A Review of 6E

[drothgery]

Our group are thinking of switching to Indaria.

Thanks. I'm consulting on the 6e ICS (it's already listed on AmazeBay, so the guys at Wizards can't say I'm pre-announcing it), and I think we're doing some good stuff here. Its no secret that we're advancing the timelines a bit, so if you're running a Rise of Indaria campaign, the empire now has a bit more of the world under its control; a Fallen Indaria campaign has the rebels (presumably led by your PCs) making a bit more headway (I thought the 5.75 version was getting too grim); and gunpowder weapons are becoming even more common in Restored Indaria.

I've always been about keeping unnecessary complexity out of the game, so the Sisters only have five Prestigous Classes each in the ICS, and there are still no monks, no half-orcs, and no half-elves in mainland Indaria (even after 15 years, I still have to send WotC ocassional errata about this; their writers insist on creating half-elf Mystical Bard NPCs). I let them put the default setting for 5.75e Oriental Adventures in another continent (okay, I really didn't have much of a choice; I lost creative control of the setting the day I sent it to WotC, but I think it works), but mystical warriors that gain power by eschewing weapons and armor don't belong in a quasi-European setting, at least not in mine.

 

[Delemental]

Is it true the ideal party consists of two players and a DM? I thought it was a bit thin in 5.X E with only three players and now we're down to two! Luckily the poly-classing rules seems to work.

It's true, but you can hardly blame the company for this. They have to design the game to correspond to current demographic trends. Ever since gasoline reached $25 a gallon, it's nearly impossible to get more than three people together in the same room on a regular basis.

 

[Delemental]

Did they merge wacky back into just plain weird? I always felt they were closer to Nifty from a mechanical standpoint, given that they're both Swift Quantum actions only provoke two AoOs each.

Yes, they've eliminated Wacky Abilities, and as far as I can tell everything that used to be a Wacky Ability in 5.75 is now either a Just Plain Weird or Nifty Ability, though I'm having trouble figuring out how they made their decisions in some cases. For example, the Beholder Hive Mother-in-Law's "Tongue Lashing" ability is now defined as a Nifty Ability, where I would have seen it more as a JPWA.

Oh, and Nifty Abilities aren't Swift Quantum actions anymore; they're now Half Standard Actions. Looks like they finally closed up that loophole that let high-level Commoners do essentially unlimited damage. I always felt that their 'fix' to the "Housecat Problem" shifted the balance of power too far in the Commoner's favor.

 

[Tolen Mar]

You all know that all of this is a moot point. 6 months for 6.1? They have all the way up to 6.8 at the factories now, each one to be released approximately .75 nanoseconds after the first 50 copies of the previous edition sell.

(Besides...you're talking to a playtester for version 10..DnD 'Apocalypse Edition.' I can't say much, but lets just say the rules for demon summoning got 'very' well researched )

 

[Maggan]

I can't believe it

Still no Macintosh support? What's with these guys, Macs make up at least 3% of the user base!

This sucks! They are forcing me to buy a new machine! Bleeeeh! Who's with me for a boycott! I won't buy any more from Microsoft of the Coast, no way! And everyone I know says the same!

That makes us ... ummmm ... two?

Take that!

/M

 

[Cam Banks]

I hear they went and made the kender all pot-bellied and sedentary or something. That's such a drastic change. Next you know they'll call them halflings again, and then BADD will come back and level another civil suit against the industry for derogatory references to Our Alien Masters and their vertically-challenged statures.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[ssampier]

Bah. D&D 4.0 is the true edition, all others are just pale imitations of the true thing.

My hat of di knows no bounds.

 

[ssampier]

Still no Macintosh support? What's with these guys, Macs make up at least 3% of the user base!

This sucks! They are forcing me to buy a new machine! Bleeeeh! Who's with me for a boycott! I won't buy any more from Microsoft of the Coast, no way! And everyone I know says the same!

That makes us ... ummmm ... two?

Take that!

/M

Apple merged with IBM in the 2009 and sold the Macintosh line to Hewlett Packard, who produces the iFruit system, which is compatible with D&D di.

 

[Tonguez]

I lost creative control of the setting the day I sent it to WotC, but I think it works), but mystical warriors that gain power by eschewing weapons and armor don't belong in a quasi-European setting, at least not in mine.

You know ever since they established the Trans Eurasian Union in 2012 I've never understood why people want to stick with a quasi-european setting. There hasn't been a real europe for what 20 years now and we all know that 63% of the populaion of New Anglia is from Central Asia (of course politics aren't allowed so I wont mention the Caledonian Parliment)

 

[drothgery]

You know ever since they established the Trans Eurasian Union in 2012 I've never understood why people want to stick with a quasi-european setting. There hasn't been a real europe for what 20 years now and we all know that 63% of the populaion of New Anglia is from Central Asia (of course politics aren't allowed so I wont mention the Caledonian Parliment)

The corporate boilerplate text is that Indaria reflects a tradition in fantasy literature, and isn't based on the modern world -- and no, the rise, fall, and restoration of the Indarian Empire is not based on the United States of North America and Australia in any meaningful way. The real answer is that I liked it that way, the guys running the 5e setting search thought it was cool.