What is the essence of D&D

[Tony Vargas]

4e had a lot in the little experience I had. Just not in combat. Reading the DM was great for skill challenges though.

We've already established the your brief experience predated functional Skill Challenges, even the first round of updates they got.
So that's plausible. But not a representative fraction of even 4e's relatively short history.

I assume you had more significant experience of 3e? Gaming the DM was also less of an issue then - system mastery being the main thing - though if you could get the DM to allow in the right supplements for your build, that'd be worth it.

 

[Nagol]

We've already established the your brief experience predated functional Skill Challenges, even the first round of updates they got.
So that's plausible. But not a representative fraction of even 4e's relatively short history.

I assume you had more significant experience of 3e? Gaming the DM was also less of an issue then - system mastery being the main thing - though if you could get the DM to allow in the right supplements for your build, that'd be worth it.

Supplement creep was terrible in 3.X.

I was playing in a campaign where a player persuaded the DM to effectively allow anyting WotC published and it ran several years.

My favourite character was Glanvar the 15th level Dream Dwarf Cleric 1 (Luck and Travel)/Wizard (Domain:Trasmutation) 4/Runesmith 3/Geometer 3/Fatespinner 2/Earth Dreamer 2 who wore armour, carried a Morningstar, and had triple digit hit points.

 

[Garthanos]

We've already established the your brief experience predated functional Skill Challenges, even the first round of updates they got.

I can't believe it I didn't even get back into D&D till the second 4e DMG was already out...

 

[Tony Vargas]

I can't believe it I didn't even get back into D&D till the second 4e DMG was already out...

That was barely over a year from release. And you missed out on having to try to make something of the borked original SC rules - and the shocking lack of gnomes...

 

[Garthanos]

That was barely over a year from release. And you missed out on having to try to make something of the borked original SC rules - and the shocking lack of gnomes...

Someone on here described how one could build a Monk via reflavoring another character class and I went ... wow a bit like Fantasy Hero got its Peanut Butter in the D&D chocolate. And I love Reeses -> that said the actual release monk is pretty damn interesting

 

[Campbell]

There was substantial DM judgement involved in running a skill challenge and handling noncombat resolution outside of skill challenges. Outside of rituals it was basically just the same for all characters. Making calls for what a wizard could accomplish with Arcana or what a Rogue could accomplish with Athletics were regular parts of play. When people start making noise about Fifth Edition giving the DM their power back I'm all like "Back? Where'd it go?"

 

[Garthanos]

When people start making noise about Fifth Edition giving the DM their power back I'm all like "Back? Where'd it go?"

We argue over minutiae here it is what we do. There are no longer a bunch of non-spell caster things where the DM didnt get to arbitrate the difficulty or just say no (Arguing one might say no to the application of a given utility power under a strange circumstance is missing the point). Even how far a jump as discussed in this thread beyond a reasonable base had some well defined answers. A DM can now just say no to 25 foot jump for a strength 20 character. See DM ultimate power restored (doesn't matter if big picture the DM in 4e is doing what they always have done with some extra tools and guidelines)

 

[Maxperson]

Supplement creep was terrible in 3.X.

I was playing in a campaign where a player persuaded the DM to effectively allow anyting WotC published and it ran several years.

My favourite character was Glanvar the 15th level Dream Dwarf Cleric 1 (Luck and Travel)/Wizard (Domain:Trasmutation) 4/Runesmith 3/Geometer 3/Fatespinner 2/Earth Dreamer 2 who wore armour, carried a Morningstar, and had triple digit hit points.

That's excessive. Supplement creep was only a problem if you were power gaming, though. My group wasn't into that, so the supplements just allowed more and more different character concepts to be imagined and played. They were a great boon until they just got so crappy that we stopped buying them. I only had to ban the Nine Swords book. That was just broken no matter which way you sliced it.

 

[Monayuris]

So Legend of the 5 Rings is a game where...

1. You the player get to explore a fantastic world filled with dungeons, ruins, monsters and magic. Your character is an avatar/playing piece that allows you to insert yourself into this world.
2. Your character has abilities that help define its role and how you contribute in the game. Classes provide strong archetypes for what you do in the world. The character class becomes a lens through which you see and interact with the fantastic world. Playing different character classes changes the lens and allows you to experience the game in myriad different ways.
3. The game is a cooperative event where you get to share an experience with other people and contribute to the success of the group.
4. The player at the table holds the power in a game, not the character. Character capability and player capability are two completely unrelated concepts. The character is just a playing piece for the player to exert their agency on the game.

According to your post, Legend of the 5 Rings is D&D. Is Legend of the 5 Rings D&D?

Maybe? It borrows many of the same elements of D&D. So why wouldn't they share the same essence.

 

[Monayuris]

We argue over minutiae here it is what we do. There are no longer a bunch of non-spell caster things where the DM didnt get to arbitrate the difficulty or just say no (Arguing one might say no to the application of a given utility power under a strange circumstance is missing the point). Even how far a jump as discussed in this thread beyond a reasonable base had some well defined answers. A DM can now just say no to 25 foot jump for a strength 20 character. See DM ultimate power restored (doesn't matter if big picture the DM in 4e is doing what they always have done with some extra tools and guidelines)

Yes. I'm super happy that 5e turned to encouraging more DM authority. It is a strength of the game.

To me, those extra tools and guidelines were helpful in the beginning but turned into straight jackets as I got more skilled in the game.