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David Noonan on D&D Complexity
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 3125606" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>The grapple rules could (and, IMO, should) be rewritten to become consistent with the rest of the combat rules. Remove the opposed checks, to start with. There's more, but I haven't worked out all the details, since I'm not trying to write 4th Edition here.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm not sure I'd call them complex. But they are more complex than they should be, and they represent a special case. So, we frequently have to refer to the PHB for the grapple rules, and each such lookup is 2 minutes of game-time lost.</p><p></p><p>As for 'unfun': once pinned a character has very few actions. He basically can't take meaningful action until he breaks the pin. But, many large creatures have grapple modifier so high that they simply can't be beated. So, a pin by these creatures takes the character out of the game until the monster deigns to release him. That's what I don't consider fun.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Only in the current edition. In previous editions dragons did not have the built-in Sorcerer levels they do now. So, there's no reason the next edition can't return them to the basis they had previously. If DMs then want spellcasting dragons, adding non-associated Sorcerer levels isn't exactly a challenge.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The fly spell has a different maneuverability class from dragons' flight. Fireball doesn't have a recharge time. And frightful presence doesn't work like bless. None of these special cases are particularly complex, but they are special cases, and they do need looked up. So, the dragon is again more complex to run.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That applies only out-of-game. Players should have the location of their PrC and feats written on their character sheet for easy reference. So, in game there is relatively little added complexity.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, I disagree. To me, removing unnecessary complexity is just good sense.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He was building characters for players, potentially of little skill, to play in a very specialised game. In that situation, the only sane thing to do is remove the complex spells, and those spells that will somehow destroy the game (specifically, those save-or-dies).</p><p></p><p>I'll bet all those spells are still in play in his home campaign.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 3125606, member: 22424"] The grapple rules could (and, IMO, should) be rewritten to become consistent with the rest of the combat rules. Remove the opposed checks, to start with. There's more, but I haven't worked out all the details, since I'm not trying to write 4th Edition here. I'm not sure I'd call them complex. But they are more complex than they should be, and they represent a special case. So, we frequently have to refer to the PHB for the grapple rules, and each such lookup is 2 minutes of game-time lost. As for 'unfun': once pinned a character has very few actions. He basically can't take meaningful action until he breaks the pin. But, many large creatures have grapple modifier so high that they simply can't be beated. So, a pin by these creatures takes the character out of the game until the monster deigns to release him. That's what I don't consider fun. Only in the current edition. In previous editions dragons did not have the built-in Sorcerer levels they do now. So, there's no reason the next edition can't return them to the basis they had previously. If DMs then want spellcasting dragons, adding non-associated Sorcerer levels isn't exactly a challenge. The fly spell has a different maneuverability class from dragons' flight. Fireball doesn't have a recharge time. And frightful presence doesn't work like bless. None of these special cases are particularly complex, but they are special cases, and they do need looked up. So, the dragon is again more complex to run. That applies only out-of-game. Players should have the location of their PrC and feats written on their character sheet for easy reference. So, in game there is relatively little added complexity. Well, I disagree. To me, removing unnecessary complexity is just good sense. He was building characters for players, potentially of little skill, to play in a very specialised game. In that situation, the only sane thing to do is remove the complex spells, and those spells that will somehow destroy the game (specifically, those save-or-dies). I'll bet all those spells are still in play in his home campaign. [/QUOTE]
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