Tequila Sunrise
Adventurer
Disclaimer: This is not a rant, or even a “Here’s how 5e should be written!” thread. Frankly I’d be happy to hate 5e, because I’m a broke college student and I don’t need any temptations to drop ~$90 on a new edition.
And even if the design team were to do things exactly as I’m about to suggest, I think I’d still prefer scaling math. 4e doesn’t do it exactly as I’d like, but the idea of not getting more skilled at hitting and avoiding hits as level increases is...well, whatever. All this is beside the point of this thread.
I don’t care for the abstraction involved with flat math, but it does create a very interesting opportunity design-wise. Whereas 4e innovated monster design in part with monster castes (minion, solo, etc.), 5e has the opportunity to innovate monster design with flat math. Here’s how it works: set up damage and hit point guidelines such that a monster say 10 levels below the PCs is effectively a minion, while a monster say 10 levels above the PCs is effectively a solo. Here’s the hard part: spells and abilities that inflict status effects have to be nerfed against foes of relatively high level, somewhat like how classic spells such as Color Spray and Holy Word have effects that vary with HD. Alternatively, foes of relatively high level should have some kind of universal resistance to status effects. And BAM, each monster only needs one stat block and one level to challenge parties of any level! No official castes needed; only XP values that reflect the virtual castes of monsters by level.
But here’s the rub: WotC is squandering this great opportunity for innovation.
Just as 4e is in part a reaction to 3.x’s unhelpful vagueries and obsfucatory rules, 5e is in part a reaction to 4e’s clinical precision. As a result, the team has apparently decided that math isn’t a 5e priority, so +X items and ability boosts aren’t being axed despite all the talk of “flat math.” (Sorry, but pretending that math doesn’t matter doesn’t make either of these any less important.) Monsters apparently still have levels, but I’ve no idea whether there are any guidelines to go along with them. So 5e doesn’t really have flat attack math...
...but let’s pretend it did. Imagine that the only attack/defense modifiers come from the basic properties of mundane equipment, possibly one-time choices like class and race, and possibly circumstantial modifiers. WotC is still shying away from innovation by falling back on 4e’s castes (haven’t seen a minion yet, but 5e has the other three), rather than taking advantage of the mathematical elegance of flat math. Don’t get me wrong; I love 4e’s monster castes! They make it possible to use a single monster over a huge range of levels and enjoy the benefits of scaling math. But if 5e is going the way of flat math, why half-arse it? Why not design to its strength?
I don’t know the answer, but it’s a wasted opportunity.
And even if the design team were to do things exactly as I’m about to suggest, I think I’d still prefer scaling math. 4e doesn’t do it exactly as I’d like, but the idea of not getting more skilled at hitting and avoiding hits as level increases is...well, whatever. All this is beside the point of this thread.
I don’t care for the abstraction involved with flat math, but it does create a very interesting opportunity design-wise. Whereas 4e innovated monster design in part with monster castes (minion, solo, etc.), 5e has the opportunity to innovate monster design with flat math. Here’s how it works: set up damage and hit point guidelines such that a monster say 10 levels below the PCs is effectively a minion, while a monster say 10 levels above the PCs is effectively a solo. Here’s the hard part: spells and abilities that inflict status effects have to be nerfed against foes of relatively high level, somewhat like how classic spells such as Color Spray and Holy Word have effects that vary with HD. Alternatively, foes of relatively high level should have some kind of universal resistance to status effects. And BAM, each monster only needs one stat block and one level to challenge parties of any level! No official castes needed; only XP values that reflect the virtual castes of monsters by level.
But here’s the rub: WotC is squandering this great opportunity for innovation.
Just as 4e is in part a reaction to 3.x’s unhelpful vagueries and obsfucatory rules, 5e is in part a reaction to 4e’s clinical precision. As a result, the team has apparently decided that math isn’t a 5e priority, so +X items and ability boosts aren’t being axed despite all the talk of “flat math.” (Sorry, but pretending that math doesn’t matter doesn’t make either of these any less important.) Monsters apparently still have levels, but I’ve no idea whether there are any guidelines to go along with them. So 5e doesn’t really have flat attack math...
...but let’s pretend it did. Imagine that the only attack/defense modifiers come from the basic properties of mundane equipment, possibly one-time choices like class and race, and possibly circumstantial modifiers. WotC is still shying away from innovation by falling back on 4e’s castes (haven’t seen a minion yet, but 5e has the other three), rather than taking advantage of the mathematical elegance of flat math. Don’t get me wrong; I love 4e’s monster castes! They make it possible to use a single monster over a huge range of levels and enjoy the benefits of scaling math. But if 5e is going the way of flat math, why half-arse it? Why not design to its strength?
I don’t know the answer, but it’s a wasted opportunity.
