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Coherence as a Critical Goal for 5e
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<blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 5911510" data-attributes="member: 1879"><p>On topic I do think coherance is important. I really dislike those cognitive rules dissonance systems which tell you about how grand and free form and heroic everything is and then give you 6 hit points and a heinous wound tracking system. It's hard to feel heroic when a barmaid is even-odds to one shot you with a frying pan. </p><p></p><p>The trouble is that both 3e and 4e were very coherant, to completely different goals. </p><p></p><p>3e was by far the 'sim'est version of D&D. You knew how the world worked. You knew what a skill point meant, how scary a dagger was, you could do a reasonable job of modeling the life of anything from a baker to a dragon. </p><p></p><p>4e said "Screw that! I don't need to know or care if the orc is an expert basketwever with a fondness for pressed flowers! I just want to kill him and eat his pie!" And as a result while it is great for people who want to kill orcs and eat their pies it is a bit lacking for those of us inclined to wonder where the orc got the pie.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure there is a coherant way to please both camps. Well... there probably is. I think the sane way to do it is to go for a sort of old schoolish middle ground with options for complexity or simplification. </p><p></p><p>So an Orc might be:</p><p></p><p><strong>Default:</strong> </p><p>Orc</p><p>1st level Warrior Monster</p><p>8hp</p><p>AC 12 (Mouldy studded leather armour)</p><p>Att +3 to hit 1d8+2 Damage (Rusty longsword)</p><p>Perception +3</p><p>Morale: Standard</p><p></p><p><strong>Kick Butt and forget names mode: </strong></p><p>Orc Warrior</p><p>1st level foe</p><p>AC 12</p><p>Att +3 1d8+2</p><p></p><p><strong>Fullly Detailed Mode:</strong></p><p>Orc</p><p>1st level Warrior Monster</p><p>8hp</p><p>AC 12 (Mouldy studded leather armour)</p><p>Att +3 to hit 1d8+2 Damage (Rusty longsword)</p><p>Str 14, Dex 9, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 13, Chr 4</p><p>Skills: Underwater Basket Weaving +2, Ikebana +1, Torturing Wildlife +7, Baker +2</p><p>Morale: Standard</p><p></p><p>Of course having multiple modes means you can also give the abbreviated stat block in the encounter and leave the full description with all the bells and whistles in the appendix, like we used to do in the old days when modules were printed on clay tablets and you were lucky if they fired them properly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Andor, post: 5911510, member: 1879"] On topic I do think coherance is important. I really dislike those cognitive rules dissonance systems which tell you about how grand and free form and heroic everything is and then give you 6 hit points and a heinous wound tracking system. It's hard to feel heroic when a barmaid is even-odds to one shot you with a frying pan. The trouble is that both 3e and 4e were very coherant, to completely different goals. 3e was by far the 'sim'est version of D&D. You knew how the world worked. You knew what a skill point meant, how scary a dagger was, you could do a reasonable job of modeling the life of anything from a baker to a dragon. 4e said "Screw that! I don't need to know or care if the orc is an expert basketwever with a fondness for pressed flowers! I just want to kill him and eat his pie!" And as a result while it is great for people who want to kill orcs and eat their pies it is a bit lacking for those of us inclined to wonder where the orc got the pie. I'm not sure there is a coherant way to please both camps. Well... there probably is. I think the sane way to do it is to go for a sort of old schoolish middle ground with options for complexity or simplification. So an Orc might be: [b]Default:[/b] Orc 1st level Warrior Monster 8hp AC 12 (Mouldy studded leather armour) Att +3 to hit 1d8+2 Damage (Rusty longsword) Perception +3 Morale: Standard [b]Kick Butt and forget names mode: [/b] Orc Warrior 1st level foe AC 12 Att +3 1d8+2 [b]Fullly Detailed Mode:[/b] Orc 1st level Warrior Monster 8hp AC 12 (Mouldy studded leather armour) Att +3 to hit 1d8+2 Damage (Rusty longsword) Str 14, Dex 9, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 13, Chr 4 Skills: Underwater Basket Weaving +2, Ikebana +1, Torturing Wildlife +7, Baker +2 Morale: Standard Of course having multiple modes means you can also give the abbreviated stat block in the encounter and leave the full description with all the bells and whistles in the appendix, like we used to do in the old days when modules were printed on clay tablets and you were lucky if they fired them properly. [/QUOTE]
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