Core concept or rule that just bugs you beyond your ability to put up with it?

[barsoomcore]

Look, I LOVE D&D. I've been playing this game for nearly thirty years now, of course I love it.

It just drives me crazy sometimes. Kind of like a hot but totally neurotic girlfriend.

But it wouldn't be D&D without hitpoints, alignment, stupid magic systems, and nonsensical systems here and there. I mean, come on. I don't want my D&D to make sense.

 

[shilsen]

Look, I LOVE D&D. I've been playing this game for nearly thirty years now, of course I love it.

It just drives me crazy sometimes. Kind of like a hot but totally neurotic girlfriend.

That's one of the funniest analogies to D&D I ever read

But it wouldn't be D&D without hitpoints, alignment, stupid magic systems, and nonsensical systems here and there. I mean, come on. I don't want my D&D to make sense.

I think it makes sense within its context (as a cinematic, fantasy roleplaying game), just as living on a rock which floats in mid-air and flies around a big flaming ball of gas makes sense in our context.

 

[The Sigil]

I dunno, I just have two things that REALLY bug me...

Level drain - I get "negative levels" (to reflect the temporary effects of gross internal wrenching) but permanent level drain is just... dumb (for reasons mentioned before). Solution? Best I've seen is using the wound points/vitality points split where level drain permanently knocks down your Constitution/vitality points. That way the undead are still scary, life-suckers... but don't make for silly stuff.

The paladin's Pokemount (haven't seen 'em yet, and frankly, I'm surprised).

 

[Berandor]

I mean, if armor class, hit points, "vancian" magic, the standard races, etc. all bothered me as much as the vision thing, I wouldn't play D&D at all. It makes no sense that you hate all that is D&D so much, yet continue to play D&D.

Quasqueton

Well,

a) I'm a very even-tempered guy, so I don't really hate D&D (much as I don't hate most things). I'd do a whole slew of things differently, yes. Hate? No.
b) It's a point of convenience: I know the game, I don't have to invest money and time in learning a new one just to find out I don't like it, my group wants to play D&D - and I want to play in my group (cause it's fantastic), ...
c) Even if D&D is not my favorite system, there are *far* worse systems out there
d) most of the time, I don't care. It's about the story. Only when I consciously ponder the system (like when I read a thread like this) do my dislikes show up again.
e) D&D is the first rpg I ever played. It's like a first love - even when she steals your wallet and sleeps with your older brother, part of you will love her.
f) One reason that I don't particulalrly like D&D is that the stories I'd rather tell don't come easily to it. But the stories that lend itself to D&D, it does very well. So I adapt and tell different stories, and most of my problems go away. Only secretly will I always pine for something else, but alas, I am content the way it is. Being an adult means you know which battles are worth fighting, and the fight over game systems with my group is not.

 

[rvalle]

Fire and forget spell system. We haven't played with that in so long I forget its a core rule till we go to Gencon and get slapped with it again.

The magic creation rules are wacky. Not sure how to house rule that yet.

We live with everything else. Alignments we take as a guideline vs straightjacket. Lighting has never been an issue in 15 years.

rv

 

[Narfellus]

d) most of the time, I don't care. It's about the story. Only when I consciously ponder the system (like when I read a thread like this) do my dislikes show up again.

Good grief, you're right. I have my quibbles with DnD, but then i start reading threads like this and i'm thinking, SON OF A BIT*H! I've wasted all my time on this loopy system with endless houserules because i don't like the ones i paid for? DAMN!

e) D&D is the first rpg I ever played. It's like a first love - even when she steals your wallet and sleeps with your older brother, part of you will love her.

And then i remember why i played in the first place. 1st impressions when you are 9 or 10 years old are hard to forget.

f) One reason that I don't particulalrly like D&D is that the stories I'd rather tell don't come easily to it. But the stories that lend itself to D&D, it does very well. So I adapt and tell different stories, and most of my problems go away. Only secretly will I always pine for something else, but alas, I am content the way it is. Being an adult means you know which battles are worth fighting, and the fight over game systems with my group is not.

I'm just thankful that there are brilliant developers and designers out there who do tweak the rules so that everyone has a choice. I just wish the choices were fewer (thus cheaper) and preferably all bound in one book. With nice art. And not too expensive. Sigh.

 

[der_kluge]

I'm really surprised at some of the above posts. Some folks here are basically saying, "I hate D&D". Either D&D3 specifically, or D&D-any edition in general.

I mean, if armor class, hit points, "vancian" magic, the standard races, etc. all bothered me as much as the vision thing, I wouldn't play D&D at all. It makes no sense that you hate all that is D&D so much, yet continue to play D&D.

Quasqueton

I don't like d20, for all it's quirks and oddities, but I don't hate it. I shouldn't, damn, I've spent over 15 years playing it. It'd be awful odd of me to claim that I hated something I'd spent more half of my life playing.

But like Wombat, d20 is convenient. It's the most popular. I'm comfortable and happy playing it. I draw the line at playing earlier editions, since they just bug me more than 3rd edition. I'd be fairly unwilling to play in a long-term 1e or 2e game, just because there are so many mechanical problems (IMHO) with those systems.

Next game I run, is going to be HARP. It solves 98.3% of all the problems I have with d20. And the other 1.7% I can fix very easily. Might I suggest you check it out? Harp Lite is a free download - http://www.harphq.com

 

[der_kluge]

The magic creation rules are wacky. Not sure how to house rule that yet.

Allow me to reiterate - Mystic Eye Games' Artificer's Handbook. There are reviews here. Two 4's.

Simplified feat system, a formulaic approach to item creation, flexibility allows easy adjustment of cost. New rules, lots of ideas. It's a great book, and yes, I wrote 80% of it.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Reread the PHB. It explains all this.
Each wizard has a personalized version of the language wizards use to talk about spells. They have to translate spells in other spellbooks into their version of this language. Spellbooks aren't written in normal language, it's like legalese, and every lawyer has a different dialect.

But it is absolutely impossible for them to do so (without my prior house rule) without large sums of money and very,very expensive ink, regardless of how much time, normal ink, or writing space they have.

Or, he could just make a Spellcraft check at DC 15 + spell level to prepare a spell from any of those books. (Check the Spellcraft skill description).

No he can't, read the section in magic on arcane magic. He can only memorise spells from someone elses book IF he already knows the spell AND already has it in his spellbook. Which is dumb.

 

[FireLance]

Maybe one more thing I didn't notice already mentioned is Poisons. I don't understand why this category caused a major fantasy drain from the author, and ALL poisons must always have an immediate effect followed by a secondary effect 1 minute later. Never having effects with long or very long terms means a huge list of story opportunities to be missed

This kind of bugged me too, but I've found a fix. I use the disease mechanic to simulate the effects of a long-term poison.