ROLL 20! DnD MEGAthread

[Chankgeez]

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story ... 397657002/

[Iommic Pope]

Anyone played Trudvang?

[Chankgeez]

(I don't even know what Trudvang is. )

So, I haven't played D&D in a long-ass time.

I've recently mildly entertained the thought of maybe playing again at some point. So, I've been reading up on some of the rules.

I have a question:

After 5 editions, how do some of the rules still not make any sense whatsoever?

I'm also interested in podcasts/streams/whatever of normal people playing through a campaign. Specifically interested in min/maxers, powergamers, extreme metagamers and shit like that. Not interested in stuff like Critical Role or whatever. Suggestions welcome.

[Benn Roe]

It really boils down to differing design philosophies. The only two editions to be designed by the same people were 1st and 2nd. 3rd, 4th, and 5th all had completely different design teams, with different goals and different ideas about balance. 3rd edition was highly simulationist, trying to make everything "make sense", often at the expense of design elegance, but 4th and 5th were designed with a much heavier focus on streamlining rules and being more approachable. That comes at the expense of realism because reality's rules are rarely tidy.

I'm not as tuned in to our D&D community, but many of the Pathfinder (which is basically just 3rd edition D&D) players at my store are definitely power-gamers. You're welcome to come by on a Tuesday night and watch (or play in) a game. We're at 38th and Lancaster, and the store's called Redcap's Corner. One of these days we'll get our livestreaming setup back up and running too, so you can watch from home. D&D is Thursday nights, but again, I'm not as sure about that scene.

[Chankgeez]

Thanks, bennroe!

Maybe I'll come by for a visit. I don't think I'd like being a powergamer. I'm just kinda interested in what makes 'em tick.

[bigguitartone]

I just started up a new Pathfinder campaign on Sunday with two friends that I had played 3.0 with over 10 years ago and two others who have never played before. We had a blast and I'm looking forward to our next session!

edit: We're using Roll20 for the first time and it's been really nice so far.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yay new campaigns! I just started one this week after not playing for ages so I'm psyched.

[Chankgeez]

Have decided to wait until 7th or 8th edition to possibly start playing D&D again. Maybe they'll fix all the rules I think are stupid by then?

[foomanfat]

Last night, right before a war that took us five hours to fight, our artificer drew The Void from his Deck of Many Things and got his soul locked inside our ranger's magic dagger.

[Chankgeez]

I can't tell whether you think that's good or bad, fooman.

[foomanfat]

Well, it would have been nice to have our full party in this battle that most of our campaign has been about, but it was certainly in character for him.
Also, waiting for a rule set that you completely agree with may be a fool's errand. Next addition may fix the rules you dislike, but will surely introduce or bring back others that you dislike still.
The thing I like about 5E is that the DM Manual makes it pretty clear that ultimately rules are the DM's discretion and encourages playing your game how you want to.

[Benn Roe]

Have decided to wait until 7th or 8th edition to possibly start playing D&D again. Maybe they'll fix all the rules I think are stupid by then?

What rules do you think are stupid, just out of curiosity? There's probably a better RPG for you that already exists.

[Chankgeez]

Well, since I haven't played D&D since first edition, there're a lot more rules now than there used to be.

Many of them just don't make sense to me. I guess I mostly dislike some rules regarding game mechanics.

There's also much more specialization now. Not sure I feel that's such a good thing. It definitely seems limiting in many ways.

I also think the philosophy of play differs greatly from what it was. Seems like it's been forced that way by the game mechanics. So, I can't say I necessarily blame players for it. Don't think, however, I'd like playing the game the way it's currently set up.

I'm sure there're better RPGs for me at this point. Not sure I feel like finding 'em though.

I don't think D&D is gonna get any better with any forthcoming editions. It's probably gonna get worse.

[Benn Roe]

It sounds like you just want a less crunchy game. If you want something where the game mechanics are few, and really take a backseat to the storytelling, you should probably check out Dungeon World. You may also like the Cypher System, popularized by Numenera.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Numenera is fun and much less rules heavy. My roommate who does a lot of gaming has basically stopped playing D&D (he used to play a lot) because he has more fun playing less number crunchy games like Dungeon World, which from his review is great but I've never played it.