The Elegance of d20 and D&D

[d20Dwarf]

In the campaign here at work, I wanted to try out some new rules for fighting underwater..

At first I read this as "rules for fighting underwear," and I was beginning to believe all the rumors I'd heard about the R&D game sessions.

 

[Agent Oracle]

hmmm... how can I put this...
I am fond of that old adage of engineers.

"I can do it fast, I can do it cheap, and I can do it well. Pick two."

In this case...

"You can play Elegant, you can play cinematic, you can play Robust. Pick Two and fake the third."

 

[MadMaxim]

So to me, all that stuff ties into my definition of elegance. As a designer and developer, my goal is to translate as many seconds of gaming as possible into fun seconds. I think of D&D as a machine that you feed your free time into. Some percentage of that free time becomes fun. I want that percentage to hit 100.

Wow, that sure is a noble goal you got there, Mike. Unfortunately, I don't think that'll ever happen. You may get close, but 100 percent fun sounds almost impossible. Keep going, though!

 

[Nightfall]

"Elegant" is a favorite buzzword of the rules light crowd. Don't fight on their territory.

Instead, discuss with them the "ad hoc" or "haphazard" nature of rules light games, and speak of how you prefer "robustness" in the system.

Or you could admit it's all a matter of taste. But if you are going to fight a rhetorical war, strike from the high ground.

Yeah I hear using tactical nukes work very well. Just be sure to be far away when you do.

In any case you can't honestly fight people like this. They are too entrenched in their ways.

Just ask Psion about me!

 

[Hussar]

Thanks Mearls. I'm about to do an area with lots of water in it. Consider your idea yoinked.

 

[Nightfall]

Thanks Mearls. I'm about to do an area with lots of water in it. Consider your idea yoinked.

Mike generally has some pretty awesome ideas.

Btw Mike any chance you'll reveal any new projects in 2007 you're doing?

 

[Psion]

At first I read this as "rules for fighting underwear," and I was beginning to believe all the rumors I'd heard about the R&D game sessions.

Watch out for those feisty panty elementals!

(source)

 

[Nightfall]

LMAO!! You rock Psion!

 

[bento]

As any person who's played a 3.0 or 3.5 game and dealt with Attack of Opportunity rules, they throw any part of D20 system's elegance out the window. Anytime anything remotely looking like an AoO happens in my game, the yellow flags hit the field and we all scramble for the PHB. Same can be said for grappling. Any semblance of fun is killed as rules chapter and verse are read aloud.

As I said earlier, I think many of the aspects of True 20 clear up some of this "fun-killer" because it hews closer to the original intent of D20. While grappling remains, AoO is gone, and damage actually impacts your ability to fight, rather than simply ticking off hit points until you reach 0 and panic. Feats are written in simple paragraph of two or three sentances and skills are combined, like move silent and hide into stealth.

Too bad the wealth system blows like it does in D20 Modern.

 

[Wayside]

Here's an applicable definition of elegant:

5. a. Of scientific processes, contrivances, etc.: ‘Neat’, pleasing by ingenious simplicity and effectiveness.

Applying this to rules design makes perfect sense to me, since you hear physicists and mathematicians using it all the time in this way. I don't think d20 is entirely elegant, but I think plenty of d20-based systems in OGL games are.