Search results

Good points. For example, with regard to ability scores I could see: Elves: +2 Dex, -2 Con (agile, but frail) Dwarves: -2 Dex skills, +2 Con saves (hardy, but not very nimble) The elves ability modifiers have a smaller (only +/- 1 modifier) but wider effect, since they affect all checks using...

Michael from Dresden Files is the perfect example of how I'd like D&D paladins to look like: Absolute conviction that a god guides his hand - and correct about it. Supernatural abilities due to pure faith, but skilled due to hard work. Uncomfortable with anything in conflict with his code...

I don't think every race must have ability score modifiers, but if races of significantly different sizes are playable their ability scores should be adjusted to match expectations. I don't like having only bonuses, because that means humans will probably have to have some sort of adjustment as...

Excellent draft. I would XP if I could. One modification I would suggest is Wounded vs. unconscious. I would make the default that Wounded means you are down, but give classes like Fighter the ability to act at -2 or at no penalty once they are high enough level. Unlike what some commenters...

How should the three pillars of combat, exploration and interaction ("roleplaying") be supported by class balance? Choose any that apply. Please explain your reasoning, especially if you choose one of the four lowest options.

Rather than making mundane actions and equipment magically good, I would like to see most mundane (i.e. non-spellcasting) classes have ability to use (not do) magic. For example, druids and rangers could be almost as good at healing as clerics, without casting spells. Not because they are way...

55. The d20 is replaced with the d52/d13 - a deck of cards. The deck must be shuffled before each use and cut by the DM (or the defending player, when a monster or NPC attacks).

More important? No. As important? Maybe. If 5e is a great system, I may use it to run Paizo's adventures and my own. If 5e adventures are great, but the system isn't, I may use 3.5 or PF to run them. From the POV of WOTC it comes down to which nets them more money: me buying the core books...

Out of the box quality is the only quality that matters to me. On the other hand I don't mind an occasional "broken" thing, if I can just rule it away.

No, what I'm trying to say is that one of the options can be interpreted in another way consistently, while the other cannot. That's why I think it (damage is physical) is a better foundation for how hit points work in 5e. It is easier to lay modular options on top of it that allow quick and...

Sure, that's a good option. That helps by making inconsistencies less common, but still doesn't solve the problem that *all* of them can be restored by Bob the Warlord or a five minute breather. Your maybe serious works, but no wound (that wasn't instantly lethal) is found to actually be...

They do, however, tie the difficulty to the damage (since both are based on level), in effect saying that something has to be difficult for it to deal a lot of damage. Of course it can be ignored.

If you want to consider HP physical damage, you might narrate it as an open wound in the fighter's shoulder. If you want to consider HP loss of luck and tiredness, you might narrate it as a narrow escape that took a lot of the character's reserves. There are probably a lot of other ways to...

The difference is that in (e.g.) AD&D you can freely narrate most of those "hits" as a narrow escape and interpret the damage as loss of luck or tiredness. However, in 4e you can never narrate a hit as physical damage, since you never know if it will be restored by a morale boost, a second wind...

However you like. If you see that the fighter lost 50% of his HP you can describe it in a certain way, if 10% then in another. There's no need to wait until after the fact, just until you've rolled damage and seen whether he dropped.

Assuming their expectations are matched, I agree. However, it is very easy for players to expect a very different adventure if the DM hasn't been clear about it before the first session. That's not necessarily anyone's fault. The alternative also isn't doing nothing. We've had enjoyable...

No narrative difference? You can narrate the 5hp hit as anything that will take a good night's sleep to heal, while for the 50hp wound you can narrate a much more serious injury - just not one that would be especially debilitating.

I think that mismatched expectation is the more common cause, but I definitely know what you mean! An especially common mismatch in my experience is a "railroading" DM (strong story that could work well for another group, not necessarily anything wrong with it), when the player(s) expect to...

It's how they work in pre-4e, and I don't feel the OP was asking for anything new, although I could be wrong. There are some problems that should be fixed but nothing major: magical healing should depend on target's total HP, some environmental hazards like falling should either bypass HP or...

Make the abilities that were always there better and give the fighter extra bonuses when using them. I don't like the addition of a new mechanic when the existing ones are lacking. E.g. Fight Defensively (-X attack, +Y AC); Aid Another (use attacks to give +Z to adjacent character[s]) =>...