Recent content by Mercurius

I like the idea of two versions: a capsule description that is bare minimum, and a more in-depth text for color and depth (if you enjoy writing such things). Individual DMs can decide what to use. Not sure about putting it in the appendix, though. Might require too much flipping back and forth.

Yeah, I thought of BRP and Dragonbane as the closest thing. Using your example of karate, thankfully (I suppose!) in D&D, advancement mostly comes through combat - so in that way, it is realistic. On the other hand, I hear what you're saying - that there's almost two parallel tracks, one is...

Hey, take it up with AI, not me. And of course D&D isn't "remotely good" for reasons you stated and others. But...we're playing What If, here, and I think Qwen's answer of level 8-10 is solid enough. Game of Thrones is fantasy, but it is more realistic than D&D. As for Barristan Selmy, I...

(None of these answers are endorsed by me...just having a bit of fun with Qwen)

This one made me mentally chuckle: Ao (Overgod of the Forgotten Realms) Why : Ao oversees all deities and mortals in the Realms. Elminster would stand no chance against his omnipotence. Win Probability : ~100%.

(I can't stop myself!)

Here's a fun one. Question: How many ancient red dragons would it take to utterly destroy Waterdeep? At first it answered 2-3, but I asked it to re-evaluate considering the presence of high level characters to defend the city. It stuck to its guns, though, and said it would take "approximately...

Here's a combat encounter designed to give the above party 50-50 odds, using already existing monsters: Below is a summary chart for the encounter "The Abyssal Conclave" , featuring the Balor as the boss and supporting monsters. The chart includes key details such as monster roles, challenge...

And another. I asked Qwen to design a party of five 20th characters, optimized to be as powerful as possible and balanced as a group. Here is the summary chart: I then asked the same questions as above. First, a monster that the party defeats 80-90% of the time (so equivalent to a...

A monster that defeats that character 50% of the time: A monster that defeats that character 90% of the time:

First, I asked Qwen to define the most powerful 20th level D&D character possible. I then asked: Out of 100 possible combats, how often would that character defeat a Tarrasque? By comparison, I also asked Qwen to provide a list of the 10 most dangerous monsters and how often that character...

I asked Qwen: if you use the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons and you scale it towards real-world realism of skill development, what is the highest level a fighter could reach? Final Answer If D&D 5e were scaled toward real-world realism of skill development, the highest level a fighter...

Does a pull-out map count as a component, per VAT?

Only read the OP, but it made me think that long-time D&D players - like 10+ years and multiple editions - end up in one of two places: Either: Happy with the game as it is (or with minor house rules) and/or just happy to go along for the ride of whatever edition is extant; or Finding oneself...