D&D General D&D Editions: Anybody Else Feel Like They Don't Fit In?

[JohnSnow]

Unless I'm confused about what you're saying (and I don't promise I'm not) I've played games like that and it didn't bother me.

“Attributes are measured on a 3 to 18 scale, with 3 being the best.”

If that statement doesn’t make you twitch, I would feel pretty confident in saying you’re in the minority.

 

[Aldarc]

“Attributes are measured on a 3 to 18 scale, with 3 being the best.”

If that statement doesn’t make you twitch, I would feel pretty confident in saying you’re in the minority.

Does the thought of being 1st place cause you to twitch violently? Would you rather be 18th place?

 

[Desdichado]

It's my understanding that you can use the rules you like and not use the rules you don't.

It's also my understanding that WotC wants to sell these rules and make revenue off of their existence. Therefore, expressing disinterest for the rules accumulating a certain style that a customer isn't interested in is topical. Advice to just ignore them isn't.

 

[JohnSnow]

Does the thought of being 1st place cause you to twitch violently? Would you rather be 18th place?

Nope. I fully accept this is an emotional response.

I stand by my statement.

 

[KYRON45]

It's also my understanding that WotC wants to sell these rules and make revenue off of their existence. Therefore, expressing disinterest for the rules accumulating a certain style that a customer isn't interested in is topical. Advice to just ignore them isn't.

Yes; this is correct.

 

[Aldarc]

Nope. I fully accept this is an emotional response.

I stand by my statement.

I think that's fine, but if you explained to someone who had a 3 Strength that they would roll a d20 over the 3 Strength to determine their success, I think that their tune would quickly change. Context matters.

 

[Desdichado]

I saw this post in the middle of the night, but I have more time this afternoon to respond.

While I agree that Shadowdark evidences modern design, I don't necessarily agree with your characterization here that "roll d20, high is good" is necessarily somehow more modern to the seeming exclusion of other design choices a game may make for its resolution system. I agree that it's more intuitive and (subjectively) better than THAC0 and more old school D&D games/clones that adhere to it.

Because to many people, old vs modern is only within a D&D specific context, and talking about system outside of D&D doesn't register.

 

[Lanefan]

I've mentioned this before. Non-humanoid monsters shouldn't even use the six stats in their block. They make no sense outside of the human (etc) perspective, in either direction.

Disagree; the stats serve an IMO vital purpose as points of mechanical comparison.

Knowing, for example, the constitution score of this animated blob of jelly tells you how resilient it is compared to a typical human, how resistant it is to various effects in comparison to a human, and so forth. Further, knowing the con scores of the four other jellies with it allow you to compare them against each other.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Disagree; the stats serve an IMO vital purpose as points of mechanical comparison.

Knowing, for example, the constitution score of this animated blob of jelly tells you how resilient it is compared to a typical human, how resistant it is to various effects in comparison to a human, and so forth. Further, knowing the con scores of the four other jellies with it allow you to compare them against each other.

I get that, but I see the fact that many monsters should exist above or below that scale (or both) as a real flaw.

1 to 30 is just too small a range to encompass all possible creatures in the universe.

 

[ezo]

1 to 30 is just too small a range to encompass all possible creatures in the universe.

Within the scope of bounded accuracy, I think it is enough personally.

For things you might want outside that scope, I would just rule automatic. For example, a god of archery never misses with their bow--- NEVER. No roll is required for such an entity, nor should it be IMO.

(And this is coming from someone who despises "automatic" things in 5E... )