Pet Peeves....

[Aaron2]

5 minutes with PCGen or Etools. May not be perfect, but I don't care if an NPC is 100% by the rules so long as it's appropriate for the encounter. An extra skill point here or there, a minor difference in BAB or saves, it really doesn't matter. It's worth the time savings by far.

I've never had a problem with NPC generation and I only use the SRD and Word. Adding class levels to monsters is a snap. You just change 5 numbers (BAB, hps, and three saves) and then cut-and-paste the class' special abilities after the monster write-up. No problemo.

Try making a goblin thief in 1e if your looking to waste a few hours.


Aaron

 

[Psion]

My pet peeves...

Things, mind you, that I deal with because it would be a bigger hassle (with inconsistency, method, support, etc.) than it would be worth:
BAB as a class-level determined variable instead of a skill
Lack of AC advancement from level (yes, I know other variants do this. I used one for a while.)
The dichotomy between what HP damage means and the effects of magical healing.
Iterative attacks at high levels (this, more than anything, slows down the game and causes confusion at high levels.)

 

[Aaron2]

2) The treatment of magic items in third edition. In first and second any
and all magic items where treasured and found a home. It wasn't until
the characters had been around for close to a year of play time that
magic items would start to be passed down to followers and some even
sold off. But it was a big deal to find a place that would buy and sell.

Your experience was way different than mine. Just look at the mountains of magic items in first and second edition modules. Players would get dozens of scrolls and potion yet those items were next to impossible to make. Who was making all that crap?

Plus, 3e has the added advantage that you can upgrade magic items. I've seen many character use the same weapon throughout their entire career.


Aaron

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I've never had a problem with NPC generation and I only use the SRD and Word. Adding class levels to monsters is a snap. You just change 5 numbers (BAB, hps, and three saves) and then cut-and-paste the class' special abilities after the monster write-up. No problemo.

Try making a goblin thief in 1e if your looking to waste a few hours.


Aaron

The key there is 'I only use the SRD.' A lot of the NPC complexity (and overall complexity, for that matter) comes when you start adding lots of extra sources into the mix. I think if a lot of the people who complain about the complexity and time requirements to play 3rd Ed., would drop all the non-core stuff, they'd be happy with the results.

It's easy enough to do in your head until you start adding spellcasting, lots o' gear, and such. Still do-able, but if you find yourself spending hours on NPC prep, you're either not taking advantage of the tools that can help you, or you are obsessing overly much.

Very high-level and epic are a different story.

 

[diaglo]

Your experience was way different than mine. Just look at the mountains of magic items in first and second edition modules. Players would get dozens of scrolls and potion yet those items were next to impossible to make. Who was making all that crap?

the same guys who are supposed to be training you... at least in 1ed and 2edADnD.

the clerics and magic-users of name level. High Priest/ Wizard respectively.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, in Psion's post, he mentioned that BAB being tied into level is a bad thing. Rolemaster takes care of that.

For me, it's level advancement vs monster advancement. The whole difference between monster levels, as many monster levels via books like Savage Species, have no hit dice and no skill points at those levels, is stupid. All creatures should advance the same.

Another point is hit dice. All types have their own hit dice. Human(oid)s, should just use the hit dice of their type. Either that, or like BAB, put it into a skill that somone could buy up. Rolemaster takes care of that too.

For some reason, I still prefer the old way of turnign via first edition with it's Turning Matrix. Way too many undead types now to even think of something like that though.

 

[Voadam]

I've never had a problem with NPC generation and I only use the SRD and Word. Adding class levels to monsters is a snap. You just change 5 numbers (BAB, hps, and three saves) and then cut-and-paste the class' special abilities after the monster write-up. No problemo.

Try making a goblin thief in 1e if your looking to waste a few hours.


Aaron

For making NPCs, you have the base character, generate stats, making him all one class is the most straightfoward way to go here, choose skills one for each point he gets is most straightforward, advance stats, choose feats, now look up how much money he should have, now spend it, adjust his stats for boosting items etc., figure out the multiple ACs (straight, touch, flat-footed, flat-footed touch) figure out his attacks and damage. Choose spells.

Now think about tactics, temporary buffs, etc.

 

[The_Gneech]

My pet peeve is/was/continues to be reliance on a bag of magic items. That's been in D&D since before it was D&D and will probably stay with it forever.

I get so very tired of every character being bedecked with rings, amulets, headbands, whizzy stones, bracers, boots, magic armor, a magic weapon, a backup magic weapon, and a few random wondrous items rattling around the bag of holding. I much prefer a stalwart hero armed with their courage, their own abilities, and maybe a unique item or two.

-The Gneech

 

[Mercule]

Peeves:

• Without a doubt, the biggest is anything that is x/day, including spell slots. It's a metagame thing that forces itself into gameplay. "I can't go into a rage right now. I know it's been 10 hours since my last rage, but if you wait until morning, I'll be able to do it three times again." If this was fixed, I'd be one happy camper.
• The glut of PrCs. There seems to be an expectation that everyone will use a PrC. To be prestigious, they should be the exception, not the rule. And, as has been said, PrCs seem to have a special ability every level, which is a pain.
• Too many feats. At last count, I had over 600 feats available out of just the WotC books. Enough! Even if we started a fresh group every adventure, we'd never use them all.
• Related to the last two points, stop giving me new rules/options. Give me some ideas on how to combine the existing options to work with some concepts.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

My response deals only with D&D. Although I own, have read, and have evn played a few other D20 games, none have really caught on in my group. We're pretty much D&D-exclusive.

My biggest pet peeve is the fact that at a certain point what a character owns becomes more important than what the character himself can do. In other words, I'm against the proliferation of magic item "trinkets." (For example, if a character, by level, should have around 16,000 gp worth of magic items, I would vastly rather see the character with two 8,000 gp items than with eight 2,000 gp items. In D&D, the latter is what occurs, and is, in fact, what the game is designed for.) This has been a problem throughout the history of D&D, but it's a very difficult thing to eradicate in 3E because so many rules subsystems are designed to interlock. Messing with magic items throws challenges off, which throws advancement off which ...

Lesser peeves?

The high variability of hit points. A character's hit point total is arguably his or her single most important stat. Leaving such a vital rule vulnerable to so much variation is just ... silly.

Designing the game for a square grid, rather than taking the redesign as a chance to move to hexes. Yes, drawing maps on hexes is slightly more difficult than drawing maps on squares, but only to the extent what is drawn fits the grid in the first place. Also, once the map is drawn, every other aspect of play becomes simpler and more consistent.

Random stat generation. I have never yet encountered a player who prefered to randomly roll stats, though many claim such a preference. These are, instead, actually players who prefer the chance of rolling really well, coupled with the chance to whine and (in extremis) commit PC-suicide if stuck with mediocre or below average stats. I'll never again allow my players to randomly generate stats.