dmccoy1693
Adventurer
Last night my gnome mage asked if he can wear a turtle on his head and it got me thinking. Read my thoughts on equipment and my hopes on equipment in D&D 5e.
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D&D 5E "Can I Do That with a Turtle on my Head?"
- Thread starter dmccoy1693
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RangerWickett
Legend
Copypasta from WotC's site, for those who aren't link-inclined:
Quote of DaleMcCoy
So I'm playing a gnome wizard in D&D Next Encounters. Excuse me, mage, not wizard. Last night I asked if I can perform my duties with a turtle on my head. I argued that among gnomes it showed a position of importance for one to wear a turtle on his head. I merely meant it as a joke but I find I am actually thinking about it. I mean as racial equipment goes, its not hard to make and it doesn't have to offer any kind of armor bonus, but it would offer some other kind of in game bonus. I imagine it would be something like a +2 bonus to all Charisma checks when talking to other gnomes.
The equipment list in the playtest is rather short, which is both good and bad. Its good because it keeps its overall importance down and its keeps their relative functions distinct. I mean if yo have 30 items to choose from, it is easy for each to have their own distinct roles in the game. If you have 300 items, there is going to be considerable overlap and then it comes down to who much of a bonus you want to buy and the overall importance of items goes up.
The down side to a short equipment list is a lack of choice which leads to a lack of imagination. I mean how distinct are your last ten characters going to be if they all used a "sword." If one used a rapier, another used a bastard sword, another a long sword, another a great sword. In 3.5/Pathfinder each of these had different strengths and weaknesses and emphasize different styles of play. The long sword was the most common sword in the game because it was a good basic weapon. The bastard sword did more damage but required a feat to use it one handed. Few people used it for that reason. But I imagine that those that did use it remember that character well. They dealt out more damage than their long sword counterparts at the cost of a feat. So a fighter with feats to spare would find something like that useful. A great sword delivered even more damage but at the cost of a shield. This would work well for someone that cared more about offense than defense. Meanwhile the rapier dealt the lowest amount of damage, but had a higher crit range and worked with the Weapon Finesse feat. So you could make a fast-footed character and if you took the Improved Critical feat with it, you were threatening a critical attack once every four hits. That is pretty darn powerful. And none of that would be serious choices if they were all lumped together into "sword."
But some equipment should also be racially appropriate. Like the turtle hat. If a gnome puts a turtle on his head, he has a +2 bonus to all Charisma checks involving other gnomes. However, if a creature other than a gnome wears it, the creature receives a -2 penalty to all Charisma checks for all checks involving gnomes since they see you as attempting to poorly immitate a gnome. Things like this should be in the equipment list (ok, not in the core rulebook, but somewhere). It encourages role playing while making very little actual difference to the overall game. Its just there for fun.
And that is what I hope we have more of in the new version of Dungeons and Dragons, stuff that is there with no other purpose than just for fun.
Quote of DaleMcCoy
So I'm playing a gnome wizard in D&D Next Encounters. Excuse me, mage, not wizard. Last night I asked if I can perform my duties with a turtle on my head. I argued that among gnomes it showed a position of importance for one to wear a turtle on his head. I merely meant it as a joke but I find I am actually thinking about it. I mean as racial equipment goes, its not hard to make and it doesn't have to offer any kind of armor bonus, but it would offer some other kind of in game bonus. I imagine it would be something like a +2 bonus to all Charisma checks when talking to other gnomes.
The equipment list in the playtest is rather short, which is both good and bad. Its good because it keeps its overall importance down and its keeps their relative functions distinct. I mean if yo have 30 items to choose from, it is easy for each to have their own distinct roles in the game. If you have 300 items, there is going to be considerable overlap and then it comes down to who much of a bonus you want to buy and the overall importance of items goes up.
The down side to a short equipment list is a lack of choice which leads to a lack of imagination. I mean how distinct are your last ten characters going to be if they all used a "sword." If one used a rapier, another used a bastard sword, another a long sword, another a great sword. In 3.5/Pathfinder each of these had different strengths and weaknesses and emphasize different styles of play. The long sword was the most common sword in the game because it was a good basic weapon. The bastard sword did more damage but required a feat to use it one handed. Few people used it for that reason. But I imagine that those that did use it remember that character well. They dealt out more damage than their long sword counterparts at the cost of a feat. So a fighter with feats to spare would find something like that useful. A great sword delivered even more damage but at the cost of a shield. This would work well for someone that cared more about offense than defense. Meanwhile the rapier dealt the lowest amount of damage, but had a higher crit range and worked with the Weapon Finesse feat. So you could make a fast-footed character and if you took the Improved Critical feat with it, you were threatening a critical attack once every four hits. That is pretty darn powerful. And none of that would be serious choices if they were all lumped together into "sword."
But some equipment should also be racially appropriate. Like the turtle hat. If a gnome puts a turtle on his head, he has a +2 bonus to all Charisma checks involving other gnomes. However, if a creature other than a gnome wears it, the creature receives a -2 penalty to all Charisma checks for all checks involving gnomes since they see you as attempting to poorly immitate a gnome. Things like this should be in the equipment list (ok, not in the core rulebook, but somewhere). It encourages role playing while making very little actual difference to the overall game. Its just there for fun.
And that is what I hope we have more of in the new version of Dungeons and Dragons, stuff that is there with no other purpose than just for fun.
And about minus a bazillion for talking with anyone else. 'Cause, you know, there's a turtle on your head.
It seems to me that if the distinctiveness of my characters is based on equipment statistics, I might want to rethink my character designs. I'm happy if the *game* calls it a "sword", so long as I can flavor that to be pretty much any sword out there.
dmccoy1693
Adventurer
I think you're reading it (or perhaps I explained it) backwards. I mean if your character is rough and tough, muscles bulging from every part of your body, it is highly doubtful that you are going to be using a dainty rapier. Why, because mechanically it is not a good choice for the character. Conversely, a thin and scrawny but quick character is probably not going to be wielding a great sword with a handle larger than his hands can hold. They are going to be taking a sword that mechanically works for that character.
The point I was trying to make is that if you make a one size fits all "sword," some people that would take a dex-based rapier are not going to go with "sword." They will make a strike from the shadows dagger wielder, who is different from a dashing swashbuckler fencing rapier wielder. Why, because mechanically, that will work better than being penalized for making a quick character that can't use dex to hit because "sword" doesn't allow that option.
MarkB
Legend
Well, I personally don't much want to see head-turtles appearing on any D&D equipment list in the near future.
This sort of flavour item is so very campaign-dependent and even group-dependent that it's precisely the sort of thing an individual DM should be ruling on - and yes, there should be encouragement for them in the DMG. That's the place for it, not the equipment lists.
This sort of flavour item is so very campaign-dependent and even group-dependent that it's precisely the sort of thing an individual DM should be ruling on - and yes, there should be encouragement for them in the DMG. That's the place for it, not the equipment lists.
MarkB
Legend
That's based upon your assumption that "rapier" has to mean "sword". With a little imagination, that dex-based, dagger-wielding character's player can make the swashbuckler he wants to play, simply by keeping his weapon's stats and changing its name from "dagger" to "rapier".
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
I'm all for abstract equipment. Sure, wear a turtle on your head. Maybe use it as a weapon. Call it a "club" in the stats. Go wild.
One of the things I did in FFZ was drop the idea that equipment mattered. There, I was dealing with trying to emulate a game series where you played sapient wolves equipped with hairclips and bards who hit things with flutes, so going with abstract equipment made a LOT of sense. Now, I've got a player planning on playing a blink dog in my 4e game whose entire equipment set is nonexistent. Weapons and armor are re-fluffed as biting and dodging/blinking.
It's kind of liberating.
One of the things I did in FFZ was drop the idea that equipment mattered. There, I was dealing with trying to emulate a game series where you played sapient wolves equipped with hairclips and bards who hit things with flutes, so going with abstract equipment made a LOT of sense. Now, I've got a player planning on playing a blink dog in my 4e game whose entire equipment set is nonexistent. Weapons and armor are re-fluffed as biting and dodging/blinking.
It's kind of liberating.
Wicht
Hero
Dale, I like having more complex item lists, so you are not completely alone. I like having lights that have different ranges, weapons with various capabilities, and options to choose from so as to have the right tools for the right job.
I might even like a book that included gnomish turtle hats.
I might even like a book that included gnomish turtle hats.
