Hello there all, I am new to all of D&D but extremely riveted about the topic nonetheless. How exactly are the rules simply guidelines, though? I had previously assumed you had to follow them to a t.
Playing D&D is like cooking, and the rules are like recipes. It is a good idea to KNOW the recipe (you do not have to memorize it all either as long as you know how to look it up in the book; in my opinion, it is even easier and quicker to just Google it), but you do NOT need to EXECUTE it to the exact measurements nor even ingredients, you probably should not either, and you are unlikely to be able to follow it to a perfect T anyways.
It's a great analogy.
One has to remember also that cooking has been made for milleniums without timers and precise mesurements. It was all nose and rule of thumb. Also the pots where the cooking were made were left on the fire all along and were crudely washed when washed so that they would get a crust of the previous cookings that would add to the flavour.
So, houserule early and houserule often, dont throw your houserules that dont work well yet but iterate, i guess.
Precisely where the game ends up. It becomes a cartoon. Children enjoy cartoons like this, as well as adults. But adults know that no game can be played like that, unless it is called Toon.
If you were the director of The Batman, you would have stopped the movie when he jumped out of the building?
Precisely where the game ends up. It becomes a cartoon. Children enjoy cartoons like this, as well as adults. But adults know that no game can be played like that, unless it is called Toon.
Don’t kid yourself, the game is a cartoon to begin with, just following RAW.
A gnome with the sentinel feat and a dagger can stop a charging tarrasque.
A wild magic sorcerer can: You grow a long beard made of feathers that remains until you sneeze, at which point the feathers explode out from your face.
Dragonborn with a feat can scream so loud it scares people. Ditto leonin without a feat
There are rabbit people, cat people, like three kinds of bird people, turtle people, soon to be hippo people and bug people, elephant people, bull people, the above mentioned lion people, lizard people, snake people. The Disney cartoon about unlikely animal friends writes itself.
And that’s not even looking at what spellcasters can do.
You can turn it into some gritty, dark Joe Ambercrombie novel. Honestly, I often prefer it that way. But cartoon is fully supported by RAW.
I should qualify my comment by I do not allow any of the silliness that started long before Tasha's. I only allow the PHB species (actually, a subset of those, no Tieflings, Dragonborn) and PHB and XGTE subclasses and mechanics. Anything else was designed to cater to children, and I don't play with children, no matter their chronological age.
Well, the first two examples are straight PHB. But if that's where you want to move the goalposts to.
Barbarian rage is pretty much literally hulking out.
Monks can run up walls and across water. And with quivering palm, punch someone, then decide over two weeks later to hurt them.
Bards can sing so nicely their friends get better at their job.
Fighters can turn a crossbow into a semi-auto.
Ancients paladins can turn into some kind of angry tree avatar of nature.
And lets consider magic items. Just DMG, since its the same era as the PHB, so these are things that any DM rolling on the treasure table might find in their campaign.
There's a hammer that comes back when you throw it, a statue of an animal that can turn into an actual animal, a bag you can pull animals out of, books that make you stronger after you read them, rings that give you x-ray vision, a metal cube that turns into a fortress. Portable holes are straight from Bugs Bunny. The list goes on and on.
Many (certainly not all, but most) of these things are carried over all the way from 1st edition. The game is, and always has been, cartoonish. It's a big part of the fun.
Many (certainly not all, but most) of these things are carried over all the way from 1st edition. The game is, and always has been, cartoonish. It's a big part of the fun.
It's a great analogy.
One has to remember also that cooking has been made for milleniums without timers and precise mesurements. It was all nose and rule of thumb. Also the pots where the cooking were made were left on the fire all along and were crudely washed when washed so that they would get a crust of the previous cookings that would add to the flavour.
So, houserule early and houserule often, dont throw your houserules that dont work well yet but iterate, i guess.
If you were the director of The Batman, you would have stopped the movie when he jumped out of the building?
Well, the first two examples are straight PHB. But if that's where you want to move the goalposts to.
Barbarian rage is pretty much literally hulking out.
Monks can run up walls and across water. And with quivering palm, punch someone, then decide over two weeks later to hurt them.
Bards can sing so nicely their friends get better at their job.
Fighters can turn a crossbow into a semi-auto.
Ancients paladins can turn into some kind of angry tree avatar of nature.
And lets consider magic items. Just DMG, since its the same era as the PHB, so these are things that any DM rolling on the treasure table might find in their campaign.
There's a hammer that comes back when you throw it, a statue of an animal that can turn into an actual animal, a bag you can pull animals out of, books that make you stronger after you read them, rings that give you x-ray vision, a metal cube that turns into a fortress. Portable holes are straight from Bugs Bunny. The list goes on and on.
Many (certainly not all, but most) of these things are carried over all the way from 1st edition. The game is, and always has been, cartoonish. It's a big part of the fun.
Allow me to high five you with Bigby's Hand
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.