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  1. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    For the most part, yes. If you'll allow me to expand the point, the issues come when the lore =/= the mechanics. It creates a mental disconnect. And to be sure, often the lore has not lined up with the mechanics, throughout D&D's history. They've certainly tried to do so, or at least tried to...
  2. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Stealth and D&D2024

    And even if 2024 5e does use facing, it's left silent as to when/why/how one would change facing. Is it set at the end of the turn? Does this mean that if an enemy behind you moves away, you can't make an opportunity attack against them? Should you be treated as Blinded from the rear? Can I...
  3. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    That's a character concept. That's how it was mapped out. The rules don't let you do it without the DM's permission. Does that mean that the concept is invalid? If not, then you can't make this character in B/X or AD&D under normal circumstances. You might be able to in 3.e.
  4. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    All I'm saying is, some character concepts can be quite complex, and don't often fit within the boundaries of the rules. When TSR would try to map out some characters, they were forced to break their own rules, so you ended up with things like:
  5. 2025-02-19_081347.png

    2025-02-19_081347.png

  6. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Stealth and D&D2024

    In a previous post I said that in the end, it comes down to what the DM wants stealth to be able to do. Do you want Elder Scrolls-esque "stealth mode" letting you creep past enemies or do you want players to remain perfectly still in the shadows and pray nobody looks too closely at them. WotC...
  7. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    Let's say that your ideal character is made from a few disparate LEGO's. You want someone like Geralt of Rivia. Ok, so lightly armored, badass swordsman, hunts and tracks monsters, is a walking encyclopedia of supernatural lore, and has access to alchemical buffs (basically potions) that they...
  8. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Youre All Wrong. Its Not A Martial vs Caster Situation

    In my playgroup. most people play characters with at least some magic. Not everyone, not all the time- sometimes people are happy to play simpler characters where less thought is required. There's certainly a lot of visceral fun to be had in just throwing dice and imagining yourself...
  9. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Stealth and D&D2024

    I don't have the 2024 PHB to refer to, but 2014 explains the lack of facing thusly:
  10. Facing.png

    Facing.png

  11. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Stealth and D&D2024

    RE: underwater fire. Some substances (magnesium for example) can burn underwater. Butyl lithium actually ignites when it comes into contact with water!
  12. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Youre All Wrong. Its Not A Martial vs Caster Situation

    The White Death's CR was too high for the Russian Army to deal with. They had to bring in a Wizard to defeat him!
  13. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    Sure but let's look at the Gladiator again. Brute: A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when the gladiator hits with it (included in the attack). What is the DM going to narrate to the players? That the Gladiator is a big mean bully and so does extra damage? What could the...
  14. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    Sure but it was arbitrary to begin with, is all I'm saying. A goblin dealing d6+2 damage with a short sword because they have a Dex of 14 and short swords deal d6 damage is no less arbitrary than just saying "goblins deal d6+2 damage". After all, the decision to make short swords deal d6...
  15. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Youre All Wrong. Its Not A Martial vs Caster Situation

    The heart of this ancient debate comes down to the fact that most "martial"/low-magic/non-magic characters are effective in limited ways. Let's look at a level 5 Fighter (no subclass). He is effective in that he has more hit points than most other classes, can use any weapon, wear any armor...
  16. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    A monster that does 2d10 damage with a longsword isn't much different than the Gladiator's ability to roll an additional weapon die on all attacks, beyond that it's spelled out as an ability. Going back to my "No Prize" rule, it's easy to surmise the enemy has such an ability, but it wasn't...
  17. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    Australian or British? If British, Arsenal, Bristol, or Gloucester?
  18. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) Thoughts on Stealth and D&D2024

    I think at the end of the day, each DM needs to ask themselves what they want Stealth to do in the game, and work backwards from there. Traditionally, stealth rules have either been godly or damn near useless, and there isn't much middle ground. You either get an Elder Scrolls-esque "stealth...
  19. James Gasik

    D&D General Reification versus ludification in 5E/6E

    It's the same sort of thing that happened with the shift from 3e to 4e. Where 3e often went out of it's way (to it's detriment) to have the same rules for everything (you turn into a fleshraker dinosaur, you get all the stats of the creature, 1 HD humanoids advance via class levels, most things...
  20. James Gasik

    D&D 5E (2024) 2024 Class Rankings (from nat1gaming.com) for ppl who believe that stuff.

    Immunity to conditions (Charmed can be quite annoying and is not terribly rare), resistance/immunity to damage, advantage on saving throws. Occasionally an enemy will have something that can disrupt spellcasting ala Counterspell or disable a spell effect like Dispel Magic. Oh and I guess not...
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