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  1. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    So, I suppose I should try and "sell" my thing a little more? Here's some of what I think are the highlights: - a tighter coupling between "narrative" and "mechanics" than standard D&D, especially as regarding Vancian magic - i.e., deliberately giving the player a better handle on "okay, my...
  2. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    A lot of it is that someone before mentioned that I need to develop a "thicker skin", but I'm not sure where the line is between humility and weakness, so I'm trying to avoid making too bold of claims or defending my ideas too aggressively.
  3. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    AAH! Bruce Baugh! AAH! Yeah, my setting is definitely a bit more gonzo than standard 5E or OSR (one player described it as "Fallout meets Adventure Time"), but I'm still trying to "find my voice" - a lot of the criticism I get when I try to describe it as "like what Pathfinder was trying to do"...
  4. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    Actually, a "pace" is a standard unit of measure, equal to 5 feet. (It comes from Roman times, when they drilled everyone to have the same stride length, bc keeping in formation matters)
  5. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    Anyway! Of all the things I'm looking for feedback on, I think tightening up the explanation of dice stuff is the most relevant right now; I'm definitely not interested in abandoning the "paces" and "leagues" terminology. But it's definitely important that spells point at a proficiency die...
  6. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    This shouldn't be confusing in practice, because if you're a Wizard then you're a Wizard, so you're always using your Arcana die even if the Druid over there is using his Nature die. You'll know that your Arcana die is a d10 (or whatever) bc it's the same d10 that you used the last time you cast...
  7. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    Sorry, "proficiency die" is going to change depending on what proficiency you're using; this is explained in several places. - If you're a Wizard, and you're casting a Wizard spell, then you're using your Arcana die. - If you're an Artificer, and you're activating a magic item you created...
  8. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    yeah they did, they called them "spaces" tho bc they were trying to be deliberately tabletop-wargamey.
  9. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    The thing is, I really fell in love w 4e's default assumption of the 5-foot grid.
  10. charsheet-bx5-1-rogue.jpg

    charsheet-bx5-1-rogue.jpg

  11. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    I thought I had "five-foot paces" in more places in the document, but it looks like an editing mishap deleted them a while ago. I'll add them back. Regarding "Where on the character sheet would I look to see what my current proficiency die is?", here's an example of a filled-out character sheet:
  12. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    On cantrips: So, if you prepare Disintegrate, then you have the Magic Missile cantrip while Disintegrate remains prepared. If you prepare Forceful Hand, then you have the Mage Hand cantrip while Forceful Hand is prepared. Think of each cantrip as a "powered-down" version of the main spell...
  13. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    Anyway! I completely removed the idea of "proficiency level" as separate from "proficiency die", and moved "defensive value" to the saving throw section (since only saving throw skills really care about it), so now the first paragraph just reads: And then later, when describing Saving Throws...
  14. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    Definitely noticing this! Not really interested in picking a fight, though.
  15. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    Looking over the rest of the rules, the places where "proficiency level" as a static number are so low, that I'm pretty sure I can literally remove them everywhere, and just refer to the die itself wherever necessary. So, edited and updated!
  16. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    Thanks, this is actually useful! I might be able to rephrase it so it doesn't even bother w dice/levels, but taking the current RAW, lemme try and explain w examples. You have a skill. Let's use Athletics (Str), since that's at the top of the sheet. Let's say your Athletics Proficiency is +d6...
  17. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    I don't know how to make any claims that won't be refuted instantly by someone claiming that they aren't true (see: the reaction to me calling it "lite")
  18. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    the problem is that I am absolutely terrible at marketing, and always have been; I keep making things (board games, computer games, toys, little physical inventions, whatever) and then try to market them, fail, and give up bc I took Charisma as a dump-stat.
  19. HephaistosFnord

    D&D General Ready for playtest: a "5E-lite" retroclone

    It's a common solution; my system does the same thing for warrior classes (but since my system tracks proficiency bonuses as dice, it keeps damage 'swingy' in a way I rather appreciate)
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