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<blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 2401717" data-attributes="member: 158">My thoughts follow a similar track to Bretbo (who I believe I've seen at Mutants and Masterminds, so he'll know what I'm getting at). I'd love to see D&amp;D's rules follow more of&nbsp; a &quot;Macro/Micro&quot; philosophy, where the DM can use a cut-down rules-set that still interfaces legally with the fully statted out Player Characters, without a ton of prep time. In the old days (and still I do this) I often write down a stripped-down stat-block or I ad-hoc the stats for an NPC or monster, because to write down every critter the PC's would interact with would drive me to distraction; it also means I couldn't run an off-the-cuff D&amp;D session if I had to. Just as in M&amp;M someone's Defense or base attack bonus could be broken down into categories (attack could be broken into ranged, melee, and unarmed, defense could be broken into Natural/Armor and deflection/shield, etc.) the DM could pick a point-buy bonus that was still equivalent to what his PC's would be challenged with, but the players could customize the heck out of their characters and the DM's NPCs would still be legal and appropriate challenge to the PCs.I'm not even sure if it's doable, but a suite of electronic tools will NOT make it easier to run at the table, and forcing the DM to have to use a laptop to run his game just because of stacks of prep-work needed is NOT the better RPG. The better RPG is the one that both fits the needs of the most number-oriented power gamer (in the Robin Laws sense) and the storyteller, and provide an interface that assists the meeting of the minds between the two.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Henry, post: 2401717, member: 158"] My thoughts follow a similar track to Bretbo (who I believe I've seen at Mutants and Masterminds, so he'll know what I'm getting at). I'd love to see D&D's rules follow more of a "Macro/Micro" philosophy, where the DM can use a cut-down rules-set that still interfaces legally with the fully statted out Player Characters, without a ton of prep time. In the old days (and still I do this) I often write down a stripped-down stat-block or I ad-hoc the stats for an NPC or monster, because to write down every critter the PC's would interact with would drive me to distraction; it also means I couldn't run an off-the-cuff D&D session if I had to. Just as in M&M someone's Defense or base attack bonus could be broken down into categories (attack could be broken into ranged, melee, and unarmed, defense could be broken into Natural/Armor and deflection/shield, etc.) the DM could pick a point-buy bonus that was still equivalent to what his PC's would be challenged with, but the players could customize the heck out of their characters and the DM's NPCs would still be legal and appropriate challenge to the PCs. I'm not even sure if it's doable, but a suite of electronic tools will NOT make it easier to run at the table, and forcing the DM to have to use a laptop to run his game just because of stacks of prep-work needed is NOT the better RPG. The better RPG is the one that both fits the needs of the most number-oriented power gamer (in the Robin Laws sense) and the storyteller, and provide an interface that assists the meeting of the minds between the two. [/QUOTE]

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