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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8726594" data-attributes="member: 6790260">For its original, intended purpose--narrowly, just reducing modifier amounts and sizes, nothing else--Advantage/Disadvantage is great. It performs that specific function beautifully. If that were the only metric which mattered, it would be as brilliant as some of the best bits of 13th Age design, possibly a smidge better (and I love most of 13A's design--bits and pieces I don't care for but so many parts are just terrific.)Its actual application in the game leaves a lot to be desired. We can discuss that more elsewhere, as it's kind of off-topic for the thread. Simply put, I have known more than a few 5e fans who have soured, not on the fundamental concept, but on its execution in 5e.The difference is twofold:1. 5e Advantage is (mostly, sort of) the end of the line. So you do it. A lot. Saves, skills, attacks, everything. Combat Advantage may or may not apply, as there are many other things which can matter in combat, and it's irrelevant outside of, well, Combat; CA is certainly meant to sweep up all the "basic" effects, but not be totally comprehensive. 5e Advantage is supposed to represent...well, everything. (For simplicity, I will shorten Combat Advantage to CA from here on out, and "5e Advantage" to 5A or 5A/D for both.)2. Adding two to your attack roll is, if we're being honest, actually simpler in a procedural sense than 5A/D. 5e somewhat undercuts its own goal (of simplified execution) by requiring the rolling of extra dice and comparing--it's only simpler if it's clearing away many modifiers. Similar issues are what eventually forced the game away from Mearls' intended Proficiency dice, which used to run from d4 to d12 (average 2.5 to 6.5--sound familiar?), because rolling and adding dice is slower than just adding a flat value. (13A suffers similar problems at high level with its fistful-of-dice issues.)So because CA is both more narrow and faster, it isn't as much of an impact as 5A/D is.This gets partially into some of the application issues I mentioned above, but only tangentially.</blockquote>

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