Legends and Lore for 2/13

[harpy]

Did something change with the poll? I'm seeing raw votes and not percentages on the page.

Here is what I currently see:

Feats 2750


Skill 2955

Vancian Magic 1560

Non-Vancian Magic 2254

Saving Throws 2167

Magic Missiles that Never Miss 1750

PCs Creating Magic Items 1886

Healing Surges 1730

Action Points 2121

Critical Hits 3110

Critical Fumbles 1484

Kits 1238

Exotic Weapons 1665

Morale Rules 1045

THAC0 191

Racial Level Limits 180

System Shock 408

Gender-Based Ability Score Maximums 328

Weapons Versus Armor Table 673

Weapon Speed Factors 946

Lots of Bonus Types 635

Prestige Classes 1787

 

[Thaumaturge]

Just to be a bit pedantic (this is the Internet, after all), dictionary.com defines misogyny as "hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women".

I don't think attempting to adjust stats to match a commonly held perception falls under the umbrella of hatred or even dislike.

I think the word people mean is sexist.

I agree gender-based ability score caps are sexist, though in a fairly benign sort of way.

I also agree it's a mechanical complication that's completely unnecessary. I think in 15+ years of D&D the ratio of high strength male characters to high strength female characters probably matches the real world ratio.

Thaumaturge.

 

[FireLance]

I'm not a fan of round by round initiative as it has the potential to slow down fights. What might be more palatable for me is some way to "get the jump" on an enemy, apart from Ready and Delay. Maybe you can take a hasty action (-2 on attack rolls?) to re-roll your initiative at the start of the next round?

As for system shock rolls, spell interruption and other ways to curtail spellcaster power, I'm fine with leaving them in, as long as there are also risk-free spells with lesser effects for those who want to play those kinds of spellcasters. The rules should just provide the options; it should be up to the player to decide how risky, and how powerful, his spells should be.

 

[Invisible Stalker]

I voted for Vancian magic, saving throws, magic missiles that never miss, action points, critical hits and fumbles, morale rules and system shock. The rest I can do without, but I'm not going into a rage if they're included.

 

[pemerton]

For a great article explaining why demi-human level limits make sense, read this article: Demi-Human Level Limits - What Were Those About?

I just read it, but to be honest didn't find it that great. It just reiterates the points made in Gygax's DMG.

If the puzzle is to explain why demihumans - and particularly elves - don't dominate the world, I think the approaches taken in some other games is better. In 4e, eladrin dominate the Feywield and Drow dominate the Underdark, leaving humans to live in the ordinary world. In Burning Wheel, even Grief precludes elves from dominating the world. I think Grief is a much more evocative mechanic than level caps.

 

[Thaumaturge]

They've issued an apology, for including the gender caps as a joke option and explained the poll a bit better. They even split it in to two polls- what do you want to be core, and what do you want to be in modules.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

Funny how there are twice as many votes for non-vancian than there are for it. What if it turns out that 2/3 or 3/4 of all people who take the poll are against vancian magic. I can't really see them saying "oh well, let's kick it out then".

Yeah, there is no way they're going to ditch Vancian magic, even given its apparent unpopularity in this poll.

Heck, even Healing Surges - reviled though they may be by a significant portion of D&D players - are, in fact, receiving more support than Vancian Casting on the poll as I post this. And yet, I'll be very surprised if they make it into core, or even an optional module judging by we've recently been seeing some of the designers talk about 4e (i.e. feeding it to the lions at the Colosseum to appease the h4aters).

 

[FitzTheRuke]

They've issued an apology, for including the gender caps as a joke option and explained the poll a bit better. They even split it in to two polls- what do you want to be core, and what do you want to be in modules.

Thaumaturge.

Hey, they're showing they can learn! That's a good sign!

 

[Alzrius]

If the puzzle is to explain why demihumans - and particularly elves - don't dominate the world, I think the approaches taken in some other games is better.

But that doesn't explain why they don't dominate the world - they do, just not this world.

I don't see a problem with saying "demihuman level limits aren't to enforce that demihumans are sub-par - they're to enforce that such limits are par, and humans are exceptional for being able to go beyond them."

 

[Henry]

All I can say is, the people who don't like healing surges better start voting for healing surges as optional if they don't want them in the game! As core, it's got something like 1200 votes right now and only 500 or so as optional!