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Playtest documents are....literally nothing like "written down house rules" beyond....the fact that they are written. Are you seriously claiming the two are identical?

If a designer does this, they're an a#$&@%e, plain and simple. Do you think I don't know what it's like to be treated like a second class citizen? Come the frick on, Dave. I'm a 4e fan. 5e, and especially its fans, will take every opportunity to remind me that I'm a second-clsss citizen now. I...

Ever notice how people only demand playtest rules when it's something they question? I never see you demand this of yourself, for example. But I'm pretty used to double standards at this point.

As is so often the case: a problem being solved in 3PP is not actually solved. I get why you suggest it. I'm not really in a position to benefit from that. Particularly in this glorious age of "DM Empowerment".

If 5e only had CR failures on edge cases, I would completely agree. That has not been my experience with it.

I mean, I had thought it was obvious that WotC did not have that. CR is only very slightly less of a joke now than it was in 3e, and that can be placed entirely at the feet of the overall reduction in the power of spells and the inclusion of Concentration.

No. But demanding that the game be designed presuming that absolutely everyone has identical experiences to yours? That is.

It is better for several reasons. Not being levels means, as I've said already, we completely and utterly cut out the "but that's not FIRST, you start at FIRST because that's what FIRST means, why would you ever start anywhere other than FIRST". And yes, while this is not the majority opinion...

Good. Without skeptical people, testing doesn't work. You need people willing to challenge you in order to actually achieve the end goal.

Ah. Then that is the issue. I prefer to actually make them manifest some kind of archetype rather than just making them vehicles for mechanics.

Well, keep in mind what Lanefan said to me: This isn't just "this should be a valid path". Lanefan wants this to be the ONLY path. I am completely in favor of providing tools and support for multiple approaches. I am not--and never will be--in favor of what Lanefan is advocating here. This is...

Allegedly, they were operating on what notes GRRM was willing to provide them--and Jon Snow's resurrection is literally something that will have to come up in the next book because, as of the published books, he has just been killed. It would be extremely odd for some kind of resurrection to be...

I do think they can both be fairly presented as options in the same game, yes. That is, in fact, one of the biggest reasons why I advocate for "novice levels" and incremental advancement rules that are robust and well-presented. Because they do, in fact, allow the same game to support the "zero...

Sometimes, it is useful to highlight where a trend started, particularly when that point is also relevant to the conversation for what it is individually, in addition to the historical value.

What would you say are the archetypes these options are offering? Because for the life of me I cannot really see what is in either of them that is that compelling. That's why I advocate merging them. They become tenders of the land, from treetop to abyss. They become quirky welcoming but weird...

I mean sure, but the point was that this was more or less the first time it hit. This was early. We're talking pretty much the exact middle of the public playtest. The playtest Warlock and Sorcerer were the first and only time I was actually upbeat about 5e's prospects: it wouldn't be what I...

Partially. I also meant that, in D&D terms, he had a very strong association with shape changing.

And what happened when Jon Snow was supposed to die in the show...? They killed off one major character, early in the story. It put people on edge. Once the story actually gets into the thick of it, random unexpected pointless deaths are no longer a concern. Lanefan. Are we invested in the...

Sometimes. It's a slightly more mixed bag. Emphasis on "slightly".

True proper Myrddin was a druid, but the Arthurian romances, particularly those that re-cast Merlin as an incubus' child baptised on the day of his birth so he was free of Satan's influence, definitely put him closer to "sorcerer" than "wizard" in many cases. Not all--sometimes he is entirely...