James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
3rd to 4th level? Can you even afford Raise Dead at that point? For me, that's still "try to afford plate and a horse" levels!
D&D (2024) Rules that annoy you
- Thread starter pukunui
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Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Different edition bases.
James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
Which edition are we talking about? That's certainly my AD&D experience. By 3e you should have a magic weapon by 4th level, and in 4e you can start with plate (lol).
Now I will grant, if you're playing AD&D with published adventures, sure, all bets are off, those things are loaded to the gills with loot- I'm running a 2e adventure for levels 2-4 converted to 5e right now, and without changing the money values or the monsters, my party is 5th level (with 3/5 of the group getting close to 6th) and they have thousands of gold pieces (the Fighter just dropped 2,500 gp to purchase a magic weapon that inflicts an incredible +1d4 force damage, lol) and everyone has their best armor type. Only one horse though (the main hub is literally a one horse town!).
UngeheuerLich
Legend
Temp hp rules.
James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
That's another one to throw on the whole "meat points" debate- temporary hit points. If you get them from Wild Shaping into a bear, hm, I could see the argument for them being meat.
If you get them from old school Aid or a Twilight Cleric, well, that's obviously not meat. However, you can still get poisoned by taking damage that is completely absorbed by temporary hit points!
If you get them from old school Aid or a Twilight Cleric, well, that's obviously not meat. However, you can still get poisoned by taking damage that is completely absorbed by temporary hit points!
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
I really think temporary hp should be depicted as literally ablative; ie, as you take damage it is physically taken off, via a force shield, physical armor, or something else. If it can't be explained that way, I'd rather it used different mechanics, like a higher AC, damage reduction, or more actual hit points. I'm not a fan of "one mechanic fits multiple narratives" if a different mechanic would fit better.
James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
That's D&D in a nutshell though. Look at AC, which is comprised of both "ability to avoid being struck" and "physical protection from harm", which can come from Dexterity, armor, shields, magical effects, racial abilities, class abilities, natural armor, and whatever the heck Monks and Barbarians* are doing to add a secondary ability score to their AC calculations.
Not to mention how my wearing plate armor makes it harder for someone to hit me with a "sustained arc of lightning" (ala Witch Bolt).
*Oh and Draconic Sorcerers.
Or how narratively there's no fundamental difference between say, bashing damage or fire damage in most circumstances.
Or how every spellcasting class shares some spells, despite the origin and method of acquiring and using said spells can be fundamentally different for each class.
I know, you said you don't like this sort of thing, and would probably wish it was otherwise, but not only would you need to rebuild D&D from the ground up to clear up any confusion, these are ingrained "D&D-isms" that many people would miss if they were gone, and claim the game "doesn't feel like D&D".
And we all remember the last time that happened.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
In 1e you sure can if you're playing through the classic modules and finding even most of the loot.
James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
Yeah, that would be the exception, I noted that myself upthread. I used to get into arguments with people who insisted that you're intended to keep players lean and hungry in AD&D, and I'd be like "have you read any of the adventures?".
And of course, I've played a lot of games where my PC's were lean and hungry, lol.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
"No shirt, no shoes, no service."
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