D&D General When the fiction doesn't match the mechanics

[overgeeked]

This is a tangent in another thread, so why not a dedicated thread about it.

So ENWorlders, in what ways do you find the fiction of D&D does not match the mechanics of D&D?

Some top choices are being able to trip a gelatinous cube (whole thread on that, no need to relitigate that here), knocking dragons prone while in flight, the disconnect of AC and what it means to hit something, the difference between hit points as "meat" vs "energy," what damage actually represents, what does it mean to "heal" when hit points are not meat, etc.

So where else does the fiction of D&D not match the mechanics?

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is a tangent in another thread, so why not a dedicated thread about it.

So ENWorlders, in what ways do you find the fiction of D&D does not match the mechanics of D&D?

Some top choices are being able to trip a gelatinous cube (whole thread on that, no need to relitigate that here), knocking dragons prone while in flight, the disconnect of AC and what it means to hit something, the difference between hit points as "meat" vs "energy," what damage actually represents, what does it mean to "heal" when hit points are not meat, etc.

So where else does the fiction of D&D not match the mechanics?

Honestly, those are the big ones. Let me give it some thought though.

 

[DeviousQuail]

Component costs and economics in general. In a land with very few diamonds a smaller diamond is worth more to the locals compared to a similar sized diamond in a land where diamonds are plentiful. This can be extrapolated to all items with a cost in D&D.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Can you trip a cube, or do the rules rely on the shared sense of the group to help guide a DM when encountering a use case for an ability that might lead to absurd results?

Anyway, IMO Spellcasting as a whole, but especially in the case of the wizard. There just isn’t much going on there that matches the narrative elements of being an arcane genius who can invent spells and who truly masters magic as an art. Not only that, there isn’t really any meaningful difference between any classes and how a spell works, except maybe warlocks with certain invocations and maybe arguably sorcerers using their metamagic.

Any “fast” character in 5e is actually painfully slow, RAW. I’ve done the math before and even high level monks are getting smoked by collegiate competitive runners. “Dash” takes you from a brisk walk to a quick jog. But the fiction of the game present these things as being very fast.

IIRC most classes have flavor text with no mechanical support st all in thier PHB writeups.

 

[overgeeked]

Can you trip a cube, or do the rules rely on the shared sense of the group to help guide a DM when encountering a use case for an ability that might lead to absurd results?

As I said in the OP, there's a thread for that.

 

[Lanefan]

This is a tangent in another thread, so why not a dedicated thread about it.

So ENWorlders, in what ways do you find the fiction of D&D does not match the mechanics of D&D?

Some top choices are being able to trip a gelatinous cube (whole thread on that, no need to relitigate that here), knocking dragons prone while in flight, the disconnect of AC and what it means to hit something, the difference between hit points as "meat" vs "energy," what damage actually represents, what does it mean to "heal" when hit points are not meat, etc.

So where else does the fiction of D&D not match the mechanics?

Fireballs and other AoE effects that pixellate to nice handy 5-foot squares, and any other time things-people-monsters are forced to snap-to-grid.

Big creatures not being inherently stronger than small creatures (the Goliath-Hobbit disconnect).

Pretty much anything involving any condition between fully functional and dead. No edition has ever come close to getting this right.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Since this isn't a plus thread, I'll say that proning a flying dragon doesn't bother me. In DnD, prone just means "off balance or otherwise not stable" so flipping a dragon in flight by wrenching its wings is a perfectly valid version of dnd-prone even if it doesn't meet the Oxford definition.

And bluntly I'm okay with how vague hit points are. Or at least I've come to realize that the added verisimiltude of reakig them down into meat points, luck points, armor points, faith points and energy points is absolutely not worth the effort.

But I also need to stick my fingers in my ears and sing LA LA LA any time the "economy" of a DnD setting is brought up. It's horswoggle at best, and not even good hornswoggle.

 

[overgeeked]

Since this isn't a plus thread

It was intentional.

 

[overgeeked]

5E death saves make no sense. There's no narrative justification for the PCs being more immune to death than everyone else.

5E over-night full heals make no sense. There's no narrative justification for the PCs having superhuman healing powers.

For the mechanics and narrative to match up, you'd need something in-fiction to justify these things. Like the PCs are demigods or the chosen ones or favored by some entity that fights to keep them alive and endlessly pump magical healing into their bodies at night.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

5E death saves make no sense. There's no narrative justification for the PCs being more immune to death than everyone else.

Technically, everyone gets death saves. But because having unconscious goblins around puts the players in a not-media-friendly spot as to how to deal with them, it's left up to the GM to apply when it makes sense.

5E over-night full heals make no sense. There's no narrative justification for the PCs having superhuman healing powers.

Depends on your definition of hitpoints... on which note!

I think the game world needs to acknowledge that high-level anything people can faceplant from the tallest tower in the land and just dust themselves off after. Similarly, that threatening someone with a dagger at their throat / crossbow at their face is actually really ineffective (especially because there is no condition for being helpless) - you need 10 friends with crossbows with you.