Let's talk Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition

Josh Look wrote: Also, the likeness of a certain world famous podcaster who frequents this site was used for the cultist.

I really should have been that elf babe!

I ran a lot of 1st edition D&D, and we didn't use miniatures at all. The maps were simply a reference point for where the party had been so far. Combat was simply a matter of identifying who you were attacking or who was attacking you, and we only checked the map to figure out potential issues with area of effect stuff like breath weapons and fireballs.

Then I ran GURPS for several years, where the crunchy mechanics practically required tactical hex maps for everything. And that tended to add a tactical richness to the experience. Now, where you were standing sometimes mattered a lot, with respect to allies, enemies, exits, terrain features, furniture, etc. The ability to exploit the advantages or overcome the disadvantages of a given situation made the game more fun. I kept it affordable by using Cardboard Heroes made by Steve Jackson Games.

And yet, when I ran a lengthy campaign for Call of Cthulhu, we usually didn't bother with maps or minis. It wasn't conducive to the style of the game, and the rules weren't detailed enough to bother with it.

For the last two years, I have been running a D&D 3.5 campaign for a large group. I am fortunate to be running a campaign that has gotten extensive map support, because the 3.5 rules really deserve a full-blown tactical treatment, or else the fighters are missing out on too much potential fun. It also keeps the wizards and rogues more honest by requiring them to detail with tactical challenges when aiming spells and flanking opponents. This time around, I keep the miniatures affordable by instead pasting color pictures onto wooden nickels with a craft glue.

We never used them for real either. Except for one guy I called the stainless steel thief, because whenever something happened to his character he would say he wasn't where it happened. He'd tell me I misunderstood what he said and that he was on the other side of the room and that he couldn't be hit from there. THAT guy got a miniature and laid it down on the graph paper.

As best I can tell the mapping and the movement of minis, even if each person is simply moving their own in real time, detracts from the imagination part of the game. It's hard to evoke the feeling of someone slogging through knee-deep water on a cold day when they're worried about drawing the door in the far corner of the room.

S.

Sagrilarus wrote: We never used them for real either. Except for one guy I called the stainless steel thief, because whenever something happened to his character he would say he wasn't where it happened. He'd tell me I misunderstood what he said and that he was on the other side of the room and that he couldn't be hit from there. THAT guy got a miniature and laid it down on the graph paper.

As best I can tell the mapping and the movement of minis, even if each person is simply moving their own in real time, detracts from the imagination part of the game. It's hard to evoke the feeling of someone slogging through knee-deep water on a cold day when they're worried about drawing the door in the far corner of the room.

S.

Dragon magazine had a nice slang term for that kind of player: alignment = Chaotic Everywhere.

As my previous job was going under, I printed off nearly a copier paper box full of full-color, pre-made maps for my 3.5 campaign (the excellent City of Ptolus, by Monte Cook). So instead of pausing to draw maps, I slap down the pre-printed map sections as they encounter them, pausing only to slap down scratch paper to cover sections of the map section that they can't see yet. The players love it. I suppose that the maps limit imagination, but they also provide a lot of clarity.

We've been playing the Starter Set adventure, with a couple of copies of the new Handbook.

Best version of D&D ever. It really feels like AD&D, but with ideas from all the other editions which some reasonable balance, and JUST enough going on. It isn't that much more complex that AD&D to play, and really doesn't want to be played with minis. You can, but it works like AD&D, and you can fudge things left and right without breaking things.

I was unhappy with the preview rules which were so very rough.

There is really only one D&D clone I'd throw against it which is 13th Age. That one is kind of a cross between FATE and D&D 4. The D&D 4 is mostly in how powers are structured, and is pretty simialr in that way to D&D 5.

Where 13th Age gets interesting is:
1. BUCKETS of dice. We had some 200+ HP hits in our game.
2. Variable class difficulties. The classes range from dirt simple (Barbarian), to psychotically tricky (Cleric), to a complete bag of crazy (Monk).

Man, I used to love RPGs. Still do but it's not really socially acceptable. Love hearing you guys talk about the new edition of this and of other games...