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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 9:02PM
#1
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Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
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Legends & Lore
A Change in FormatBy Mike MearlsExploration, barbarians, adventures, and more await you in Mike’s update for D&D Next this week.Talk about this column here.
Yan
Montréal, Canada
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 9:15PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Jan 10, 2013
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"I was pretty happy to resolve a battle involving five 10th-level characters, over two hundred orcs, sixty hill giants, twenty-four ogres, fourteen dire wolves, and assorted stone and cloud giants in about two hours. You can expect the guidelines, after a few revisions for simplicity and clarity, to show up in an upcoming playtest packet."
This is good news for those of us that prefer over-ground adventures (mass warfare playing a noted role in that) over standard dungeon crawls.
From 1E on, I've had houserules that I've implemented for mass combat. Average HPs, average saves, average damage output, and so on all go into it. It makes it easy to insert the PCs into the warfare and actually make them feel as though they play a part in it, as opposed being there and having the feeling that the outcome is already determined, and all the narrative in-between is just time-wasting filler.
The fact that he was able to resolve a 300+ combatant battle (that involved the PCs) in about 2 hours is wonderful. Since 4E combat could take that long with less than a dozen combatants, including the PCs (sometimes with just the PCs vs. 1 or 2 enemies), this is a breath of fresh air. Well...it will be a breath of fresh air if it's an interesting mass combat. That part is yet to be seen.
The 2 core goals of DDN:
1. Create a version of D&D that embraces the enduring, core elements of the game.
2. Create a set of rules that allows a smooth transition from a simple game to a complex one.
- Mike Mearls
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 9:21PM
#3
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So, coming soon.
• Nitty gritty from R&D.
• Exploration rules: Take turns during noncombat. DM draws map.
• Recalibrate Barbarian and Fighter: Improve Fighter maneuvers, add Barbarian nonrage features. Wait for feedback on Barbarian.
• Old school adventures - quicker to read, more openended - more breakable.
• Masscombat.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 9:26PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Feb 12, 2009
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Hell Yes mass combat rules, or at least the beginnings of it. Good thing my testing campaign is currently in a war setting, at least currently after a few battles the plot will change some, but that means I can try out a few battles with these mass combat rules. Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and some other stuff vs orcs, trolls, goblins, basically your green guys and some other goodies like mind flayers, along with some demonic/devil/other outsiders type stuff.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 9:26PM
#5
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Tentatively interested.
I have an answer for you, it may even be the truth.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 9:41PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Jun 15, 2008
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Just narrate the details away and declare a winner is my guess.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 10:17PM
#7
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Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
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Looking forward to the Explorations and Mass Combat Rules!
Yan
Montréal, Canada
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 10:18PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Dec 13, 2006
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Looking forward to the Explorations and Mass Combat Rules!
Looking forward to Exploration rules. This is a big aspect to the game, and I'm curious how they will implement it, and how it will stack up (positively or negatively) to skill challenges.
Want the tl;dr of my posts? Read the bold text; I put it there to highlight the main points for ease of skimming.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 03, 2013 - 10:29PM
#9
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Spelljammer actually had a decent mass combat rulesystem in one of the boxed sets booklets that I always remember fondly (they worked really well for me when I used them). I wouldn't mind seeing those updated to Next if the main mechanics just incorporate something that work for me.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 04, 2013 - 1:35AM
#10
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So, coming soon.
• Nitty gritty from R&D.
• Exploration rules: Take turns during noncombat. DM draws map.
• Recalibrate Barbarian and Fighter: Improve Fighter maneuvers, add Barbarian nonrage features. Wait for feedback on Barbarian.
• Old school adventures - quicker to read, more openended - more breakable.
• Masscombat.
Actually, the article doesnt offer much to discuss. Altho the article informs us about the topics that the devs are working on, it doesnt give any details to discuss them, or what the issues or dilemmas are.
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