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From the perspective of real life (i.e. assuming people's "ability scores" are drawn from some random distribution) rolling is not necessarily better or worse than point buy. They do have different premises, however. Rolling is creating a person drawn from that distribution. Point buy is...

Really? Most, but not all, aspects of a game break down "gracefully" under small rules changes. If this weren't the case designing the game in the first place would be nigh impossible. It's not that difficult to demonstrate in this particular instance, either. What if 4e had included a...

Sure, but Van Halen isn't modular. If it were you could make a phone call and the guy you want would show up at the stadium. :) (Well, IMHO, long-term changes in the roster are more analogous to traditional edition switches.)

I certainly don't think the idea that extra discussion will, on average, help games is tendentious. The examples you give are apt. I do find it surprising that something like modularization, which ostensibly changes only the rules, actually has a 2nd order effect on the game by encouraging...

Many potential benefits of modularization are obvious, like the ability to better match our individual preferences to the rules, settings, and people with whom we game. There is another subtle benefit that, to my knowledge, hasn't been discussed yet. Namely, the very process of participating...

People (though apparently not you) will be raising dead in their games. You can either give them a rule to tell them how, or make them write it themselves. Which is more pragmatic? I mean, there's already an incredibly easy method for turning raise dead into a "DM-fiat-only plot device": DM...

* Different XP for different classes. Needs to stay dead. * Favored class. Iconic class / race combinations will be rewarded by good support, they shoul NOT receive XP bonuses on top I'm in total agreement. * Detect Alignment spell I think these spells can be fixed with a dial. The short...

Rich also made a point to show that at least some of the monsters were paid, which suggests Planar Ally. Among its other advantages over Summon Monster, in this case silence could be part of the deal.

I'm not sure there should be an "epic" tier in the sense of a bunch of levels that are designated for doing epic things. Several people have said they want epic to change the feel of the game, but I'd bet there are plenty of people who just want the numbers to go up, or are at least...

Oh, absolutely as options. Ignoring a few spells is trivial (but because of the importance of alignment in the game I feel written sanction helps people who only want to use "official" things), and the differences between the other two is a well-written paragraph at most. The other operational...

Rituals are such a compelling idea, I really hope we get a better implementation this time. Within the game's narrative I consider spells and rituals as basically unified. Most spells probably began life as someone's imperfect tinkering, trying to get all the magical pieces to come out...

You really nailed this post. I like that Neutral is like glass: transparent unless there's nothing else to see. ---- I think that there should be no required mechanical interactions with alignment. With respect to the Detect Spells I can think of 3 distinct options to define how they relate...

I prefer Fort/Reflex/Will as saves because it highlights the character's strengths and weaknesses. I also prefer the difficulty of saves to depend on the attacker, in symmetry with attacks. Basically the 3.5 system, except that the DCs usually depend on the attacker's bonus, not the...

I'm thinking along these lines as well. I'd XP you, but apparently it's too soon. I could see a character (at a roughly 3.5-like complexity setting) as consisting of: A race (inherent features only) A class (a structure built on top of a theme) Two additional themes All classes are...

The sorts of things I listed, mainly areas of mechanical and conceptual exploration, are the only things *any* class (heck, any part of a game with rules) has going for it. The argument that the *idea* of clerics as classes is pointless (without healing) because one can do everything (but...

And all of which can be done with clerics. It's immaterial to my post, which was not about whether the cleric class is necessary, but whether it is pointless without healing. I mean, we could explore all themes and niches without classes -- plenty of games are designed that way. So if the...

To explore how a higher power interacts with devoted followers. To explore themes of religious devotion, community, and conflict. To explore the distinctions between the gods, and why those distinctions may actually matter in the setting. To ensure that characters for whom the deity is the...

Basically positive. I think 4e was a bold misstep for the brand (not necessarily a bad game), but the designers now have a lot of info about just how far they can step away from aspects of D&D's tradition they lacked before. And, I hope, some new marketing wisdom. I think the truly...

For me the basic success or failure of the 5e cleric will hinge on whether each character feels like it majors in "Devoted doer of my god's will in my god's way" and minors in "Doer of basic clericy things", and not the other way around. Dropping the minor might be even better! Both 3e and 4e...

Definitely plausible. Interpolate would be in a similar vein. And in a different thread I had earlier guessed Illithid or (if the developers were being snarky) Inevitable.