You're playing it wrong

[Glade Riven]

So... the right way to play the games is to ignore the rules the book lays out for you and just do whatever? <-snip->

Great way to miss my point. I'd continue with the /sarc, but it'd probably wouldn't accomplish anything. Your response seems a bit flame-baity, but I could be reading something into it that isn't there. Text can be a poor medium at times...

 

[bloodtide]

I remain cautiously optimistic, and early reports are encouraging - especially this early in the process. Either way, I tire of edition warring and the general poor attitude of "my way or nothing" gaming I've seen only get worse once 4e was announced. That sort of negativity only reinforces negative stereotypes of what a "gamer" is, makes it hard to find a group, and bleeds the hobby of current and potential players.

Well, I guess it's possible they might come up with a ''tier'' system, with something like Tier 1 ''old school, deadly and unfair'' to cover 0/1/2E, Tier 2 ''Half and half all about fair and balanced'' 3E and Tier 3 ''Perfect fair and balance for everyone'' 4E. Then each Tier would give your character different abilities. So a Tier 1 wizard would have all the old spell side effects, tier two would have the ''everything works out good for you 3x approach'', and Tier 3 would have the ''watered down magic control effects only'' of 4E.

And you might be able to come up with a ranking system to show how each tier will fit together like ''5 tier 3 wizards equal 1 tier 1 wizard'' or such.

 

[Stormonu]

So... the right way to play the games is to ignore the rules the book lays out for you and just do whatever?

Actually, I think there is some wisdom in doing just that. Designers flub things from time to time, and in others they just can't tailor stuff to our home-grown campaign.

Rather than moan and wait for designers to fix everything (or worse, choose our game style for us), I think the DM ( and sometimes the players), should step up and do what's right for their game. If that means brewing up your own content, stealing it from elsewhere or mixing up the rules to fit a certain gaming style, I'm all for it. As long as everyone agrees to it, what's wrong with cutstomizing your game the way you want it to be?

This is a game of imagination, after all - nobody ought to be punished when they use it - fairly, that is.

 

[Thalionalfirin]

Rather than moan and wait for designers to fix everything (or worse, choose our game style for us), I think the DM ( and sometimes the players), should step up and do what's right for their game.

But... moaning and complaining is what the internet forum was developed for, wasn't it?

 

[billd91]

But... moaning and complaining is what the internet forum was developed for, wasn't it?

I thought it was for porn. Isn't everything about the internet for porn?

 

[n00bdragon]

Actually, I think there is some wisdom in doing just that. Designers flub things from time to time, and in others they just can't tailor stuff to our home-grown campaign.

Rather than moan and wait for designers to fix everything (or worse, choose our game style for us), I think the DM ( and sometimes the players), should step up and do what's right for their game. If that means brewing up your own content, stealing it from elsewhere or mixing up the rules to fit a certain gaming style, I'm all for it. As long as everyone agrees to it, what's wrong with cutstomizing your game the way you want it to be?

This is a game of imagination, after all - nobody ought to be punished when they use it - fairly, that is.

I'm not saying house rules are bad but the mere ability to fix bugs in the system does not constitute a feature and to insinuate otherwise is pretty insulting to people who actually try to come up with better ways to doing things.

*ahem*

 

[jbear]

I am not opposed to the point you were trying to make but I hate to break it to you - You WERE playing an optimized paladin (^emphasis mine^). An un-opimized character doesn't have prestige classes and certainly doesn't have class features from book of 9 swords. God I hate that book. That is all.

[sblock=My response to this bit of venom] [MENTION=95493]Tovec[/MENTION] Wow.

You jumped in as the first response to respond in this way to the OP's post ...?

I have a feeling you were not breaking anything that he didn't know about already. That was his point. He doesn't care.

All your comment does is make you come across looking really bad. In fact I've been reading a lot of your XP comments. They do much the same.

Someone else to add to my ignore list. Reading posts like that just make me feel angry. And I don't come to EnWorld to spend my time feeling like that.

As my mother used to say, if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. [/sblock]

To the OP: Keep playing it your way! That is what D&D is about. To me it has always been about that. 5e actively wants to promote this notion in its design, which I also think is a worthwhile goal. I'm glad to hear that is why you are stoked about 5e. I really really hope they achieve that.

 

[jbear]

So... the right way to play the games is to ignore the rules the book lays out for you and just do whatever? Are you somehow insinuating that the flaws (and you admit they are flaws because you felt the need to correct them) of a game system make it better? Why even play 5e? It clearly doesn't matter WHAT rules they put in the book. If you don't like them you'll just ignore them and do something else.

I'm not saying house rules are bad but the mere ability to fix bugs in the system does not constitute a feature and to insinuate otherwise is pretty insulting to people who actually try to come up with better ways to doing things.

The right way is your way. So your way is right for you. And my way is right for me. You can play your character the way you prefer and I can do the same with mine.

I can set the tone and deal with the rules as I see fit if I am DM, and if you are DM then you can do the same.

Having an argument about which of those two ways are better or correct isn't going to go anywhere. The point is that you should do it your own way and have fun...it's a game. That's the point.

That doesn't make the suggestions made by the rules (yes, I use suggestion deliberately to express my own take on the place of rules) or the options presented in the books obsolete or useless. They are used to provide a base of understanding and a point of reference for adjudication. How strictly you wish to adhere to those rules can vary without one person or the other doing it some fabled 'right way'.

If the game is fun, awesome, exciting, challenging and memorable then I'd say that those involved in that game are one of the right tracks though.

 

[RHGreen]

I thought it was for porn. Isn't everything about the internet for porn?

I put roleplay, dungeon and fantasy in Google and ended up here.

Imagine my disappointment.

 

[Mengu]

I've been doing it wrong for years. I ignore established D&D ethos. I make my own worlds, I make my own gods. I make my own rules that pertain to my own worlds. I butcher established D&D worlds. In a 2e game, I had a player who played a dragon. In a 3e game, I took Forgotten Realms, killed every NPC, rewrote its history, and ignored anything that wasn't a location, god, or monster. In a 4e game, I told my players they couldn't pick Paragon Paths, PHB says they are optional anyway. And then I made my own world specific paragon path, and gave the same thing to all of them. I also made up my own rules for something called destiny points. Without getting into details, the use of a destiny point can remove half the battlefield (and has done so). I have run countless sessions with zero combat, sometimes 2-3 of them in a row. I'm doing it all wrong, all the time.

I am skeptical of 5e, because it is not going to continue the evolution of D&D toward a modern tabletop roleplaying game. It is devolving into a historical nostalgic artifact that I had shelved years ago.