, I do not know myself) that D&D knows or just ends "another golden age" right now: how many of all the beginners with the WotC basic game upgraded afterwards to the three core rulebooks? What effect does it have on future editions of the game and its public on the long term? What about an exposition of geek culture that makes D&D a smash hit down the road?

You might say I get way over my head with this, and I think I am. But the idea's here: the WOTC basic set is pitiful compared to what the Red Box was. I think that players of a product such as the one I described, self-sufficient, simple enough to grasp and with cheap modules/extensions specifically designed for it, would have most of its customers upgrade to the three core books sooner or later. Hence the lack of contradiction.

PS: the problem of C&C, apart all design and objectives conciderations, is that it doesn't have half the coverage WotC products enjoy.

 

[Psion]

I'm going to go with "no". The basic D&D gaming experience relies on having traditional roles. Alternate classes have slightly variant abilities and as such may require a different approach than the standard.

Feats are a basic feature of the game. Additional classes are an advanced feature/add-on.

 

[Dr. Talos]

Fewer Classes more Feats is my vote

I would rather have a generic class and build the concept using feats. You could list feat builds in the PHB to help characters visualize a certain concept.

 

[kanithardm]

Feats and new classes are good.

 

[beaver1024]

The D&D would be better if the rules were proof read and play tested for playability.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

If I had to make a beginner book, I'd make it so that characters created with it were compatible with the full game, and yet more simple. A way to do this would be:
- Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Cleric. Only. You can multiclass, though.
- Fighter doesn't get to choose extra feats. They are pre-chosen for him.
- Little-used spells get cut from the wizard list.
- Wizard doesn't get to choose new spells. They are pre-chosen for him.
- Cleric list is drastically reduced.
- Skills that see little use are removed, as are crafting skills.
- Combat options are reduced.
- If at all possible, make a single book that has all of the above, a bunch of monsters, a DM advice chapter, a (vastly reduced) magic item list, and a short adventure.

I would also restrict the skills by not using skill points. A skill is class or cross class, and you have max ranks. Reduces bookkeeping.

I think that "Basic D&D 3e" could have all the advantages of OD&D while easily allowing the DM to incrementally add new material from the full version, as desired.

 

[Bloodsparrow]

It's already easier, they got rid of thac0. That's all I needed.