No Evolution in Rules. (3rd edition)

[Hunter99]

No Evolution in Rules.

Do you all think that 3rd edition (or really any edition) suffers from a lack of evolution in it’s body of rules? I am saying this because I have noticed on the boards that many of the same problems come up again and again. Fixing fighters, casters too strong etc. I would contrast this with the body of laws governing a nations which undergo gradual evolution through piecemeal changes. Nothing of this sort takes place with D&D.

When problems arise in the body of rules, WOTC does not go for gradual, piecemeal change in the body of rules similar to what takes place in the body of laws of a country in real life. Instead it takes the approach of revolution and throwing everything out and starting from scratch.

This approach seems to be fatally flawed in my opinion. For one thing, it means that players have to spend money on a whole new edition making all the money they spent previously useless. Second it means that players have to purchase books which essentially have the same content. It seems like an evolutionary approach to the body of rules in D&D would have been much wiser on the part of WOTC; it seems like choosing piecemeal, gradual change instead of a throw everything out and rebuild from scratch approach would have been much more fruitful.

It seems to me that what 3rd edition is lacking are a series of “judges” similar to judges in real life who could make rulings on the various issues by reference to certain principles and bring about gradual, piecemeal change in the body of rules.

I say this with regard to 3rd edition because that is the edition I am most familiar with but it could equally apply to other editions.

 

[Dandu]

What would you like to see changed? A unified base mechanic for classes to work off of ala 4E, gender and race based stat modifiers ala FATAL, or what?

 

[Jack Simth]

No Evolution in Rules.

Do you all think that 3rd edition (or really any edition) suffers from a lack of evolution in it’s body of rules? I am saying this because I have noticed on the boards that many of the same problems come up again and again. Fixing fighters, casters too strong etc. I would contrast this with the body of laws governing a nations which undergo gradual evolution through piecemeal changes. Nothing of this sort takes place with D&D.

It kinda does, actually. Errata is usually used for minor changes in the rules.

This approach seems to be fatally flawed in my opinion. For one thing, it means that players have to spend money on a whole new edition making all the money they spent previously useless. Second it means that players have to purchase books which essentially have the same content. It seems like an evolutionary approach to the body of rules in D&D would have been much wiser on the part of WOTC; it seems like choosing piecemeal, gradual change instead of a throw everything out and rebuild from scratch approach would have been much more fruitful.

Ah, but fruitful to whom? The publisher makes a hefty sum if that happens...

It seems to me that what 3rd edition is lacking are a series of “judges” similar to judges in real life who could make rulings on the various issues by reference to certain principles and bring about gradual, piecemeal change in the body of rules.

These judges are known as DM's... or maybe "Rules of the Game" writers... or maybe take a look at the FAQ.... then there's WotC Customer Service....

 

[Hunter99]

What would you like to see changed? A unified base mechanic for classes to work off of ala 4E, gender and race based stat modifiers ala FATAL, or what?

I actually had a few things in mind.

First, get rid of all major racial advantages and level adjustments. The fact that racial superiority makes a man progress more slowly than racially inferior races is illogical. Logic dictates that those who are racially superior such as mind flayers and demons would progress faster. Rational animals of whatever race should have basically the same abilities with minor variations.

Second, get rid of all inherently good or evil races. This is pure racism.

Third, since magic is superior to non-magic, have “war magic” for warriors which to some extent has been done by Bo9S.

Fourth, remove Gods and God granted powers. Have only one type of magic with different branches of specialization such as healing, war etc. Remove the necessity for any sort of religious faith for the using a certain type of magic. Make magic in this regard similar to science with scientific laws behind it, not dependent on the whims of a deity.

Fifth, simply the amount of rules a person needs to know to be able to play D&D.

Sixth, remove the supposed objectivity of good and evil and also all magic spells which operate based on one’s morality or detect and reveal knowledge of morality.

Seventh, and this is purely aesthetic, remove all racially ugly rational animals such as trolls, goblins etc. and some non-rational animals which are ugly by virtue of belonging to a particular species. The reason for this is because I don’t believe that God (to use a figure of speech, even though I don‘t believe in God), or Tao, or the Logos could create anything so ugly as trolls and goblins etc.

Eight, get rid of all inherent magical powers. Magic should be a discipline that an individual learns and masters through effort, not something intrinsic.

EDIT:

Ninth, remove the amount of power that an individual spell caster can wield and instead make magic a discipline that requires social cooperation and division of labor to accomplish more powerful effects. The amount of magic which an individual spell caster would be able to wield without social cooperation with others and division of labor should be small.

2nd EDIT:

Tenth, each level of magic should be able to accomplish a certain amount of change in the world which should be defined in the rules. I also think that instead of specific spells like magic missle, (although they could also exist as some spells come into general use because of being better than others and others fall into disuse because they suck. This would probably be something the D&D forums could engage in instead of writing the various spells in books.) "seeds" should exist similar to the Epic Level Handbook which allow creativity and imagination in spell creations and use. It also gives a general idea of what a particular level of magic can accomplish outside of particular spells.

It also allows wizards to strive to find new ways to apply magic whereas currently, DMs and players feel (at least this is my experience) that they cannot stray from the spells officially written and innovate or experiment.

Third EDIT:

Eleventh, either remove the amount of calculation and preparation time necessary to play the game or invent some sort of software to perform that calculation for you. Similart to video games like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale which do not require much calculation in the form of calculating saving throws, attack rolls etc. but are done for you on a computer.

 

[Ettin]

So wait, you're removing "inherently good and evil races" because that's racist, but you also want to cut out races you think are ugly?

 

[Hunter99]

I don't think it's racist to say that trolls and goblins are ugly.

 

[Ettin]

Is it just trolls and goblins? What other races do you want to remove because they're ugly?

(I can already see this thread is going places!)

 

[Dandu]

Hunter99 is well known for his unique insights into the nature of things.

 

[PureGoldx58]

You again? Why do you bother posting your drivel?

 

[Whatthehell]

I don't think it's racist to say that trolls and goblins are ugly.

I don't think people who self identify with an order of knights that liberates women by raping them have a good bearing on most issues.