At that point she didn’t have any sleeves.

I’m amazed that none of these comments are mentioning the subject line of the post is a reference to “Stop! Hammer time!”

Would she get advantage on the roll if she pointed out that practice under stressful but safe circumstances is both responsible and good preparation for unforseen stressful and potentially dangerous situations? So, really, playing strip poker is the mature and responsible course of action here.

PF2e actually exists because of D&D 5e. 5e is a streamlined and (most people believe) improved version of 3.5, which is exactly what PF1e is under a different label. But to appeal to their rebellious hipster demographic the new PF had to be different and innovative. So you get a bunch of overly complex rules for options and the sake of just being like D&D but still totally not D&D. The result is a decent game that definitely isn’t 5e because it intentionally trades off most of the streamlining that makes 5e more approachable for the sake of complexity and options.

Basically it’s a bunch of pretentious hipster BS.

One of my favorite characters of all time would default to using her mace to open locks if the rogue wasn’t around.

5e is twice as generous as 3.5 with ASIs where you got 1 point every four levels. This was balanced out by the entire system having a lot more ways to increase your numbers, in the case of ability scores there are a buttload of different magic items that boost them either permanently or while worn (and there’s no attunement to limit to how many items you can benefit from though similar sources don’t stack benefits). Comparably 3.5 is also more generous with feats, giving them out every three character levels (not class levels) and if you’re a fighter your entire class mechanic is literally “get a bonus feat at first level and every even numbered level.” But feats in that system are mostly either less effective than 5e counterparts (5e using compressed numbers and bonded accuracy affects this) or being grouped into chains/trees of multiple feats you need to get the best affects. An example is how any specialist archer needs Point Blank Shot as a prerequisite for the more effective ones like Rapid Shot and Precise Shot.

5e is built around the idea of bonded accuracy. In super simplified terms that miss a lot of nuance, this basically means all the numbers are smaller insteqad of tacking on literally seven different modifiers to any given roll so that a mid level character isn’t good at something unless they can consistently hit a DC 30 check. This means that that +1 bonus you get to relevant rolls from a +2 ASI makes a BIG difference by comparison. Not all 5e feats are super powerful, but you get ones with multiple effects that in 3.5 would be spread around multiple feats that must be taken separately. Additionally the lower numbers you’re using means things like lower AC on monsters so that -5 penalty from Sharpshooter or GWM is often a reasonable risk for the extra damage equal to around twice what you average on your normal damage dice. These are much more powerful effects and as such you get less of them.

I am fully on board with this community, fuck Reddit. I will be telling my all my friends and anyone else I think might be interested about this, specifically as an alternative to Reddit. Also obligatory plug about this network having an LFG section as an alternative to r/lfg. As of this there’s only one post from a week or two ago, but more folks are subscribing steadily as the general community grows, so if you’re looking to put together a group for a game, please consider advertising there.

That’s the point. If you want everything right away just start with max level characters. Congratulations, no more leveling up means no more agonizing choices.

And no, having a more powerful character at level X doesn’t change this. It just means that either your DM starts throwing comparably more powerful enemies at you or everything gets easier. In the first case you’re accomplishing nothing because everybody involved is just adding some extra numbers to their rolls. And if you want everything to be easier you might as well just assume you always succeed on every check and get max damage on every attack. For that matter don’t bother even pretending to be interested in dice, begin every combat by just describing how you massacre your foes. Then type up a description of it and you’re writing a book instead of actually playing a game.

Lots of communities associated with (roughly analogous to subreddits but with 110% les u/spez), check them all out!

This is the memes community. You’d probably get better results posting in https://ttrpg.network/c/dndnext or https://ttrpg.network/c/askgamemasters (You might want to subscribe to those communities as well)

Subclasses in 5e functionally replaced 3.5 prestige classes. They specialize a character with specific skillsets beyond those of the core class. Instead of needing certain skill/feat/etc requisites you just get one upon reaching a certain level in the class, which is in line with 5e being (in simple terms) “like 3.5 but streamlined and more new-user friendly.”

This makes sense, though as a cleric aficionado reading through the first UA with cleric rules made me reflexively wince several times. From a balance point of view it is much more simplified to have all classes using the same general template for progression, and the multiclassing powergamer “dip” concerns are valid for stacking benefits at first level.

You can just tack on that one thing about getting it for free at the beginning of a game without calling it something different. It’s still functionally the same system, not some “new” mechanic. And if the person running the game doesn’t keep pointing it out the players are not going to pay any more attention to it than before. Tacking on a slight addition like that will not “fix” a system if people still don’t actually use it.

The problem is operator error, not design. An automatic transmission won’t make a car easier to drive for a person who keeps forgetting that you have to actually press down on the long foot pedal on the right side to make it go. Much like the majority of PF, this “different mechanic” is just D&D dressed up in a new T-shirt with a different scent of perfume.

Perhaps pin that post to the top so it’s readily visible to newcomers? Can you pin something to the community, so it shows up for new folks join? And I know Lemmy calls it “featured” instead of “pinned” but it still uses an icon of a pin.

You’re right about the real issue being that people just don’t use the system, whatever you’re calling it. I just started a campaign with a new group and the DM has his own variation on it that is really just a minor tweak…except that he appears to not forget that it exists. His tweak is making inspiration a collective (and cumulative) pool for the entire party and “you guys keep track of it, I have enough things to juggle already with seven players and all the NPCs, monsters, plot, description, etc.” In our only session so far he gave us two points, one I think for roleplay and the other because I posted a muscle wizard meme image in the discord while he was struggling to properly describe the second phase of the bulked up wizard boss we were fighting (“Yeah, like that! Take a point of inspiration!”). We didn’t actually use any of it yet but with the fight we ended on a cliffhanger for I’m planning to be proactive if nobody else does.

Aside from the death save thing, that’s really just a minor tweak on the basic mechanic of 5e’s inspiration (rerolling after the fact instead of getting advantage beforehand), plus letting them stack when accumulated. The biggest problem with 5e inspiration being hoarded isn’t that it doesn’t stack, it’s that many DMs just don’t give it out with any frequency whatsoever even though the system’s description encourages DMs to give it out for all the reasons mentioned (cool roleplay, clever tactics, etc). The idea is supposed to be to encourage players to “go ham” getting into character and immersing themselves into the game to earn it back after using it, not to lack such motivation because they feel safe with three do-overs in their back pocket.

The system isn’t flawed, it’s just underused and the slightly different version of it doesn’t change anything unless the DM/GM actually gives it out. And I would think players would be more likely to ause inspiration or hero points or drama dice or epicness metanuggets or whatever you want to call it if they heard the DM say “I would give you inspiration for that but you haven’t used the one you already have” than they would if they didn’t “waste” that extra one by just tossing it on the pile they already have “in case of emergency” like an offline FPS player hoarding their rocket ammo but never using their most powerful weapon because they might need it all against the next tough enemy.

And I’m not saying either slight variation of the same basic mechanic is necessarily better. I’m saying that the solution the problem of it not getting used will remain the same in both unless the DM/GM takes the exact same actions with either (actually handing it out). Again, the problem isn’t the system, it’s operator error.

Thanks!

Posted

How about a specific LFG section?