More Recent Views of the Playtest
Oct 8, 2012 23:41:18 GMT -8
Post by HyveMynd on Oct 8, 2012 23:41:18 GMT -8
So the latest D&D Next playtest materials came out yesterday and I thought I'd rant about them a little more.
What is really bugging the ever-loving shit out of me about this whole playtest process is the lip service WotC is paying to the importance of "story elements" when they obviously don't give a rat's ass about it. Case in point, the new magic items.
WotC states that they want to make the finding of magic items more interesting and exciting.
So what did the WotC D&D Next designers do to achieve that stated goal? They categorized the items into six levels of rarity (common, uncommon, rare, very rare, legendary, and artifact) provided a handy table of what level a character should be before they get an item of a specific rarity, and then created d100 tables divided by encounter difficulty (easy, average, and tough) that you can roll on to see what item gets "dropped" as a reward in each encounter. Snore. Tell me again why this is interesting, because I simply don't see it.
Next, attunement. Certain magic items can now be "attuned" to their wielder, unlocking greater powers and abilities if certain requirements are met. Let's see what those requirements are, shall we?
Oh boy! To attune an item to myself, I have to "concentrate" for a full 10 minutes and maybe meet some sort of class/race/ability score requirement. That's it. My god that is fucking boring. Who is going to role-play out that 10 minutes of concentration? No one! Let's look at some of the plot-hook generating, narratively flavorful, "story element" creating attunement requirements WotC has given us so far. Ready?
Dwarven Thrower
A dwarven-forged maul, symbolizing the hope and fury of the dwarven race. It becomes a throwing weapon that deals extra damage to giants when attuned. There's a lot of flavor going on here with this item.
Requirement to attune: Be a dwarf and "concentrate" for 10 minutes.
Holy Avenger
A sword forged in the heavens by angels given to the champions of the gods. Deals extra damage to fiends and undead and creates a sphere of mild protection in a 5' radius when attuned.
Requirement to attune: Be a paladin and "concentrate" for 10 minutes.
Vorpal Sword
An epic sword of legendary sharpness that can instantly behead foes when attuned.
Requirement to attune: "Concentrate" for 10 minutes.
Come the fuck on. That's it? Where's the "story element" requirements? How about requiring the wielder of a Dwarven Thrower to actually slay a giant or maybe undertake a perilous quest on behalf of a Dwarven King before the item attunes itself to them? A Holy Avenger sword that just says "Eh, fuck it. Anyone will do, so long as they're a paladin." Jesus christ. Why isn't the attunement requirement somehow linked to defeating some fiendish or undead foe, or you know actually fucking AVENGING something before it activates? Don't even get me started on that Vorpal Sword.
Lastly, WotC has provided a series of table we can roll on to generate some instant flavor for magic items. We have a table of entities who may have created it, another for it's nature, another for minor properties, and one for minor quirks. These are nice to spark ideas, but again WotC didn't go far enough. Ooh. An "abyssal" created item says it gives the owner nightmares. Which they immediately forget upon waking. What the fuck? Oh. An item with the coveted minor quirk is noted as being desired by any intelligent creature who sees it, but "few take action against the bearer to claim it". Again. What. The. Fuck. If you're going to specifically state that the drawback or quirk you rolled doesn't matter, why have it in the first place?
So basically, WotC talks a good game about the importance of "story" while shitting all over it and yanking out all it's teeth so that it has no effect on the game.
What is really bugging the ever-loving shit out of me about this whole playtest process is the lip service WotC is paying to the importance of "story elements" when they obviously don't give a rat's ass about it. Case in point, the new magic items.
WotC states that they want to make the finding of magic items more interesting and exciting.
Every adventure holds the promise—but not a guarantee—of finding one or more magic items, and part of the fun of exploring a dungeon is the thrill of unearthing a unique item found nowhere else.That's directly from the text of the new playlets packet.
Our overall goal for magic items is to make finding them interesting and exciting. Magic items—aside from simple items like potions—should make everyone at the table sit up and take notice. We do not want magic items to feel mundane or dull.That little gem is right from Mike Mearls' latest Legends & Lore article.
So what did the WotC D&D Next designers do to achieve that stated goal? They categorized the items into six levels of rarity (common, uncommon, rare, very rare, legendary, and artifact) provided a handy table of what level a character should be before they get an item of a specific rarity, and then created d100 tables divided by encounter difficulty (easy, average, and tough) that you can roll on to see what item gets "dropped" as a reward in each encounter. Snore. Tell me again why this is interesting, because I simply don't see it.
Next, attunement. Certain magic items can now be "attuned" to their wielder, unlocking greater powers and abilities if certain requirements are met. Let's see what those requirements are, shall we?
Oh boy! To attune an item to myself, I have to "concentrate" for a full 10 minutes and maybe meet some sort of class/race/ability score requirement. That's it. My god that is fucking boring. Who is going to role-play out that 10 minutes of concentration? No one! Let's look at some of the plot-hook generating, narratively flavorful, "story element" creating attunement requirements WotC has given us so far. Ready?
Dwarven Thrower
A dwarven-forged maul, symbolizing the hope and fury of the dwarven race. It becomes a throwing weapon that deals extra damage to giants when attuned. There's a lot of flavor going on here with this item.
Requirement to attune: Be a dwarf and "concentrate" for 10 minutes.
Holy Avenger
A sword forged in the heavens by angels given to the champions of the gods. Deals extra damage to fiends and undead and creates a sphere of mild protection in a 5' radius when attuned.
Requirement to attune: Be a paladin and "concentrate" for 10 minutes.
Vorpal Sword
An epic sword of legendary sharpness that can instantly behead foes when attuned.
Requirement to attune: "Concentrate" for 10 minutes.
Come the fuck on. That's it? Where's the "story element" requirements? How about requiring the wielder of a Dwarven Thrower to actually slay a giant or maybe undertake a perilous quest on behalf of a Dwarven King before the item attunes itself to them? A Holy Avenger sword that just says "Eh, fuck it. Anyone will do, so long as they're a paladin." Jesus christ. Why isn't the attunement requirement somehow linked to defeating some fiendish or undead foe, or you know actually fucking AVENGING something before it activates? Don't even get me started on that Vorpal Sword.
Lastly, WotC has provided a series of table we can roll on to generate some instant flavor for magic items. We have a table of entities who may have created it, another for it's nature, another for minor properties, and one for minor quirks. These are nice to spark ideas, but again WotC didn't go far enough. Ooh. An "abyssal" created item says it gives the owner nightmares. Which they immediately forget upon waking. What the fuck? Oh. An item with the coveted minor quirk is noted as being desired by any intelligent creature who sees it, but "few take action against the bearer to claim it". Again. What. The. Fuck. If you're going to specifically state that the drawback or quirk you rolled doesn't matter, why have it in the first place?
So basically, WotC talks a good game about the importance of "story" while shitting all over it and yanking out all it's teeth so that it has no effect on the game.