what is non core then?

[triqui]

I was thinking about that post Mike Mearls wrote some time ago, about what is, in his opinion, the core of D&D
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (The Core of D&D)

Here’s the list:

The six ability scores—Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma—as the categories for measuring a character’s abilities.

Armor Class as the basic representation of a character’s defense.

Alignment (Law v. Chaos, Good v. Evil) as a personal ethos and a force in the universe.

Attack rolls made using a d20, with higher rolls better than lower ones.

Classes as the basic framework for what a character can do.

Damage rolls to determine how badly a spell or attack hurts you.

Gold pieces as the standard currency for treasure.

Hit dice or level as the basic measure of a monster’s power.

Hit points as a measure of your ability to absorb punishment, with more powerful characters and creatures gaining more of them.

Levels and experience points as a measure of power and a mechanic that lets characters become more powerful over time.

Magic items such as +1 swords as a desirable form of treasure.

Rolling initiative at the start of a battle to determine who acts first.

Saving throws as a mechanic for evading danger.

“Fire-and-forget” magic, with spellcasters expending a spell when casting it.

Ok, I think most people thinks this articles are about a future edition. If that edition will be out in one year, or ten, there's no consensus, but more or less, most people thinks those are hints about where does Mearls want to bring D&D.

So, the thing is... which things that are sacred cows of the game, legacy from past, and "core" are left out of the list?

I'll say that one of them is 3-18 for abilities. He named the six traditional abilities, but, he did not mention those scores going from 3 to 18.

He did not mention Armor Class as a way to "avoid being hit", just "being a basic representation of defense". Maybe some sort of diferent use of Armor Class (such as damage reduction, or Armor Saving throw??)

Skills (he already has said that he wants to de-emphasice them in other articles)

He did not mention feats, either.

He mentions "rolling high on a 1d20" for attacks. Didn't mention it for other things (like ability checks, or saving throws)

What else? What else that we are used to, Mearls did not mention as core? That might give us a list of possible cows going to the slaughterhouse.

 

[howandwhy99]

I'll say that one of them is 3-18 for abilities. He named the six traditional abilities, but, he did not mention those scores going from 3 to 18.

He did not mention Armor Class as a way to "avoid being hit", just "being a basic representation of defense". Maybe some sort of different use of Armor Class (such as damage reduction, or Armor Saving throw??)

Skills (he already has said that he wants to de-emphasice them in other articles)

He did not mention feats, either.

He mentions "rolling high on a 1d20" for attacks. Didn't mention it for other things (like ability checks, or saving throws)

What else? What else that we are used to, Mearls did not mention as core? That might give us a list of possible cows going to the slaughterhouse.

I'll agree 3-18 for Ability Scores are core, but so is 3d6 as Bayesian bell curves, like linear progressions too, are core.

Yeah AC is the class of body "armor", not defense. Saving throws are defense too. Plus he's missing the corresponding big 3: point, line, and plane. Or piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning.

Skills and feats are new from 3E, but 3E core. Secondary skills from AD&D were pretty common though.

Rolling high on a d20 roll wasn't absolute. Yeah, for "to hit" rolls, so he mentions it. Ability checks were 3E, maybe 2nd. I can't recall.

What else? Saving Throws by damage type, a la poison, petrification, spell magic, polymorphing, etc. But these cows were made into steaks over a decade ago. It's tough when game owners don't know why certain rules were in place before changing them.

A soon to go cow: spatial positioning. Everything from the spatial order of the PCs in marching order, to traversing the dungeon, wilderness, and urban maps as mazes in play. This will happen when the grid board and minis disappear.

Percent in lair versus percent wandering monsters is gone. The campaign world as a multi-level dungeon is gone. The AD&D Bayesian encounter ladder is gone. Once per lifetime resources are gone. Yeah, there's a lot gone.

On the flip side I think alternate game complexity by class is going to return. You know, where XP totals were markers for how long it took a class to be advanced through. Also many of the more DM-made territorial games may find their way into modular play. Like realm / organizational management or dealing with the rumor mill maps. Don't tell that NPC what you don't want others to learn!