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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 5:43AM
#1
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Is that even a real word?
Anyway I'm wondering if this aspect of 5e is worrying anyone but me.
In 1e/2e psionics were modular, and they could really mess up the game because they weren't balanced, mostly because of the magic =/= psi assumptions. I don't expect anything that glaring really, but with many more modules there's a chance some of them won't play nice together.
Thoughts? Assurances?
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 5:50AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Mar 29, 2005
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Modularity (yes, it's a word) isn't an inherently imbalanced idea. Let's face it, in the 1e/2e days, the designers didn't really know much about good game design. Psionics was broken because it was designed poorly, not because it was modular.
Ever feel like people on these forums can't possibly understand how wrong they are? Feeling trolled? Don't get mad. Report Post.
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 7:24AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Sep 11, 2007
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Also the early D&D editions weren't Designed to be modular. So so called 'modular' rules content didn't necessarily mesh up with the existing stuff very well. Extra content was just bolted on to a basic system that wasn't necessarily best designed for the level of expansion it eventually got.
For myself, the modular design of 5e is one of the things i think Wizards are doing right - it will (if they get it right) allow for an unprecedented ability to tailor the game to different gaming groups, and in some cases even to different people within a gaming group - without that adaptation unbalancing anything.
Playtest coming up this week and i'm signed up - looking forward to even the merest glimpse of the bigger picture we'll get to see.
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 7:50AM
#4
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From what they've said the first playtest won't have anything modular.
That said even if the whole game in modular, you'll end up with the same edition warring that we have always had. People will like how A, F, G, M, S modules work together and others will like how B, F, I, K, X work together. You'll have the same problem as before trying to find your 'game' as you always have. The only upside is WotC will continue to make products for it...
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 9:15AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Jun 15, 2006
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I like the idea of modular system but I wish know about monsters. Some optional rules could make monster be more or less dangerous.
For example let´s imagine Raveloft setting, the demiplane of dread with module about dark powers& taint, fear, sanity and mental stress. PCs are facing a secret mindslayer cult of thoon, and they discover their leader is a great horror never seen before, a brainstealer dragon.
Some module about extra powers could be added like a template, no problem, but... what if modular system can change the true challenge rating of monsters, traps and other dangers/risks?
"Say me what you're showing off for, and I'll say you what you lack!" (Spanish saying)
Book 13 Anaclet 23
Confucius said: "The Superior Man is in harmony but does not follow the crowd. The inferior man follows the crowd, but is not in harmony"
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 9:19AM
#6
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Date Joined:
Nov 27, 2006
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Is that even a real word?
Anyway I'm wondering if this aspect of 5e is worrying anyone but me.
Why should I worry?
I've been doing modular D&D for 30+ years.
The base has always been;
Generate ability scores, find modifiers
Pick race/class
Pick weapons/armor/eqipment & note any math that comes with it - damge dice, AC etc
Figure out "to hit" & "saves"
Tell the DM what your characters doing
This base hasn't changed a bit since the day I opened my 1st set of Basic!
After that comes everything else.
Doesn't matter wether it's something the designers made up & sold us or something that we made up ourselves around the table....
As for how well all that extra stuff has worked? Some great, some ---, some really bad. The thing is? It's occured in equel porportions no matter who came up with it!
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 10:52AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jan 19, 2010
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The fact is, your never always going to he able to find the system you want to play in your area--This isn't the nature of the game, it's the nature of the community. More specifically, the size of the community.
WotC can't help you find games, they can only support the game system you want to play.
With that said, modularity worries me when it comes to new players. What to us veterans appears a large and varied rule set is to the newbie an intimidating and unforgiving system. They won't know which modules they want, so I feel it should be heavily stressed that the core rules are where you should start.
Now, obviously modules pose a risk to balance, but that is said for any new mechanic you add on to a system. It's the nature of design, and removing the modularity isn't neccesarily the best solution. Having said that, I also worry they will try to accomplish too much with their first run of core books, and the result will be something horrible and unimaginable (Cthulhul rises from the ashes of Next, terrifying the unexpecting gamers and destroying the world!)
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Endorsed by the C.C.A.A. Booty Patrol.
"If all the classes can compete on equal footing in a combat situation then it becomes less about "Which is the best" and more about "Which conveys the character I want to play"." - Areleth
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 12:01PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Sep 29, 2003
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What to us veterans appears a large and varied rule set is to the newbie an intimidating and unforgiving system. They won't know which modules they want, so I feel it should be heavily stressed that the core rules are where you should start.
+1. This was always a real problem with new players (and not just in 3e but in 2e as well). With class splat books and optional rules abounding it was really hard for new players to know where to draw the line for their initial purchases. I always told my new players to buy the PHB and nothing more and wouldn't let them use splat books or optional rules until that had a firm understanding (IMO and the group's) of the core rules (usually we'd run a few one offs with them). After that they were welcome to branch out to whatever optional rulebooks were being used in the campaign and they could reroll a new PC or rework their test PC who would be brought into the campaign during the next session. So starting with the core rules only is a good rule of thumb for new players.
"We are men of action, lies do not become us" ~ D.P.R.
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 12:25PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Jun 17, 2010
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I find that people underestimate new players rather frequently.
D&D Next = D&D: Quantum Edition
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1 year ago ::
May 22, 2012 - 3:37PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Sep 26, 2001
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Is that even a real word?
Anyway I'm wondering if this aspect of 5e is worrying anyone but me.
In 1e/2e psionics were modular, and they could really mess up the game because they weren't balanced, mostly because of the magic =/= psi assumptions. I don't expect anything that glaring really, but with many more modules there's a chance some of them won't play nice together.
Thoughts? Assurances?
There's no reason modular can't be balanced. You could fairly easily take each Source in 4e, for instance, and treat it as an optional module. Take out Divine, and the game still works fine. Add in psionics, still basically OK.
OTOH, if modules are additive, there's the potential for imbalance. For instance, if there's a "Theme Module" and every character who takes a theme gets extra skills and special abilities, then, there'd be an imbalance if non-theme-module-using characters were also in that game. Likewise, if modules introduce new rules or sub-systems, there is the danger that they 'won't play nice' with eachother.
Love 4e? Concerned about its future? Join the Old Guard of 4e"You want The Tooth? You can't handle The Tooth!" - Dahlver-Nar. "If magic is unrestrained in the campaign, D&D quickly degenerates into a weird wizard show where players get bored quickly" - E. Gary Gygax
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