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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8687457" data-attributes="member: 22779">One doesn't even have to get that specific.  None of the Artisan Tools are detailed beyond "These <a href="https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Weapons#h-Special" target="_blank">Special</a> tools include the <a href="https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Southlands%20Player%27s%20Guide#h-items" target="_blank">items</a> needed to pursue a craft or trade."  So, what exactly is in a "Carpenter's tools"?  Or a "Mason's Tools"?  D&D has a long history of being pretty vague about the stuff that isn't specifically related to combat.  Even going back to AD&D, there were all sorts of stuff that weren't really specified.  And, as D&D has developed over the years in response to how tables actually play the game, rather than trying to force a particular style of play onto the players, it has become more and more vague about the stuff that, most of the time, really doesn't matter.See, because here's the thing about having "vague equipment" style mechanics.  You can absolutely go the other direction and start detailing out every single spell component and whatnot that the character is carrying.  There is nothing stopping you from doing that.  But, with vague rules, the players can without breaking or changing any rules, just gloss over things and not worry about it too much.  That's what DM empowerment actually should mean. You, the DM, have the power (assuming your players are happy with your rulings) to enforce the idea of tracking all equipment.  Or, you can be as vague as you want.  Either way, the rules are there to support you.  If you go vague, no problem.  If you go detailed, that works too.The problem that I'm seeing with how D&D is progressing over time, is that people want the rules to force everyone to play the way they want to play.  They want to be able to point to the rule books and say, "Well, I don't care what you think, this is what the rules say, so, I'm just following the rules!"  It's no different from the floating Racial ASI arguments or any other argument that's been floating around for the past five or six years.  All these, "D&D is changing" arguments are based in the notion that DM's need to have specific rules that they can then force their players to follow instead of being open and honest with their players and being open to the conversation that instead of forcing players to "follow the rules" these DM's actually have to justify their decisions and convince the players to go along with them.And, from what I'm seeing, DM's are suddenly shocked at the notion that instead of the players being groovy with these rules all along they only followed along because that's what the rules told them to do. Relax the rules and suddenly playstyle steps into the void and now the DM can no longer just enforce specific playstyles by leveraging the rules over the heads of their players.</blockquote>

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