Search results

  1. D

    D&D 5E (2014) Short Rest House Rule Idea

    We've been using essentially this house rule for years, except we use a fixed 2/day instead of prof bonus. Works great to resolve the balance issues between short rest and long rest classes, without disrupting other parts of the game. It also reduces the importance of having a healer, since it's...
  2. D

    WotC The other snake in the grass: the Wizards Fan Content Policy

    My main objection to WotC's fan policy is that it is groaning under the weight of all the "How do you do, fellow kids?" As for the details of the policy... as everyone else has pointed out, it's a policy, not a contract. And even aside from that, it would take a lot for me to get mad about the...
  3. D

    D&D General DMing Hard Stop

    I've experienced DM burnout many a time, but it never hits me the way you describe. For me, at least, it comes as a slow draining away of enthusiasm and commitment. I agree with the other posters that this sounds like being fed up with a specific player's crap, rather than burnout in the usual...
  4. D

    D&D 5E (2024) What Should 1D&D Resurrect? +

    Resurrect the dedicated spontaneous casters from late 3E: The warmage, the dread necromancer, the beguiler. Give me a caster class that is built entirely around a particular magical theme, rather than being an "everything caster" with a few nods to a specialty. Failing that, at least bring back...
  5. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    Nobody said long-term contracts aren't binding. You are using "in effect" to put words in somebody's mouth (I think @pemerton's, but I'm not positive). There is always disagreement among experts on any topic. But that doesn't mean it's safe to just wave off expert opinion. When experts are...
  6. D

    D&D 5E (2024) Should healing word require hit dice?

    I'm in the "other" camp. The fundamental issue here is the incentives created by the "no negative hit points" rule -- since damage that takes you below zero is negated (unless it's enough for an insta-kill), you effectively gain hit points by going to zero and then being healed. Healing word is...
  7. D

    Is WotC playing 4d Chess with the 5.1 SRD CC?

    Any time I see suggestions that someone is playing 4D chess, I assume that isn't the case unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary. I'll assume that your focus is specifically on Friday's announcement and that you aren't claiming their entire strategy over the last month has been...
  8. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    Always? He certainly does not. I don't think I've ever gotten such a response from @pemerton. Which might have to do with the fact that I start from the proposition that he has a law degree, and I do not, and therefore when I see him say something that contradicts my understanding of how the law...
  9. D

    Crow Eating thread

    Not sure I'd go quite that far. From the playtest, they appear to be standardizing subclasses so you get features at the same level across all classes, which would make them incompatible with Tasha's. There will likely be some sort of conversion rule to let you shoehorn 5E subclasses in, so it...
  10. D

    The stupid part of all of this...

    That is highly unlikely. D&D is not the giant moneymaker that Magic is, but it's bringing in a very respectable income stream, enough that they were willing to drop $146 million to buy D&D Beyond. They are not going to shut it down unless it completely tanks. It's the rest of Hasbro, the...
  11. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    When the ORC is completed and released, I will happily join an effort to persuade Wizards to put the SRDs under it. Who knows, they might even do it! (I don't think it's likely, but if you'd asked me this time yesterday, I'd have said there wasn't a chance in hell of the current situation...
  12. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    That is true. But any attempt to create an OGL 1.0b would bring its own set of legal questions; it would not have been tested in court as the CC presumably has; it would still be under WotC's control; and it would not tie the SRD to a huge external group of stakeholders with an interest in...
  13. D

    3e SRDs, Paizo, Planescape, Cleric class, OSR, curious thoughts

    Let's keep in mind that Friday's announcement was clearly an emergency fix. They stopped the survey early, and they didn't just say "We are going to put the 5E SRD under Creative Commons" -- they actually went ahead and did it right then and there. Clearly, the goal was to stop the bleeding...
  14. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    In a technical sense, sure, they've left open the possibility of a future attempt at deauthorization. But the brilliance of the CC release is that, while it has not taken away the possibility, it has annihilated the incentive. Even if you totally dismiss all benefits to Wizards from open...
  15. D

    It is time to forgive WOTC and get back onboard.

    There is a difference between letting go of a grudge, and forgiveness. Letting go of the grudge just means you don't waste any more emotional energy on the person. It doesn't mean you change your opinion of them. As for me, I'm in the "Don't anthropomorphize the giant corporation" camp. WotC is...
  16. D

    I saved D&D (Humor)

    Last night? Please. I filled out the OGL survey this morning. Obviously they were just waiting for my feedback, and when they saw I wasn't on board, they knew it was time to throw in the towel.
  17. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    Because 1.0 was, and is, still valid. Anything that was released under 1.0 remains so. The owner can update to 1.0a, but nothing forces them to. And if the work was abandoned before 1.0a was released, it will remain 1.0 forever.
  18. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    Suppose they did release a new OGL which was written to be irrevocable. Would you trust it? Would anyone? The lawyers here would debate it endlessly. The people who aren't lawyers but think they're legal geniuses would treat us to a parade of conspiracy theories. And the rest of us would stand...
  19. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    What for? Seriously -- what would be the point of trying this again, with the 5E SRD released under Creative Commons? We don't know for sure what their goal was this time, but there are several possibilities: They were trying to kneecap competition for their VTT, or they were trying to prevent...
  20. D

    WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

    This is total speculation, but based on what we saw from Wizards, here's what I think happened: The initial decision to revoke the OGL was not seen as a big deal by whoever was calling the shots at the time (supposedly Chris Cao, but since we don't know for sure, I'll just call this person...
Top