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Dual-classing is a thing in 1e, right, like it is in 2e? Even in 2e, I never really understood why you couldn't just change the class to "Ex-Paladin" or "Ex-Cavalier", lose all the special abilities that derive from their supernatural or elevated standing, and simply make the character...

I'm used to even-numbered rounds as a 2e kid. Putting on my tinkering hat, I can see arguments for letting the player choose between getting their first attack in rounds 1 and 4, OR rounds 2 and 3 (either all the time or per-encounter). Or maybe something tied to initiative results that...

I agree with all this, but I can also think of attributes where that's not true. If you put, say, height (using adult male height for the US as the data set) , on a similar bell curve, the gap between a 9 and 12 would only be maybe 2 inches, whereas an 18 could represent height anywhere from...

Forgive my ignorance, but I grew up on AD&D 2e, and never really got into 1e; how does weapon specialization in 1e compare to 2e? I remember in 2e, specialization gave you +1/+2 and an extra attack every 2 rounds (from 1/1 to 3/2, or 3/2 to 2/1); you could also get mastery at higher levels to...

5e has been out for a dozen years; I don't mind running or playing it now and again, but I'm really bored with discussing it here on ENWorld.

It isn’t linear; you pick all of the options at the start and then push the button to generate the character. If you’re using the standard builder, there’s an implied order, but you can switch between sections freely.

Yea, I'm surprised to see the toggle between the editions so obvious, as well as having the older options supported with their own splash pages. What really impressed me is that when I used a 2024 race and a 2014 background (neither of which have stat increases), it defaulted to the Tasha's...

I'm impressed it handles mixing 5e and 5.5e options so well. It let me use a 2014 class and a 2014 race with a 2024 background, and had no problem handling it.

To be clear, I'm strongly against "checks to see if a character knows something" in general. If a player asks for info, I tell them the information their character would know, based on their overall character concept. The only time I require a check, normally, is when the information is...

One of them is rolling a 18 for your main stat; the other is deciding that a 15 is good enough. :)

Pretty much all knowledge checks in skill-based systems basically acknowledge that a particular character's knowledge is all in a Schrodinger's box state; the check is just when we actually decide to open it. I do think the check will generally have an in-fiction narration, though; it's the...

Well, it might create a situation where the players all sagely nod their heads and say "Yep, there's no way we would have known how long that ritual took, all of us getting killed by the ritual definitely enhanced the verisimilitude of the setting" while rolling up new characters. :)

I don't think this metaphor is exactly aligned with what I was proposing. At its core, my proposal is that the player's can't "choose" to roll; a roll only happens when the GM decides a consequence might be inflicted if their action incites a roll.

Since we're in the context of predominantly trad/classic play for this use case (exploring a pre-designed module), my assumption would be GM judgment/fiat as to whether an action declaration causes a raise of stakes; more than likely this is a determination based on the module's pre-generated...

I mean, they're worse off than they would have been if they had made the check! I think of it this way: the starting position of the PCs at the start of the module is "might learn the important info that will help them survive". After the failed check, their position is now "did not learn the...

I mean, I would probably buy a new setting (and I haven't bought a WotC product myself in 6 years). I like new stuff! But I think 5e, as a system, would be better off making campaign frames, like Daggerheart. A few maps, maybe a new race or two, and a bunch of character-building concepts all...

I don't generally know what a campaign is about until we're about halfway in. My campaigns are generally framed around a specific starting situation (often started in medias res), with a party of characters having an immediate short-term goal that organizes them. But I don't have any plans of...

Yea, it isn't a big mechanical change, but I think it works well for @Bill Zebub's case of wanting the players to make their declarations within the fiction instead of using a mechanical option on the table. But at the same time, it also empowers character concept (and the mechanics supporting...

I wish I did! Most games with rogue-like progression I've found are OSR/NSR games with simple resolution engines (I'm thinking games like Cairn and Knave here). Most crunchy games feature increasing player-facing decision choices all throughout the leveling process (which makes sense...

Something I was thinking about during my drive to work: What if skills were saves? Rather than being something on the sheet a player invokes to do something, they become a particular competence at avoiding the consequence of taking a risky action? That changes the gameplay loop to one where...