Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jacob Lewis" data-source="post: 7540565" data-attributes="member: 6667921">[MENTION=6919838]5ekyu[/MENTION] Thank you for your assessment, and apologies if what I say is going to upset you.There is nothing wrong with the d20. It's simple, easy to use, and easy to learn. But being identifiable as the core mechanic for the most popular game system in the world for almost 50 years (regardless of which version or edition) does not make it as great as many people make it out to be. It simply works on a basic, fundamental level, and that is enough for the majority. And in truth, very few other alternate systems do anything different or better. That said, the d20 system has always had flaws that I personally found very annoying and detrimental to my enjoyment of the game. Others may agree or not, but this conversation is about personal preference and what we would do individually for our ideal version of the game. Another version of the game using the same mechanic flawed mechanic is of no interest to me, and frankly, that is part of the reason I could not get on board for 5e (or Pathfinder 2e for that matter).Now, as someone who has dabbled with alternative mechanics and game design, I can tell you what I don't like about the d20, and what I do like. The good is that it is very simple. Roll a die, add or subtract appropriate modifiers, and compare it to a target number. This produces a pass or fail state to determine if a particular action or ability succeeds or not. Very straightforward, very easy to adjudicate, and very quick for determining results. And except for a natural 1 or natural or 20, there are no other interactions to consider. Did you hit the orc? Yes, roll for damage. Did you find the secret door? No, keep moving as if nothing happened. Did you negotiate a peaceful arrangement with the king? No, but your half-orc ally with no charisma and no training or investment in diplomacy skills and abilities just rolled a natural 20 and was offered a marriage proposal for the princess. Alright, so that could happen in any system. But a better system would have less probability for something like that to happen in the first place. Not that it wouldn't be entertaining if it did, or that it never should. But that entire scenario was based solely on the roll of a wildly fickle die result that ignores everything about the character choices. So the question is: what's better than a d20? I don't think one has been made for D&D specifically, but we really haven't seen many variations that try anything different. And I think it is largely because many of us equate the d20 specifically to that kind of game. Could a D&D game be popular or accepted without the d20 at its core? Probably not. That doesn't mean a better system couldn't be made, but I would love to see it tried. But I suspect many changes to the rules themselves would be needed since you can't just change the core mechanic and not change how everything else works in the game. It would mean a lot of work, and that is something most people these days are not interested in doing.</blockquote>

Verification