What D&Disms have you never liked?

[jmucchiello]

I've never really cared for the almost utopian integration of races in default D&D. I understand why the choice was made, but it makes me cringe. Were all big boys and girls, and I think we can deal with some institutional dwarf-hatin', right?

AD&D 1e had a whole chart of how the races feel about one another. I don't have my copy handy but the two big races, dwarves and elves, merely tolerated one another, IIRC. Full integrated IDIC utopian stuff was a later concept.

 

[Dragonblade]

A lot of the D&Disms I despise have been removed in 4e but here they are:

Save or Die/Lose - I have a hard enough time keeping my players attention on the game, I don't need game mechanics that force them to sit out and go play Nintendo because they failed a save and won't possibly be able to recover until combat ends 1 or 2 hours from now.

Level Drain - You spent hours working up your character only to lose it all because a monster touched you? Are you freaking kidding me? Possibly one of the worst ideas in the history of gaming. Sorry, Gary. But its true.

Excessively fragile 1st level characters - Yay! I made a character and I'm ready to play! ....Only to die 5 minutes later in the first round of combat.

Vancian casting/X per day slots/powers/abilities - I dislike slots and any sort of per day game mechanic. It bugs me in 4e too.

Magic item dependency - Non-spellcasters were really defined by their items because it was really the only way to gain an ability that wasn't just swinging their sword and rolling damage. And it was also the only way they could begin to keep up with spellcasters at high level.

Alignments - I don't necessarily mind alignments but spells like Detect Evil were annoying as a DM.

Lawful Stupid Paladins - Sorry, but I view paladins as zealous holy warriors bringing fire and death to the enemies of the faith. Not social workers who get stripped of their paladinhood because they didn't read the monster its Miranda rights before they smote it. "Bring the villain to justice" can mean cutting the bad guy in half. And the only "legitimate authority" a paladin needs to recognize is their god and church. Keep your modern notions of jurisprudence out of my fantasy game.

D&Dism that I actually like:

HPs - I hate death spiral systems where the PCs get increasingly penalized as they get hurt. D&D HPs may not be realistic but its fun.

Leveling - Something fun about leveling up your PC and choosing new abilities.

 

[Dragonblade]

Oh yeah, I also dislike hippie elves and spider-fetish/dominatrix ruled drow.

I like Tolkien elves and Warhammer dark elves better.

 

[The Shaman]

And the only "legitimate authority" a paladin needs to recognize is their god and church. Keep your modern notions of jurisprudence out of my fantasy game.

Preach it, my brutha.

 

[The Shaman]

These are a Dragonlance-ism, along with kender (aka klepto-insane halflings). I'm fine with them there. It any other context, they are out of place.

Unfortunately, many gamers took the idea and ran with it, making it fairly pervasive.

Oh, and they're not effing bards, either. Geebus crisco.

There is a well known, and unspoken, table rule at my games. If your gnome ever messes with technology in a flamboyant way, he will develop a very bad case of being dead. For the most part, players get itchy even thinking about gnomes using trap setting skills.

Consider this rule adopted should I ever run a D&D game again.

 

[Gort]

Armor Class.

I like a combination of damage reduction and dodge/parry/block type systems. Wish D&D would move to such a system.

Thing is, armour class is extremely elegant in its simplicity. What's the goal of armour? To be hurt less by attacks. Making each attack less likely to hit accomplishes this.

Adding block/parry/dodge rolls and damage reduction simply adds more rolls and calculations to something, but will achieve the exact same end result. Why bother?

 

[The Greene Knight]

Wow, I guess I didn't realize how much I loved D&Disms until reading through this thread.

Chump to champ, Vancian magic, D&D clerics, finding better magic items (and selling/trading the old stuff), tracking resources, class roles...love 'em.

*smiles*

I share a similar feeling regarding most of the issues shared here.
It makes me grasp all the more why I love the original game so much.

 

[Rechan]

Bards = Playing instruments/singing in combat.

I hate this because I like the bard class. I just do not like being teased about singing or anything musical. It's hard to break the other players' assumptions at the table.

 

[Garthanos]

Bards = Playing instruments/singing in combat.

I hate this because I like the bard class. I just do not like being teased about singing or anything musical. It's hard to break the other players' assumptions at the table.

Bards of Ancient Celtic time were sacrosanct holy story tellers and teacher historians indirectly connected to Druids who didnt necessarily sing it it was known attacking them would get you cursed in various nasty ways ... and would ruin your rep at an international level. Thanes brought them along on quests to ensure the rep of there valor would propogate.

traveling minstrels from a Disney movie != Bard

It can be argued how well you can use this as the visualization for the D&D Bard but it might help.

 

[Rechan]

Bards of Ancient Celtic time were sacrosanct holy story tellers and teacher historians indirectly connected to Druids who didnt necessarily sing it it was known attacking them would get you cursed in various nasty ways ... and would ruin your rep at an international level. Thanes brought them along on quests to ensure the rep of there valor would propogate.

I know this. Other players often do not.

I personally see your average bard as a Jack of All Trades, or a magical con artist, or - in one game I play, my tiefling bard's powers are described as his raw personality, his intimidating aura, his glare being the Vicious Mockery. A lot like a Warlord, backed up with a bit of magic.