D&D (2024) What do you want in the revised DMG?

[Lanefan]

I mean, I get what you are saying but let’s break it down a bit: Moving up to 30 feet, for a capable adventurer, might take what… somewhere between 1 to 3 seconds? Is that really important to simulate more granularly in a 6 second round combat system that is largely abstracted to begin with? I guess as an optional “combat movement” rule, some might latch onto it.

1 to 3 seconds in a 6-second round translates to 4-to-10 initiative pips out of 20, which when things could be happening on any of those pips, is a lot.

And if someone spends the entire round moving? Yes, knowing where that character is at any given time can be very important if other people are chucking A-of-E spells around and-or there's stray missile fire to contend with. Having the character be here until suddenly it's there instead is way too abstract for me.

 

[Lanefan]

I think the only thing I'd want is a revision to the adventuring day bit where it now gives multiple examples of adventuring days and makes it super ultra clear that there is no "right" way to do it. And if that doesn't drive a stake through the heart of the "6-8 encounters per day or you're Doing It Wrong" misconception that's so prevalent, put it on page one in big sparkly letters.

There would also need to be a section or write-up for DMs around resource depletion and how to wear a party down, if you scrap the 6-8 encounter model, as that's what the 6-to-8 model is (in theory) supposed to achieve.

 

[Lanefan]

On a related note: we have adopted using 2d10 instead of d20 for everything except initiative.

This makes having bonuses more important than the swingy luck of a d20.

And no fear of rolling that dreaded '1' any more, if the lowest possible is 2.

 

[DND_Reborn]

And no fear of rolling that dreaded '1' any more, if the lowest possible is 2.

Since you mention this, our baseline critical hit/fumble system actually relies on rolling doubles:

Critical Success. If you roll double 6's or higher and succeed, it is a critical success.
Critical Failure. If you roll double 5's or lower and fail, it is a critical failure.

It isn't quite the 1 in 20, but it works well.

FWIW, advantage and disadvantage cancel of course, but also stack. Each source adds 1d10, you always take the best or worst two dice depending on if you have net advantage or net disadvantage.

Just in case you're curious about it.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Points for being the one who comes out and says it.

Honestly the DMG should probably be replaced by something more useful within the core. The bests parts of various editions are Timeless and don't need updating.

The question should be what third book should the core have?

Personally I'd replace the DMG with a Manual of the Planes as the third core book.

I'd say a manual of non-monster stuff you'd find in dungeons is more important: traps, hazards, and of course magic items.

Then add more npcs to the Monster manual.

Between the three core books I should have no trouble send pcs into dungeons to fight dragons, with minimal improv beyond choosing what to use.

 

[guachi]

I want four sections: The Table, The Encounter, The Adventure, The Campaign.

The Table deals with effectively managing a table full of people. Different DMing styles, whatever.

The Encounter deals with building effective encounters in each of the three pillars. From revamping CR to effective ability check adjudication (especially in the Social and Exploration pillars).

The Adventure deals with coherent adventure building. Creating NPCs, exciting locations, enticing PC motivations.

The Campaign deals with stringing adventures together. Is it open-ended, is there a plot? How do you introduce new elements (planar travel, domains). It also would cover a myriad of alternate rules for different play styles.

If I'm a DM I'm almost certainly dealing with one of these four parts and I want a book to teach me how to be a better DM.

 

[guachi]

I also want Designer Notes. Real Designer Notes and not useless marginalia like in the X's Guide to Y we have now.

 

[ART!]

Points for being the one who comes out and says it.

Honestly the DMG should probably be replaced by something more useful within the core. The bests parts of various editions are Timeless and don't need updating.

The question should be what third book should the core have?

Personally I'd replace the DMG with a Manual of the Planes as the third core book.

Yeah, I think I'd be okay with the contents of a DMG distributed between the PHB, MM, and a Manual of the Planes. Having one book that provides a good look at the Shadowfell, the Feywild, the Abyss, etc - that would be pretty great, and an amazing tool for DMs.

 

[MNblockhead]

Regarding the discussion on designer notes, I think it would be interesting, but I'm not sure I would want much of that in the core books. I think that conent can be provided in other publications and venues for those interested in it. They should be more like "directors commentary" in movies. There for those who enjoy them but easily ignored by those who don't. To be fair, I've not really seen how this has been done in other systems, but I want my core rules concise, well organized, and cross referenced. I worry that adding designer notes would bloat the core books and detract from making the core mechanics easy to learn and reference.

 

[Mordhau]

Regarding the discussion on designer notes, I think it would be interesting, but I'm not sure I would want much of that in the core books. I think that conent can be provided in other publications and venues for those interested in it. They should be more like "directors commentary" in movies. There for those who enjoy them but easily ignored by those who don't. To be fair, I've not really seen how this has been done in other systems, but I want my core rules concise, well organized, and cross referenced. I worry that adding designer notes would bloat the core books and detract from making the core mechanics easy to learn and reference.

In 13th Age they're just small side bars. Including them may actually save space because you don't have to write so many rules to avoid ambiguity or ridiculous exploits based on legalistic application of rules text.

Here's an example.

And another in regard to application of a Ranger power Terrain stunt

Terrain stunt: At the start of each battle in a non-urban environment, roll a d6. Any time after the escalation die reaches that number, you’ll be able to use a quick action to execute a terrain stunt. Normally you can only use terrain stunt once per battle, but circumstances, geography, or excellent planning may suggest that you can pull it off more than once.

Terrain stunts are improvisational effects that play off your preternatural understanding of the wilderness and all the diverse forms of the natural world. Things like knocking a hornets nest no one had noticed onto your enemy’s head, maneuvering a foe onto a soggy patch of ground that slows them down, shooting the cap off a mushroom spore in a dungeon that erupts on your enemies, getting your enemy’s sword wedged into a stalactite, finding the tree branch that lets you vault up to attack the flying demon that thought it was out of axe range, and similar types of actions.