D&D 5E We have a Legends and Lore this week

[Warbringer]

.. and its all about hit points

 

[GX.Sigma]

Thanks! How did you see it? It's not on the front page.

 

[Warbringer]

Thanks! How did you see it? It's not on the front page.

Google search took me right into legends and lore

 

[GX.Sigma]

I don't see it on the D&D site or on Google. :\

Anyway, I like this article! It's nice to have a way to adapt to different people's ideas of what HP should be like--and it helps that my idea of HP is pretty much the same as the one he describes as the default.

D&D Next is shaping up. All they need now is to implement the changes they've proposed, maybe do another pass on monsters, fix some of the inherent awkwardness of the d20 system, and polish everything up, and it'll be pretty much my perfect game.

 

[Li Shenron]

A very sane article.

How hit points are regained really changes the "genre" of the game. If 5e wants to be inclusive, it must not just pick what the majority wants, it must support as many minorities as possible. It can't do that with every single concept of the game, but it must do at least for hit points (which is actually pretty easy to do, and the article already tells how).

 

[Blackwarder]

Nice find!

Anyway very nice article, I especially liked this part:

We also like the idea of taking refuge because it makes interaction more prominent by encouraging DMs and players to think about what happens between visits to the dungeon. While resting in town, do you start a business, mingle with nobles, or apprentice yourself to a weaponsmith? That sort of narrative padding can make interaction and relationships in the campaign a more prominent part of the game. By placing interesting things to do in town within the core system, we can create a game that embraces the entirety of an adventurer's life. Urban adventuring can still feature stuff like delving into sewers or battling a wererat infestation, but it can also become the signature form of an interaction-heavy adventure.​

It's heartening to see that they intend to feature this kind of things from the get go, and it will be easier to add modules that will expand on those.

And I like everything Mike talks about in the column regarding hit-points, it will need to have an entire sub-chapter in the DMG with examples for the new DM because it just might be the most sticky issue in D&D.

Now all we need is a column about economy of D&D and how they intend to help the DM tailor it for his needs and I'm happy as a clam.

Warder

 

[LightPhoenix]

Once again, an L&L regurgitating what everybody already knows, while saying almost nothing about what Next is doing with regards to it. I guess it's nice to know that the designers know the basics of how hit points work in a narrative sense.

 

[Blackwarder]

Once again, an L&L regurgitating what everybody already knows, while saying almost nothing about what Next is doing with regards to it. I guess it's nice to know that the designers know the basics of how hit points work in a narrative sense.

HP is the most contentious point in D&D (beside chain mail bikinis I guess) so reiterating their plan of action in the matter, especially when they keep making changes is a good thing.

Although I agree that Mike owe us a couple of L&Ls and I would love to have him talk about something new like the legacy system or economy of D&D.

Warder

 

[Li Shenron]

HP is the most contentious point in D&D (beside chain mail bikinis I guess) so reiterating their plan of action in the matter, especially when they keep making changes is a good thing.

Definitely!

Once again, an L&L regurgitating what everybody already knows, while saying almost nothing about what Next is doing with regards to it.

It sounds more like a plan for the future months than something they've already worked on, but here's what I get from the article, and it's much more than "almost nothing":

- short rest rule might be modified so that you heal only up to max 50%
- there will be a quick-hp-refresh optional rule for heroic play
- there will be a mundane healing option for low-magic play
- there will be a fate points optional rule for cheating death
- there will be a lingering wounds optional rule for gritty play

Of course those "will be" might effectively be more wish list, and it doesn't mean they will really be in the core. But they are quite a lot, and they are very important ENABLERS of different gaming styles.

The first point above + the emphasis on the others being options, might mean that we'll see at least a reorganization of hit dice healing rules so that the "starting point" is less heroic than now (according to the first part of L&L). It might be better to call it a "starting point" rather than "default", to emphasize that there is no default (which implies than everybody else is running a "different" or "modified" game) but rather only a common part of the healing rules, and the "default" really is the gaming group picking as many as those additional rules as needed for their favourite gaming style.

 

[Falling Icicle]

"Right now, we're thinking that a rest in a dungeon or the outdoors can return you to half your maximum hit points. You need to take refuge in a comfortable place, like a tavern or other point of civilization, to rest for a few days and return to your maximum hit points."

I think this is a terrible idea. For one thing, it doesn't even make sense. People can get a good night's rest when camping or in a cave. What do you think our ancestors did, before there were houses and beds to sleep in? But more importantly, it's a terrible idea from a game design perspective. First level characters can have single digit hp, making them extremely fragile. Now they might end up being stuck with half of that, until they can get back to town. So you can have wizards or rogues with as few as 3 HP after resting. Sure, they can get magical healing, but this is also a terrible idea for that reason. Since characters can't recover more than half of their hp from resting in a dungeon, the cleric (or other healer) is going to have to spend his healing resources first thing in the morning healing everyone from yesterday's injuries.