D&D 5E Why Don't We Simplify 5e?

[overgeeked]

Concerning the importance of exploration, as well as ressource management, I find this blog entry sums it up best. A lot of 5E DMs and players should consider this:

If Your Torches Burn for only One Hour your NPCs will be More Important

In the Seaward campaign the PCs formed an adventuring company, got a charter from the King, bought an old inn as a home base and, most rec...

harbingergames.blogspot.com

That's fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mrpopstar]

Concerning the importance of exploration, as well as ressource management, I find this blog entry sums it up best. A lot of 5E DMs and players should consider this:

If Your Torches Burn for only One Hour your NPCs will be More Important

In the Seaward campaign the PCs formed an adventuring company, got a charter from the King, bought an old inn as a home base and, most rec...

harbingergames.blogspot.com

Whoa.


I mean, the core assumption that even small villages can provide characters access to the gear they need to pursue their adventures works for me. I don't ever see myself delving into the economics of food scarcity to the extent outlined.

I think hirelings, mounts and vehicles are all useful, but, assuming the standard set of scores, the average carrying capacity of a character is 180 pounds, which is not insignificant. The real issue is carried container capacity. A backpack can only hold 30 pounds of gear inside, which isn't a lot considering 10 days worth of rations is 20 pounds.

Everything boils down to what's reasonable, like carrying only 1 waterskin, which is the equivalent of walking around with a half gallon of milk bouncing off your hip. If you'd like to carry more water, you need a mount or vehicle to do so. Same thing goes for torches, which weigh 1 pound each. Carrying 10 of them is quite the bundle, so there's your limit.

I don't necessarily want my Dungeons & Dragons game to compete with Oregon Trail.

But definitely thanks for sharing!!

 

[overgeeked]

Everything boils down to what's reasonable, like carrying only 1 waterskin, which is the equivalent of walking around with a half gallon of milk bouncing off your hip. If you'd like to carry more water, you need a mount or vehicle to do so. Same thing goes for torches, which weigh 1 pound each. Carrying 10 of them is quite the bundle, so there's your limit.

What’s reasonable depends entirely on the individual. It’s not any kind of objective measure.

I don't necessarily want my Dungeons & Dragons game to compete with Oregon Trail.

There’s a vast, expansive excluded middle between “wee...nothing matters!” and “this is Oregon Trail”.

 

[mrpopstar]

What’s reasonable depends entirely on the individual. It’s not any kind of objective measure.

That's not true. Perhaps philosophically, but not here. We're able to objectively measure contradictions in this scenario and apply logic in order to reconcile them.

Judging by the general tone of experiences you've shared, I can see how you might've been forced to navigate wholly unreasonable protest, but I've never had anyone say "my character is carrying multiple waterskins" or "I have one of each weapon on my person" despite the rules not stopping them from doing so.

There’s a vast, expansive excluded middle between “wee...nothing matters!” and “this is Oregon Trail”.

My contributions on this subject have been the exact opposite of "wee...nothing matters!" And you can't tell me the picture included in the linked article isn't pure Oregon Trail vibes. LOL

Although, not for nothing, I thoroughly enjoyed Oregon Trail as a kid, which may or may not have been influential towards my enjoyment of the exploration pillar.

 

[Ancalagon]

Curious how many of you skip over or quickly describe journeys and pick up at or near the adventure site?

sometimes

encounters on the way to the adventure site do have a purpose. However, it can be tempting to "fill" the journey with material... material that ends up being filler grade in quality. Also sometimes it doesn't make sense - a well traveled road suddenly becomes a monster infested path just because the PCs happen to travel on it?

So to me one "informative" encounter (a traveler with useful rumors?), and maybe one combat encounter (let the PCs "practice" a bit, they may be new to their levels) is amply sufficient. More than that ... make it very good, or don't bother.

 

[mrpopstar]

sometimes

encounters on the way to the adventure site do have a purpose. However, it can be tempting to "fill" the journey with material... material that ends up being filler grade in quality. Also sometimes it doesn't make sense - a well traveled road suddenly becomes a monster infested path just because the PCs happen to travel on it?

So to me one "informative" encounter (a traveler with useful rumors?), and maybe one combat encounter (let the PCs "practice" a bit, they may be new to their levels) is amply sufficient. More than that ... make it very good, or don't bother.

Create your own random encounter table specific to the well-traveled road and include encounters that aren't monsters. Wandering merchants, carts stuck in the mud, a bridge that collapses underfoot, bandits, a roadside shrine, a ghost town with actual ghosts, etc.

Provided assistance, added interest, and reinforced campaign themes are just as important as creating urgency, establishing atmosphere, and draining resources.

 

[overgeeked]

That's not true. Perhaps philosophically, but not here. We're able to objectively measure contradictions in this scenario and apply logic in order to reconcile them.

LOL. You think there's an objective measure of what's reasonable? Okay. Good luck with that. If you think it's unreasonable to track arrow use and I think it is reasonable, who's right? Which position is objectively reasonable? Neither. Because what's "reasonable" is a matter of personal preference not objective fact. If it conforms to your preferences you think it's reasonable, if it does not conform to your preferences you think it's unreasonable. So what's reasonable to me is not necessarily reasonable to you. Funny how that works.

Judging by the general tone of experiences you've shared, I can see how you might've been forced to navigate wholly unreasonable protest, but I've never had anyone say "my character is carrying multiple waterskins" or "I have one of each weapon on my person" despite the rules not stopping them from doing so.

Besides the rules for encumbrance, no, there's no rules against it.

My contributions on this subject have been the exact opposite of "wee...nothing matters!" And you can't tell me the picture included in the linked article isn't pure Oregon Trail vibes. LOL

Although, not for nothing, I thoroughly enjoyed Oregon Trail as a kid, which may or may not have been influential towards my enjoyment of the exploration pillar.

Yeah, I can tell you it's not pure Oregon Trail vibes. It's three dudes with eight or so donkeys carrying explosives and food for what looks like a day or two trip at most. A wagon train is dozens of families with everything they own trekking across country. Wildly...wildly different vibes.

 

[mrpopstar]

LOL. You think there's an objective measure of what's reasonable? Okay. Good luck with that. If you think it's unreasonable to track arrow use and I think it is reasonable, who's right? Which position is objectively reasonable? Neither. Because what's "reasonable" is a matter of personal preference not objective fact. If it conforms to your preferences you think it's reasonable, if it does not conform to your preferences you think it's unreasonable. So what's reasonable to me is not necessarily reasonable to you. Funny how that works.

All that snark aside, do you mean to tell me that "beyond a reasonable doubt" is determined by jurors indulging their personal preferences?

 

[Malmuria]

Whoa.


I mean, the core assumption that even small villages can provide characters access to the gear they need to pursue their adventures works for me. I don't ever see myself delving into the economics of food scarcity to the extent outlined.

I think hirelings, mounts and vehicles are all useful, but, assuming the standard set of scores, the average carrying capacity of a character is 180 pounds, which is not insignificant. The real issue is carried container capacity. A backpack can only hold 30 pounds of gear inside, which isn't a lot considering 10 days worth of rations is 20 pounds.

Everything boils down to what's reasonable, like carrying only 1 waterskin, which is the equivalent of walking around with a half gallon of milk bouncing off your hip. If you'd like to carry more water, you need a mount or vehicle to do so. Same thing goes for torches, which weigh 1 pound each. Carrying 10 of them is quite the bundle, so there's your limit.

And of course characters are never depicted with huge army backpacks that would incorporate all this stuff. I like slot-based inventory instead, as in Mausritter, Cairn, Knave, etc. And when your character takes damage, it can accrue to their slots, so now they can carry one fewer thing.

I don't necessarily want my Dungeons & Dragons game to compete with Oregon Trail.

I just bought Ultraviolet Grasslands which bills itself as just such a thing, and it looks great!

 

[mrpopstar]

I just bought Ultraviolet Grasslands which bills itself as just such a thing, and it looks great!

I'll check this out!