It's only irrelevant if you're redefining the game and to the point there's no recognizable game being used as a foundation. I know some people go to that extreme, I know I don't and I've never heard of anyone in my actual gaming circle going to that extreme.
D&D General [rant]The conservatism of D&D fans is exhausting.
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It's only irrelevant if you're redefining the game and to the point there's no recognizable game being used as a foundation. I know some people go to that extreme, I know I don't and I've never heard of anyone in my actual gaming circle going to that extreme.
Thomas Shey
Legend
I maintain it still does if it modifies the rule area being talked about it enough. If the response to a discussion of Rules Topic A is to say you've houseruled it in a way to make the problem area not a problem (which may involve houseruling in other areas) that may be vaguely useful in a "how can this be fixed" way, but at best that's useful for GMs, and has no impact on the general impact of that rule in the populace playing the game unless the same houserule is common (which itself pretty much ends up being an acknowledgment that it is, indeed, a problem).
kermit4karate
A strong opinion is still only an opinion.
Exactly. For many, many, many of us, D&D has been a different game. Dramatically different rules, dramatically different experiences, and new games are trying to compete with that multi-generational history of creativity and maleability.
D&D players today play different amalgams of all previous versions coupled with different combos of house rules. It is what it is. That annoys a lot of people who dislike D&D and want to develop something different but it feels like they're aiming at a moving target, which they are. That's why it's so tough to compete with D&D.
James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
Sometimes they do. And sometimes Gary Gygax will go from "make the game your own" to suddenly switching gears and saying if you don't play the game exactly as written, "you're not playing D&D".
kermit4karate
A strong opinion is still only an opinion.
Gary Gygax is a part of history. No longer has a claim to D&D in any way, shape or form.
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Don't we already have Game of Theseus? I've always operated under that assumption.
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
I thought we weren't allowed to characterize any part of a game as "lazy design"? Seems a little uncharitable.
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Yup. I'm still playing 5e. Houserules and 3pp or not. We can still talk about 5e together.
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Gary was inconsistent. It is known and I think it can be safely dismissed.
kermit4karate
A strong opinion is still only an opinion.
Armor has always been a weird one, and it is for most fantasy systems.
To me the best and really only solution that maintains speed of play is to use something like temp hit points, i.e., the big suit of metal armor absorbs X damage first.
Because other systems that go further by incorporating tactical rules to distribute damage and other things like that just go too far in terms of slowing the game down, in my opinion.
D&D out of the box gets it close to right. Pretty good compromise overall. Easy math, fast gameplay (critically important but often underrated), not completely absurd in terms of probabilities and physics.
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