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I like it. If nothing else the +1 AC from having a shield retains its value as a percentage steadily over all 20 levels, so the compensation of extra damage from a two-handed weapon needs to persist it's percentage value to some extent rather than just drop off a cliff in obscurity. +5 damage...

Mysterious loot is not a core game assumption. Everything is easily identified by default. Moreover, the entertainment value of random or arbitrarily formed arms and armor that may be useless or just conflict with character designs varies widely on a player-by-player basis. The amusement value...

Always put down at least "two" when a form asks you about "eyes." It's a matter of life and death, after all! - Marty Lund

Let's not confuse the issue. There were enemies that were immune to piercing damage and Kerrek always kept a good dagger and a club as back-up, even putting low-grade enchantments on them as he leveled. He never just said, "Hey, this Axe is way better than my chain. I guess its time to be Kerrek...

Frankly, I think this is a problem even when there are 0 additional mechanical consequences for changing weapons. When someone formulate a character with a concept in mind that involves a particular weapon and then you find a loot weapon that outside that concept it can be irritating. Kerrek the...

I'll deign to add a caveat, "Detailed, realistic weapon-on-armor combat does not integrate well with the specific kind of fun Core D&D is aiming at." I'm sure there's got to be a niche game system out there that somehow makes simulating the physical reality of how useless sword-slashes are...

That really is the crux of it. D&D is a pile of tropes and related tactics, not a reality simulator. Mechanical parity is really there to keep one character's trope from trampling on that of another character. "Uranium Katanas," as cross-the-board trope for the game world makes ax-crazy dwarf...

The underlying problem I see is the Rogue being able to double martial damage dice output with Sneak Attack. I'm not in the "Rogues should rampantly out-damage Fighters when they use Sneak Attack and do the same damage the rest of the time," camp. One of the reasons is that it leads to...

The fixed damage bonus needs to apply to every attack you make in a round. Then volley and whirlwind attack start to do the appropriate job at the appropriate levels. That's all. - Marty Lund

People seem so confused about the marketplace. Traditional RPGS are a dying niche market. There's still money to be made there, but it all depends on what your overhead is to produce and what your profit goals are. If you have a tiny project like 13th Age and you aren't basing your business...

It isn't damage dice that matters in a contest between a guy wielding a katana and a guy brandishing a Swingline stapler. The issue is reach. D&D doesn't model distinctions in reach at that granularity, so it's a moot point. Assuming a trained killer is inside your sword's reach with a random...

If the bulk of the complexity comes from customization options for characters then the game isn't too complex for new players. You just put the character design on rails and you're good to go. I could build near OD&D functionality out of all the character classes in very simple, level-by-level...

I think I'd have preferred the Rogue to have the same Martial Damage Dice and less Martial Damage Bonus, while the Monk should have slower Dice progress but the same damage bonus progress as the Fighter. - Marty Lund

I want to see skills that aren't exclusive silos. I want to see traits like "persuasive," "shrewd," "commanding," "athletic," "shifty," or "deft" instead of uninspired bricks like "Perception," "Balance," and "intimidate." - Marty Lund

Simple character creation: Race, class, skip background, skip specialty. Pick a tradition / scheme / style / deity. Casters have to pick a few spells. Done. - Marty Lund

I see a lot I like initially: - Skill Die: I like this mechanic generally, and I like Rogue's skill tricks specifically - though I think some of them don't scale well at higher levels (like Gilded Tongue). I do like seeing the mechanics to shake Disadvantage. - Martial Damage Bonus: Even...

Give the Paladin "Faith Points" he can use to invoke blessings that perform various functions outside of "I hit it with my longsword for 1d8 + Expertise Dice damage." Faith Points could power Smite, Lay On Hands, and the various Divine Powers a Paladin might receive. Everyone could get "Smite...

Of course, but that's apparently "NOT REAL D&D!" to some folks that Wizards wants to attract with a "traditional" (ie - the wacky Kung Fu TV series monk from Dave Arneson's home game) Monk that recalls the AD&D PHB. I think it's pretty much established at this point that if you try and make any...

I disagree with this. If they go Open Source Model on D&DNext then Hasbro is putting the old girl out to pasture in terms of making it a revenue stream. It'll be the last edition of D&D Hasbro will ever publish because their revenue models will never be met by an Open Source Support business...

That's kind of been my bone of contention with the "Monk" all along - except my reaction is "You're right. Don't make the Monk a class. He's just there because one guy wanted to be Kwai Chang Caine. Give me a Martial Artist template instead." But hey, they promised the PHB classes in the CORE...