Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 5655702" data-attributes="member: 29398">Let's see...what do I want to find when I open up the 5e toolbox?Before beginning, a mindset that is not so married to the d20 mechanic to ignore better solutions when they make sense.  We all own lots of dice.  We all know how to roll 'em.  There is nothing wrong with d12 resolutions or d% charts.  Also, a further mindset that turns a cold shoulder to the cries for instant gratification - 30 levels in a 2-year campaign is about 25 levels too many.First, a set of coherent rules - not too many of them, mind you; but enough to provide a framework that provides a playable game as written while still giving the kitbashers something to work with.  Simplicity is key; though with that said, charts and tables are useful for getting lots of information into one place - use 'em!  Character generation at any level should take less than 15 minutes all in, and if the game can support char-ops boards then someone put the wrong tool in the box.Second, things in the game that can and will break some of those rules; examples: potions and wands that do things spells cannot, wishes that truly are wishes and not limited to replicating another spell, etc.Third, a sense of mystery provided by returning most if not all of the mechanical information behind the DM screen where it belongs.  Magic items listed by value, combat charts listed as BAB, full knowledge of an item's powers after 5 minutes of sitting with it - all of these defeat mystery and thus take a very good tool out of the box.Fourth, flexibility presented as a series of options to tack on to the core rules framework.  Some examples include rules variants for short-medium-long campaigns, for high-medium-low magic, for high-medium-low combat complexity, for playing with and without minis and a grid, and so on.Fourth-point-five, flexibility in the math.  With each passing edition the math has become more finely tuned, which - while perhaps more balanced - provides its own set of headaches and forces the game into unnecessary straitjackets.Fifth, when first opened the toolbox must contain every tool for the job.  Present the whole game in the first release, and then resist the urge to constantly throw more tools in.  Too many editions have already sunk under the weight of rules bloat, let's learn from these mistakes!Sixth, the toolbox doesn't need a level or set of scales.  Balance from common sense is great.  Balance from micro-design is kinda lame.And lastly, perhaps the most important tool: the best rules system in the world is useless without good adventures to run.  Design some kick-donkey adventures, dammit!  No fluff (we can add that ourselves), no delve (waste of space) - use the 0e-1e classics as a guide and go nuts!Others have made some good suggestions also - variance in class complexity being one - so I won't repeat them all here.Lan-"if I had a hammer"-efan</blockquote>

Verification