D&D (2024) Command is the Perfect Encapsulation of Everything I Don't Like About 5.5e


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This whole discussion is not easy for me.

I really had so much fun in the freewheeling AD&D days. When the DM made a call it seemed legit and reasonable because I play games with people I like and trust.

And yet, I really do like some guidelines and parameters. I have a history of enjoying strategy games, afterall.

I have struggled with 5eskills at times…

But the danger of codifying every little thing to the point of “other options not considered” will move a game from wide open rpg to battletech or axis and allies.

This is only one spell; I really want to get my hands on a book so I can see the totality!
 


This whole discussion is not easy for me.

I really had so much fun in the freewheeling AD&D days. When the DM made a call it seemed legit and reasonable because I play games with people I like and trust.

And yet, I really do like some guidelines and parameters. I have a history of enjoying strategy games, afterall.

I have struggled with 5eskills at times…

But the danger of codifying every little thing to the point of “other options not considered” will move a game from wide open rpg to battletech or axis and allies.

This is only one spell; I really want to get my hands on a book so I can see the totality!
Codification I want is more like examples and benchmarks that help the GM to extrapolate consistently, not exhaustive and limited lists of all possible things.
 

I think they do this in every .5 edition (and then revert it in the next one). They made the exact same change going from 3e to 3.5.

Are there any grognards out there who can confirm or deny whether there was a similar change between 2e and 2.5?
 

This whole discussion is not easy for me.

I really had so much fun in the freewheeling AD&D days. When the DM made a call it seemed legit and reasonable because I play games with people I like and trust.

And yet, I really do like some guidelines and parameters. I have a history of enjoying strategy games, afterall.

I have struggled with 5eskills at times…

But the danger of codifying every little thing to the point of “other options not considered” will move a game from wide open rpg to battletech or axis and allies.

This is only one spell; I really want to get my hands on a book so I can see the totality!

Yeah part of this is hard for me because I don’t have the book in hand so I can’t see the phrasing but I gotta be honest, I’ve never understood some of the contortions some folks have proposed with existing 5e rules. It could be a nothing burger for all I know.
 

How will they do suggestion in a VTT? How do they do it in BG3 for that matter? Haven’t played it so genuinely curious.
The 3D VTT/Sigil is reported as currently working like extant VTTs, in that it doesn't like, implement stuff for you - the early discussions implied it was going to be more automated than other VTTs, like a player would cast a fireball, place it on the map, the enemies it touched would automatically roll a save, automatically reduce damage for resistances, and so on, but it seems like that probably won't be the case, rather it's more manual like a standard VTT.

Likewise, Sigil would handle Suggestion like on tabletop - the DM will just have to move/RP the NPC appropriately.

This is based on the latest info I have.

BG3 handles it by not having the Suggestion spell. It handles Command by having a fixed list of options to choose from like 2024 does (be unsurprised if 2024's Command design was inspired by this) and I imagine if they had put in Suggestion, they'd have done the same.
 

I think people making assumptions about changing things so an AI can run a game is a bit farfetched. There are quite a few things in D&D that just don't mix well with automation and likely never will. If there were an AI that could run a game they could just limit what the AI does and nobody would be the wiser. Yes, the AI only tells you to do the things that are on a short list but most players will only use a limited option as well.

Occam's Razor tells me that it's just something they find people don't use very often because it's so open to DM interpretation and it's too vague for a lot of people. That, and it's only a first level spell that in the old version needed to be understood and interpreted by the target. The new version is not the target interpreting the spell, it's the caster invoking something from a list of options. It's actually more powerful for the majority of players because the target doesn't need to understand the language.
 


The 3D VTT/Sigil is reported as currently working like extant VTTs, in that it doesn't like, implement stuff for you - the early discussions implied it was going to be more automated than other VTTs, like a player would cast a fireball, place it on the map, the enemies it touched would automatically roll a save, automatically reduce damage for resistances, and so on, but it seems like that probably won't be the case, rather it's more manual like a standard VTT.

Likewise, Sigil would handle Suggestion like on tabletop - the DM will just have to move/RP the NPC appropriately.

This is based on the latest info I have.

BG3 handles it by not having the Suggestion spell. It handles Command by having a fixed list of options to choose from like 2024 does (be unsurprised if 2024's Command design was inspired by this) and I imagine if they had put in Suggestion, they'd have done the same.

The demo they had included automatic saves for a breath weapon and damage. But just because some things can be automated, there is no goal of automating everything.
 

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