D&D General Stuff 5E Did Right

[Micah Sweet]

Has anyone said it hasn't been part of the rules at one time or another? I said they were minimal and that there wasn't really much to do with them. I also admit that maybe there was something out there, it was hard to keep up with everything TSR published.

Saying "you get followers" or "you get a keep" or a supplement that says "here's how much it takes to build a castle and what staff you might need" doesn't really add much to the game for a lot of people. Nor, in my experience, did many people care.

Whether or not it added to the game for someone, or if someone cared, are questions of preference. That's it, and that's all, and it doesn't stop being about preference when there are aot of people involved. Pooularity does not equal truth.

 

[Zardnaar]

Specifically the Champion makes running a second character / sidekick - the Champion - a breeze when you have only a few players.

Yup I don't mind simple champions mistake was it's not super good. Having it be proficient in more saves for example is still simple.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Whether or not it added to the game for someone, or if someone cared, are questions of preference. That's it, and that's all, and it doesn't stop being about preference when there are aot of people involved. Pooularity does not equal truth.

Again, has anyone said it hasn't been part of the rules at one time or another? If it hasn't been clear, Oofta seems to believe you are vigorously disputing statements he does not think he made. Same as other people have not thought they were framing their positions and preferences as objective truth, such that your insistence that those were opinions was any way pertinent (because obviously they were).

This entire tempest in a teapot boils down to a difference in opinion about how obvious it is/needs to be that people are voicing their personal positions on a matter.

 

[GrimCo]

Whether or not it added to the game for someone, or if someone cared, are questions of preference. That's it, and that's all, and it doesn't stop being about preference when there are aot of people involved. Pooularity does not equal truth.

No, but when designing new version of product, popularity of feature matters. If something isn't popular, you don't waste time and money on it. Plain and simple.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Again, has anyone said it hasn't been part of the rules at one time or another? If it hasn't been clear, Oofta seems to believe you are vigorously disputing statements he does not think he made. Same as other people have not thought they were framing their positions and preferences as objective truth, such that your insistence that those were opinions was any way pertinent (because obviously they were).

This entire tempest in a teapot boils down to a difference in opinion about how obvious it is/needs to be that people are voicing their personal positions on a matter.

Fair enough. I think it should be very obvious.

 

[Oofta]

Whether or not it added to the game for someone, or if someone cared, are questions of preference. That's it, and that's all, and it doesn't stop being about preference when there are aot of people involved. Pooularity does not equal truth.

I get that you liked it, but popularity does have impact on whether something is carried forward which is all I was talking about. That, and you've stated you have rules you like so I don't see why it's an issue. There will always be niches and options that don't have official rules.

In any case, we'll see what they do with the bastion rules.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I get that you liked it, but popularity does have impact on whether something is carried forward which is all I was talking about. That, and you've stated you have rules you like so I don't see why it's an issue. There will always be niches and options that don't have official rules.

In any case, we'll see what they do with the bastion rules.

The bastion rules are a big reason why I'm happy we have the Level Up rules. They look extraordinarily gamey, and make very little setting sense (unless you have an unusual setting).

 

[kigmatzomat]

3e feat leadership was of marginal use. People mostly used it to get free heal bot follower one level lower than party, cause you get permanent cumulative penalty to your leadership score for every cohort that gets killed. Followers were even worse, you got 5-6 lv npc-s who would get killed easy, which in turn, again, lowers your leadership score. In my experience, Leadership was one of those feats that sounded great on paper, but wasn't worth it in game. Strongholds were not in the core books, but in one of many splatbooks.

In 2ed, you get stronghold at level 9.

If you took 3e Leadership at 6th level then yeah, you only got a few followers unless you were a bard or sorcerer with high charisma. You get to 2e's 9th level, have at least a house, a bit of reputation and some charisma and you should have 2 dozen followers (the charismatic types will have 3 dozen)

But yeah, followers stay at home. They are butlers, cooks, accountants and scribes. Maybe warrior 3rd+ followers stays with the horses.

Cohorts shouldn't die much more often than other PCs. 2HD just shouldn't be that impactful. They should mostly be rear guard, but same for the spindly wizard or the scrawny thief. You do have to be willing to give them the cast-off magic items from the party rather than selling them or else they will be too vulnerable. (And that's how you earn that "+1 Generous" modifier).

 

[kigmatzomat]

The bastion rules are a big reason why I'm happy we have the Level Up rules. They look extraordinarily gamey, and make very little setting sense (unless you have an unusual setting).

I suspect the magical spy potion brewery and the teleporter will be dropped. It will be the libraries, gardeners, zoos and whatnot that can periodically produce minor consumable items, provide a mechanism for acquiring magic items, or act as a way for GMs to drop hints about plots.

 

[Older Beholder]

Although people complain about it, I think 5E got the release schedule right.
Avoiding the bloat that has bogged down editions in the past was a really smart move.

The focus on worldbuilding tool kits over endless lore was also a part of this and an example of something they got right.