What are your ideal design goals for D&D?

[xechnao]

Mine in no particular order.

-Newbie friendly.
-Manageable book keeping.
-Each player always having meaningful choices to make.
-Balance by default. Which means that some players are not destined to have to risk more than others regarding the point above.
-Believability. Verisimilitude.
-No metagaming.
-Dire straits tactical gameplay.
-Action can be sexy and at moments it will be -but not all the time. Player characters are strugglers, not ballet dancers. Being awesome is not supposed to be ever present.
-Players not having to wait more than a couple of minutes for their turn to come.
-Changing action environments. The game is designed in such a way where action does not result in grind, doing the same over and over again.
-Strategic gameplay. Fighting, exploring and what have you always reflect to each player's possibilities to make meaningful choices. Combat or anything else is not something apart from the rest of the game.

 

[Nagol]

Again in no particular order:

• High fantasy the default (literary definition for fully imagined world)
• System promotes coming-of-age growth from weakess into poweras characters gain experience
• Basic gameplayexpects proactive delving into lost locations for artefacts of power
• Managable bookkeeping
• Plausible consistent consequences
• Risk level of choices understandable/predictable by players
• Strategic gameplay including resource management more important than tactical positioning
• Relatively fast, both real time and in-game, combats. Ideally, a combat will take between 5-15 minutes real time and no longer in-game. A basic combat should take 2-4 game rounds.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

Oh, hell: Girls (and presumably, boys) just wanna have fun.

 

[Lanefan]

Not that I 100% agree with the above lists, but they're certainly going in a fine direction...here's a couple more goals to lob in that may or may not be consistent with those already raised:

- Each character is defined by its in-game actions and role-played personality rather than its pre-game build
- Rules as guidelines, not laws
- System variants to account for one-off games, single-path games (1-2 year campaigns along a defined adventure path), and long multi-year multi-party games - this could be as simple as varying the advancement rate
- Fewer levels (keep it open-ended but acknowledge that after a certain point things might not work so well)
- Lower numbers including make the 3-18 bell curve matter again
- Streamline combat but not at cost of realism
- Allow for simultaneous actions in combat
- Allow for the fact that not every character is always going to be equally able to contribute in every situation (in other words, accept going in that some natural imbalance is preferable to artificially forced balance)
- Make two different but compatible versions - 'basic' and 'full' - basic is the newbie-friendly system and 'full' is the whole deal, but design it such that separate elements of 'full' can be incorporated into 'basic' as each DM desires without breaking the game.
- Make it clear going in that bad things e.g. level drain, equipment loss, death, etc. can and will happen to characters, then let 'em happen - no reward without risk.
- Design to accommodate larger parties such that if people want to play multiple characters, henches, cohorts, etc. the system can handle it

Lanefan

 

[Stormonu]

My game goals

- Combat is quick enough to be finished in 15-20 minutes. You can use a battle board or imagine in your head with equal ease.
- Character choices have mechanics to back up your choices. If you want to be a pirate, for example, the mechanics support your choices in helping present a different facade from a barbarian beyond "because I say I am"
- The most common actions are covered with simple, intuitive rules. Corner cases can easily be extrapolated from the common action rules.
- No one character type is worthless during the games progression - either starting out when highly experienced
- Non-combat choices carry as much weight as combat choices, and it is possible to resolve conflict other than by combat only. Likewise, a special combat subsystem is not required; the out-of-combat system and combat system use the same structure and flow
- Low to moderate magic, semi-gritty world; character can perform heroic actions at times, but are not superheroes. Magic is not bought and sold for gold.

 

[C_M2008]

< /=20 minute combat: some tactics is fine but a lot of "tactics" in 3e and 4e aren't really all that tactical and just prolong the rounds. Ideally 2-5 rounds is fine and I have no problem with a bit of swinginess.

Rules that are simple and intuitive but allow for considerable depth as well.

Low magic/Gritty default: Magic is rare enough that those that have it hoard it, even the weakest trinkets are not for sale; you can't walk around the corner and expect the local priest at the temple to raise your fallen party member either.

No Levels: I'd like a growth mechanic based loosely on what actions your character does frequently and their goals(which of course may change). Warhammer FRP 3e does this fairly well, I'd like to see a different but similar system.

Lower Growth curve: I'd like to see the power of a character grow by widening their capabilites and what they can do with their knowledge rather than inflating the numbers, a game where the hero can't take 15 axe swings and still be alive at the upper echelons of power.

Real Choices: Having to make meaningful choices; choosing between sureshot or twin strike isn't a choice for example, but if i have to choose between learning fire or ice magic and can never take the other while each had some upside that would be.

 

[Fifth Element]

Make it a game that appeals to me and only me. Only then will I be content.

Who wants to play?

 

[CleverNickName]

-Newbie friendly.
-Manageable book keeping.
-No metagaming.
-Action can be sexy and at moments it will be -but not all the time. Player characters are strugglers, not ballet dancers. Being awesome is not supposed to be ever present.
-Players not having to wait more than a couple of minutes for their turn to come.
-Strategic gameplay. Fighting, exploring and what have you always reflect to each player's possibilities to make meaningful choices. Combat or anything else is not something apart from the rest of the game.

• Managable bookkeeping
• Strategic gameplay including resource management more important than tactical positioning
• Relatively fast, both real time and in-game, combats. Ideally, a combat will take between 5-15 minutes real time and no longer in-game. A basic combat should take 2-4 game rounds.

- Each character is defined by its in-game actions and role-played personality rather than its pre-game build
- Rules as guidelines, not laws
- Lower numbers including make the 3-18 bell curve matter again
- Streamline combat but not at cost of realism
- Allow for the fact that not every character is always going to be equally able to contribute in every situation (in other words, accept going in that some natural imbalance is preferable to artificially forced balance)
- Make it clear going in that bad things e.g. level drain, equipment loss, death, etc. can and will happen to characters, then let 'em happen - no reward without risk.

- Combat is quick enough to be finished in 15-20 minutes. You can use a battle board or imagine in your head with equal ease.
- Non-combat choices carry as much weight as combat choices, and it is possible to resolve conflict other than by combat only. Likewise, a special combat subsystem is not required; the out-of-combat system and combat system use the same structure and flow
- Low to moderate magic, semi-gritty world; character can perform heroic actions at times, but are not superheroes. Magic is not bought and sold for gold.

These.

 

[Remathilis]

Rather than list off a bunch of things, I'll focus on what I'd want from each edition...

Basic: This would be my perfect foundation. Easy to learn, easy to tweak. Focus on lower-level, but with material to cover everything from here to Godhood.

AD&D 1e/2e: Race/Class separate. 9 Alignments. Additional Classes (ranger, illusionist, bard, druid, paladin). Weapon Specialization and Thief skill %s +/- based on race, armor, and dex. Additional monsters and spells. Random Harlot Table. Campaign Settings (Planescape, Ravenloft, Dragonlance esp).

D&D 3e/3.5: Basic Outline of a skill/feat system (though simplified). Upwards AC and Fort/Ref/Will Saves. Attempts at balancing classes (IE thieves being useful in combat, fighters doing thing out of combat, magic not over-ruling mundane skill use). Unified XP chart. Non-permanent energy drain.

D&D 4e: Simplified Status Effects (slowed, weakened). "Page 42". Survivability at low-levels increased. Some At-will magical effects. Removal of many save or die/one roll kills. Monster and Treasure levels to help create appropriate risks/reward ratios.

If someone could mix this up in a giant pot and create the One True(TM) game, I'd be happy as a clam.

 

[Wiseblood]

I loke a lot of these. If only you guys were the R&D for WotC.

I would add.

The ability to win an encounter through clever play but not through "I win class abilities or builds"