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The D&D Edition Complexity Thread- How do you order Edition Complexity?
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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 7906944" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>I can't really contribute a lot to the thread because when it comes to older editions ... well I have a hard time remembering what I ate for breakfast, much less a game who's rules I last read 20+ years ago. I will say that I always felt we were getting to a better, and in many ways simpler game up until 4E (more on that in a sec). I also went pretty much from the brown box set (just a few games) to the original blue box set to AD&D to 3.x. So there are variants I never played more than a game or so.</p><p></p><p>So I think the free basic rules pdf for 5E are the simplest. </p><p></p><p>I know, I know, sacrilege right? But we have more consistency - roll a D20, high is good. No looking up on charts to see what you hit, no verifying what the size of the monster is to determine damage or what armor the target is wearing. A +1 really gives you a plus one not a +1 that you need to subtract. You can pick the race that makes sense for you without worrying about level caps or what class you can or cannot take. All the spells are the same, you don't have to look up the version of the spell for the cleric to see if it was different for a spell with the same name for a wizard.</p><p></p><p>Anyway the list goes on. OD&D was kind of half a game from what I remember. We made it work, but that's because there wasn't really much of a game outside of combat.</p><p></p><p>5E with all options turned on is slightly more complex, but it still has the relatively clean math and better consistency. No game is perfect of course, but I think it's as popular as it is because of it's approachability.</p><p></p><p>I'd put 3.5 next. Yes, it was a unholy mess of feats, bonuses, stupidly high numbers. If I went back to it I'd limit everyone to the main core books and never touch later expansions as much fun as I had with them.</p><p></p><p>In some ways 4E would be higher, but it's simplicity of having things spelled out covered over a complexity of implementation. Lots of tracking of statuses, auras, conditions. What powers have you used, and how do they really interact? There were so many powers and (especially as a DM for LFR) just too many to understand how they worked. You frequently had to read each power in detail so in theory it was simple in practice I found it complex.</p><p></p><p>So 5E basic PDF - 5E - 3.5 - 4E - AD&D - OD&D. Can't really speak to BECMI or B/X although I will say that a lack of rules doesn't necessarily mean more simplicity. I still want a basic structure, just not necessarily a set of rules that try to cover every scenario. Complexity can also be WTF do we do now?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 7906944, member: 6801845"] I can't really contribute a lot to the thread because when it comes to older editions ... well I have a hard time remembering what I ate for breakfast, much less a game who's rules I last read 20+ years ago. I will say that I always felt we were getting to a better, and in many ways simpler game up until 4E (more on that in a sec). I also went pretty much from the brown box set (just a few games) to the original blue box set to AD&D to 3.x. So there are variants I never played more than a game or so. So I think the free basic rules pdf for 5E are the simplest. I know, I know, sacrilege right? But we have more consistency - roll a D20, high is good. No looking up on charts to see what you hit, no verifying what the size of the monster is to determine damage or what armor the target is wearing. A +1 really gives you a plus one not a +1 that you need to subtract. You can pick the race that makes sense for you without worrying about level caps or what class you can or cannot take. All the spells are the same, you don't have to look up the version of the spell for the cleric to see if it was different for a spell with the same name for a wizard. Anyway the list goes on. OD&D was kind of half a game from what I remember. We made it work, but that's because there wasn't really much of a game outside of combat. 5E with all options turned on is slightly more complex, but it still has the relatively clean math and better consistency. No game is perfect of course, but I think it's as popular as it is because of it's approachability. I'd put 3.5 next. Yes, it was a unholy mess of feats, bonuses, stupidly high numbers. If I went back to it I'd limit everyone to the main core books and never touch later expansions as much fun as I had with them. In some ways 4E would be higher, but it's simplicity of having things spelled out covered over a complexity of implementation. Lots of tracking of statuses, auras, conditions. What powers have you used, and how do they really interact? There were so many powers and (especially as a DM for LFR) just too many to understand how they worked. You frequently had to read each power in detail so in theory it was simple in practice I found it complex. So 5E basic PDF - 5E - 3.5 - 4E - AD&D - OD&D. Can't really speak to BECMI or B/X although I will say that a lack of rules doesn't necessarily mean more simplicity. I still want a basic structure, just not necessarily a set of rules that try to cover every scenario. Complexity can also be WTF do we do now? [/QUOTE]
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