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It is probably mainly that the monsters stats and XP is still way out of whack, but when looking at expected outcomes, I'd note one caveat that was exemplified in our playtest this weekend: For a party, surprise, location, and lighting really makes a big difference. We had 5 2nd level...

I take it from this that d20M (odern?) has a cleaner version of the original? How does it work that makes it cleaner?

When I've seen this tried before, it typically comes out as that "big mess to handle" I mentioned. However, I haven't seen the Bo9S version, and thus don't know how clean it is. Like half ranks in skill ranks, this is something I prefer to see cleaned out of a new system from scratch. I...

Well, people can take anything personally, especially if something about the wording sets them off. Aside from that, however, it really depends on the premise and then the logic of the criticism, with a big dose of knowing the difference between fact and preference, and the difference between...

Brainstorming (might be a terrible idea): The background itself is a blanket +1 to any relevant skill check (interpreted generously). The specific skills are a +1 to what they cover (intrepreted narrow or broad or middling depending on the details of the specific skill, as explained in that...

I like "overwhelming"; it fits the tone and intent of when it happens (rarely). Also good point on no need for an upgrade/downgrade and the confusion it might cause. That insight would make it considerably cleaner in presentation. As for as who decides and when, I was actually making it even...

This. Hasbro upper management and practices is a luxury liner company making all of their ships use the same anchers and sails, even though D&D is a yacht. It's a testament to the staying power of D&D that it stays afloat, let alone gets anywhere.

Yes. Also, those statements are based on a biased, anecdotal history of what D&D is--not consistent with the debates in the letters of Dragon magazine, and implied by various competing articles and even house rules--not to mention the personal history of others. It's not an accident that some...

It's impossible to have a "proper debate" over a rant posing as a theory (or a theory with the gloss of a rant, if you are on the other side). All you can have is people trying to say the thing is a theory and other people showing that it is nothing but a rant. This necessarly gets into some...

I think he was referring to the low-level fighters having only one die, making it defacto once per round.

My problem with that is that it appears to lock in the 3E fundamental mistake that every level is just as good as another any other level. That is, it equates taking a 1st level of barbarian (or sorcerer or whatever) as equally good for a 10th level character of any class mix, which is clearly...

Subraces as an excuse to specify who gets +1 to which ability is a lousy mechanic, as far as I'm concerned. If we must have subraces, then I'd like to see three things changed: No ability score adjustments in the sub races. Let elves pick between +1 Dex or Int or Cha as fits the individual...

Given unlimited druthers, I'd break it down this way (with perhaps one or two additional categories that I'm missing at the moment): Arcane power - Vancian wizard spells, new sorcerer mechanics, etc. Divine power - spontaneous cleric casting, analogous spontaneous mechanics for other...

They could also decide that when you drop background and/or specialties, you are going for that "old school" feel where things are supposed to be harder for the character, forcing you to operate at the player level to compensate. What's the use of an option that doesn't change anything...

This is the fuzzy idea I had in the back of my mind with the "prisoner" bit. It was important to these characters in their background years that they know how to not call attention to themselves. It's not so much "sneak" as a kind of bluff/sneak hybrid. Maybe the trait is called "Not the...

Something for a court functionary or bureaucrat --both short of noble titles but related to a medieval or imperial government, might make good bases for a background. I also think there is room for merchants, traders, and the like outside the "artisan" background--for a character with no...

Mulling over the various objections to tinkering or not tinkering with advantage, I've come up with an idea that might be a compromise. The basic concept is that advantage/disadvantage comes in five stages (instead of the normal playtest three) but continues to not stack. No doubt someone...

In a theoretical design, one of the best ways to handle this issue would be to have every place that is affected by an ability mod always be affected by two ability mods. Initiative is Dex and Int. Melee attacks are Str + Dex or Str + Con (depending on the weapon). Saves are explicitly called...

Do you mean here avoiding varying XP by class, ala 1E/2E as does it? Or do you mean using XP at all to balance multiclassing, even if the XP chart is consistent? The latter is a tough requirement, and I wonder how one would even begin to approach it in an elegant manner. :)

We do need some of that tight link, but to the extent we have it, it is about as far as one can get from "modular". You can't finesse this issue. Either you have options or you don't. Either you have protected niches or you don't. Either class is the finest grain of main character option...