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Message: <blockquote data-quote="thecasualoblivion" data-source="post: 6858087" data-attributes="member: 59096">I'll try answering all your questions in turn.What I'm talking about is the balance between the importance of dice rolls compared to the importance of tactics(choices in play) or building an effective character. Compared to all previous editions, 5E places more importance on the randomness of dice rolls and less on other considerations. Not exactly that. More along the lines of I'd like my choices in character creation to have greater agency/impact on the game. I'll give two examples: 4E tactical play and 3E Rocket Tag4E tactical play for me had a lot to do with picking powers, feats and abilities that gave you good options that had a big impact in play. There were very few "I win" buttons in 4E, so it was a mix of picking strong powers that accomplished more, teamwork, and timing. In addition, 4E tactics was generally about the big picture, not one action. It was more like building a house, where you and you allies combined actions over multiple rounds to accomplish things, while the environment changed around you. It really didn't matter if you miss or fail on a single action if you play smart long term, as monsters and PCs were both durable enough that a run of bad luck rarely was decisive. Another important aspect of 4E was that you didn't have to sacrifice your attack or offense in general to do interesting things. The Fighter could tank and hit like a truck at the same time. The Cleric could heal and buff and attack all at the same time. 3E Rocket Tag on the other hand was all about "I win" buttons. Things may have been out of balance, but you could certainly build your character so he had a dramatic impact on play. In 3E, you set up the "I win" button(both in character building and in play), and then you pressed it. If it failed, you repeat the process. A lot of the time, you could set yourself up so the dice had little impact on the outcome. In 5E the dice are king. Combat goes faster than 4E, so a random swing of bad luck has a bigger impact, and it lacks 3E's "I win" buttons that bypass or minimize the impact of dice.Not really, that isn't the point. My point is whether or not your choices matter. In 5E, the lack of lethality tends to mean that your choices or whether you succeed or not rarely matters in the long run. At worst, you're probably only going to eat dirt for a couple of rounds. 1E/2E was often(though not always) as random as 5E or more, but your choices mattered more because the consequences for failure were more dire. In 5E you're fragile, even in the best of circumstances. A short string of bad rolls will screw you over, multiple enemies focusing on you exclusively is going to take anyone down in short order. Above that, having significant defenses is a big investment and you have to sacrifice a lot to get them. Compare this to 1E/2E where a Fighter with a few levels and some decent magical gear was dramatically more survivable than the other PCs as well as 90% of the monsters you'd encounter, or the 4E Fighter whose base Defender chassis was enough to tank on its own, and you could customize yourself for damage, control, mobility or whatever because your defenses were already enough.In 4E doing the Defender role wasn't a sacrifice. You could hit as hard as the Rogue or control the enemies as much as the Wizard. In 4E Defender was something you did in addition to kicking ass. In 5E, being a defender pretty much requires you sacrifice kicking ass.That tends to be the end result, but it isn't what's important. What's important is being awarded for smart and effective play, and having my choices have an impact on the game. The randomness of 5E detracts from that, and the game as a whole lacks options and choices that have significant impacts on the game compared to all of the earlier editions.</blockquote>

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