D&D needs improvement

[Crothian]

I disagree. It would have been a decent troll about 25 years ago. Now it's just old hat. We've heard all these complaints before. It hardly seems worth countering them again.

-C.

While we have heard the complaints before if the OP had some facts or at least examples to back them up it would have been nice. as it is it is just another tired old troll thread.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Yes, but "solid" isn't the only criteria, now is it? And, if other things have been built out of it, does it not make sense to see if one of those is closer to what you want, rather than redoing what they've already done for you?

Sure. I agree with you completely. Moreover, I agree (and pointed out earlier) that the OP didn't have a firm grasp on some of the rules he was complaining about.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Um. "unless you're a dwarf." doesn't fit in there - dwarves never have their speed reduced by armor, UIAM.

Treat the quote as parenthetic. "You can't, really (insert quote), unless you're a dwarf."

First off, I have scoured Google for a definition of "UIAM," and I can't find one.

I'm going to go with "Unless I am mistaken". It's all about context!

-Hyp.

 

[Chiaroscuro23]

I disagree that hp are more realistic than death spirals, but here's a link to a thread I started on the topic on RPGNet: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=139753

Man, it's hard to resist necroing that thread. FWIW, I find the anti-Death Spiral realism argument pretty compelling based on the FBI and other data provided.

For those that are interested, there are relevant studdies quoted, but it's pretty late in the thread. Google might be a good resource.

-C.

 

[Elephant]

First off, I have scoured Google for a definition of "UIAM," and I can't find one. Would you mind enlightening me?

Second... I know. My point is, if you keep paying for loose crappy sets of guidelines that need a fair amount of kitbashing, that's what publishers are going to continue to give you.

This isn't to say that there's anything wrong with tweaking systems; I know many gamers enjoy it. I'm just saying I wish the idea that you should expect to have to tweak things by default would go away. With most other products, you're supposed to be able to assume that the thing works and doens't need you to both lay out lots of cash and fix the thing to even get it to work.

Hyp was correct; it's

Unless
I
Am
Mistaken

As for kitbashing...some of that is fun/satisfying in its own right. Besides, a D&D game with a few houserules (but not TOO MANY houserules) is easier to find players for than, say, HARP or True20.

 

[Tsillanabor]

How simple does D&D need to be for people? Why bother complaining about it with so many games on the market? Seems to me that most of the OP's complaints can be fixed through house rules, so why not just fix them?

 

[Nyaricus]

Again, it's been a while since I read the older PHB's. Refresh my memory about where it said in the 1e PHB that combat was abstract.

"As a simulation of reality, AD&D can only be condemned as a dismal failure, and those seeking such a system would do best to look elsewhere."
>1e AD&D DMG

That should do it

Personally, I take threads like this with a grain of salt... and then go back to my house ruling. RC, imho, puts it best in saying that D&D 3.x has a great set of rules to work with (all hail the d20 ruleset!), and easy to customise, better than ever before. The amount of control you have to tinker or leave be is amazing, and I am always looking to change little things up in my games.

D&D is abstract, this is a fact of it. I try to let reality in in little ways, like realistic history for my homebrew, and different armour and weapons and PrCs, etc. The combat and magic systems aren't realistic - the OP should just LARP if wants a "real" experience.

 

[Thaniel]

How simple does D&D need to be for people? Why bother complaining about it with so many games on the market? Seems to me that most of the OP's complaints can be fixed through house rules, so why not just fix them?

By posting first that everything is horrible, and only then houseruling it, he will have appeared to have overcome great odds.

If he just house ruled himself in the first place, no one could congratulate him on his accomplishments.

At least that's why I'd do it.

 

[Terwox]

Wait a second... why DOESN'T initiative use wisdom? It would make the stat more useful.

Then again, high level clerics instead of high level rogues would always go first... and rogues need to go first more than a cleric does.

Hrm, oh well. Good idea in theory though.

Oh, and yeah. Go play True20. I agree with some of the OP's stuff, and, yeah, check out a different game if you're not getting the stuff you want from D&D. I had a lot of the same issues, I'm not a huge fan of hit points, how armor is handled, etc, and True20 worked it out fine. (I like the way D&D does it too, but True20 does feel significantly different.)

 

[Tsillanabor]

Isn't there a feat that allows that? If not I imagine it wouldn't be hard to make one.