Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Thoughts of a 3E/4E powergamer on starting to play 5E
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6859224" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Note how concrete the rules are for chopping off a head, though: the player has an attack bonus, and a damage range; and the GM's notes tell him/her the AC of the creature, and how many hp the NPC/monster has; and the rules tell us that when the hp drop to zero, the creature is dead.</p><p></p><p>Now note how loose the rules for swinging on a chandelier are: there is nothing analogous to the AC, the hit points, or the damage roll. Knowing that I have (say) +6 to DEX (Acrobatics) tells me relatively little about whether or not I'll be able to perform the chandelier manoeuvre. Whereas knowing I have (say) +7 to hit with damage of 1d8+5, and can attack twice a round, tells me quite a bit about whether or not I'll be able to best a hoblgoblin in melee.</p><p></p><p>If the GM only sets the AC and hp of the creature after I declare my attack, then the difference between the two cases evaporates. That's why we get so many <em>fudging</em> threads, which - in the context of D&D - are focused almost entirely on combat. This combat/non-combat divide is an artefact of D&D, not of RPGing in general.</p><p></p><p>Even within the context of D&D, there is no reason why a character can't have an ability like "Dramatic Swing: if there is some appropriate furniture or similar about - a rope, a chandelier, a ladder, etc - then your PC can use it to move as normal without having to be on the ground. You regain this ability after a short rest, or by using an action to adjust/reposition the furniture in question." 4e PCs tended to have these sorts of abilities (especially rogue and ranger utility powers, and skill powers). In comparison, I think 5e PCs have fewer of them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6859224, member: 42582"] Note how concrete the rules are for chopping off a head, though: the player has an attack bonus, and a damage range; and the GM's notes tell him/her the AC of the creature, and how many hp the NPC/monster has; and the rules tell us that when the hp drop to zero, the creature is dead. Now note how loose the rules for swinging on a chandelier are: there is nothing analogous to the AC, the hit points, or the damage roll. Knowing that I have (say) +6 to DEX (Acrobatics) tells me relatively little about whether or not I'll be able to perform the chandelier manoeuvre. Whereas knowing I have (say) +7 to hit with damage of 1d8+5, and can attack twice a round, tells me quite a bit about whether or not I'll be able to best a hoblgoblin in melee. If the GM only sets the AC and hp of the creature after I declare my attack, then the difference between the two cases evaporates. That's why we get so many [I]fudging[/I] threads, which - in the context of D&D - are focused almost entirely on combat. This combat/non-combat divide is an artefact of D&D, not of RPGing in general. Even within the context of D&D, there is no reason why a character can't have an ability like "Dramatic Swing: if there is some appropriate furniture or similar about - a rope, a chandelier, a ladder, etc - then your PC can use it to move as normal without having to be on the ground. You regain this ability after a short rest, or by using an action to adjust/reposition the furniture in question." 4e PCs tended to have these sorts of abilities (especially rogue and ranger utility powers, and skill powers). In comparison, I think 5e PCs have fewer of them. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Thoughts of a 3E/4E powergamer on starting to play 5E
Top