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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alcamtar" data-source="post: 198916" data-attributes="member: 3842">Re: Re: Re: Who still plays Basic D&D?Well, not necessarily bad, but certainly different than what I'm used to , and I haven't really decided whether I like it that way.Yes. I find them too complex. The whole point of a class/level system is (a) simplicity and (b) constraint.Taking the second first, a class system constrains characters into archetypical roles, which helps preserve genre feeling and also makes things simpler when creating characters. Point based systems were developed to offer flexibility, but they suffer from long involved character creation, lack of direction for players, and (sometimes) really weird characters (whether super-optimized munchkins, or just plain strange stuff, like blind paraplegic levitating martial arts masters).Anyway, one of my favorite aspects of D&D has always been that you could whip together a PC or NPC quickly -- choose race, class, level, and roll a few dice, and you've got it. This is also really easy in a point based system for NPCs (not PCs) -- just pick the desired abilities and go with it.3E has greatly increased flexibility but has retained classes. Since they don't have a point buy system, in order to maintain balance and class constraints, they have used a complicated system of prerequisites and incremental advancement. This is great for PCs who only add a level at a time, but makes it a pain to construct an NPC, especially a high level NPC. You have to compute the correct skill points, determine which skills are class skills, pick feats that have the right ability and feat and level prerequisites, and then look up class-specific special abilities for that level. Software can ease this burden, but is still time consuming and you have to have a computer handy.Finally, related to player control, players know exactly what they can do and when, and when they have an obstacle, there is usually a prescribed means of overcoming it. Again, since the GM isn't deciding this stuff by fiat and common sense, he has to be aware of all the rules that may pertain to a given situtation in order to be prepared for player actions. (Sure I can overrule player actions, but my group is comprised of rules lawyers and they wouldn't enjoy the game if I did this.)Anyway, I just find 3E really tedious to prepare adventures for. It's just a ton of stuff to keep track of and to remember. I really liked the older games, where I could make stuff up as needed and where preparation required very little work. I like the 3E mechanics, I just wish it were simpler. (I really wish d20/3E had just dropped classes altogether and gone with a pure point-based approach, because I think the hybrid just doesn't work very well and is somewhat self defeating.)</blockquote>

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