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I vote for 1 second rounds. Limit everyone to one action a round. Complex tasks like using a bow or casting a spell take multiple rounds. This keeps players more engaged as fewer actions lead to less time between turns. It minimizes the cyclical effect of a round based system. It gets rid...

It would probably change to a roll-under system for those checks. If you have an 18 in STR, you need to roll an 18 or lower to succeed. If you have a 6 in STR, you need to roll a 6 or lower to succeed. It works well in GURPS (and other systems), but I don't think the general D&D populace...

This right here is one of the reasons this argument has been going on for years and years: How do you define a Lawful alignment? Option 1: You have a very orderly personality, follow rules, and like civilizations. Option 2: You are inherently opposed to the Chaotic side of the universe, yet...

The mention of a focus on gameplay (player-DM interaction) rather than mechanics is probably it for me. Imagine if the character can do what they are trying to do. If they should be able to do it, they simply do it. It's a refreshing change from trying to write (or remember) mechanics for...

A blackguard isn't just a fighter who worships a god, he's a servant of evilness. He's Lex Luthor and Red Skull. He holds himself to a strict amoral code and lifestyle (affecting his possessions, maternal wealth, associates, and code of conduct) and in return he is rewarded with divine...

Can you explain the reason(s) people are against having non-lawful-good Paladins? To me, it just doesn't make sense for either the story or the mechanics to be tied to a single alignment. The idea behind the (3.5, at least) Paladin is a holy knight that derives his power from his deity or his...

Why not throw some other restrictions on class? Elves can't be fighters. Dwarves can't be druids. All wizards must be tall and British. All assassins must kill a child every week. Paladins must give away all their stuff to good-aligned people. Halflings can't wear shoes and must smoke...

That's fine as long as the game is still designed to have optional rules. You are then less likely to run into situations where Rule A depends on Rule B depends on Rule C depends on Rule D. To remove Rule D, you have to remove or change all those rules. It doesn't take too much extra space to...

(This thread has really taken off...) To me and my group, having your healing surges decrease means just about nothing as long as you are at full health and have no status effects. Yes, it is a resource that gets depleted more after difficult fights but that has (to us) a different meaning...

Things I like about healing surges: Reduce dependence on heal-bot spellcasters or ubiquitous CLW wands. Allow the party to forge on through the adventure. Things I don't like about healing surges: Not very believable in many cases. Greatly reduces lasting effects of combat. If the PCs get...

In my ideal game, the effectiveness of a condition-inducing-effect would scale with the skill of the person doing it and the beastiness of the person being affected. A level 1 Wizard casting Sleep on a kobold puts him to sleep for a short time. A level 20 Wizard casting Sleep on a kobold puts...

The only "piracy prevention" provided by not selling electronic copies is a slightly longer delay to the pirated materials being available. In some industries, this can be a major boon as people want their entertainment now. In the RPG industry, this doesn't really matter too much. You...

My ideal solution would be to get rid of the "one attack represents multiple attempts to attack" idea. One attack roll equals one attack. Reduce the round time. Limit the number of actions you can take on a turn. Reduce the distance a person can move in one round. By doing these, you get...

I would absolutely love for D&D to move towards a complete point buy system, but it won't happen for a long time. It's simply not D&D.

There's a time tax associated with switching players but limiting the actions to one a round can keep the game moving faster. By reducing the time between rounds, you don't lose as much time by players having to re-acclimate to the situation. In addition, there's no longer the possibility of...

I'd say you could put it in the introduction to only look at X and Y sections if you are going to play... ... But no one ever reads introductions in RPG books. This gets incredibly awkward when the developers hide actual rules in the introductions (4e starting gold comes to mind).

Why have only one writing style? To be all-inclusive, the rulebooks must be translated into all the writing styles.

I say it should go the GURPS route in regards to combat vs. non-combat. Provide pretty good and comprehensive rules for both. Judge a character's power by how much they attribute to the team or quest. Don't force or even encourage a certain play-style. That way, people who like...

Feminist 1: Not being able to be nude is demeaning to women! Feminist 2: Nudity is demeaning to women! My opinion is that I don't care how much nudity or what kind appears in the books. However, there are enough people in our part of the world that care (for whatever reason), that it is not a...

This was taken care of in Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters. The preview books have excellent fluff material (that should have made it into the DMG somehow...). There are three basic things to a creature: the body, the animus, and the soul. The body is... well, the physical part. The...