This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Recent Posts

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10
1
I wonder if this is to encourage people to buy more current D&D products?

I legitimately believe this is the entire reason that they are claiming "it's not a new edition".

I've paid a good amount of attention to the playtest, and while I have no idea what's coming out in September, they have really changed a lot of how the game balance works.  For instance, the feats, which previously were just all generally meant to be worth +2 stats (with some being way better or way worse) are now being lined up into lesser feats and greater feats, and the idea is that you can't get the greater feats until like 4th level.  Even those greater feats are nowhere near as powerful as the top feats used to be in 5.0.  So the feats are nerfed! 
But all the "martial" classes, are buffed.  This is received pretty well as 5.0 has this as a common criticism (most of them don't know that this critique kinda goes back to early D&D and has always had some validity), because 5.0 lets casters move out of hiding, cast, and move back into hiding, depending on the shape of the place- a far cry from having to declare your action before initiative is rolled and risk interruption or your spell not being aimed at the correct target, or the scenario changing a lot.  Anyway, the playtest stuff had more impressive martial class scaling.

Ok so, 5.5 comes out.  It's all the same version, so you grab the variant human from 5.0, use it to take a really strong feat like 5.0 sharpshooter, and then take your first level in 5.5 fighter.  Now you have a character more powerful than can be created in either version, but it's all the same version, right?

No way.  They have to ramp up power options to sell books, and they can't let you pick and choose between versions.  There will be some kind of creation rules to prevent that.  By contrast, your 5.5 PHB built guy using something from Tasha's Cauldron Of Retcons And Apologies will be allowed, because they haven't reprinted that one yet, or... something.

So when they say that it's all the same version:
1- They want you to keep buying the existing products now.
2- They probably have a plan to keep you buying the non-directly-replaced existing products as well, later.

But I think (1) is enough to explain this obvious lie they keep pushing.
2
Even the Cleric is just a D&D-ism that is barely retained anyway as Bards now have Arcane healing.
In 5e, Bards are neither traditional arcane or divine casters.  From the 5e PHB:

Quote
Bards say that the multiverse was spoken into existence, that the words of the gods gave it shape, and that echoes of these primordial Words of Creation still resound throughout the cosmos . The music of bards is an attempt to snatch and harness those echoes, subtly woven into their spells and powers.

The bard spell list is actually pretty sparse in the PHB (some later supplements add a lot of other stuff to it, and therefore, a lot of power to the bard).  Bards are intended to supplement these spares spells with access to Magical Secrets at high levels, letting them grab a few spells from any other classes in the game with no ability to change your mind on this mini-multiclass power.  In any event, this "words of creation" bit explains why they get access to such a unique set of spells, and why their spell list leaves off so much baseline.

Also while 5e bards and clerics are both full casters that are intended to use a weapon more than a wizard does, clerics have better access to offensive cantrips and at mid levels either get a boost to cantrip damage or their single attack a round.  The bard has to actively pick a martial themed subclass to be able to really hold his own without expending spell slots. 

Out of all the people who say "I just want the core three (or the core four) classes" the only time I've seen anyone create anything with that idea that I personally want to play or run is Kevin Crawford, creator of Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number.  He also doesn't just limit you to his core three classes (warrior, expert, and either psychic or mage, depending), he also gives you "partial" classes that split the difference.  His splat content for classes are usually partial things as well. 

Mostly when I hear that, I just walk on by, because someone advocating for a game with just fighter, mage, rogue, cleric is one paladin player away from learning why there's more than just four classes.  The druid started as a subclass of cleric, but it sure works wonderfully once it's been established as its own class, as it can stop wasting space on things you can't do that a normal cleric can, like turn undead.

Hyperborea and ACKS both offer up the four standard classes, then spend a decent amount of pages giving you other classes too.  The obvious implication is that if you want to run the game and limit it to the basic classes, you can, and they are an intended and well designed part of the game (versus the power creep we saw historically, where the base clasess got sorta overwhelmed by later offerings).

But a game with just the four base classes, I just don't need.  I'm not gonna run that game.
3
I wonder if this is to encourage people to buy more current D&D products?  I’m sure there are plenty of people waiting for the “new” edition. Perhaps the projected quarter numbers for WotC are worse than expected?
4
I am a millennial, and will generally defend my generation. That said, one of the criticisms of the millennials (and I presume zoomers as well) is that they have been utterly poisoned by the overuse of irony in pop-culture. They're a product of the late-stage artistic stagnation the major entertainment mediums are locked in, so their entire cultural frame of reference is genre subversion and deconstruction. Everything is "post"-something, and the dreaded "genre trope" is a bogeyman to avoid at all costs. Far too many younger players are positively allergic to sincerity, and are basically too insecure to play a character straight in a roleplaying game. They have to try and be the class clown and show how cool they are with their "quirky" ideas.

That said, don't be a doomer about it just yet. If you're willing to take up the GM-ing torch, some of this can be overcome by good leadership. First of all, don't run 5e. And I don't say that for any game system reasons. 5e is by design a game with no strong theme or tone of it's own. If you instead run something with a strong internal tone, like say Cyberpunk, Deadlands or Call of Cthulhu, you might be surprised at how willing even younger players are to fall in line with it. Generally speaking, GMs have a lot of power to set the tone of a game and players are likely to follow. For my Roll20 games I have a "table rules" post I put out with the game listing, and the first item is "play sincerely". I make it very clear up front that I have no time for joke characters or people who play ironically, and generally I get agreement with that from across generations. A lot of younger people are desperate for some sincerity in their entertainment, even if they don't consciously realize it. When players do try to get "quirky" I have NPCs react the way real people would, with eye-rolling and irritation, and treating them like children. When the overplayed joke starts to fall flat, people usually stop it.

Be quirky in return.

Play a human fighter with a wife, kids and extended family to support. He’s adventuring to get his family a better life. He has no interest in the other characters’ drama; he’s here to provide for his family and drama gets in the way of getting the job done so he can home and see them (also insist on plenty of downtime for precisely this reason).

A lot of the 5e groups I’ve experienced won’t have any idea what to do with that. It will (sadly, not literally) break their brains.

Yeah, I've done something similar in the past. Play a straight-laced, well-meaning, mature character, and play that character as intelligent and capable. The irony brigade can't deal with a Dudley Doright character who isn't being played as a joke. They'll try to make fun of you for a bit, but it won't work because your character exposes all their childish insecurities. You'll end up having to play the party's dad initially, but you'll also end up being the de facto leader, and after a while they'll start falling in line.

EDIT: You do have to be a little bit careful with this approach. Playing a realistically good person is way more difficult than playing a self-serving dickhead or a stereotype. I have seen people try this and fall horribly flat because they aren't good leaders. Trying this approach and failing is one of the reasons for the "lawful stupid paladin" stereotype.
5
The way WotC is marketing this is just weird.  It's like they are trying to have their cake and eat it too.  They want to make a new edition but they don't want to alienate all of the 5e players.  So it's 5e but it's also not 5e.  It's the same but different.  It's okay if things go away because they will still be there?  What the fuck?  Either it goes away or it doesn't go away.  Is it 5e again or is it different?  If it's 5e again, why does anyone need it?  Are they removing things or not?  Why can't they just tell us what this product is going to be?

Easy: they have no fucking clue what they're doing. Not in marketing. Not in game design. Not in anything.

WoTC is a company that has a chronic case of cranial rectum-itis.
6
I don't want to defend anyone at WOTC, but I actually agree with Perkins on this. If I were designing the game, I'd take it down to 4 base classes (Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Rogue) and make everything else a variant on one of those. Either through subclasses or by feat selection. Then again, I bailed out of the 5E ship years ago.
Even the Cleric is just a D&D-ism that is barely retained anyway as Bards now have Arcane healing.

All you really need are three classes; Fighter (fighty guy), Mage (casty guy) and Expert (skill guy); and free multi-classing between them.

Cleric is a Figher/Mage with a focus on healing spells. Paladin is also a Fighter/Mage with twice the levels in Fighter as Mage. Ranger is a Fighter/Expert with a focus on Nature, Barbarian is the same, but has way more levels in fighter than expert. Druid is a Mage with Nature/Shapeshifting focus. Etc.

Beyond that, you just need some subclass specifics like “Str vs. Dex based” Fighter options… with Rage, Unarmored Defense, and Unarmed strikes in the list somewhere for Fighter, Skill Tricks for the Expert (ex. Nature abilities, Mechanics/Locks/Traps, Social, Stealth), and spell school and/or power source focus for the Mage and you could more than cover all the D&D classes and have much broader options in general.

I know you mean well, but thank goodness I don't play this fucktard edition. Even with the so-called fixes you propose, IMO it still sounds like a convoluted mess.

Lipstick on a pig.

Keep it original. Keep it Old School. OSR forever.

(mic drop)
7
Twin Engine And Bärsärk Entertainment are proud to bring you Flesh for Yog-Sothoth! The adventure is designed to work in almost any Cthulhu Eternal campaign set in the roaring twenties. It contains all maps, non-player characters and handouts needed to play.


Buy the  PDF on DriveThruRPG:
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/475632/Adventure-Suite-Flesh-for-YogSothoth

The Protagonists are tasked with tracking down and recovering items stolen in a break-in at the home of a wealthy art collector. In particular, a priceless ancient Mesopotamian artefact. Following the trail brings the Protagonists face to face with a sanity-crunching secret. A mad cult worshipping the terrible god who was, is, and always will be. A blasphemous being that requires a sacrifice of flesh!



Cthulhu Eternal are open content, d100 based rules released under an OGL (Open Gaming License).

Twin Engine is a publisher of adventures, game aids and 3D printable miniatures. With over 30 years of experience in the role playing industry, we focus on quality and enjoyment. Visit our store on DriveThruRPG for more:
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/22965/twin-engine-publishing
Or our store on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLKWHD8J?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tpbk&tag=article-geekdo-21

A note on the artwork: All artworks are hand drawn, digital paintings. This products does not contain any AI-generated art.
8
  NYC CRIME DOWN!!! Come on guys jhkim said so....though it is strange they have the NATIONAL GUARD stationed in the subways....

Greetings!

Yep, Ogg, National Guard troops in New York subways, homeless tent cities everywhere, videos over and over of city streets filled with needles, whores, crime, and homeless fucks shitting in the sidewalk--but our cities are fine, Ogg. CRIME IS DOWN, YOU BIGOT! ;D

Our cities are eroding and turning into dangerous shitholes. That's right. Keep voting the DEMOCRATS into power. The nice, sweet, non-bigot Democrats have our best interests at heart!

People really need to wake the fuck up!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
9
The RPGPundit's Own Forum / Re: Greta is at it..AGAIN
« Last post by Silverblade on Today at 10:43:42 AM »
So, by only comparing lifetime emissions, you are conveniently leaving out the environmental harm done in the process of strip mining for the minerals needed to make the batteries to make the EVs.  You can't be unaware of this problem since GeekyBugle has brought it up several times in detail.  I can only conclude that you are being deliberately disingenuous and deliberately presenting a false view of the costs.  In short, you are arguing in bad faith again.

If you dig to the core of the issue you will understand leftist and virtue signalers in general only bring solutions that help them. It’s why they only focus on air pollution because that directly affects them. The environmental damage from mining doesn’t affect their daily lives. It’s the NIMBY syndrome.

I guarantee if someone dropped a lithium mine in their backyard that will destroy their beautiful land and contaminate their ground water, they would resist mining for batteries. Who cares if third world people suffer if you can feel good about how you are “helping” the environment?  Throw a couple of other people’s tax money to feel good about yourself.

Energy is a trade off and most people would rather trade someone else’s pain than theirs.
10
The RPGPundit's Own Forum / Re: Greta is at it..AGAIN
« Last post by oggsmash on Today at 10:38:18 AM »
  Why is it people who say they are so against Carbon emissions are at the same time so for mass migration from the 3rd world to the West...where swelling the population is going to accelerate massively any carbon emissions?  Why are they always so so silent about China and India releasing emissions at MUCH MUCH higher levels than the west and especially the USA?   Almost as if they simply lie constantly to press some agenda they wont say out loud.
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10