D&D (2024) Asians Represent: "Has WotC Fixed the D&D Monk?"

[mamba]

But they're so afraid of losing  anyone that might give them money that they won't explicitly state what their design philosophy actually is, leaving the door open for people to complain that they're not being designed for, because they refuse to say they aren't.

I am not sure they have a design philosophy outside of ‘we want it to be popular’, the playtest suggests that this is all there is to it

 

[Micah Sweet]

I am not sure they have a design philosophy outside of ‘we want it to be popular’, the playtest suggests that this is all there is to it

Just a sad, sad way to design a game.

 

[Emberashh]

You're totally right, but I swear it often seems to me that the designer's lack of martial experience tends to have them limit what a martial character can do, just as often (if not more; or at least, to me, more annoyingly) as they allow them to do something fantastical.

I think this has more to do with self-referential problems than it does with the designers experience. Martials in 5e are trying to emulate a lower power class design from yesteryear so that it feels the most like you're just playing that same old class.

I extremely doubt that the designers can't actually think up any awesome martial stuff. Like, I know for a fact these people watch movies and are generally nerds themselves. Theres literally no limits to the inspirations one can lean on to generate something good.

Unless you're arbitrarily trying to recapture the feel of an old class, in which case you're setting some pretty extreme boundaries on what you can do.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

It’s not hard to see. You state it outright here. Their design philosophy is maximizing profits. Whatever makes them the most money is what they’ll publish. If phone books made more money, they’d publish those. PC options sell, so PC options in every book…especially books that traditionally only referees buy. Trouble is, that makes for bad game design.

I disagree with the last sentence.

What is "bad design." Really? Design is not for products meant to be used in an ivory tower, so that the designer and a few people can marvel at it while everyone else has no desire to use it.

To decide that something is bad design (or "bad") because people like it is to succumb to the usual issue of snobbery- popular music can't be good because "too many people" (or worse ... "the wrong kind of people") like it.

Making products that are widely appealing to large numbers of people is a design problem that is difficult to solve. To say that products that lots of people like (and therefore BUY) is bad design ... is kind of an odd thing to say. And by odd, I mean wrong. Design - whether in games, or in other fields, doesn't have a single goal. That's why we have all sorts of different products in all sorts of different areas. A design that is widely appealing ... that's actually really really hard to do. For any product.

 

[MGibster]

no one is asking you to, there are plenty of 3pp books.

Third party publishers do not in any way factor all in my D&D games. I do not purchase those books nor do I allow players to use them at my table.

 

[Sacrosanct]

The truth is, IMO, weapons and armour tend to be both more cumbersome AND less combersome than people imagine. AND there's a big difference between what you can do with (and in) them early in your training (low level) and after years of getting used to them. A BIG difference.

Practical experience is really quite an amazing thing, IMO. Often, I find, a little bit of knowledge will have a person thinking that some things are easier than they are, and others are impossible, that turn out to be wrong when you keep learning.

Absolutely. I use bouldering and rock climbing as an example. Most people will instinctively try to use their arms to pull themselves up the cliff face. So they think it's a strength based skill. But doing that will just burn out your arms quickly. You need technique more than anything else. Not upper body strength.

 

[tetrasodium]

I am not sure they have a design philosophy outside of ‘we want it to be popular’, the playtest suggests that this is all there is to it

Agreed. Any problems caused by chasing everything popular fall on the gm and any complaints from gms about gm concerns like the game failing to support or deny mutually exclusive goals while halfway kinda sorta supporting both can be shrugged off under a deluge of "the vast majority of gamers don't actually care that much either way" and other ad populum talk of what the majority wants. Conveniently for that strategy the gm is almost guaranteed to be outnumbered at any table and most samplings of d&d players/customers to ensure that they can always be called an vocal/entitled minority demanding the game be written exclusively for their specific preference.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Third party publishers do not in any way factor all in my D&D games. I do not purchase those books nor do I allow players to use them at my table.

Mgibster, you slickster
Snarf'll drop some words on you

3PP, how can I explain it
I'll take you page by page on it
To have y'all usin' players ain't abusin' it
3 is for Third, P is for Party that's other people
The last P... well... it's really quite simple
It's sorta like ya gotta get out and buy that product
It's stuff that plain D&D is missin' here
You wanna spice up what's goin' down at the table
To git your game gud it seems I gotta start to explainin'
Bust it

You down with 3PP (Yeah you hear my plea), you down with 3PP (Yeah you hear my plea)
You down with 3PP (Yeah you hear my plea), who's down with 3PP (Every last homie)
You down with 3PP (Yeah you hear my plea, you down with 3PP (Yeah you hear my plea)
You down with 3PP (Yeah you hear my plea), who's down with 3PP (All the homies)

 

[mamba]

Third party publishers do not in any way factor all in my D&D games. I do not purchase those books nor do I allow players to use them at my table.

that is a self imposed restriction however. If you wanted to play in fantasy-Asia, I am sure you could find better 5e compatible options than what WotC gives you (or will give you, they will not have specialized East / West books anytime soon, probably ever…)

 

[DEFCON 1]

Rumble in the Bronx was filmed in Vancouver. I had to look that up when you mentioned mountains being near Toronto. That's not a thing.View attachment 289963

No no no... that can't be right. All of Canada is just one thing. I'm pretty sure.