D&D General 6E But A + Thread

[Rainbow Scissors]

Or, you could just make the game fun...

I can't say that I wholly agree with Lanefan's philosophy. There are certainly aspects how they describe gaming that differ from my own tastes.

But that there should be some possibly drawbacks or risk/reward to using an AoE around your friends is something that I agree with them on. That different approaches to a situation have different strengths/rewards and have different weaknesses/risks is something that I feel would make the game more fun.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I prefer it, but then I prefer arrays too, probably for much the same reason (speed and simplicity)

Neither of which are priorities for me in RPGs. But, to each their own!

 

[Lanefan]

This only matters if you use XP. Milestone/story progression leveling takes as short or long a time as you want.

Training still does those other useful things though, mostly around forcing downtime.

That, and I really don't like the idea of every character levellng at once no matter what that character has actually done to earn that level.

 

[Lanefan]

In fiction, rogues often are the main damage dealers. A fighter has to get into an exchange of blows in stories and a fight can take a while (unless it's against a mere henchman or unimportant character, in which case it's a quick hack), but rogues typically just kill someone with a slit throat or knife to the gut or a, well, backstab. Even the toughest foe goes down instantly when the fictional rogue hits.

True, when the rogue has both had the time and taken the time to set up that one-shot stealth kill. That kind of time is rarely if ever available in fog-of-war melee, and most rogue-based fiction supports this.

 

[Lanefan]

It's been a possible issue since early D&D.

Clerics were always close to Fighters in defense. It was always DM leaning on treasure and a policy of giving the Fighters first dibs on armor which kept in minor.

IME Clerics were generally pathetic at giving out damage, though they weren't bad at soaking it up.

As a Cleric, my one good stat is going into Wisdom; a second good stat goes into Dex or Con. Strength is way down the list.

 

[Lanefan]

I prefer it, but then I prefer arrays too, probably for much the same reason (speed and simplicity)

Are arrays really that much faster or simpler than rolling some dice?

OK, the actual rolling of the six sets of dice takes maybe an extra minute. But after that it's a wash; you've still got six numbers to arrange into six stats just like with an array, only those numbers probably aren't the same as the numbers everyone else has.

 

[mamba]

Are arrays really that much faster or simpler than rolling some dice?

OK, the actual rolling of the six sets of dice takes maybe an extra minute. But after that it's a wash; you've still got six numbers to arrange into six stats just like with an array, only those numbers probably aren't the same as the numbers everyone else has.

if all you do is roll 3d6 or so six times, yeah, maybe not that much faster. Someone invariably rolls badly however and does not like what they rolled, and that is where more complicated methods come in to avoid this.

As I wrote, simplicity and speed, not just speed. To me rolling has only downsides.

 

[Scribe]

Are arrays really that much faster or simpler than rolling some dice?

Yes, and they also provide a framework to begin to balance from. Rolling has its place (I love it in Shadowdark for example) but in modern D&D? No chance.

Array should be the default option.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

symmetry with what?

Dragonborn.

Assuming it wasn't a pure joke, then this would I guess come out of a "well if one half of the title can be a player character, why not the other half huh?"

Which is silly enough that I feel pretty confident it was a joke. Hence why I said if we take it seriously.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Yes, and they also provide a framework to begin to balance from. Rolling has its place (I love it in Shadowdark for example) but in modern D&D? No chance.

Array should be the default option.

Arrays default, point buy a default option, dice an alternative with the note "your results may produce chargers that are particularly weak or particularly strong, use at your own risk" or the like.

All arrays should something you could achieve via point buy, or ever so slightly better but only for breadth, never for depth. E.g. the 4th highest stat getting an extra +1 that wouldn't be available via point buy. Small bonus to a peripheral benefit, to encourage breadth.