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Oh, I agree. And I don't think you (or Mearls) is wrong here. However, that's ONLY true if a new PC must always start the game at 1st-level. To stick with Mike's analogy, playing a magic-user and skipping those early "hard-to-survive" levels is basically playing D&D using a "cheat code." I...

Interesting point. The problem seems to be that squaring the needs of a good game (real risk in every combat) with suspension of disbelief require some kind of artificial kludge (like ubiquitous magical healing or formerly life-threatening wounds that just "go away") in order to work. I have...

Great story! I've been thinking of getting my friends together and just playing some old-school Red Box D&D. I still have both my Moldvay/Cook and Mentzer starter set books. Would probably be a blast... That's my hope for D&D Next. Ideally, it'll be simple enough for me to run a quick game...

Wow, Google sucks. A couple other sources offer the following... Charisma: n. 1. a spiritual power or personal quality that gives an individual influence or authority over large numbers of people. 2. a special personal quality or power of an individual making him capable of influencing or...

Fair point. I am cautiously optimistic that WotC will start with the modern game engine, including such things as a single universal resolution mechanic (d20 + modifiers), consistent mechanics and ability score bonuses, fundamental system math, to-hit bonuses and escalating AC (vs. tables or...

Two things: 1) This topic is shameless self-promotion of a product you're a co-creator of. If you expect to be taken seriously, you should have disclosed that in your topic. 2) It might help your cause if Orion could correctly identify the head of D&D product as MIKE (not Mark) Mearls in his...

I'd agree with you on Blue Rose or Mutants and Masterminds not being D&D. Similarly, a d20 Past campaign that uses the d20 Modern rules may be d20, but it's not D&D. However, I think it's pretty clear that Pathfinder, like Castles & Crusades, Swords & Wizardry, or even Hackmaster, is a D&D...

"Circumstance bonus." :D

Yeah, that's what I get for using examples.

Just as an aside, unless he gets treated in combat, the character can't get the benefits of recovering hit points from both first aid and a breather. That's specifically disallowed. So it's either 1d6 + 3, or breather. I see your point, although it's only an issue if the character goes down in...

Well, my first point is to joke that you're actually NOT playing D&D - you're playing Pathfinder. But I consider Pathfinder to be part of the "big tent of D&D," the same way I include Castles & Crusades. Whatever your character's scores are, their attributes are still fundamentally on the 3-18...

That's why I said the cornerstone of D&D was "alignment" and not "the nine alignment system." But I stand by the assertion that D&D should have alignment.

But Kynn, that's just flat not true. Let's take a common low-level D&D encounter - 1st-level characters vs. kobolds or goblins. In 4e, a 1st-level kobold or goblin (not even a minion) does 1d6 +5 (average 8.5 hp) on a hit. At MOST, he inflicts 11 hp. Our PC wizard with an 8-10 constitution has...

People seem to be getting confused by what Monte means when he says that the "core of the game" looks "a lot like OD&D." He's not trying to say something that all of us seem blissfully unaware of. What labels a game as Dungeons & Dragons, even to someone who's never played it? - D&D is...

Why not just steal an idea from Dragon Age? That system uses health (similar to hit points) and looks like it would work reasonably well. Using that system as a base, here's my first crack at a D&D version: Starting hit points: Magic-User: 20 + Con bonus + 1d6. Cleric/Rogue: 25 + Con bonus +...

In case everyone has forgotten, the early editions of the d20 Star Wars Roleplaying Game attempted to separate hit points into two pools, which were referred to as "Vitality Points" and "Wound Points." Wound points were a fixed number, equal to the CON score, if memory serves, which never...

So the pre-4e system is "consistent," is it? Then why, for all that's holy, can "Cure light wounds" fully restore one person who's close to death, but only gives your 5th-level fighter back SOME of your hit points? Hmm? My point is that the old system had its own internal inconsistencies too...

I think that race should be significant, but I'd very much like to see WotC take a step back to each race's fantasy fiction roots, and see what can be gleaned about said race that makes it "special." And they should try to separate out the cultural baggage of a particular work of fiction as much...

Centaurs.

Best solution that ISN'T a death spiral: A PC sporting a certain number of "wounds" can not recover more than half his hit points (he's always "bloodied"). This way, his combat effectiveness is undiminished, but his staying power is reduced until he can properly heal. A heroic adventurer in...