D&D General 6E But A + Thread

[GobHag]

I think non-casters should need to rely on wits and luck to be comparable to beings that use magic. They should have to work harderer to accomplish the same thing and should not have equivalent mechanical advantages..

I would not say "Fighter" because magical Fighters should be able to use magic to do more, and I think all players should have more and easier access to magic than the current system affords. But basic completely non-magical PCs, should be weaker mechanically IMO. To me that doesn't mean "worse" it just means weaker.

Oh okay, everyone has spell slots then

 

[Faolyn]

Aye, but there's the rub: if all you know going in is that the campaign is starting with KotB (or some other module you're unfamiliar with) and going who knows where after that*, there's no real way to tailor a character to the story as you did with Esmerae as you've no idea what the story will be or become; and maybe the DM doesn't either. You might be able to tailor your character to fill a hole in the lineup, if you're rolling up in knowledge of what each other is doing, but that's it.

You can also tailor the story to the character.

At the request of my friends, I'm going to be starting Yet Another Ravenloft game at some point in the near future. We didn't have a game Friday because some players were unavailable, so one of the players who was there, upon learning we were going to use Daggerheart and what ancestries and communities were appropriate, decided to make a character. Player decided on the Warborne community--someone who escaped from a war. So I created a war (mortals vs. fey), when I hadn't originally thought of one. Will the PCs interact with the war? I dunno. We'll have to see. But it lets the player play what they want and still fit into the game.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, that depends. In Spelljammer, it was clear to me that the artwork was super-large to make up for the pathetically small amount of text--but that was also clear by putting it in three books (hardcovers to make it look more substantial) and using a slightly larger font size than normal. But you can compare it to, say, the 2e Planescape books which had lots of art but the text was often over the art (to the detriment of legibility at times), so the art wasn't there to take up space.

I'm fine with lots of artwork. Art helps to set the tone of the game in very useful ways. Just not as a way to pad the page count.

Well, I did say less artwork, not no artwork. The current amount in current books, like 5.5 and Daggerheart, is to my sensibilities excessive. 2e had that balance right for me, or even less if it doesn't serve a practical purpose (like actually showing what something in the game looks like).

Art is also expensive, which is another reason to use it wisely.

 

[Micah Sweet]

You can also tailor the story to the character.

At the request of my friends, I'm going to be starting Yet Another Ravenloft game at some point in the near future. We didn't have a game Friday because some players were unavailable, so one of the players who was there, upon learning we were going to use Daggerheart and what ancestries and communities were appropriate, decided to make a character. Player decided on the Warborne community--someone who escaped from a war. So I created a war (mortals vs. fey), when I hadn't originally thought of one. Will the PCs interact with the war? I dunno. We'll have to see. But it lets the player play what they want and still fit into the game.

That works fine for me, so long as the GM doesn't feel beholden to changing their world to suit the player's whims. It should always feel like a choice IMO.

 

[GobHag]

@Lanefan

I'm going to straight up say that, as the player of a character, my character is more important that the party itself.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Nothing

Halfling is Short lucky human.
Gnome is Short elf/dwarf with gadget.

Cut the fluff
Power up the unique

Halfling is short lucky human.
Gnome is short elf/dwarf with gadget
.

Interesting, that's definitely not my view of them.

To me:

Halflings are tenacious underdogs.
Gnomes are mischievous and magical.

 

[Minigiant]

Interesting, that's definitely not my view of them.

To me:

Halflings are tenacious underdogs.
Gnomes are mischievous and magical.

Mechanically they are neither of those.

And in the books as well.

 

[Faolyn]

That works fine for me, so long as the GM doesn't feel beholden to changing their world to suit the player's whims. It should always feel like a choice IMO.

The word whims here rather implies that the players are just coming up with things for the lulz. Which I don't think is a very fair interpretation.

Obviously, you'd know through experience if you have players who do come up with these things for the lulz. Or as an attempt to get some sort of in-game bonus ("my character is the crown prince!" not because they want to the game to focus on royal politics but because they think they can start with tons of money and prestige). And those things probably should both be responded to with a resounding no.

But other than that? If the player is actually serious about something, don't dismiss it as a "whim." Embrace it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The word whims here rather implies that the players are just coming up with things for the lulz. Which I don't think is a very fair interpretation.

Obviously, you'd know through experience if you have players who do come up with these things for the lulz. Or as an attempt to get some sort of in-game bonus ("my character is the crown prince!" not because they want to the game to focus on royal politics but because they think they can start with tons of money and prestige). And those things probably should both be responded to with a resounding no.

But other than that? If the player is actually serious about something, don't dismiss it as a "whim." Embrace it.

Not sure what you're saying. The GM should always do what the player wants in terms of worldbuilding unless it's very obviously abusive or outrageously silly?

 

[BookTenTiger]

Mechanically they are neither of those.

And in the books as well.

I guess that's why I used the words "To me" rather than "According to the Player's Handbook..."