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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8268827" data-attributes="member: 22779">There is a flip side to this.  Because of it's lack of broader mechanics, AD&D forces you to constantly make up rules.  "How far can I jump?"  "Can I swim?"  etc. etc.  For someone coming in new to AD&D, it's bewildering and, for the most part, non-transferable from table to table.But, [USER=29398]@Lanefan[/USER] brings up a good point.  When I talked about a lack of maneuver system for a more tactical 5e, [USER=6704184]@doctorbadwolf[/USER] suggested modifying the "Trip" mechanics.  But, that's problematic.  For several reasons:1.  Trip only allows a single target to be knocked prone, I want to affect multiple targets.  There are no rules and no guidance for granting area attacks to martial characters.2.  Blindness is considerably more powerful than prone.  Prone simply grants advantage to melee attacks, while causing disadvantage to ranged attacks, at the cost of half of the victim's movement on their turn.  ((Note, there might be other impacts for things that need to stay in motion like flying, but, that's pretty corner case))  Blindness grants advantage to all attacks and disadvantage to the victim's attacks, cannot target anything using sight.  And I want to do it to multiple targets.  Simply using the trip mechanics makes for an attack that is far, far more powerful than a simple trip.3.  When does the blindness end?  Prone ends when the target stands up, which it can do at any point in its turn.  Does blindness end at the beginning of the target's turn?  Does it cost an action to "clean out the eyes"?  End of the target's turn?  All these answers have a major impact on how effective this is as a tactic.So, no, it's not as simple as, "just use the trip mechanics".  5e has SO MANY knock on effects and the rules are tied together pretty tightly.  This simple example demonstrates just how complex and interconnected 5e mechanics actually are.  The ability to inflict blindness is a very powerful effect.  To the point where, from memory anyway, the only way a PC can do it is through magic.  I don't recall any non-magical means to inflict blindness and there's a very good reason for it.  Blinding targets is a huge thing.Claims that 5e is so loose and easy to modify are pretty simple to disprove.  Is it looser than, say, 3e?  Probably.  But, that's not saying much.  3e is so heavily inspired by Rolemaster that it's not surprising that it's difficult to modify.</blockquote>

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