Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 JohnLynch Apr 16, 2015 2:44:42	I see lots of threads here titled "What's 5th ed good for" and "No new stuff" and people saying "it doesn't have X so I'm playing something else."   So what do you actually want in a rule system? Not looking at edition specific stuff or "I want to be able to pick a feat at every odd level starting at level 1". I'm looking for more high level stuff.   My wishlist is: A system with maths that I can understand. A system with lots of options that allow my players to make their characters feel really unique. Plenty of different things for characters to do on a rules level within any given gaming session. Easy to adjust combat encounters so that I can challenge my players without almost TPKing them every single fight. Combat durations that don't dominate the session. I personally don't know any system that gets all of those points. They might hit 4 out of 5.But I don't know of any that hit all 5. Without edition warring, what do you want in a rules system?
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Apr 16, 2015 5:40:46	My wishlist is simple: Making and losing characters: If losing a character (such as by the character's death) is easy to have happen or reasonably probable, then making a new character must be extremely quick. If creating a character is extremely fiddly or time consuming, losing the character must be nearly impossible when not done deliberately. If a character dying (and not coming back) is very unlikely, and character creation is still very quick and easy, then that is a plus. Playing the game: The players and I have to be able to feel as though meaningful progress has been made by the end of our 4 hour play session - which means that unless we can get the system for resolving uncertainty zipping right along (whether it is the layered complexity of Shadowrun or intentional simplicity of Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition in both cases, makes no difference so long as it flows).
#3 cowleymen Apr 16, 2015 12:02:21	I feel like 5th does all those points mentioned so far.    As far as what I want out a rules system is adapatability. I should be able to run just about any game genere with out a problem. The DMG is a big step for me as far as that goes, with the many, many rule variants and modules. The only problem I have with 5e, is that the relaxed language used to write the rules make some of the interactions between different parts a little unclear. How ever, with the edition harboring back to "Ask your dm, not the rulebook", its much less a problem then something being unclear in 4th or 3.x.
#4 ankiyavon Apr 16, 2015 13:02:22	My #1 is consistency.   I hate it when similar situations resolve differently because of a quirk in the rules.  (If, for example, the floor is slippery, it should be resolved basically the same way every time.  It makes no sense to me if one time it's a save to not fall over and another time it's a dex check, which might result in a character being fantastic at dealing with one slippery floor and terrible at another, with there being no significant difference in-world.  PS - Yes, this is one big reason why I have never seriously played 2E since 3E came out.)       I can't really think of a #2.  I've seen or played a lot of different systems, and in general, I like the consistent ones and dislike the inconsistent ones, regardless of what other things they have going on.
#5 Nesian42Ryukaiel Apr 16, 2015 21:27:03	ankiyavon wrote:
(Reply to #3) AaronOfBarbaria	cowleymen wrote:
#7 rampant Apr 16, 2015 22:34:49	I want an armor system that makes sense, instead of DnD armor where the classes that get the highest values in the numbers that armor adds to are the classes that don't wear any. I want weapons that have meaningful impact on how you fight, not just how much damage you deal and how many hands you use to deal it. I want a defense attack system that is logical and consistent and not arbitrarily devided between magic and losers who don't have magic. I want non-magical to not equal dead boring. I want all classes to pay opportunity costs. Finally, I want a decent crafting system.
#8 cowleymen Apr 17, 2015 1:04:40	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#9 cowleymen Apr 17, 2015 1:04:44	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#10 AaronOfBarbaria Apr 17, 2015 2:44:56	Most folks don't want to hear my thoughts on sci-fi; I don't consider it and fantasy to be separate genres, just different explanations for the same thing.
#11 mellored Apr 17, 2015 5:36:05	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
(Reply to #11) AaronOfBarbaria	mellored wrote:
#13 mellored Apr 17, 2015 7:50:52	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#14 Rastapopoulos Apr 17, 2015 10:49:39	Simplicity and Diversity   If you have simple rules that that are easy to use and memorize, but offer not much variety, or are too limited in application, that's not good.   If you have variety through an exaggerated number of rules and abilities with individual and specific rules, that's even worse. The game becomes about managing rules and not telling stories.   5e suffers terribly from the latter, unfortunately. Especially with class design, the worst element of 5e in my opinion.   Advantage/Disadvantage, on the other hand, is a good example of a simple rule that works well, and can be applied to an infinite amount of situations in the game, including improvised situations.   A really good game design offers you a variety of possibilities while using the same easy-to-use universal rules.
#15 kalil Apr 17, 2015 11:09:01	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
(Reply to #4) arnwolf666	ankiyavon wrote:
#17 kalil Apr 17, 2015 21:08:16	arnwolf666 wrote:
(Reply to #15) AaronOfBarbaria	kalil wrote:
#19 Tony_Vargas Apr 17, 2015 21:21:58	JohnLynch wrote:
#20 cowleymen Apr 18, 2015 1:56:26	@aaron- actually I really get that. There isnt a big difference between the story elements at all. But even a modern hero story is the same change. For me though, scifi is usually better protrayed, in a feel matter, with things like a more robust skill system then 5e, where even combat is something you include on that list. One "class" might be better at it or earns ranks in it easier, but like mellord said, most scifi stories and characters are defined by their equipment much more then most fanatasy.