D&D General What Is D&D Generally Bad At That You Wish It Was Better At?

[GobHag]

Yes, I'd do away with cantrips and at-will magic as baked-in features. And while ability scores would stay largely the same (as in, use the same root 3-18 range) the associated bonuses/penalties would be less common - not linear like the WotC editions but more generous/penalizing at the very extremes with a bigger +0 range in the middle. EDIT to add: I'd make the actual stats more relevant by adding a roll-under soft-skill system.

And I'd do everything in my power to naughty word on it and insult that kind of design if you do.

 

[CleverNickName]

I mean that's literally a 40 years difference, you can't sell a black and white silent movie in the 80s either and have it be a smash hit.

I get what you're saying and I agree, but "Hundreds of Beavers" is a black and white silent film that was released in 2022 and it won multiple awards.

Hundreds of Beavers - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Never say never, I guess?

 

[GobHag]

You ain't seeing WB, Paramount or Universal spending multi-million on one and getting multi-million+ back that's for sure.

 

[CleverNickName]

You ain't seeing WB, Paramount or Universal spending multi-million on one and getting multi-million+ back that's for sure.

True, but that is only one definition of success.

 

[GobHag]

It is the definition of success that's similar to how WotC/Hasbro does it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't know. In my opinion, the rewards for play in modern D&D seem kind of...bland. The high-level abilities for classes that isn't new spells always feel lackluster or poorly thought-out. I guess it's better in 2024, but 2014 had lots of stuff like high-level barbarians getting what amounts to the Charger Feat and so on. And magic items, which used to be the most fantastical reward, are bland and highly restricted in their use by attunement.

I can pull out a sheet for one of my 2e characters and find multiple wands, a powerful ring of protection, and other goodies. My 5e character of about the same level a ring that grants lightning resistance and two wands, and precious little else that can be used thanks to attunement limits.

There's money, I suppose, but so far, the city adventure I'm in seems designed to make us part ways with our gold just to complete it, lol.

I agree. TSR had better magic items.

 

[Reynard]

I agree. TSR had better magic items.

How so? TSR had tons of boring items.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Something something Rule Zero or third-party products is the answer I always get when I want more from modern D&D, lol.

And that's what I do. But what about all the folks who insist that only WotC can fix D&D?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I mean that's literally a 40 years difference, you can't sell a black and white silent movie in the 80s either and have it be a smash hit.

Silent movies predate the 40s.

 

[Micah Sweet]

How so? TSR had tons of boring items.

And tons of great ones. I've got the whole 4 volume set.