D&D 5E (2014) Does D&D Next need +2/-2 modifiers?

[Thyrwyn]

AV/DV ?

works for me!

 

[Mistwell]

In high school and collegiate debate, they are called ads and disads. But I do like AV/DV.

 

[Warunsun]

They put the words 'very rare' with the weapon, they gave them full scale origins and minor powers, you can't buy them, they are very rare in random treasure tables, and they built the game on a platform of bounded accuracy that would cause things to start not work right if they became common place without adjustment. I think it's fair for me to say they are rare.

Magic swords and other weapons will not be rare. In the 2E Dark Sun World materials they put text to the effect that they were exceedingly rare and that Sorcerer-Kings, their Knights-Templar, and their secret ninjas would hunt you down for your magic but... in the end... there was OODLES of magic items in Dark Sun World and Dark Sun characters. The planet was even dieing because of magic but those character became loaded with it.

Truthfully this can be controlled by the Dungeon Master in his campaign. But official modules and sources are going to be teeming with magic swords. It is part of the game and players enjoy it. Their treasure will not be taken away because players enjoy treasure. Enjoyment of the game will cause it to prosper. There are magic light games out there but Dungeons & Dragons isn't one of them.

 

[Uchawi]

I will be happy if they provide a module to remove a concept like av/dv (dice averaging) with straight modifiers. After that it is up t the table if they want to mix them together.

 

[Sadras]

Advantage/Disadvantage is great, but it is a pretty hefty bonus/penalty, roughly equal to a +4/-4.
Sometimes it feels like Advantage means auto-success, and Disadvantage auto-failure.

I just want to share, in our most recent session, our archer character fired into an empty corridor (illusion) using sound and memory as the only means to aim his bow, in an attempt to hit a black dragon. Rolling two die due to disadvantage he rolled twin 20's. As it happened at that point the dragon had 6 hit points only, which was not nearly enough. It made for quite a great narrative - the archer shooting blindly and slaying the beast.
We have also had our barbarian roll double 1's while having advantage.

So far I have to admit advantage/disadvantage have suited us well. It is a brilliant mechanic and makes for awesome narrative when those doubles appear.

 

[Mistwell]

I just want to share, in our most recent session, our archer character fired into an empty corridor (illusion) using sound and memory as the only means to aim his bow, in an attempt to hit a black dragon. Rolling two die due to disadvantage he rolled twin 20's. As it happened at that point the dragon had 6 hit points only, which was not nearly enough. It made for quite a great narrative - the archer shooting blindly and slaying the beast.
We have also had our barbarian roll double 1's while having advantage.

So far I have to admit advantage/disadvantage have suited us well. It is a brilliant mechanic and makes for awesome narrative when those doubles appear.

Agreed. It's really not equivalent to a bonus or penalty. It's a different kind of benefit or harm, separate from a numerical bonus or penalty to a roll, though it has an effect on odds.

 

[Uchawi]

The benefit of discrete modifiers is adding distinction in the game, or more choices in reference to combat modifiers, armor, skill use or anything else. AV/DV is great for a abstract game where the main focus is ease of play versus distinction. Bounded accuracy creates a similar problem of less distinction and other areas of the game become more abstract to pick up the slack (hello hit points). Nothing is wrong with either approach, but some want more detail and others do not.