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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Razjah" data-source="post: 5966398" data-attributes="member: 98806">Alignment- I see why it is there. It gives guidelines, it should enable difficult choices. In reality I've seen it more as an excuse for acting like a jerk and ruining other people's fun than anything good. Vancian Casting- Nothing ever frustrates me like this mechanic. Why? Just why are we still stuck with this irritating system? I assume it is supposed to reward careful planning and preparation. In reality it shortens the adventuring day because the casters are less effective having thought the Dungeon of Ice would not have monsters resistant to fire and so they prepared tons of fire effects. So the party sleeps and tries again the next day. Splatbooks- I want the system. I want it to work. I do not want to keep shelling out money for more options that don't balance well with the older stuff. It feels like an arms race, the best characters have the newest books and options. Without an SRD of some sort (4e, I'm looking at you) this gets really annoying and makes GMing more difficult. I build settings with certain limitations in mind, someone showing up with a telepath because the newest book has it doesn't mesh well and I have to turn down the player's request because I haven't paid for that new book and read it over. Hit Points- I don't like the abstraction of fighting. What got hurt? There are some really simple systems for things like this, D&D could do one. Yeah, house rules cover this- but that doesn't mean the problem isn't there. If a car manufacturer used spark plugs that died after 3,000 miles, people would be mad. RPG companies does that same thing and people tell you to buy better spark plugs. Clerics/gods- Why do all clerics repell undead? Why do all clerics have domain over this? Why has the pantheon with 15 gods have everyone with the same powers? Overlap is fine, it happens. But not everyone should grant healing, turn undead, or even buffs. Why is the god of farming concerned with flaming sphere? He shouldn't be, it is simple. Adventuring- Is not everyone's life. Where are the mundane spells, the gods who help the farmers and the like? They don't exist. There is no spell for helping a mill work 15% faster. No spells to help the harvest grow. Those casters would be loved. Want to know why townspeople hate casters? Fireball kills 10% of the village population, of course they fear casters. +N Magic- It is so boring. I have never read a book that has a magic weapon that is simply more accurate and more damaging. Flaming, sure. Bow that can pierce armor, sure. A knife that can drain blood, sure. But an ax that hits better than a normal ax? That is just boring and a waste of my time, especially when it becomes a part of the math for the system. Character Level Up From Killing- Seriously? The bard helped kill a bunch of orcs and goblins so now he can persuade the king raise the contract price all because he leveled up and put another skill point into it? Really? I have never gotten better at my math classes because I got into a fight with someone, but if it worked more students would be training for MMA fights and getting near perfect grades. Big game hunters would eventually be able to take down a bear with a knife. Sure the hunter is better with a rifle, but now he can fight just as well with his knife, so why not stab the bear to death? This style of leveling up bug the hell out of me. Burning Wheel has a more organic path, you get better at what you practice. Why can't D&D have something like this?Skill point amounts: Wizards have a fake number, 2+ is really much higher because Int is the primary stat. But melee classes (paladin and fighter most, but the others too) have less incentive to be smart so they can be good at their jobs, so now they are less skilled and can only apply their skills to fighting. Fighters in 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4e all suffer this. Low number of skills, little list to pick from. It is boring. Why is someone devoted to mastering combat less skilled to talk than the person who is a channel for the god of war?I'm done now, I'm going to take myself for a walk to calm down. This was therapeutic though.</blockquote>

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