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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9087685" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Well, the issue is you're talking about the game's design. Which means that, because these things are finite and imperfect, something will fail to be the absolute core, fundamental expression. Some bit will be opt-out, not opt-in, even if you work very hard to make the opt-in bits effective and functional.Once we recognize that, it is inevitable that different folks will assert different positions about what the "default" should be. Others are thus liable to ask, "Why should your preference be default?" And if they feel slighted (or just peevish), there's likely to be accusations of One True Way-ism.I, personally, try to aim for a default that is the most broadly accommodating and easiest to bend toward other ends. As a rule, for example, it is much easier to add difficulty than to remove it. It is much easier to throw something out of balance than to bring balance into an existing unbalanced structure. It is much easier to design things which conform to typical (even if poorly-justified) human intuitions, rather than trying to defy those intuitions and just expect folks to think differently.All of these are why I advocate for well-made, fully-featured "novice levels" or the equivalent. Because those can be specifically tailored to be hard challenges, something players can opt in for if they want a more difficult thing. That doesn't mean 1st level should inundate players with choices--it's good to give new players a chance to get their feet wet--but a 1st-level character being wet tissue paper is a pretty serious problem that will drive people away from the game. Unfortunately, DMs and players alike have the facile but understandable belief that "first level is where you start, because it is first, that is what starting IS, the first thing, so you shouldn't start anywhere but first level. Because it's first."Such deeply-ingrained intuitive responses are best treated as unfortunate but unavoidable limitations on the design space.And, as noted, I want things like the above to be GENUINELY well-made and fully-featured, present in the core books, explicitly presented to both DM and player alike as useful options for a particular campaign feel/tone. Because that is how you avoid OTW-ism: both sincere/full-throated support for non-default choices, and actually telling players those choices exist.</blockquote>

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