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

[FireLance]

Spell level doesn't count to overcome SR....that's bothering me!
It's just as hard to resist a Wail of the Banshee as it is to resist an Acid Splash why?!?!?

Nitpick: acid splash does not allow spell resistance. It is thus easier to resist wail of the banshee.

Seriously, though. I can think of two reasons why it doesn't. One, it's more complicated, because an extra variable (spell level) has to be taken into account in spell resistance checks. Two, it can throw off the CR balance of spell resistant creatures. Let's say a CR 10 creature has spell resistance such that a 10th-level spellcaster casting a 5th-level spell has a 50% chance of affecting the creature. Under the normal system, a 14th-level spellcaster has a 70% chance of affecting it with his spells and a 6th-level caster has a 30% chance of affecting it with his spells. However, if spell level becomes a factor, the 6th-level caster only has a 20% chance of affecting it with his best spells (3rd level maximum). It thus becomes a more dangerous opponent at lower levels.

 

[Storm Raven]

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.

Because normal ink and paper doesn't cut it. It won't "hold" the magical writings properly. You need specially prepared ink that is expensive to make on paper that has been properly treated.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Because normal ink and paper doesn't cut it. It won't "hold" the magical writings properly. You need specially prepared ink that is expensive to make on paper that has been properly treated.

And you end up with a book that has no magical properties whatsoever. Odd that.

And it's not the paper either. You already bought and paid for a spellbook (or got one free). In fact, the paper that you're using is cheaper by almost 75% that normal paper (spellbook with 100 pages? 15gp. Piece of paper? 0.4gp).

 

[LostSoul]

The only way to truly make magic "magical, priceless, and mysterious" is to take it out of the hands of the PCs.

Not exactly.

If you wanted to treat magic as a plot device, you could have the players have some input on the way the plot unravels as well. You don't need to leave it up to the DM. Sure, the DM can have final say and can control the long-term plot, but giving the players some input now and then won't result in the universe ending.

 

[Victim]

And you end up with a book that has no magical properties whatsoever. Odd that.

And it's not the paper either. You already bought and paid for a spellbook (or got one free). In fact, the paper that you're using is cheaper by almost 75% that normal paper (spellbook with 100 pages? 15gp. Piece of paper? 0.4gp).

Bulk discounting.

 

[eyebeams]

Competitive XP awards where I give one character more than another. Al the players are my friends and we cooperate to have fun. Why should I grant one person more than another? Their superior contribution gives them accolades and bragging rights enough.

 

[woodelf]

I don't really like the prevalence of darkvision and low light vision among monsters and humanoids. Everything can see better than humans can!

Maybe it's a reflection of the real world, where pretty much any vertebrate that isn't nearly-blind can see better in teh dark than we can (even if we can see better than most of them in good light)?

The problem with infravision was that infravision is a very scientific concept and once you have a good idea how infrared light works, it gets all buggered. There's a zillion examples, but one of the big ones was that someone with infrared vision to 60' couldn't, like, see a fire elemental 120' away. Oops. Also, there's the part where a torch really wouldn't affect infravision anymore than it would affect normal vision. Then someone told AD&D developers about the ultraviolet spectrum and then, from a scientific view, things really got silly.

And believe me, this kind of stuff comes up all the friggin' time when you DM a bunch of college engineering students.

So now we have lowlight and blindsight. Which are also problematic, but you don't have some Dr. Science wannabe giving lectures on heat dispersal.

Huh. We always played infravision scientifically (just considered the ranges to be useful range, and adjusted for circumstances just like you would normal vision), and never had a problem. A couple Nova or 3-2-1-Contact episodes with infrared camera shots was all it took to aid the visualization and answer any remaining questions.

And that was with physics majors, as well as engineers.

 

[Rudar Dimble]

Nitpick: acid splash does not allow spell resistance. It is thus easier to resist wail of the banshee.

Seriously, though. I can think of two reasons why it doesn't. One, it's more complicated, because an extra variable (spell level) has to be taken into account in spell resistance checks. Two, it can throw off the CR balance of spell resistant creatures. Let's say a CR 10 creature has spell resistance such that a 10th-level spellcaster casting a 5th-level spell has a 50% chance of affecting the creature. Under the normal system, a 14th-level spellcaster has a 70% chance of affecting it with his spells and a 6th-level caster has a 30% chance of affecting it with his spells. However, if spell level becomes a factor, the 6th-level caster only has a 20% chance of affecting it with his best spells (3rd level maximum). It thus becomes a more dangerous opponent at lower levels.

Hehe, dumb me...hadn't checked about the acid splash . But your explanation is an out-of-game explanation. It still doesn't make sense in a role-playing kind of way. I understand the system would become more complex if you take into account spell-levels for overcoming SR. But still, for me that's not a justification for the weird system.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Competitive XP awards where I give one character more than another. Al the players are my friends and we cooperate to have fun. Why should I grant one person more than another? Their superior contribution gives them accolades and bragging rights enough.

But the only way this would happen is if they're of different levels or you're giving out RP XP. Honestly, what's the problem with giving lower level characters more XP so that they can catch up with the others in the group?

...and at least we don't have the old class XP charts.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Well, for me, it's mostly Attacks of Opportunity. And those bugge me enough to finally throw them out the window in any game of D&D I have.