D&D 5E Why are vague rules praised?

[MechaPilot]

BTW, I assume when you say worlds calendar, then you are talking about using a regular calendar to track the passing time in your game setting/campaign world?

You can, or you can create your own. My game world uses a calendar that has 5-day weeks, 6-week months, and 12-month years. I also have the various holy days and feats days marked off on the calendar, along with the solstices, equinoxes, and the first days of each season.

 

[Evenglare]

For those who think that 5e rules are vague, I'd absolutely love to see you wrestle with 13th age. I mean, I'd probably pay money to see that.... ... ... probably not actually, but still it would be hilarious. I'm 100% pro vague rules btw, I play with a bunch of rules lawyers so this pretty much squashes that nonsense real fast.

 

[guachi]

The easiest thing is a calendar that more or less tracks one on Earth.

Forgotten Realms, I believe, has weeks are ten days long and called tenday. My favorite D&D world has a calendar with 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, and 12 months in a year and the result is a year with an oddly short 336 days in it. Whatever you choose, I wouldn't get all wacky with it with things like years lasting 600 days and a world that doesn't have an axial tilt so seasons don't happen. That's weird. I want the dragons to be the unreal part of my game, not my planet. (so axial tilt 20-25 degrees so seasons happen, 350 or so days in a year, days are 24 hours, etc.)

As for using a regular calendar, why not? The day you start your campaign in the real world is exactly the same day it is in the game world. Gygax himself suggested that, in the absence of some other reason, that if it's seven days between sessions in the real world it's seven days in game time. Obviously, if characters are stuck in the middle of a dungeon time stops until you start.

 

[painted_klown]

Thank you for the help and advice guys. I really do appreciate it! It's knowing this type of stuff that really helps out in ensuring we have a fun gaming experience.

 

[Celtavian]

The thing I find strange is that the OP's example is exactly the type of situation I'm referring too. The OP is asking a game designer to decide what getting arrested means in game where each DM is playing in different areas of different worlds on possible different planes. The DM should decide what getting arrested means wherever they are, not a rule.

That's why I find it strange that the claim that clear rules don't require heavy rules. Yet the example implies they do given the number of possibilities getting arrested might entail. That's why it's left up to you. What does getting arrested mean in the area you're in? You should work that out yourself according to the available information for the area. No rule should have to tell you how to do that.

 

[Authweight]

For those who think that 5e rules are vague, I'd absolutely love to see you wrestle with 13th age. I mean, I'd probably pay money to see that.... ... ... probably not actually, but still it would be hilarious. I'm 100% pro vague rules btw, I play with a bunch of rules lawyers so this pretty much squashes that nonsense real fast.

I felt like 13th age had extremely clear rules. They were just very open-ended as well. I wish 5e had the clarity of 13th age.

 

[Inchoroi]

I dunno. I've not found anything in 5e that I found vague at all, nor for my group; now, we've found things that we didn't agree with, e.g. Champion fighter is not enough of an archetype to deserve the name, so we rolled it into the main fighter class, which makes fighter amazing, btw.

But we've found nothing at all that's seemed vague.

 

[Derren]

The thing I find strange is that the OP's example is exactly the type of situation I'm referring too. The OP is asking a game designer to decide what getting arrested means in game where each DM is playing in different areas of different worlds on possible different planes. The DM should decide what getting arrested means wherever they are, not a rule.

That's why I find it strange that the claim that clear rules don't require heavy rules. Yet the example implies they do given the number of possibilities getting arrested might entail. That's why it's left up to you. What does getting arrested mean in the area you're in? You should work that out yourself according to the available information for the area. No rule should have to tell you how to do that.

Then you should read the OP's posts again.
The alternative to vague rules are not only heavy rules but also suggestions.
For example no table for carousing with entries like

"01–10
You are jailed for 1d4 days at the end of the
downtime period on charges of disorderly
conduct and disturbing the peace. You can pay
a fine of 10 gp to avoid jail time, or you can try
to resist arrest"

Instead, you have a list of possible events during carousing with a suggestions how to handle it.

"Arrest:
Punishment for disorderly conduct tends to be light. Depending on the size of the town or city punishments can include a short jail time (1d4 days) in a dungeon, public shaming or light beating. Sometimes the guards will resolve the situation directly with violent but nonlethal means which counts as punishment and no further actions will be taken. It is generally possible to escape punishment by paying money, either as fine or bribe (around 10gp). High fame (generally indicated by level or visible exploits) protects against being arrested for minor infractions.
Jail time usually involves being locked into a community cell with poor heating and food (Only long stays of several weeks should have an impact on the PCs health. See the table of diseases for ideas). Other races might choose different cell designs to account for racial abilities (for example teleportation, etc.). In jail, the fame of a character should indicate if he is harassed by the guards or if some of his possessions are stolen. It is possible to meet contacts from the local underworld in jail, but usually the influential members are not put into community cells which is reserved for small crimes.

 

[S_Dalsgaard]

Isn't the point of the downtime "rules", that it happens off-screen?

If you put more thought into it, than the player choosing that he has been to jail, that he has 10 gp less, or that he is now a wanted criminal by having resisted arrest, then that is something that should be role-played and therefore not be downtime.

The beauty of the carousing table is, that as it is, it works just like character background. It is something that fleshes out the character (and in this case, what he has been doing for the half-year break between adventures), but without having to have any major repercussions in the game. Yet it still leaves plenty of room to do a side adventure if the DM and players are so inclined.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

Instead, you have a list of possible events during carousing with a suggestions how to handle it.

"Arrest:
Punishment for disorderly conduct tends to be light. Depending on the size of the town or city punishments can include a short jail time (1d4 days) in a dungeon, public shaming or light beating. Sometimes the guards will resolve the situation directly with violent but nonlethal means which counts as punishment and no further actions will be taken. It is generally possible to escape punishment by paying money, either as fine or bribe (around 10gp). High fame (generally indicated by level or visible exploits) protects against being arrested for minor infractions.
Jail time usually involves being locked into a community cell with poor heating and food (Only long stays of several weeks should have an impact on the PCs health. See the table of diseases for ideas). Other races might choose different cell designs to account for racial abilities (for example teleportation, etc.). In jail, the fame of a character should indicate if he is harassed by the guards or if some of his possessions are stolen. It is possible to meet contacts from the local underworld in jail, but usually the influential members are not put into community cells which is reserved for small crimes.

While I see the merits of this approach for a certain kind of reader, I put myself on the field of those who prefer Wizards' choice or words and organization. I don't know, maybe I simply prefer things to be vague. I think it puts my imagination to work in ways I generally enjoy.