To face or not to face...

[GaimMastr]

Unearthed Arcana, Prophetic or Heretical? Why?

 

[delericho]

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. Could you rephrase, please?

 

[GaimMastr]

Questions...Hmmm.

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. Could you rephrase, please?

Elaborate.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

While I really don't understand your question, I'll take a stab at what I think you are asking.

Unearthed Arcana is a book on variant rules. By definition, they are different from how the rest of the game's books say things are played, if that's what you mean by "Heretical". You're using very dramatic language that is unclear.

If you are asking of people like or dislike the variant rules, you may want to clarify your wording.

I personally ignore Unearthed Arcana. I have used the fractional BAB for multiclassing. In the past I've told my players that they could use anything from any book, with the exception of Unearthed Arcana. Anything from this would require a discussion before approved.

 

[Alzrius]

Based on the thread title, I think the OP is asking about using the facing rules from UA.

 

[Larrin]

worrying about character Facing is not worth the effort in most D&D games people play. If one needs that extra thing to keep track of to feel like the game is properly simulating the action or rewarding positioning, its nice they have rules for those people. Most people will not benefit from their inclusion.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

I had absolutely no idea what the thread title meant, the question didn't help me understand the title.

If this is the case, I'd like to suggest how the OP can phrase the question:

"I've come across the Facing rules in Unearthed Arcana. I was curious to know if you all believed this variant rule to be a good or bad idea. Your thoughts?" Or some variation of this.

My thought: I think think it adds a degree of complexity to the base game, if you and yours like that, go for it. If not, don't add complexity for the sake of realism.

 

[GaimMastr]

Perceptive... I like that

Me personally, I enjoy having books like UA lying around. Comes in handy for making adjudications sometimes. I use it as a "secret" GM mechanics system sometimes.

As for facing, it is one of my favorite. As a practitioner of combat irl I love the realism it introduces into a game that was based on a tabletop strategy game anyway. I was sad that we forgot, through the editions, where it had come from. Too often I have players take advantage of 360 degree awareness. As I like to be visceral with descriptions and they tend to interpret every word I say literally in game mechanics terms, it's become quite the lifesaver.

So overall the book for me is prophetic. My players would have me burned at the stake if they knew I said that. So lets keep this little secret between us...

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Me personally, I enjoy having books like UA lying around. Comes in handy for making adjudications sometimes. I use it as a "secret" GM mechanics system sometimes.

As for facing, it is one of my favorite. As a practitioner of combat irl I love the realism it introduces into a game that was based on a tabletop strategy game anyway. I was sad that we forgot, through the editions, where it had come from. Too often I have players take advantage of 360 degree awareness. As I like to be visceral with descriptions and they tend to interpret every word I say literally in game mechanics terms, it's become quite the lifesaver.

So overall the book for me is prophetic. My players would have me burned at the stake if they knew I said that. So lets keep this little secret between us...

So do you implement the mechanic but not tell your players (which sounds complicated) or do you like the concept and would want to implement it, but don't?
As I said before, if it works for you and your players, awesome. If not for everyone, I'd advise not including it.
My personal thoughts on Facing is it's a neat idea, but I don't need any more complexity to my combat than we already have, so I'd not be into it. I agree it is more realistic, but I prefer only a mild amount of realism in my D&D. Each person can flavor to taste.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Not worth it in my mind to try and track facing. Six seconds is also plenty of time to keep one's head on a swivel.

In general, however, I do look at UA as gospel.