D&D 5E New Spellcasting Blocks for Monsters --- Why?!

[Faolyn]

A better DMG is definitely needed and in my opinion, a lot of DM advice, assumes a certain playstyle and I think such advisories should be more explicit about where they are coming from.

Yeah. The current DMG does talk about different playstyles (players who like to instigate fights, players who like storytelling, players who like optimizing, etc.), but it's literally only four bullet points on what to do for each playstyle. It should be, like, an entire page, or at least a full column, for each type, with examples.

 

[Jmarso]

These are not painting a more positive picture.

Well that's just too bad. Your response to my original post and subsequent responses paint you as one of those 'perpetually offended' types, to be honest. Not sure what the chip on your shoulder is about, but feel free to take it somewhere else.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Yeah. The current DMG does talk about different playstyles (players who like to instigate fights, players who like storytelling, players who like optimizing, etc.), but it's literally only four bullet points on what to do for each playstyle. It should be, like, an entire page, or at least a full column, for each type, with examples.

I've always been of the mind that there should be 'step up' core books.

The entry level how to play, how to run, here are some basic bad guys to whomp, -- everything is based on how the game is expected to play and being very explicit about that and then the more detailed versions with piles of options, in depth discussion on how to homebrew and alter playstyle, etc, etc.

 

[Faolyn]

I guess you'd have to be there to have a sense of how it is at the table. We all laughed out loud about the idea of x-cards one time, because the consensus was (and still is) that if someone has an issue with something, we're all adult enough to broach the topic with others at the table and resolve it as a group, face to face, on the spot. I know it's a foreign concept to some, but it is possible for people of different races, genders, and orientations to get together and enjoy each others' company without being thin-skinned and looking for reasons at taking offense to one another. The one thing we all have in common is that we're a bunch of DnD nerds, and that works for us.

So, you all made fun of other people who have had issues in their lives that make some things uncomfortable or actively harmful to them. Bravo.

Also, you don't seem to understand what an X-card actually is, because it's a way to let people broach a topic with others at the table and resolve it as a group, face to face, on the spot. What you claim to dislike is exactly what you also claim to like! The purpose of the X-card is to let people at your table know that it's actually OK to broach the topic with others that that they won't be made fun of for doing so. Which you have just shown that your table is willing, able, and ready to do.

 

[Faolyn]

I've always been of the mind that there should be 'step up' core books.

The entry level how to play, how to run, here are some basic bad guys to whomp, -- everything is based on how the game is expected to play and being very explicit about that and then the more detailed versions with piles of options, in depth discussion on how to homebrew and alter playstyle, etc, etc.

I wouldn't want these to be different books or sets like in the BECMI days, but I agree. I'd like to see the DMG have entire chapters for each level of play. How to run a "Basic," low-level game is quite a bit different than running an "Champions," high-middle game or an "Immortals," epic-level game, after all.

 

[Morrus]

(no perpetually offended or triggered snowflakes),

Well, the adulting is always best left to adults.

Well that's just too bad. Your response to my original post and subsequent responses paint you as one of those 'perpetually offended' types, to be honest. Not sure what the chip on your shoulder is about, but feel free to take it somewhere else.

Hoo boy aren't you on a roll today? I think it's you who'll be feeling free to take it somewhere else. Don't post again in this thread please.

 

[Jmarso]

So, you all made fun of other people who have had issues in their lives that make some things uncomfortable or actively harmful to them. Bravo.

Don't know where you are deriving this from- go back and show me where I said that?

Also, you don't seem to understand what an X-card actually is, because it's a way to let people broach a topic with others at the table and resolve it as a group, face to face, on the spot. What you claim to dislike is exactly what you also claim to like! The purpose of the X-card is to let people at your table know that it's actually OK to broach the topic with others that that they won't be made fun of for doing so. Which you have just shown that your table is willing, able, and ready to do.

Yeah. So why do you need the silly card, then? Just call 'time out' or 'hold on' or something like that, and have the conversation. Plus, the x-card is NOT used the same way- in most groups, it's a way to move past an uncomfortable topic or moment wordlessly, without discussion. Someone holds up the card, and the group is supposed to nod and move on. NOT the same thing at all, and not how functioning adults should be handling conflicts, either at a gaming table or anywhere else.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I feel like doing a good job of it is honestly going to need another book.

I'm working on the 'how to play' part of my own heartbreaker right now and I'm realizing that trying to do a good job of it requires a lot more ink than D&D and it successors have traditionally provided based on my own recollections being in a group of players and DMs that all kind of had to teach one another with minimal 'experienced' players to teach us.

Things like effectively setting the scene, making the storytelling collaborative, spotlight balance, working with the combination of player types to they can play off each other, etc, etc. A brand new DM doesn't need this when they're trying to deal with when to call for checks and not to do that for walking across a slightly wet floor, but after the first few games, when the ideas start brewing, it's good to get.

 

[Helldritch]

So basically you're saying that, because I don't use the so-called budget, I'm a disaster waiting to happen who has only managed to survive this long on pure luck. Wow, rude much?

Wrong. I said nothing of such. I speak of a hypothetical DM. Stop assuming that I accuse or assume that you are a bad DM. To be able to say such a thing, I should've played with you. I always assume the best in people. Not the worst.

But a lot of people blame the game, a lot for their own short comings. One thing they have in common, they do not read the DMG. They do not analyze their games and why they went wrong. And when I go and watch how they play, when I show them where they got it "wrong" for beginners the reaction is always the same:"surprise and stupefaction". The one failure the game has is that it does not explain the whys such rules and such rules go or do not go together and their detailed mechanics.

 

[Helldritch]

I'm pretty sure that, nowadays, there's a ton of DM advice blogs, videos, and other media in all sorts of languages.

Yep. Most of it in English. This means that a lot of non English speakers are left in the dark.