D&D 5E (2014) New playtest packet available.

[Remathilis]

Yeah. The pillow is a clever ploy, but:

1. the image of a raging, bloodthirsty pillow fight doesn't fit.
2. By attack, they clearly mean attempt to kill things. A barbarian just doesn't get the same thrill out of hitting someone with a floral patterned Sealy.

Pillow Fights are Serious Business!

 

[Libramarian]

No problem. You simply have to ensure that the difference between a "standard" character and the most heavily powergamed character is relatively small through a combination of:

1. Keeping each individual bonus low; and
2. Stacking rules that ensure that the individual bonuses cannot add up to more than the above-mentioned tolerable difference.

Math happens, whether you like it or not, and ignoring it is about as useful as sticking your head in the sand and hoping that the lion won't notice you.

I'm not saying ignore the math, I'm saying make the game flexible enough to handle a wide variety of challenge. E.g. make attrition matter, good morale and retreat rules, rare but consumable "ejection seat" magic items that the PCs only use in an emergency, etc. It's a different way of coming at the problem. It involves just as much design effort.

 

[pemerton]

rare but consumable "ejection seat" magic items that the PCs only use in an emergency

Two observations on this.

(1) Those sorts of items are fun. At one stage in my 4e game the PCs got hold of a ring of wishing (single wish). They ended up using it in a fight against a wizard with at-will blinding - they wished that for the next hour (? or so) no one in the house in which they were fighting the wizard could lose his/her sight. Without that wish they would probably have been hosed.

(2) I like rules for turning permanent items into "ejection seat" items. The retributive strike of a Staff of Power/Staff of the Magi would be an example, but I would like to see flexible guidelines for allowing a wider range of items to be used like this - in an emergency, consume the item for dramatic effect. This came up in my game when the PC invoker permanently consumed his Ritual Candle in order to exploit his knowledge of the Linked Portal (=, rougly, teleport) ritual to change the location of his already-cast Arcane Gate (daily utility power that sets up a temporary teleport-door between two points each within 100' of the caster). Without this, the PCs couldn't have closed to within melee distance of archers who had better range than most of them. (Retreat was still a possibility, but for various reasons very much a last resort.)

 

[pemerton]

There are people who play the game with little concern for verisimilitude. Whether the game has verisimilitude or not, doesn't matter much to them. So why not making the game with verisimilitude anyway?

I'm not sure that there are very many people who play the game with little concern for verisimilitude.

But it is true that preferences in respect of gonzo elements vary. It is also true that preferences in respect of metagame mechanics vary.

 

[Grimmjow]

so.....how can i get "against the cult of chaos adventure to convert over to DDN? i know its not out yet but when it does

 

[jadrax]

so.....how can i get "against the cult of chaos adventure to convert over to DDN? i know its not out yet but when it does

I think you need to be a game store running "D&D Encounters".

 

[Grimmjow]

I think you need to be a game store running "D&D Encounters".

so then for anyone who cant get to a store like that the adventure they just released is useless for us....laaaaame

ty for info though

 

[B.T.]

Rage should come on automatically when the barbarian hits half health.

 

[B.T.]

Tome of Battle was one of those supplements that was beloved by the Internet community and not by anyone I've ever gamed with. The reactions I've heard to it vary by the person:

Me, initial: Stupid anime crap.
Me, upon review: Stupid anime crap, some decent mechanics. Not a fan overall.

My friend, initial: Stupid anime crap.
My DM, upon review: Why are these things set up like spells and why do I have to learn an entirely new system of anime crap to use it?

My DM, initial: I don't know what you're talking about.
My DM, upon review: I don't want to use this, just play a fighter. Also, this is overpowered.

The rogue, initial: I don't know what you're talking about, also I'm having difficulty figuring out sneak attack, so please don't introduce me to anything more complicated than flanking.
The rogue, upon review: Just kidding, no one in the group showed her it.

The psion, initial: This is awesome!
The psion, upon review: You can shoot fire everywhere. This is awesome!

 

[Garthanos]

Tome of Battle? Over powered..the group has no Druids/Clerics or Wizards with any competance at all right?