D&D General What elements does D&D need to keep?

[Scribe]

Seems like I might be on to something if this off the cuff idea has already triggered an enraged holy war against it?

I'm not sure I follow, but I dont think 'enraging' folks = 'on to something'.

 

[Uta-napishti]

I'm not sure I follow, but I dont think 'enraging' folks = 'on to something'.

I should have phrased it "hit a nerve" not "on to something". The "I would never play this game, and I would encourage everyone I know to boycott it." reaction and supporting likes was a bit surprising to me, and I'm wondering who/what I triggered? Wasn't expecting that level of vehemence in a rules reform discussion, but maybe that was a bit naive?

 

[Alzrius]

Polls like these, all I can think about is how much I enjoyed Player's Option - Skills & Powers (affiliate link), and how I seem to be the only one who did.

 

[cbwjm]

I think D&D could get by with 3 Character Classes, Mystic, Martial and Expert being focused on Magic, Fighting and Skills respectively. Or INT/WIS, STR/CON, and DEX,CHA more loosely. Combined concepts, half casters, holy warriors, etc would be all just created by Multiclassing a level or two to pick up your artificer tech, or your magical smites for instance. Let's call it "Low Class D&D". I also think spell slots should definitely be replaced with more flexible spell points (simply 1 per spell level, not the WoTC spell points tables), and spell preparation should ultimately be replaced by your familiarity with the spell that would set a DC for a Spellcasting check.

I'd probably ditch expert and make that more to do with backgrounds/archetypes (something with more weight than current backgrounds). Instead I'd go with magical and martial and maybe a half magical/half martial so that you can have a primary class that is half and half without requiring multiclassing.

 

[Remathilis]

I'd probably ditch expert and make that more to do with backgrounds/archetypes (something with more weight than current backgrounds). Instead I'd go with magical and martial and maybe a half magical/half martial so that you can have a primary class that is half and half without requiring multiclassing.

At that point are you really that far from assigning everything a point value and giving a pool of character points Mutants & Masterminds style?

Everytime someone suggests cutting back on some of the classes, we eventually get reduced to the Classic Four (Fighter, Cleric, Wizard and Rogue), then to the Generic Three (Warrior, Expert, Spellcaster), then the Basic Two (Martial and Magical) and then you're at Point Buy. So if you're going to pick and choose classes based on some generic usage criteria, cut the middle men and go M&M Point Buy.

 

[cbwjm]

At that point are you really that far from assigning everything a point value and giving a pool of character points Mutants & Masterminds style?

Everytime someone suggests cutting back on some of the classes, we eventually get reduced to the Classic Four (Fighter, Cleric, Wizard and Rogue), then to the Generic Three (Warrior, Expert, Spellcaster), then the Basic Two (Martial and Magical) and then you're at Point Buy. So if you're going to pick and choose classes based on some generic usage criteria, cut the middle men and go M&M Point Buy.

If M&M is the way you want to go then that's fine, but I think a system with these 3 classes would work well. The M&M system also feels quite different with its effects and powers, it moves too far away from DnD to feel like it but I feel a system with 3 classes could still capture a large part of the feel of DnD, at least for me.

 

[Uta-napishti]

At that point are you really that far from assigning everything a point value and giving a pool of character points Mutants & Masterminds style?

Everytime someone suggests cutting back on some of the classes, we eventually get reduced to the Classic Four (Fighter, Cleric, Wizard and Rogue), then to the Generic Three (Warrior, Expert, Spellcaster), then the Basic Two (Martial and Magical) and then you're at Point Buy. So if you're going to pick and choose classes based on some generic usage criteria, cut the middle men and go M&M Point Buy.

I dunno, I think leveling is fun, and three classes that you are expected to multiclass gives you a nice simple choice at every level, while allowing mix and match of abilities within those classes (skills for expert, fighting styles and manuvers for martial, and spells for mystic) in order to work on almost any archetype.

 

[TwoSix]

Polls like these, all I can think about is how much I enjoyed Player's Option - Skills & Powers (affiliate link), and how I seem to be the only one who did.

I loved S&P! There are dozens of us!

 

[cbwjm]

I loved S&P! There are dozens of us!

Dozens!

 

[DEFCON 1]

Nah; D&D has major nostalgia value, and it's the RPG that everyone has heard of. It'd be more shocking if a different system had become as namebranded as D&D did.

I didn't really mean that it was a miracle that it was D&D over another RPG that became huge... it was that D&D has become as big as it has right now when there's all this other media and entertainment available right now for people to engage with.

The pool of entertainment options (especially gaming) was much shallower back in '85. So D&D blasting into orbit like it did back then I think was an easier accomplishment (especially considering it was essentially new). But now 35 years later, RPGs (and D&D in particular) have just so many other things up against it vying for people's attention that it's pretty amazing that it not only has made the resurgence it has... but that it's arguably bigger now than it's ever been. That was really my point.