D&D 5E The Annotated PHB

[Reynard]

Long ago (2015) this post was made by user @Staffan

As an aside, this is the kind of thing I'd love seeing in an "annotated rule book" or something like that. Other things that could fit:

"You might think Sneak Attack does a ton of damage, and you'd be right, but it's about on par with what a fighter deals with all their extra attacks."

"Yes, Agonizing Beam applies to each hit of Eldritch Blast. That just means that the warlock can, more or less, keep up with martial characters in sustained damage."

"No rule should allow concentration on multiple effects at once. The whole point of concentration is that the effects are powerful, but you only get one of them at a time."

"Magic weapons are lower rarity than magic armor, because magic weapons speed up combat and armor slows it down."

That sort of thing.

It is a really good idea. We should do this.

 

[Bolares]

Long ago (2015) this post was made by user @Staffan



It is a really good idea. We should do this.

How would we do this? It's a cool idea.

 

[Reynard]

How would we do this? It's a cool idea.

Essentially a "Let's read" type thread and when we land on and agree about a thing that needs annotated we put it in the first post?

 

[overgeeked]

Essentially a "Let's read" type thread and when we land on and agree about a thing that needs annotated we put it in the first post?

The word “agree” there will cause problems. And agreeing on what the annotation actually is will be problematic as well.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Long ago (2015) this post was made by user @Staffan

It is a really good idea. We should do this.

Can you even imagine the absolute crapstorm it would cause though? Especially if it was honest as to why certain decisions were made and so on?

 

[Reynard]

The word “agree” there will cause problems. And agreeing on what the annotation actually is will be problematic as well.

That's why they are called "discussion" forums.

 

[Undrave]

Can you even imagine the absolute crapstorm it would cause though? Especially if it was honest as to why certain decisions were made and so on?

I learned from 4e that people apparently don't like transparent GAME DESIGN in their role-playing GAME.

For some reason, some people don't want to admit they're playing a GAME.

 

[embee]

The Annotated PHB already exists.

It's called "Put sticky notes all through your core books."

I got mine for free because I liberate sticky notes from my office.

 

[billd91]

I learned from 4e that people apparently don't like transparent GAME DESIGN in their role-playing GAME.

For some reason, some people don't want to admit they're playing a GAME.

I don't think transparency was it. Gamers, particularly war gamers, have been big fans of designer notes and sidebars for a long time. With 4e, chances are they didn't like the design ethos or assumptions that the transparency revealed.

 

[embee]

Can you even imagine the absolute crapstorm it would cause though? Especially if it was honest as to why certain decisions were made and so on?

Meh.

Law books are literally called "Annotated" and contain entire sections devoted to legislative intent and summaries of key decisions interpreting the statutes.

Of course, those books take up entire book cases.

Of course of course, I already have entire book cases of RPG rule books.

Of course of course of course, I still only look at the core books.

Of course of course of course of course, then I make a ruling .