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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 6360529" data-attributes="member: 1465">I think maybe one problem is that too often the rules of D&D bother with corner cases and exceptions. While another, more important general rule gets neglected, or the baseline rule doesn't get the design attention it deserves because the designers rely too much on "fixing" it with case-by-case rules.Something that the 5e designers explicitly did to lessen this problem, is introducing the (dis)advantage core rule, which is supposed to provide a simple blanket for a lot of cases without having to think too much about detailed differences.So you don't need to worry about what exactly happens if you shoot a fireball into a narrow corridor, you can just say those inside have disadvantage on ST. For anything more specific, there's always time later for an optional module.(Unfortunately however, this gets out of hand when (dis)advantage is also used in hundreds of places to represent the benefits of spells and special abilities, and now the game is already cluttered with (dis)advantages everywhere, but this is another matter)5e could still have been simplified further in some places. For instance, cover is quite simple, since we only get four degrees of cover: no cover, half cover, 3/4 cover and full cover. But it could have been simplified to only 3, merging half and 3/4 into "partial cover".---It's also important to note that there are things which get used very often and others which get used rarely. Now it's not that obvious which one of the two should get more detailed rules! On one hand, it seems like what gets used often probably needs more rules to handle its variations, while what is rarely used can be handled quickly because it rarely important. OTOH, what is often used is often used, and this means heavy rules will slow the game down more often.Furthermore, different gaming groups care for different things. One group may really enjoy details on grappling rules for a variety of outcomes (restraining, pinning, forced movement, mass grappling...), while another may find such complexity obnoxious and revolting.The only way to cater equally well to both groups, is always starting with solid but simple "blanket" rules for every topic (but not every case), and then offer optional modules on top.I think 5e has done pretty well, even tho there are a few places here and there were further simplification was at hand but missed.</blockquote>

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