D&D 5E The Gloves Are Off?

[Jaeger]

People keep saying play other games. You need players for that, and my players don't want to learn another system, so I stretch the 5e core as much as I can to make it work for me, without making it not work for them.

I have no doubt that your players will not budge, no matter what.

So out pure of curiosity here:

5e is actually a deceptively decently complex game once you get in to the different classes with their associated little subsystems like sorcerers points...

but 5e is essentially Stat + Mod + d20 - compare to a target number (DC or AC etc..)

I do one-shots regularly with different systems, and the players have no issues picking things up inside 15min or so, then playing the game and picking up nuances as they go...

Do you know what it is specifically that keeps them from not wanting to learn another system? In my experience, the buy-in on the player side really isn't that heavy...

And again: I have no doubt that your players will not budge, no matter what.

I'm just morbidly curious to know what the reasoning behind that is...

 

[jasper]

"What is this 'rubber' of which you speak, time traveller?"

Rubber and plastics are hardly the only waterproofing available - oilcloth, waxed paper, and so on, existed before rubber.

I got from a hungry Hungry Hippo who fly in a brig which flew with out wings. He also had a handcross bow which shot thunder and did force damage.

 

[Celebrim]

Do you have underwear on your characters' equipment lists (with secret pockets sewn into them), or do your characters go commando?

It's never really come up in play, but any undergarments would be implied by the character's culture, social status, and probably choice of clothing. In most cases for males it would be a simple loincloth or braies or hose. Depending on the social status, the undergarment might be almost all the character was wearing. For most adventurers, undergarments probably are the only thing they have under their armor other than an arming shirt and similar padding.

 

[iserith]

This is why I hate niche protection so much. Oh good, I suck at this important aspect fo the game so a class no one in the party is playing can shine. Goodie.

I find this to be fun and memorable though. It really gets the old creative juices flowing when trying to deal with a problem for which you don't have the best tool to solve it. Certainly we've had plenty of situations where a trap was present and there was nobody proficient with thieves' tools in the party. That led to all kinds of fun ideas to deal with it.

 

[Reynard]

The bored or impatient player is the adversarial DM's best friend. They are the ones that break down the door (releasing the gas spoors concealed within) or pull the lever (that releases a massive shock). The patient, precise player is the enemy of the adversarial GM. They assume any check that didn't reveal a trap was a failed check, and try a different tact. And they drive impatient players mad.

This is not good for every game, but for the right combination of participants it's an super engaging way to approach play.

And it's cool if that's not how you want to play, but that raises the question of why there's contact poison smeared on a chest in play at all.

Note: As I hope is obvious, I am not using "adversarial" as a pejorative here.

 

[jasper]

In Mesoamercia and South and Southeast Asia, sure.

But plants that produce sufficient natural latex don't generally propagate in areas that have below-freezing winters. So, natural rubber gloves should be a rarity in pseudo-European climes. If your game world is more tropical, natural rubber might be used.

So, again, Europeans historically turned to oils, fats, and waxes, which can all serve the purpose. Or, for game purposes, the local alchemist probably has a great recipe he can use... for a price.

....

This is the Realms as a default. They have honey bees in the artic circle. Just look at give me a minute. See Good Mead Icewind Dale.

 

[Reynard]

Yeah, I get what you're driving at. My response is still: "GMs and adventure writers, level up your work. Rely less on cheap gimmicks. Design harder. Do this, and many of these 'basic logistics' questions fade into the background – rather than becoming needless points of contention – and when they do come up they're actually interesting moments, rather than being a ho-hum string of gotchas."

So "don't make this thing others enjoy because I don't like it"?

 

[Voadam]

I find this to be fun and memorable though. It really gets the old creative juices flowing when trying to deal with a problem for which you don't have the best tool to solve it. Certainly we've had plenty of situations where a trap was present and there was nobody proficient with thieves' tools in the party. That led to all kinds of fun ideas to deal with it.

That seems substantively different than nobody in the party being able to notice the traps in the first place to deal with them.

 

[iserith]

That seems substantively different than nobody in the party being able to notice the traps in the first place to deal with them.

Anyone who dumps Wisdom and doesn't train Perception gets what they deserve.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I find this to be fun and memorable though. It really gets the old creative juices flowing when trying to deal with a problem for which you don't have the best tool to solve it. Certainly we've had plenty of situations where a trap was present and there was nobody proficient with thieves' tools in the party. That led to all kinds of fun ideas to deal with it.

In 3e though, you just literally could not detect or disarm certain traps without being a rogue. IT's not just more difficult, it just wasn't possible. In fact, it wasn't possible for the classes that could create those traps to detect them.

So you just sent whoever had the best saves and HP into it to spring it, then healed them.