D&D (2024) Do you plan to adopt D&D5.5One2024Redux?

[Oofta]

And I think that something like this is too irrelevant to really be worth discussing. There are few places where 5e's intended design completely missed how it is played. This is one of them. They intended these abilities to matter, but if no one uses them, it doesn't matter how strong they are. And it seems they're stepping away form this design not because these abilities were overpowered but because nobody used them. It's a problem that fixed itself.

not the fact nobody short rests is a bigger problem.

Depends on who you ask. Several posters on this thread have basically called a DM that wouldn't allow their feature to work under any circumstances basically a tyrant destroying the fun of their character.

 

[Zardnaar]

I actually went from the BECMI sets— which I had to steal; my family was that kind of broke and hyper-religious —to 2nd Edition. I was doing BECMI games from the very early 80's until high school where a bunch of classmates were running 2E, so I dove in on that one to play with them. Good times, for sure— before school; during lunch; after school; and then all weekend long. LOL

I didn't pick up any 1E books until later in the high school years to join yet another friend-group's games. I ended up with just a few of those, because mostly we all played 2E back then too.

I went from BECMI to 2E as well.

Got paid $11 usd a day and was buying my own shoes aged 15 or so ($15 a day by then).

 

[Stormonu]

Depends on who you ask. Several posters on this thread have basically called a DM that wouldn't allow their feature to work under any circumstances basically a tyrant destroying the fun of their character.

I read the wording in the PHB as "DM, give the players a break and let them use this ability" with the usual Rule #0 caveat "unless it's just silly."

From my experience, if they did otherwise - such as made it a roll, a lot of DMs would set the DC so high it couldn't be passed, turn it into a Monkey's Paw or require a half-hour or more of playing out the scene for something that can pushed to an off-camera activity.

I still have a tendency to do the last, myself.

 

[Oofta]

I read the wording in the PHB as "DM, give the players a break and let them use this ability" with the usual Rule #0 caveat "unless it's just silly."

From my experience, if they did otherwise - such as made it a roll, a lot of DMs would set the DC so high it couldn't be passed, turn it into a Monkey's Paw or require a half-hour or more of playing out the scene for something that can pushed to an off-camera activity.

I still have a tendency to do the last, myself.

I just discuss it and we'll figure out how to make it useful if we care. I can do that without a hard-code feature that may or may not make sense under the circumstances.

 

[Stormonu]

I just discuss it and we'll figure out how to make it useful if we care. I can do that without a hard-code feature that may or may not make sense under the circumstances.

I figure that's how most good & experienced DMs are doing it. The wording in the PHB is, I believe, aimed squarely at thwarting "Mother may I" DMs.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I figure that's how most good & experienced DMs are doing it. The wording in the PHB is, I believe, aimed squarely at thwarting "Mother may I" DMs.

Which is not a good approach.
It won't sway such DM's.

Better give out karma points or tokens or whatever which can be used 1/level or so to "overrule" such a DM.

In this way you have a very powerful get out of jail card instead of a forgotten feature with often a non-bonus.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I figure that's how most good & experienced DMs are doing it. The wording in the PHB is, I believe, aimed squarely at thwarting "Mother may I" DMs.

That's a big part of my problem with it. IMO, that sort of agenda shouldn't be forced mechanically in D&D.

 

[Oofta]

I figure that's how most good & experienced DMs are doing it. The wording in the PHB is, I believe, aimed squarely at thwarting "Mother may I" DMs.

I guess I just think the risk of "Mother may I" DMs is overblown. There are bad DMs out there of course, but this issue? Doesn't really hit my top 5 of bad DM experiences. Not sure it even hits the top 10.

Does the DM decide what is possible at any given moment? Of course, all the time. It's part of the DNA of D&D. I don't see that as a liability even if it can theoretically be abused.

 

[Oofta]

That's a big part of my problem with it. IMO, that sort of agenda shouldn't be forced mechanically in D&D.

Exactly. If you want a narrative player driven game, there are plenty of options out there. I'd rather play a game where sometimes my character can't just make something happen and I have to figure out alternatives and work on a different solution.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Many of the background features seem to assume fairly small and culturally homogenous world. One where there are are nobles everywhere who are culturally similar enough that they recognise each other as peers, and commoners that grovel before such nobles, whilst recognising commoners from distant lands as kindred spirits. Stuff like that. Further you move away from those basic assumptions and more culturally and geographically diverse your setting is, less sense those features make.

I think it is understandable that they will be changing this in 5.5 and give the backgrounds clear benefits that are not so situational, nor so married to the certain setting assumptions.