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Of all the complaints about 3.x systems... do you people actually allow this stuff ?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ahnehnois" data-source="post: 5789376" data-attributes="member: 17106"><p>I can't understand how prep for any game is a function of anything other than the time you choose to put into it. You can easily run 3.X in an improv style or straight out of a published adventure with no prep whatsoever. Stat blocks are very easy to chop down if you know you only need combat (or noncombat) statistics. I've seen many people complain about 3.X prep time relative to other games, but I don't understand how the specific rules lengthened their prep time that much. 2e was enormously complex and time consuming, and I shudder to think about having to pick a retinue of powers for every NPC worth detailing. I think it's a style that lengthens prep time, not so much the rules. A rules-lite game is of course easier to prep, but D&D hasn't been that for a long time (we'll see about 5e).</p><p></p><p>I read the books and see that there are fighter/caster issues. Fighters are not good enough at high level, casters cast too many spells too easily. That said, the basic assumptions of D&D are this: wizards can teleport, control minds, and grant wishes. That will never be balanced with nonmagic abilities, nor should it be. So I see a lot of room for improvement in specific class, spell, and feat mechanics, but I don't agree that simply because magic is unbalanced it breaks the game, or that magic and nonmagic mechanics should be balanced.</p><p></p><p>I would quite happily see increased costs and difficulty for spellcasting and more powerful high-level fighter abilities. I've adopted several substantial fixes to that effect for my game. Of course, that's part of the reason 3.X is still a viable game; it's very option-friendly, very receptive to UA-type changes.</p><p></p><p>My experience in actual play over playing 3.X from its release until this day has been that fighters are the most popular and enjoyed class at all levels, and rangers and rogues are up there, although I understand that's not everyone's experience. Magic is a challenge, but there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater to fix it.</p><p></p><p>In any case, I think there are larger issues that are often ignored.</p><p></p><p>My intent is not to offend; I'm speaking more about some of the abuses of polymorph or any number of min-max build experts who break the game on purpose, or DMs who abuse save-or-die abilities and alienate their players from lethality. There are many complaints that do not fall into this category. I do believe that...</p><p>3e is flawed in many ways. I totally agree. I started my original post with that. I had to adopt a ton of variants to make it marginally fit my needs. What I'm doing is agreeing (strongly) with the OP's contention that it is very important that game design be shaped by the experiences of everyone playing the game, not just the ones who make the most noise.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ahnehnois, post: 5789376, member: 17106"] I can't understand how prep for any game is a function of anything other than the time you choose to put into it. You can easily run 3.X in an improv style or straight out of a published adventure with no prep whatsoever. Stat blocks are very easy to chop down if you know you only need combat (or noncombat) statistics. I've seen many people complain about 3.X prep time relative to other games, but I don't understand how the specific rules lengthened their prep time that much. 2e was enormously complex and time consuming, and I shudder to think about having to pick a retinue of powers for every NPC worth detailing. I think it's a style that lengthens prep time, not so much the rules. A rules-lite game is of course easier to prep, but D&D hasn't been that for a long time (we'll see about 5e). I read the books and see that there are fighter/caster issues. Fighters are not good enough at high level, casters cast too many spells too easily. That said, the basic assumptions of D&D are this: wizards can teleport, control minds, and grant wishes. That will never be balanced with nonmagic abilities, nor should it be. So I see a lot of room for improvement in specific class, spell, and feat mechanics, but I don't agree that simply because magic is unbalanced it breaks the game, or that magic and nonmagic mechanics should be balanced. I would quite happily see increased costs and difficulty for spellcasting and more powerful high-level fighter abilities. I've adopted several substantial fixes to that effect for my game. Of course, that's part of the reason 3.X is still a viable game; it's very option-friendly, very receptive to UA-type changes. My experience in actual play over playing 3.X from its release until this day has been that fighters are the most popular and enjoyed class at all levels, and rangers and rogues are up there, although I understand that's not everyone's experience. Magic is a challenge, but there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater to fix it. In any case, I think there are larger issues that are often ignored. My intent is not to offend; I'm speaking more about some of the abuses of polymorph or any number of min-max build experts who break the game on purpose, or DMs who abuse save-or-die abilities and alienate their players from lethality. There are many complaints that do not fall into this category. I do believe that... 3e is flawed in many ways. I totally agree. I started my original post with that. I had to adopt a ton of variants to make it marginally fit my needs. What I'm doing is agreeing (strongly) with the OP's contention that it is very important that game design be shaped by the experiences of everyone playing the game, not just the ones who make the most noise. [/QUOTE]
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Of all the complaints about 3.x systems... do you people actually allow this stuff ?
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