D&D 5E Discussion

[Larianshill]

Well, well, well. What do you fucking know?

 

[Bara]

Names not that great but at least its better than cauldron of everything.

Side note final opinions on 5e after more combats and levels. It's good, not my favorite but good and I'd be down to play it on the side or in between B/X or other OSR games.

Generally pc having more survivability but DM stopped softballing us at level 3 so it doesn't really feel all that diffrent to the older editions in that regard anymore with combat having the ability to be tense or spiral out of controll.

My only complaints that remain are minor with skill checks feeling like they slow things down a bit and I just hate cantrips doing damage.

Like I really would rather use a sling or crossbow than be able to cast a fire bolt every round when out of slots. It just personally feels like it cheapens the fantasy. Works for me in eberron's setting since its supposed to be littered with magic.

The only ttrpg I've liked with infinite spell casting is DCC since it still feels exciting to cast spells as they're wild and unstable since you roll off the effects table and can lose the spell or suffer consequences for rolling too low.

 

[Cryomancer]

For the DM here. Do you use leveling by XP or by milestone?

 

[SoupNazi]

For the DM here. Do you use leveling by XP or by milestone?

Why limit yourself to one?

I'd combine it. Generally, XP (via treasure is my preferred way), but if the party does something worth an extra experience reward, thy unh above their weight, etc., and it feels like you can't give them that much treasure to make them level up, then just gran the extra XP.

 

[Snorkack]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

 

[Larianshill]

Do you use leveling by XP or by milestone?

In my longest running campaign, I've used Exp until level 16. After that, I switched to milestones (I intend to finish on level 20). In CoS, I prefer milestones.

 

[ekrolo2]

 

[HeroMarine]

 

[vonAchdorf]

A new fan favorite for rpg.net.

 

[Caim]

Just give us the rules to turn D&D into an ERP system already. I know there's fan systems that do that, but don't be a bunch of fucking pussies.

 

[mediocrepoet]

This shit is cancer. It was bad enough in the CRPG space, but it's actually worse in the tabletop space. Why do you need mechanics for this as opposed to just RP?

Like when there are rules for classes, I get it. Rules for combat maneuvers, grappling, ship combat, etc. I get it.
Rules for twenty something hot mage academy romance, etc.? Ugh.

All these degenerate PCs should be wiped out by a virulent STI. That's a "romance" game mechanic I could get behind.

 

[Caim]

This shit is cancer. It was bad enough in the CRPG space, but it's actually worse in the tabletop space. Why do you need mechanics for this as opposed to just RP?

Some people just want to roll the bones to see how their bone rolls.

All these degenerate PCs should be wiped out by a virulent STI. That's a "romance" game mechanic I could get behind.

That's actually a pretty nifty plot hook. Some super STI is putting people down, and it's up to you to figure out who's behind it before the country falls apart. Spoilers: it's the crabomancer.

 

[deuxhero]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

 

[Alex]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

Now you need to figure out how much XP each character earned instead if they are different levels then?

 

[mediocrepoet]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

Now you need to figure out how much XP each character earned instead if they are different levels then?

With the caveat that I haven't played or read PF2E, I'd imagine this is a bit of an edge case. Usually groups are the same level unless someone died and got rezzed or something. Even then, they're probably reasonably close (+/- 1 most likely) and could either be awarded the same XPs or close to in order to close the gap, e.g. +/-10%.

 

[deuxhero]

Yeah, PF1 was big into the idea that having uneven XP distribution in the party was unnecessary bookwork (both tracking it and level ups being seperate). It removed every XP cost in the system (most are replaced with GP costs, though some, like level loss, have some debuff instead), and outright had APs give XP to the entire party for personal accomplishments.

 

[Alex]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

Now you need to figure out how much XP each character earned instead if they are different levels then?

With the caveat that I haven't played or read PF2E, I'd imagine this is a bit of an edge case. Usually groups are the same level unless someone died and got rezzed or something. Even then, they're probably reasonably close (+/- 1 most likely) and could either be awarded the same XPs or close to in order to close the gap, e.g. +/-10%.

If everyone is going to be the same level... why do you need a xp system? I mean, you could just say after some sessions "ok, you all go up a level" and don't bother with xp at all.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

Now you need to figure out how much XP each character earned instead if they are different levels then?

With the caveat that I haven't played or read PF2E, I'd imagine this is a bit of an edge case. Usually groups are the same level unless someone died and got rezzed or something. Even then, they're probably reasonably close (+/- 1 most likely) and could either be awarded the same XPs or close to in order to close the gap, e.g. +/-10%.

If everyone is going to be the same level... why do you need a xp system? I mean, you could just say after some sessions "ok, you all go up a level" and don't bother with xp at all.

That's basically the 5E milestone system. Anyway, even with individualized awards, RP bonuses, etc. and spending XP on making magic items, most characters tend to be generally the same level in any system other than those where each class has a separate progression track. The reason why should be obvious.

 

[RangerBoo]

This was made for women in mind. Or rather what woke men with the pronouns He/They in their Twitter profiles and frumby, man hating, histrionic women who are also from the West Coast think what women want. Many women in the Twitter and Tumblr crowd hate violence and adventure. They love teen angst and high school drama. This is pretty much every YA novel now and those are also very popular with women who are way too old for this shit. WoTC are so out of touch that they think most women love this shit and are trying their damnedest to pander to them. Problem is that most girls who are into fantasy and adventure don't like the YA, teen angst shit. They want to go on an adventure and slay the evil lich lord or Mind Flayer not relive their high school years. It also doesn't help that this was made by mentally unwell people who haven't mentally grown up past high school.

 

[Alex]

(...snip)

That's basically the 5E milestone system. Anyway, even with individualized awards, RP bonuses, etc. and spending XP on making magic items, most characters tend to be generally the same level in any system other than those where each class has a separate progression track. The reason why should be obvious.

Not really. Level advancement depends a whole lot on how the campaign is structured. There is a particular way of playing where what you say is true, I guess we could call it episodic play. In this way; each adventure has a well defined beginning and end and the party is assumed to be working together at all times to get through the episode. In this kind of play; it is usual for people to be always around the same level; and if it is all you want to play; I think doing away with xp entirely might be a good call.

But take hexcrawl game; where there is no specific objective for each game; the players are just walking around the map, exploring and trying to find useful things for the PCs. This kind of campaign is much more conductive for difference in levels; since the players are the ones who are choosing where they will go next. There is no outside pressure to keep everyone around the same power level; so you can put some kind of penalty for players that die. In fact, you could even make them start from level 1...

 

[mediocrepoet]

(...snip)

That's basically the 5E milestone system. Anyway, even with individualized awards, RP bonuses, etc. and spending XP on making magic items, most characters tend to be generally the same level in any system other than those where each class has a separate progression track. The reason why should be obvious.

Not really. Level advancement depends a whole lot on how the campaign is structured. There is a particular way of playing where what you say is true, I guess we could call it episodic play. In this way; each adventure has a well defined beginning and end and the party is assumed to be working together at all times to get through the episode. In this kind of play; it is usual for people to be always around the same level; and if it is all you want to play; I think doing away with xp entirely might be a good call.

But take hexcrawl game; where there is no specific objective for each game; the players are just walking around the map, exploring and trying to find useful things for the PCs. This kind of campaign is much more conductive for difference in levels; since the players are the ones who are choosing where they will go next. There is no outside pressure to keep everyone around the same power level; so you can put some kind of penalty for players that die. In fact, you could even make them start from level 1...

Yes, I suppose that's a fair point. I've never taken part in a game like that, but I definitely see what you're getting at.

 

[deuxhero]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

Now you need to figure out how much XP each character earned instead if they are different levels then?

With the caveat that I haven't played or read PF2E, I'd imagine this is a bit of an edge case. Usually groups are the same level unless someone died and got rezzed or something. Even then, they're probably reasonably close (+/- 1 most likely) and could either be awarded the same XPs or close to in order to close the gap, e.g. +/-10%.

If everyone is going to be the same level... why do you need a xp system? I mean, you could just say after some sessions "ok, you all go up a level" and don't bother with xp at all.

That's basically the 5E milestone system. Anyway, even with individualized awards, RP bonuses, etc. and spending XP on making magic items, most characters tend to be generally the same level in any system other than those where each class has a separate progression track. The reason why should be obvious.

That system has existed for far longer than 5E. Off the top of my head, most (if not all) Pathfinder APs included guidelines for using such a system (it doubles as a way to explain expected levels for parts, which is very useful in a less linear volume).

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

Now you need to figure out how much XP each character earned instead if they are different levels then?

With the caveat that I haven't played or read PF2E, I'd imagine this is a bit of an edge case. Usually groups are the same level unless someone died and got rezzed or something. Even then, they're probably reasonably close (+/- 1 most likely) and could either be awarded the same XPs or close to in order to close the gap, e.g. +/-10%.

If everyone is going to be the same level... why do you need a xp system? I mean, you could just say after some sessions "ok, you all go up a level" and don't bother with xp at all.

Might as well ask "If DM fiat exists, why have rules". There's plenty of reason to include rules so the DM has some kind of guideline for how it should work even if the DM will never use them.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Wasn't DM for DnD in ages, but if I did for 5e, I would go milestones. It is low lethality, every class has the same xp requirements for levelup - perfectly suited for that. XP inevitably boils down to error-prone bookkeeping.

Using 1000 XP as the XP needed to reach each level and adjusting the XP earned based on relative challenge was the one of the few truly good idea PF2 had. It avoided the book keeping mess that was trying to tally tens of thousands of XP, but maintained some kind of consistent number.

Now you need to figure out how much XP each character earned instead if they are different levels then?

With the caveat that I haven't played or read PF2E, I'd imagine this is a bit of an edge case. Usually groups are the same level unless someone died and got rezzed or something. Even then, they're probably reasonably close (+/- 1 most likely) and could either be awarded the same XPs or close to in order to close the gap, e.g. +/-10%.

If everyone is going to be the same level... why do you need a xp system? I mean, you could just say after some sessions "ok, you all go up a level" and don't bother with xp at all.

That's basically the 5E milestone system. Anyway, even with individualized awards, RP bonuses, etc. and spending XP on making magic items, most characters tend to be generally the same level in any system other than those where each class has a separate progression track. The reason why should be obvious.

That system has existed for far longer than 5E. Off the top of my head, most (if not all) Pathfinder APs included guidelines for using such a system (it doubles as a way to explain expected levels for parts, which is very useful in a less linear volume).

Sure, and there were also similar systems like assigning XPs for overcoming objectives rather than for kills and treasures that was functionally like the milestone system except still using XPs rather than just assigning levels outright. Either way, that 5E uses it came to mind as it's what I DM'd most recently. Not every answer has to try and be encyclopedic for the history of the hobby, especially in the 5E thread.

 

[Nortar]

Not a single dwarf on that picture, but 3 fucking elves.
Tells you all you need to know about how shit this booksie is if it was not already obvious.

The authors are racists hypocrite bigots, and worse - elfwankers.
Diversity my ass.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

there's at least one orc though