Dagredhel
Explorer
It's amazing how many times I've looked at a D&D rule from 3e/3.5e and thought, 'but why didn't they... oh yeah... that would be too much like the Hero System (Champions).'
Maybe it's just me.
But I really do have the sense sometimes that when updating 'the world's most popular roleplaying game' the designers were familiar with the Hero System rules and emulated them to some degree either consciously or unavoidably (good ideas are good ideas.) At the same time, there would be the tendency, considered or not, to avoid being too obvious about it.
Why do I bring this up (other than insomnia, I mean?)
D&D and something like the Hero System are very different in terms of published content (probably in a lot of ways.)
The difference I'd like to highlight is that the Hero System basically says, 'here are the mechanics, now go do something with them.' And it's explicit about all of the design considerations. Nothing seems hidden or arbitrary, and everything fits together. It's then up to you to decide what to build with them, whether it is a character, an adventure, or a whole campaign world.
D&D traditionally hasn't been like that. 3e/3.5e introduced greater mechanical consistency and made discussions about the rules structure of the game more mainstream. But there is still plenty of 'ignore the man behind the curtain'. There is no metasystem that explains how various pieces and parts of the rules relate or how design decisions were made. You don't get to see the 'rules behind the rules', whether those amount to mathematical frameworks or simple but unacknowledged design conventions. On the other hand, you get a game that is much easier to play right out of the gate, and a lot of neat stuff that creative and talented people have already put together for you.
Where am I trying to go with this?
I love both games. But I've often thought that the Hero System would be better off if it presented more preconstructed, ready-made elements like D&D. And equally, I've wished D&D could be as rules transparent and internally consistent as the Hero System.
Ideally, what I would really like to see is a D&D 5e that manages to do both well. It could do both well.
The 'basic' game could provide the essential rules, the resolution system and pregenerated game elements (classes, monsters, etc.) It needn't delve too deeply into the whys and wherefors, just lay things out for you and explain how to play.
At the next level of complexity, 'advanced' rules could layer on lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of options... both for character creation and development as well as for game play. The catch is that they need to remain balanced and consistent with each other and with the basic game. But that wouldn't be a problem because...
The 'master' rules would explain those whys and wherefors. Design considerations and mathematical models implicit in the elements of the basic and advanced rules would be explicitly revealed, and you'd be able to see... if you're interested, that is... how everything fit together.
To use 3e/3.5e elements for a rough analogy, the basic rules would be premade monsters. The advanced rules would offer things like templates or monstrous feats. The master rules would have a master chart of appropriate abilities by CR and step-by-step instructions to build monsters from scratch... Or to deconstruct the monsters offered prebuilt in the basic rules, or the templates from the advanced set.
So...
Is it just me? Or would you like to see something similar in the next iteration of D&D as well?
Maybe it's just me.
But I really do have the sense sometimes that when updating 'the world's most popular roleplaying game' the designers were familiar with the Hero System rules and emulated them to some degree either consciously or unavoidably (good ideas are good ideas.) At the same time, there would be the tendency, considered or not, to avoid being too obvious about it.
Why do I bring this up (other than insomnia, I mean?)
D&D and something like the Hero System are very different in terms of published content (probably in a lot of ways.)
The difference I'd like to highlight is that the Hero System basically says, 'here are the mechanics, now go do something with them.' And it's explicit about all of the design considerations. Nothing seems hidden or arbitrary, and everything fits together. It's then up to you to decide what to build with them, whether it is a character, an adventure, or a whole campaign world.
D&D traditionally hasn't been like that. 3e/3.5e introduced greater mechanical consistency and made discussions about the rules structure of the game more mainstream. But there is still plenty of 'ignore the man behind the curtain'. There is no metasystem that explains how various pieces and parts of the rules relate or how design decisions were made. You don't get to see the 'rules behind the rules', whether those amount to mathematical frameworks or simple but unacknowledged design conventions. On the other hand, you get a game that is much easier to play right out of the gate, and a lot of neat stuff that creative and talented people have already put together for you.
Where am I trying to go with this?
I love both games. But I've often thought that the Hero System would be better off if it presented more preconstructed, ready-made elements like D&D. And equally, I've wished D&D could be as rules transparent and internally consistent as the Hero System.
Ideally, what I would really like to see is a D&D 5e that manages to do both well. It could do both well.
The 'basic' game could provide the essential rules, the resolution system and pregenerated game elements (classes, monsters, etc.) It needn't delve too deeply into the whys and wherefors, just lay things out for you and explain how to play.
At the next level of complexity, 'advanced' rules could layer on lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of options... both for character creation and development as well as for game play. The catch is that they need to remain balanced and consistent with each other and with the basic game. But that wouldn't be a problem because...
The 'master' rules would explain those whys and wherefors. Design considerations and mathematical models implicit in the elements of the basic and advanced rules would be explicitly revealed, and you'd be able to see... if you're interested, that is... how everything fit together.
To use 3e/3.5e elements for a rough analogy, the basic rules would be premade monsters. The advanced rules would offer things like templates or monstrous feats. The master rules would have a master chart of appropriate abilities by CR and step-by-step instructions to build monsters from scratch... Or to deconstruct the monsters offered prebuilt in the basic rules, or the templates from the advanced set.
So...
Is it just me? Or would you like to see something similar in the next iteration of D&D as well?
