D&D General 6E But A + Thread

[Reynard]

I guess what I always liked with spending on powers is characters improved more gradually. There wasn’t a huge bump.

That is a benefit. I'm sure you could curate the choice in a way that avoids big disparities in PC capability.

 

[payn]

You’d probably just hand out xp at chapters instead of after combats/challenges. I think I’d do that anyways, as a dm.

FATE has milestones too: minor, Significant and Major. Each let you do different things.

So you could just do the same:

Minor milestone gives a set amount, significant gives another set and major is the most.

I guess what I always liked with spending on powers is characters improved more gradually. There wasn’t a huge bump.

I really enjoyed when DDO did this. It was like 4 mini level ups between levels. Of course, that likely means going back to mini feats and that might be a hill to struggle up.

 

[mamba]

Especially when people almost universally laud ToV's Luck.

yeah, at a minimum I would add Luck and Doom for metacurrencies. That is probably enough though.

 

[Reynard]

yeah, at a minimum I would add Luck and Doom for metacurrencies. That is probably enough though.

I like the Momentum and Doom pools from 2d20 and use a variant in almost any game I run that has both sides metacurrency. I like the push and pull and how deciding whether to use a "point" matters to the players.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I really enjoyed when DDO did this. It was like 4 mini level ups between levels. Of course, that likely means going back to mini feats and that might be a hill to struggle up.

It def. Would be a balancing act.

To use Ezekiel’s terminology, I see 3 or 4 ‘trunks’ which are your starting classes:

Example themes(you could base it on mental physical and social stat, for example - or exploration, combat, social pillars, or break it into 4 trunks:

• Full non caster d10hp, better physical saves, martial type proficiencies etc…
• Partial caster, d8hp, cheaper spell progression from 1-3 but more expensive at higher levels, invocations
• Full caster: d6 - cheapest spells costs and meta magic abilities, better mental saves

Each would have its pool of abilities which would be cheapest to buy from. Full non casters could improve physical attributes easier. You could buy from other pools but it would be very expensive.

So you could build any of the classic archetypes but you could also mix and match.

I’ve been wanting to do this for decades but have never delved into it because balancing abilities and the potential power combos would be such a headache that I’ve never had the courage or time to do so.

 

[kermit4karate]

Maybe reworking the concept of exhaustion to serve as a "stress" mechanic for those long term difficult processes like travel or even deep underground exploration.

The concept of exhaustion is already baked in through hit points and spell slots, isn't it? As long as DMs don't commodify healing or watch a stopwatch to say, "OK, everyone's healed to full!" after exactly x# of hours of so-called in-game rest, then adventuring already wears on characters and prompts them to play differently, more cautiously.

 

[Reynard]

The concept of exhaustion is already baked in through hit points and spell slots, isn't it? As long as DMs don't commodify healing or watch a stopwatch to say, "OK, everyone's healed to full!" after exactly x# of hours of so-called in-game rest, then adventuring already wears on characters and prompts them to play differently, more cautiously.

I meant the existing 5E exhaustion mechanic.

 

[kermit4karate]

The concept of exhaustion is already baked in through hit points and spell slots, isn't it? As long as DMs don't commodify healing or watch a stopwatch to say, "OK, everyone's healed to full!" after exactly x# of hours of so-called in-game rest, then adventuring already wears on characters and prompts them to play differently, more cautiously.

Which reminds me, rest is one basic thing I handle differently than most DMs I know. In a world of monsters and magic, getting a good 8 hours of rest in a dungeon, dark wood or other wild place would be...difficult.

Camping in a national park here can be scary. Try sleeping in a forest where trolls live!

That doesn't require more rules to convey. It should be common sense. Having a party be interrupted while resting would be the norm, as would players failing to heal normally or recovering all of their spell slots.

 

[payn]

Which reminds me, rest is one basic thing I handle differently than most DMs I know. In a world of monsters and magic, getting a good 8 hours of rest in a dungeon, dark wood or other wild place would be...difficult.

Camping in a national park here can be scary. Try sleeping in a forest where trolls live!

That doesn't require more rules to convey. It should be common sense. Having a party be interrupted while resting would be the norm, as would players failing to heal normally or recovering all of their spell slots.

The resting discussions really need to consider the game portion along with the story portion. Is the game supposed to be a simulation? Then, pushing as far as you can go and risking a rest in a dangerous place has its own risks. Thats a rather old school approach. Then, there is the story or narrative approach where does this make dramatic sense? Having dungeons with final fantasy save spots doesnt feel very dramatic even if it fits the game portion of the RPG.

Ideally, you have a dial so folks can populate a dungeon with untold numbers of encounters, but you can also dial it down to 1-3 set piece encounters that make more narrative sense and cut the game fat so to speak. 5E is designed to do both, just doesnt do one or the other particularly well. Thats kinda the story of 5E though, "we thought of everybody, but nobody in particular."

 

[Reynard]

Which reminds me, rest is one basic thing I handle differently than most DMs I know. In a world of monsters and magic, getting a good 8 hours of rest in a dungeon, dark wood or other wild place would be...difficult.

Camping in a national park here can be scary. Try sleeping in a forest where trolls live!

That doesn't require more rules to convey. It should be common sense. Having a party be interrupted while resting would be the norm, as would players failing to heal normally or recovering all of their spell slots.

Many moons ago I was a US Army infantryman. You would be surprised where you can sleep.