Seminar SkillsAbilityScores

7/27/2019 Seminar SkillsAbilityScores

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Sunday January 29, 2012

12:22 Comment From DuskreignDoes the reimagining of skill and ability scores closely relate to one of the existing

versions of d&d with some minor tweaking or is this a brand new concept?


12:23 Comment From kozaimThere will be more and reiterative ability like 3.5 or less and general ability like

pathfinder?


12:23 Comment From WyzardAre we going to get away from the "dumb fighter?"


12:23 Comment From Style75

Point buy, rolling dice, or array?


12:23 Comment From DebbieHunton

Hope to see D&D return to the stat-based system it originally was instead of the skill-

based system the designers thought everyone wanted... nothing wrong with skills, it justseemed like the stats were ignored


12:25 In my games, ability scores are generally determined by:Point Buy

( 60% )

Rolling Dice

( 31% )

Using an Array

( 9% )


12:25 Comment From dr-strangelove

Have you ever considered changing the way the ability modifier currently works? For

instance, giving a bonus with every point above ten instead of every two points?


12:25 Comment From OsgoodWill ability score still improve as the character levels?



How will race interact with ability scores?



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12:25 Comment From Lumi

In AD&D 2e, you could easily be a fighter with 9 strength because ability scores in

relation to combat from 8-14 had pretty much the same effects. I'm hoping we can moveaway from "you have to have 16 in strength or the combat math kicks your ass."


12:25 Comment From kozaim

Will there be less or more variety bonus based on situations? I hope less. More thereare, more confusing is the game. General bonuses would do the trick


12:25 Comment From Armisael

Taking out the link between skills and stats would be ideal. The idea of skills to guideactions and resolutions is fine, but as Wyzard said...the dumb fighter sucks.



I have a goliath barbarian who can't pass an intimidate check. Will D&D Next fix this?



A stats game would also be more fast and resolutive than an ability points game



@Armisael The dumb fighter is just FUN roleplay fodder... don't forget there's more to

the game than winning combats...


12:28 Comment From DuskreignI look forward to the day when class no longer determines the number of skill you have.

It can define it to some degree but having a social fighter should be an option.


12:28 Comment From Aoirorentsu

What does DnDNext assume about your starting ability scores? A comment: in 4e, 18s

don't really feel special any more - when I played 2e as a kid, getting an 18 was a bigfreaking deal. Thanks for taking questions!


12:28 Comment From Alzer

I hope the relation between skills and ability scores is stronger in the next edition. Sincemany skills are rather reliant on such things (I've got some decent knowledge skills, but

less so than someone with a higher IQ than I have)


12:28 Comment From OsgoodAssuming the base game uses ability check instead of skills, will there be a rule module

with a 3E/4E style skill system?


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12:29 Comment From Duskreign

Is there any options for social combat?


12:29 Comment From ArmisaelNo, it is not. Why can't I play a master tactician without being a Warlord? Every D&D

system past 2e punishes INT fighters. Maybe I don't want to lead to have high Int and

be martial...so why not enable it? It's not like it's broken.


12:29 Comment From Lumi

I would love to go back to 2e style non-weapon proficiencies. Diplomacy? Alright,having that NWP gives you +1 to your Charisma check.


12:29Just a reminder, as we're about to start. Trevor Kidd is on hand at the D&D XP

Seminar, to help transcribe the speakers' presentation. Comments in these chats aremoderated (meaning, they are approved before being published) so as not to overwhelm

the transcription. But please do comment and ask questions; we keep a record of

questions raised in these chats (published and unpublished) that we'll bring back to

R&D, to let them know what's on your mind.



Aoirorentsu makes an interesting point, is there an assumed minimum value for acharacter's primary attribute (e.g 16)?


12:30 Trevor: Alright all, we're about to start things up here. Thanks much for joining us!

Remember your questions won't show up in the room unless we push it live.



What if races and only races determines the skill you have and you are proficient with?

What would happen to the game?


12:30 Comment From Aoirorentsu

How are social skills broken down in DnDNext?



@Armisael You're right, there should be options. But the dumb fighter shouldn't be

ignored, either.



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12:31 Comment From D&DForever

Will there be age modifiers for ability scores?


12:32 Comment From ArmisaelAwesome! Echoing the question about minimum needed stats: will they be present?

And if so, could they be spelled out very clearly? Lots of players don't realize that a

minimum 18 is nigh-mandatory in 4e, for instance.



Is there a way to make skill use during combat more viable?


12:32 Greg: You've talked about the importance of ability scores in D&D in the recent past.

What kind of things are you planning for ability scores for the next iteration of D&D?


12:32 Comment From Thalion

If there is going to be stat improvement, will it be capped at some point in time (racial

maximums, for example) or not?



@DebbieHunton: Acknowledged. It should be possible, for sure. Just...not mandatory,

IMO. A STR/CON fighter should be as feasible as a STR/INT one (or hell, maybeWIS/INT for weirdness?)


12:33 Comment From Quindia

I'd like to see a return to rolled stats as core with the option to use point-buy - can thepanel address this?


12:33 Comment From Justin

Will we see ability boosting items again?



Will there be primary and secondary abilities, or just primary?


12:34 Comment From Glowface

What is important to me is that ability scores should not be essential, necessary parts of

character efficiency on a level that I have only one optimal ability score allotment for a

class or sub-class.



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12:34 Monte: Looking at all the editions of the game, you can easily see that ability scores are

really important. Often times, people will use ability scores to help them define their

character, or they'll have an idea for a character and then look at the scores first to makethem fit that idea.

A couple of days ago I talked a little bit about how we want the core mechanic of thegame to be the interaction between the DM and the player. And one of the great tools

for that is the ability score. So what we want is to empower DMs and players so that if

you want to attempt to do something "I want to open the door" then the DM doesn'

thave to even have you roll, he can just look, see you have a 17 strength and says"Yeah, you burst through that door"

We want to get past some of the mundane rolls and not tie up a lot of table time withthat and move on to the more interesting stuff and the table narative.


12:36 Comment From Lord of 13

@Armisael: classes are defined in part by what stats they use; the Wizard is the INTcaster while the Sorceror is the CHA caster (3.5); or the Warlord is the CHA leader

while the Cleric is the WIS leader (4.0).


12:36 Comment From kozaim@D&DForever yeah, i hope that the link between a skill like "Perception" and the fact

that i'm an 90 years old man will not mean anymore that i can see the world like an

eagle would thanks to the +3 wisdom bonus. It's just ridicolous.


12:36 Comment From ArmisaelOoooh, neat. What constitutes a mundane roll, then? Shoelace tying checks? Climbing?

Pirouetting from one building to the next?



From my past characters, I've had ability scores a low as 7-8. I believe having negative

modifiers help define some characters, like Raistlin with a very low CON score. I likethe idea of point buying for dropping an ability or two below the norm and i hope that it

will be part of D&D Next.


12:36 Comment From Style75Wow, no ability rolls? That's very minimal.


12:37 Comment From JordyThat makes it easier for sure. Recently had a player try to break through a door, took 3

rounds of combat.. lol!!


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12:37 Comment From GlowfaceMakes sense. Avoids funny situations when an STR 10 wizard rolls good and breaks

through the foor, while the STR 20 Barbarian bounces back due to bad roll.


12:37 Bruce: An example I saw yesterday was a rogue going into a room and looking fortraps. You can describe what you're doing and roleplay what you're doing. If he says I

look in the jar and I know there's a gem in the jar, I'm not going to have him roll.

However, if something is more hidden, like a secret compartment on the shelf I wouldlook at their intelligence and see if he can just automatically find it or if he's looking in

the exact right place. However, if he's doing that check in the middle of some other

stressor like fighting, then I'd have him roll.

Rob: Earlier this week I had some players fighting some kobolds in the room. One of

the guys wanted to jump over a pit, he had a 15 strength so I let him just do it - it wasn't

that big of a jump and it sped up combat. It's very liberating to be able to do that kind of

thing and just keep the flow going.


12:37 Comment From Mindflayer

@Armisael I think he means any roll where there isn't any dramatic signifigance


12:38 Comment From Manny

one thing that I've missed from 3E & 4E D&D is the way that you can ignore your

Attributes once you are done creating your character. I hope that D&DNext allows us toput more importance on Attributes again. Thank you for your time.



Will there be some system to help a DM judge just how good a certain score is? E.g. theway 22 was described as "Fire Giant Strength" in previous editions?


12:38 Comment From BayonetPriestI must say I like the sound of cutting out the mundane rolls using that method. It seems

like a further simplified version of passive perception and such. Passive Perception was

something I very much liked seeing in 4e.

Sunday January 29, 201212:39 Comment From Glowface

It would be useful to have clearly defined abilities for such an approach, with lots of

examples on which ability plays when.


12:39 Greg: Another thing we've been talking about recently is saving throws and what you

guys think about them and the future of D&D?


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Monte: Making a saving throw against something has become something that's really a

part of D&D. So again, what we've done is tie those into the ability scores. For exampleyou'll make a strength saving throw or wisdom saving throw against a certain effect and

so far it's become a big part of some effects and abilities.


12:40 Comment From EindrachenCould we possibly see an evolution of the old "take 10" and "take 20" mechanics? For

example, perhaps there are "passive" uses of ability (certain types of raw movement,

fairly simplistic actions taking little or no physical/mental effort) and "active" uses?



That system reminds me a lot of AD&D 2.0 in the sense that you only roll for important

stuff.



So this means that there will no longer be static "Will Defense"? Or will the saving

throws be a layer on top of that?


12:40 Rob: For example the big monster is grappling you you might use dexterity to save and

get out. But you can also have some other ways of getting out that grapple. Maybe

there's a gem on that creature's head and you can an intelligence saving throw to realizethat if you mess with it, the creature would die and let you go.


12:41 Comment From Style75Return of saving through defenses? Does this mean Fort, Ref, and Will are gone?



So... we are back to actively rolling defense (spells) against effects. Can work eitherway.



Does this mean we'll be seeing a return of saving throws as a roll instead of static

defense?


12:41 Comment From D1gital-ZER0

When it comes to saving throws, I was a fan of the 3.5 "roll to see if you're okay" idea,not the 4e Willpower AC and the like. In the heat of battle, no one is going to have a

static willpower or reflexes.



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12:42 Comment From Osgood

Actually sounds less like a Saving Throw and more like and Opposed Check to me...


12:42 Comment From Style75If saving throws move back to be defensive in nature, how will we measure effect

duration? I hated tracking rounds of effects.


12:42 Comment From Jeff SteegeI like the idea of saying " You jump across the pit", but on the other hand some of the

most memorable moments in gaming are the failures, mundane and epic.



I hope that there is a return to players rolling resistance. I always felt a bit helpless in

4ed since the ability to resist was taken out of my hands past the static defense.


12:43 Comment From Rune-Lutz

a defense roll has advantages, but it slows combat if every character is rolling dice

every time they get attacked


12:43 Comment From Lanethan

My hope here is that we still have the passive defenses from 4e with Saving Throws for

ongoing effects, but the saving throws are no longer just "roll higher than 10".


12:44 Comment From MarkBut having passive defenses on an enemy lets all the players get in on the fun of Critical

Hits instead of "hope your enemy fails", and I hope that we don't lose that. You couldmake the players roll defenses and offenses, but that can take time.



Better rolling than statically defending


12:44 Greg: How the the different ability scores matter for different characters or classes?

Monte: Different ability scores will still be important to different classes, but there'salso plenty of room to focus on all the ability scores. For example if you want to be a

charismatic fighter, there's definitely room for that.

Rob: What we want to do when looking at how we handling ability scores in D&D Next

is to make sure that the ability scores have their own area carved out. It should make

sense to the players why the ability scores are linked to the things they are and makesense in the world.


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Monte: Another thing that we're trying out is not only having races give you ability

scores changes, but the classes also give you bonuses. It makes sense that if you're acleric that you would get that bonus to wisdom - you've had training or experience that

help you out there.

Bruce: I also see it as kind of puzzle pieces or guiding. I can pick the half orc and lets

say that gives you a +1 strength. I can then look at the classes and see that fighter gives

me a +1 strength and see the synergy there.


12:45 Comment From Eindrachen

How would you, as designers, determine which rolls are made by the attacker, and

which by the defender? For example, let's say a wizard tosses a fireball into a crowd of

enemies. Are they making a check to hit them? Or are all the enemies checking todefend?


12:45 Comment From AlzerAlternate functions for how abilities function sounds like a fantastic idea. Really lets

each character type be heroic in their own way. I.e. the fighter brute-strengthing out of

the grapple, the rogue being flexible and shifty, and the wizard finding something clever

to do.


12:46 Comment From Osgood

Will racial ability penalties return?


12:46 Greg: Speaking of ability scores, how are you guys planning on ability scores

generation?

Rob: Looking at all the iteration of D&D, the classic way of doing ability skills is

rolling. So the very basic we're working from are 4d6 drop the lowest for each stat. But

since we're also looking at the modularity, those core books will also have options for

other ability score generation which might be point buy, point arrays and other things.

Monte: Or you can just buy your DM a pizza and get all 18s.


12:46 Comment From Gueststats by pizza is obviously the best way imaginable


12:47 Comment From IndigoMoonscarIn the earlier Editions, magic was more broad, magic items encompassed more effects...

are you saying that the saving throw would change to take that into account if you move

the game to a less linear magic system?


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12:47 Greg: Talking about ability scores leads easily into skills. What are you guys tossing

around for skills and their uses?

Bruce: Looking at the playtest characters here, you might have noticed that a class or a

theme might have given you a bonus to skill, but you didn't have a skill list. Normally if

you were to call for a check, you would just call for the ability score - like a dexteritycheck for sneaking up. But if you have a class or character feature that gives you a

bonus to sneak, you would add that in.



Just as a note - truly classic D&D your rolls went in the order you rolled them,assigning your stats where you wanted them is later in D&D... and optional, to boot.


12:48 Greg: Could you talk about some of the challenges you faced while building the current

skill system idea?


12:48 Comment From Guest

Point buy is obviously for the more advanced and power gamer. Those who like to

min/max everything which is how I felt about 3rd ed. In random rolls like we did in allmy 2nd ed it had a touch of real life to it.


12:49 Comment From MarkThe problem with ability score rolling is that if ability scores are *vital* to yourcharacter's capabilities, rolling poorly across the board means you're going to be doing

poorly for your entire career, and that's atrocious. You don't roll for something as

character-defining as class or race, would you?


12:49 Bruce: What we started with was actually a lot like what we've come to now, but it

didn't reflect your ability scores directly, it was a bit more derived. It was

accomplishing its goals but it didn't necessarily look or feel like the heart and soul ofD&D, which is one of the challenges we always bring ourselves back to. So we changed

it and we're running with this idea now.


12:50 Comment From JustinSo skills are being used as specializations on abilities?


12:50 Comment From Style75Nice! Keeping most checks as ability checks and skill bonuses as extras means you can


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have a huge list of potential skills. Very flexible.



Mark: Actually I occasionally roll race or class for fun just because I don't know what Ifeel like doing.


12:50 Comment From TheActionPoint

Hello again from Afghanistan!! Even if 4d6 drop lowest is the default for homecampaigns, point buy in some iteration has been the satatus quo for ORganized Play.

Will this stay the same in D&D Next?


12:50 Monte: With skills it hasn't necessarily been easy to pick how skills have iconicly

worked in D&D, because each edition has changed the way those kinds of abilities

work. So we really keep going back to how do we make this feel like the most D&D

that we can. We're really looking forward to feedback on this one so we can see ifpeople agree or if they feel something else has a better D&D feel.


12:51 Comment From nothingxs

Here's an interesting take on ability scores: run your character idea by the DM, then theDM can help you assign scores that seem valid for your character concept (as long as

it's a good character concept). Not everything has to be "by the book" and, in fact, most

players should actually be encouraged to experiment with the system. And the systemshould be able to accommodate that.


12:51 Comment From CardaThat actually makes the ability scores less of an abstract array of numbers, which I thinkworks better than the current system of "roll up these numbers that you'll never care

about again".



Doesn't this raise the classic, AD&D non-weapon proficiency danger, that a 1st-level

character with decent ability scores will almost always be better than a highly 'trained',

10th level character?

Sunday January 29, 201212:52 Comment From Juion

How would the new skill system account for specialized knowledge? Afterall, a wizard

would know more about magic than someone with a equally high intelligence score,wouldn't they?


12:52 Comment From Style75Is there a way to recieve training in a skill to create more interesting characters?


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12:52 Comment From Wyzard

How do character abilities/skills scale? Is it going to be like 4E, where gaining levels

makes you inherently better at everything?


12:52 To The Action Point - we're not really at the point where we can talk about what will

and won't be in the organized play support for the game. It's likely though that

organized play would pick a standard set of options (point buy might be one of those) asthe rules used for all organized play, or for specific OP campaigns.


12:53 Comment From carldot34Is Aid Another kept in? However it is done, it let other players feel like they weren't just

watching the wizard or rogue roll dice.

Sunday January 29, 201212:53 Comment From Rune-Lutz

i think the simplified skill list from 4e, took something away from the game. A larger

skill list like the one found in 3.5 gave more depth to non-combat parts of the game


12:54 Greg: So some players want to be able to use a bluff skill to say convince the ogre tojoin the party, roll and then bluff it. other players want to come up with an elaborate

story about workign with the hobgoblins and acting as their emissary. What are you

doing to cater to both of those different play styles?


12:54 Comment From JordyI like the static perception checks.. ..and I am a firm believer that skills make the

character. The jump from 2nd ed to 3rd ed was significant in how skills were handled......though definitely for the better. Complex skill checks were an interesting addition,

will you be adding that as part of the core rules? I'd like to see more broad categories of

skills with specializations on them (like a feat-tree only for skills)


12:55 Comment From Graham

Back in 3e, spellcasting caused a lot of confusion for some of my new players, who had

trouble remembering when they needed to roll vs when the opponent needed to roll a

save. (It also ended up disappointing them to a certain degree when they didn't get toroll for any of their spells.) Do casters roll for their magic attacks like they do in 4e?

Will this at least be standardized to one or the other across spells to avoid the confusion

of switching back and forth?


12:55 Comment From azmire

i kind of hope wizards go back closer to 3.0 or 3.5 on allot of the skills a generalknowlage is just a bad idea example in 3.5 a fighter wouldnt be very good at a knowlage


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arcana check


12:56 Comment From Gary

Do you still add half your level to ability and skill rolls? That was a really elegantsolution to the problem of every ability you didn't spend resources on not scaling with

level.


12:56 Monte: on the one hand you want to reward the guy who's done the RP to support hisactions. But on the other hand, we don't want to train players to know how to use

swords to attack in the game. In other words, you want to reward behavior but you don't

want to penalize people for not playing a certain way.

What we've done now is we have this thing called advantage that a DM can hand out if

the players set themselves up with a good description.


12:56 Comment From Happymoney

Have you thought about having a generic skill list, like the one in 4e, and then also the

ability to specialize in certain specific skills? For example, a fighter might train inAthletics and be generally good at climbing, jumping, and swimming, but a rogue might

train in climbing, and not be as good at jumping or swimming, but would be much

better at climbing. This would allow specialization or general training.


12:57 Bruce: The DMG will also most likely say that if the player gives you a great story, and

you and your players want to roleplay, then you can choose to ignore rolling for things

like that. You will have the ability and power as the DM to make that score withoutlooking at the ability score at all. Does it fit the situation? Does it fit the character? Do

you like the roleplay - then just roleplay and don't worry about the dice for that

interaction.


12:57 Comment From Ben

I think that skils should be diverse, because it makes for more individualism among

characters. However, roleplaying should be a factor as well, perhaps giving a modifierto the check - positive OR negative.


12:58 Comment From KRGDarkOn the topic of skills, what are the plans around Skill Challenges? (Apologies if this hasalready been addressed). My players and I find the current Challenge system

cumbersome in that it seems to be more an exercise in dice rolling.


12:58 Comment From Rune-Lutzfor the question about the bluff check, i would make the skill check easier for the player


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that came up with the elaborate story. So the player is rewarded for RPing, but the

check still matters.


12:58 Comment From Style75"Set themselves up with a good description" might penalize the quiet reserved player

who's not so good at roleplaying.


12:58 Monte: Yeah, the DM rules would focus on a few things. First you would look at thecharacter and the situation and if it all fits, you don't have to look at teh ability score or

the dice. If it's not clear at that point though, then the next step would be looking at the

appropriate stat and comparing it to the DC.


12:58 Greg: So what's the current difference between feats and skills?



Skill bonuses for RP is something that we've done ocassionally at my table, and having

a strong in-system support for it is very welcome.



The "skill cap" would be very elegant: You can have 34 point in knowledge if your INT

is 24. The same with all the other ability.


12:59 Comment From DispaminiteI usually use roleplaying for skill challenges to hand out bonuses, while letting the

"quiet" players just make a straight roll.


12:59 Comment From Jordy

You could make feats and skills the same thing...?


1:00 Rob: A skill would be something that's a reflection of a stat or a specific feature of a

stat. A feat is more like a feature that is beyond that, more unique and not inherent to an

ability score.


1:00 Comment From Robert M

A feat should be accomplished with the use of a skill.


1:00 Bruce: Adding to that, a feat might provide a bonus that is always on, or apower/ability.


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1:00 Comment From SarahDarkmagic

Not rewarding the player who set up a nice scene also hurts that play experience though.

DM just would have to be fair and helpful.


1:00 Comment From Aaron

Will Arcana be keep as a skill? It was a pretty good mechanic, and a good way to

handle detect magic.


1:00 Rob: Feats also cover stuff that would be like your at-will powers. For example if you

saw the javelin of fire at-will, that was from a magic feat.


1:01 Comment From Gary

I don't like the idea of Math Tax feats. They led to a lot of 'system mastery' in 4th

edition that really has no place in Dungeons and Dragons.



Shouldn't a power/ability be more aligned with class training, though? What's the

difference between a feat and a class feature?


1:01 Comment From IndigoMoonscar

I definately think more specialized Skill use should come back. For example, I don't

mind that "anyone" can attempt a stealth or thievery check, but I really think the Rogue

should be able to define and specialize in these things, like pick pockets, or pick lock.Are you working on something like that? Anyone has a chance, but the class who is

supposed to be REALLY good at it gets more optioins in the skill?


1:01 Comment From aufrank

"Always-on" feats seem to be the ones that risk becoming almost-mandatory (e.g.,

expertise feats). How are designers avoiding "feat taxes"?



I find it interesting that there will apparently be "rules"-- i.e. explanation in the DMG--

about how the GM doesn't need to use the rules at all times.


1:02 Comment From Sunsword

If my Ability score is less than the DC, can I still roll to accomplish a task or do I fail?



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@IndigoMoonscar: They've said as much. You can gain specialization bonuses to skills.


1:02 Comment From D&DForeverSo... to extrapolate from "magic feats", there would be feat categories?


1:02 Comment From Excalainen

Do you separate combat and non-combat options so that they don't have to compete forthe same character resrources?


1:02 Greg: How do you envision building a character going?

Monte: What we're working with now is that you pick you stats, class, race and then

you also have a theme. So you might be a commoner, a noble, a knight, aprentice, etc.

These themes would offer you skills. As you go up in level you could expand on thatand express the story of your background and character by picking more optoins that

support your theme.

But if you want to get into a more complex character development system (modular

option), then you could pick other features and things to basically build your own

theme.



The reason they need "Rule Zero" in the first place is that in all editions, we tend to get

players who only want to go by the book. If that's the case, the DM has no flexibility tocreate a more dynamic game, and thus it gets boring.


1:04 Comment From Robert M

If you used s point by system for abilities whats to say 95% of all Warriors wouldn'thave a maximum Strength?


1:04 Comment From Cryn

Themes were the best addition to the heroic tier.

Sunday January 29, 20121:04 Comment From Anias

Are non-combat abilities balanced against combat, if so, why? It would be nice if a

given character could be functional regardless of which table it sat down at.


1:04 Comment From Aurion

With my group, we prefer the realistic attribute of in the skill and ability system to thebasic flatlined one of 4e. In what ways are you bringing the complexity back to the


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system without OVERdoing it?



So what you're saying is that you could have a "noble fighter", an "apprentice ranger" acommoner wizard"... OR someone who picked and chose what they wanted for theme.

Basically, themes will be pre-packaged sets of abilities that end up evoking a particular

flavor during play?


1:05 Comment From Happymoney

Is there any plan to split feats into different categories for in-combat or out of combat

scenes. If a player puts all there feats into skills, then they won't be able to contributemuch when it comes to combat. Are there any plans to address this? Maybe at one level

I get a skill feat, and another a combat feat?


1:05 Comment From AlzerSo something sortof along the lines of backgrounds from d20 modern? That would be

great to see an inclusion of and really help players (new and old) get a reward for

having a solid backstory, or help develop a backstory for their charachter.


1:06 Greg: Are there any themes you really liked or things from themes you've really

enjoyed?

Monte: We're doing a lot of really cool things with themes. For example, you could

have a planetouched theme that would give you some extraplanar stuff.

Bruce: This is on the edge of what we're thinking of, but maybe something like being a

deva would actually be a theme instead of a race. There's a more basic one that I really

enjoy is the pubcrawler. You're that guy when you walk into the bar everybody knowsyour name, and it has some other flavor like that. It doesn't really speak to the combat or

some other character areas, but it really helps inform who that guy is.

Rob: I like the idea of possibly taking what might have been classes in other editionsand making them themes. For example, I love avengers, but an avenger themed Paladin

is really cool too. It opens up the space for working with a class from a previous edition

that there might not be space for as it's own class, but still has some great flavor.


1:06 Greg: It sounds like this is something that could be one of the options a DM could apply

or not apply based on the way the DM wants to run it?

Monte: Yeah, as I was saying earlier if you wanted to play the most basic version of the

game you could ignore themes completely.



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1:09 Vampires:Class

( 8% )

Theme( 92% )


1:09 You've talked about a scale of running a game with a lot of magic items or no magic

items. Since we're talking about ability scores today, how do you see magic items

affecting/not affecting ability scores?



Having themes for classes is an alright idea, if we can also play the classes. I was

somewhat disappointed when the samurai theme came out recently in 4e, knowing thatthere probably wouldn't be a samurai class.


1:09 Comment From Style75What about alignment? Will that be a major part of class/race/theme selection?


1:10 Comment From Dispaminite

Revenant as a theme would be cool.


1:10 Comment From kozaim@Armisael I think in this case "Theme" is a word for "personality trait", so that anavenger theme would mean that you became a paladin thanks to that event in the past

that changed your world


1:10 Monte: I think there's definitely room for a things like the gauntlets of ogre power andhave items that could affect stats, but we're looking at having caps on what those items

could raise your stats to.



I would prefer ability scores be kept seperate from magic items. I prefer magic items toonly have properties and effects.


1:11 Comment From MarkelhayWhat if there was a limit to who could use what magic items? Like maybe you need

intelligence 17 to use a Wand of Wonder


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1:11 Greg: How will mundane equipment be in the game - more the standard? How will thataffect the game and what else goes along with that?



I'd be fine with magic items that affect ability scores if ability scores didn't affectcombat.



Please, make magic items as bonus instead of assumed part of character mathematics.



Having (capped) ability score increasing items could lead to a scene where the

characters HAVE to possess the items for their primary ability in order to funcion as

optimal.



4E pretty much got rid of the idea of ability score damage; 3E had it all over the place,resulting in lots of math at the table when the ability score damage or magic spell that

increased scroes occurred. Which side of this line will Next come down on?



Perhaps the Gauntlets of Ogre Power could give you a bonus to breaking or lifting

objects and a bonus to damage rolls.


1:13 Monte: Mundane equipment is important and we're trying some different things there.

For example, at this point nobody starts with the ability to have plate armor.

Bruce: one of the things we're doing is moving things more to a silver standard insteadof a gold standard. We also have mundane implements for some caster classes that are

their equivalent of a fighters sword or their slightly better armor. This opens up space

for some interesting magic items that help you in rituals. but if you have a magic item,maybe it's a totem that has a little creature in it that is summoned to help you and do

other cool things.


1:14 Comment From Kev in AusI'd like to see magic weapons only affect damage and not accuracy. So a mundane

sword and a magic sword have the same chance of hitting but the magic does more

damage.



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@D&DForever: If it gives a bonus to combat it's a mandatory item. We saw this with

the Iron Armbands of Power in 4E, and it was depressing that your Arms Slot wasbasically automatically taken there.


1:15 Comment From Sparta

I would love to see a book similar to Arms and Equipment from 3rd Edition formundane and/or magical equipment. It's one of my favorites, brings a lot to the table.


1:15 Comment From countingku

Ability score damage is the kind of complexity that is bad, imo. Things that have youhave to constantly recalulate base values only confuse and delay encounters.



Perhaps magic items can go back to flat ability scores. In 2E, gauntlets of ogre powergave you a specific, flat Strength score. If you somehow had higher natural Strength,

you didn't need them.


1:16 Comment From D1gital-ZER0I think, on the side of "mundane" equipment, mundane is a bad word to describe non

magical gear. I have a character in my current campaign that uses a "splitting axe". It's a

battle axe that splits down the middle, revealing a chain and lock, and it can become atwo-bladed axe or a pair of nunchuku-axes. Not magic, but not mundane


1:16 Comment From JordyRather than having a cap, each item should only add a bonus to one thing, multipleitems shouldn't stack. For example you could have gauntlets of ogre strength, but you

couldn't get the bonuses from also wearing a girdle of strength...


1:16 Greg: To what degree do you see weapons playing a roll in D&D? Should you have to

change weapons for fighting different foes - how do you see weapons playing out in the

next interation?

Monte: Something I'd like to see is characters that are good with weapons become more

broad with a number of different weapons or maybe any weapon he comes across.We're defining weapons not by specific names, but but their categories. So you wouldn'tsay I'm really good with a battle axe, you'd say I'm really good with axes. So you could

be good with axes, swords, and bows for example.

If a fighter is good with swords, and they find a really good axe in a dragon's horde for

example, I'd love for him to be able to just pick that axe up and be good with it - not

have to worry about ignoring it because you didn't make the choice to be an axe guy.


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I even have a wild dream: a sword just being 'magic', without actual bonuses. So that a

magic sword remains useful throughout your whole career.


1:17 Comment From SarahDarkmagic

Yeah, I'm not a fan of ability score damage. I prefer conditions instead.


1:17 Comment From brennon

What's the rationale behind not starting with Plate? AC is incredibly important, and it

sounds as if classes such as Paladin or Fighter would need to expend resources just tofufill their role well.


1:17Comment From BenbenCorm

I definately love having to switch to my warhammer to fight a skeleton and my axe fora zombie, it was one of the things I liked on melee chracters


1:17 Comment From aufrank

So, specializing helps, not-specializing doesn't hurt?



Magic items should feel special, not just part of an expected math progression.

Sunday January 29, 20121:18 Comment From Robert M

Depending on the magic system and the quantity of magic in it, ability's and skills could

be greatly different. How much magic is going to be involved in the average game?



So...instead of different stats for a longsword, polearm, glaive, and glaive-guisarme,

you'd just have Light Bladekind and Heavy Reach weapons, for instance? That sounds

nice. What about characters who have signature weapons, though? Christmas tree itemfinding forces them to fight the system to stick to their concept.


1:18 Greg: What kind of transparency are you looking for when it comes to Monsters andabilities. Should players know what they're facing when they see something, or is some

of the information hidden?

Monte: We were just talking about throwing in some extra abilities to monsters. So youmight have a normal orc, or you might decide to make him a vicious orc that would add

an attack that to a nearby creature when the monster dies. That kind of thing could be


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added in by a DM on the fly because it doesn't really change the challenge too much or

make you rewrite anything. It might give you a little bit of an experience bonus if/when

you defeat it too.


1:18 Greg: Alright, we're opening the floor up to questions.



@SarahDarkmagic-- agreed. Back in 3E, any combat-related ability damage (STR and

CON especially) was horrifically time-sucking.


1:19 Question: What is going to be the differentiation between weapons. In previous editions

it could have been keen, two handed, damage die, etc.


1:19 Comment From ChuckIs anyone going to reconcile D&D economics? Platemail cost more than a village in

renaissance times. For that price, buy a company of mercenaries.


1:19 Comment From DracoSomeone ask about racial traits, please. :)



Question: Signature Item characters, like Arthur with Caliburn/Excalibur. Will they be

feasible?


1:20 Comment From Nicolas

Please consider not including "trap" feats or options, and please make character creationas simple as possible in the core


1:20 Comment From D1gital-ZER0I'm on the fence about weapon proficiencies... I love broad proficiencies, but fighters

shouldn't be able to pick up any weapon and go: "Oh yeah, I used a Scythe in boot

camp, did you know that the Scythe is the most unused weapon in the world? Lucky

me!"


1:20 Rob: We're looking at accuracy and damage expression right now. In addition to the

damage type, we're also looking at damage types like slahing, piercing, etc. In aditionthe plan right now is that we're going to have some weapon specialization benefits. So if

you're specialized in a certain weapon type, it opens up all sorts of neat little benefits,

some of which are the at-will kind of attacks we've seen in 4E.


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1:21 Comment From Sparta

Yesterday you talked about bringing some chaos back to the game, any thoughts on

bringing Vorpal back to it's glory days?


1:21 Comment From Jack

How would your proposed "vicious orc" system be any different to the various types of

orc (and other monster) currently in 4e?


1:21 Comment From BrentNewhall

Thanks for opening this up! Question: Exactly how modular do you see D&D Nextbeing? How far are you trying to push that?


1:22Comment From Gnome of Zilargo

Will feats be part of a module or included in the core?


1:22 Q: A couple days ago you were talking about having different itterations of the cleric -

with the cleric being a class that is melee and casts some healing, but having the priest

be more of a guy channeling holy magic and being a cloth wearer. Do you have anyplans to have a magic class that caters more to people who don't like the vancian wizard

- maybe some other arcane casting option?

Monte: Yes, definitely. We're interested in magic classes that handle their abilities or

magic differently than the vancian style wizard.


1:23 Comment From D&DForeverQuestion: What feat categories have been discussed?


1:23 Comment From Mark

How high will ability scores scale? Are we peaking at 25 like 2e? Unlimited like 3e? 30like 4e?



I'd love to see the sorcerer move back to the original 3rd edition playtest - they hadDIFFERENT spells, they were based on the fact that the sorcerer had dragon blood.

Made it not so much a lazy-man's-wizard, but an entirely different type of magic user.


1:23 Comment From GlowfaceWhich will effect the success of your skills attempts more? Ability scores, level,

class/theme, individual training/proficiency/specialisation?


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1:24 Comment From carldot34

But you ARE keeping the classic Vancian wizard in in some form?


1:24 Comment From ExcalainenWill you strive to make the DMs job as easy as it is in 4e? In 3e, the DM was required

to prepare too much when designing monsters and encounters.



Are prestige classes/paragon paths/epic destinies still in?


1:25 Q: What kind of things are going to change or advance in your character as it levels?

Bruce: We think that there's a lot more, if you don't scale things quite so dramatically,

there's a lot of room for interesting things to happen. For example, equipment staysinteresting for longer, monsters stay interesting and challenging for longer. There's a lot

that opens up when you don't boost abilities scores as much through progression.

Monte: Not having ability scores advance as quickly also makes magic items morerelevant at higher and lower levels. Because level will mean less dramatically for things

like attack bonus, those things will scale a lot less, we can play around with you having

other options to improve your ability scores or skills so those choices really matterinstead of just having them advance as you level.


1:26 Comment From JadenWhat is the maximum level for a character? 20? 30? unlimited?


1:26 Comment From Josha

At the moment, how important are feats?


1:26 Comment From Tiffany

Will skills (in whatever iteration) be a part of the core? Or is that part of the new

modularity?


1:26 Comment From Al

In regards to the ability score poll, I think listing all the options in the books is best, let

DM/Players decide which to use and indicate which one is used for Organized play. TheGamma World method was good.



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This would also extend your heroic tier sweet spot. :)


1:27 Comment From SlerotinWill you change the "base attack bonus" into various "weapon skills"?


1:27 Comment From Vel

So, are you going to reduce the effect that lvling up have in the character, and bringmore importance to magic items?


1:28 Comment From The MagusQ: Will you go back to having interesting Prestige lass type progression, or will you just

have slight increases like the Paragon Tiers?

Sunday January 29, 20121:28 Comment From Markelhay

Will artifacts make a comeback?


1:28 Comment From Blackbriar

Q: Will the ability score dead spots (i.e. odd numbered ability scores), continue to bemeaningless, or are ability score to ability modifiers being changed?



If a DM wants to use narrative combat vs. gridded combat, will the PC's have to be built

differently or will each PC function in both systems?


1:29 Comment From IndigoMoonscar

Are you going to give more options to the character at EVERY level they achieve? Orare we sticking with only getting significant advantages/options every x levels like 4e?


1:30 Q: It sounds like your focus is to put a lot of decision making and power on the DM.

That sounds great if you have a good DM, but what about if you don't have a good DM?Are you doing things to help new DMs or to help DMs improve?

Monte: We definitely do want to grow and build DMs. I want you to be able to create amonster or encounter in 10 minutes, create a powerful npc in 5-10 minutes. There's a lot

of work that has been done for that in 4E, and I really want to focus on that idea that

npcs and monster creation don't have to follow the same rules as pcs do, which frees upa lot of time and possibilties for the DM.

Bruce: By giving power to the DM and a very robust rule set we can make it easier forthe DM to make a calling and not feel like his lost at see. This will keep the game going


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and improve things for everyone.

Monte: We're not just giving more power to the DM, we're giving more power to theplayers. In a way we're giving more power to the players, and not just the characters.

We're giving the player the ability to come out with his crazy ideas and say I want to do

this. And instead of giving the DM lots of concrete rules, give him rules for makingcalls and keeping the action and roleplay going. So when a player goes I want to jump

up onto this table and kick the magic helmet off the monsters head, the DM will know

that he can just let it happen because of the ability score and/or require a roll for some

of the things that are going on.


1:31 Comment From Josha

Will we see a return of the "gritty" low levels?



Are skill challenges coming back?


1:31 Comment From Style75I'm very interested in how race will interact with ability scores. Can this be explained?



I would prefer to level less often, but have it mean more each time.


1:32 Question: How is xp going to be rewarded?

Rob: We want to provide a bunch of different options for how DMs can reward theplayers for doing different things. So yeah, we'll have an experience table for the

monsters, but we'll also have information for doing things like giving xp for quests, or

giving xp for exploring a whole area, or give experience for finding the hidden treasure.There are things we're doing so that you can reward your players for what you or they

are trying to accomplish in the game.


1:32 Comment From D&DForeverQuestion: How are starting hit points addressed, including adjustments for leveling?


1:32 Q: To Style: What we're running with now is that a race might grant something like a

+1 bonus to a specific stat. This could change of course.


1:32 Comment From Tiffany

Will skill points be making a return? Or will we be seeing something closer to 4e?


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1:33 Comment From EindrachenExcellent! I like the idea of suggestions for XP awards other than "beat up monkey, take

monkey's lunch money".


1:33 Comment From CrynI ingnore xp, I level my players when the story calls for it.


1:33 Comment From Markelhay

Will dragon born and/or tie flings return?



Random or fixed hit points?


1:33 Comment From PaladinNicolas

How simple will character creation be?


1:34 To Josha - I've heard a lot of people talking about how at first level they are concernedwith their characters dying. Probably not the lethality that original or early D&D had,

but surviving at low levels and beyond is something that players will be careful of it

they're doing more dangerous tasks.


1:34 Comment From Jaden

Is the skill system going to be like 4e or will we have to deal with cross class stuff again(i hope not)



Are gnomes going to be included in the races available in the core books?


1:34 Comment From Style75Many people felt that 4e combats took too long because monsters and PC's had too

many hit points. Was this a consideration in making D&D Next?


1:35 Comment From RobilarWill there be a skill challenge mechanic?


1:35 Comment From DispaminiteMore of class question - How will multiclassing/hyrid classes be handled?


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1:36 Comment From dr-strangeloveDo you intend for character class, race or ability scores to be the most important feature

in determining to hit, defenses hit points etc?


1:36 Q: Ritual and magic components - do they have a place in the game?

Bruce: As we're looking at it right now, rituals are the only thing that really have magic

components. We think they have a place in the world that's archetypical but ritualsmight be the best place for that.



Here's a question I'm not sure anyone has asked yet: will we some any classes mergedwith any others, due to related/redundant themes or abilities? For example, will warlord

abilties get folded into fighters as an option, or will they stay an independant class?


1:36 Comment From Style75Will alignment be mandatory? Will alignment have mechanical effects in the game or

be used as prerequisits?


1:36 Comment From D&DForever@Dispaminite - I think they addressed that in the Class Design chat. I believe it will be

more like 3e.


1:37 Comment From ExcalainenWill all nine alignments return?


1:37 Comment From The Magus

Q: Will you make rituals have in-combat usage as well? that could be a good way tokeep in Vancian Magic without re-crippling Wizards.


1:38 Comment From JadenHow many classes are there going to be? How many races? I felt that in 4e the only big

issue I had was the fact we had 40+ races and classes and only a small percentage

received coverage and support.


1:38 Comment From Ainamacar

What are the primary aims of the D&D Next economy? Ideally I think it can serve as a

useful measure of power as a game element (for players), as an intra-party element (for

characters), and as a setting element (for the campaign), but that is many masters. Whattools will it provide the DM to tell different kinds of stories in different kinds of


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campaigns?


1:38 Monte: One of the great things we can do with a ritual system, is that we can have the

components for some crazy ritual to be actually a quest - go find this rare component sothat you can use this ritual. It opens it up to be important to .the story



Will everyone who has requested to participate in the playtest have the chance to do so,or will you choose only some of them?


1:39 Comment From RobilarHow will basic ability checks be made? Using the ability's modifier + d20 against a set

DC or will the old ability check rule from 2e return where you had to roll under your

ability score?



@Jaden - I believe they covered that in the Class Design chat. I think they sad core will

include all character classes from each initial PHB from each edition.



Will the open playtest be handled only in the local gaming stores or can home groups

have the material as well?


1:40 Comment From K-becIt seems that the use of dice will be less frequent. Will it be the case with combat?


1:40 Comment From NakiIn 4E, the ability scores of creatures rarely mattered and were mostly fluff due to the

way creature powers were balanced against PCs. Is it expected to remain this way, or

will ability scores directly affect combat statistics such as damage or initiative formonsters?


1:41 Comment From carldot34

I like the idea of Vancian wizards casting little rituals to 'store' their spells for that day,ready for use. Gives a good justification for them, allows spell components to be useful

and the wizard only has to deliver the trigger.


1:41 Comment From SylverdyneI think that the 4E Ritual system was one of the best innovations that the edition made,

and am glad that the design team is pushing it forward, rather then simply abandoning


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it.


1:41 Comment From mattbaby

It seems from your statements about rituals and the bonus advantages, that you arelooking to systemize a lot of the things that a DM would usually just do. Is this part of

the streamlining process to help make designing adventures etc. easier? Can you give

another example of this?


1:42 Comment From John

Will melee combat for classes like paladins still use the somewhat strange mechanism

of basing physical, weapon-based attacks on a score like Charisma rather than Strength?


1:43 Monte: In every edition of the game, the DM has had the ability to play out the the

combat in a theater of the mind style, or pull out a grid and miniatures to be more more

precise. Nothings changed with that - a DM will still be able to do that. But if you wantto make things more tactical, then the DM would choose to apply the tactical rules

module. The DM would let his players know that when he's setting up the campaign,

and then there are certain options that would or might be flagged as specifically usefulin a game using the tactical rules module.

Bruce: Those options would also still be useful in the theater of the mind kind of gamesas well. While an option might be flagged to make it easy to find and use if your game

is using the tactical rules module, it's just as useful in other game styles as well.

Monte: And this tactical rules module that we're envisioning would be covered in the

initial book release.


1:44 Sorry - the question for the answers above was how are you going to include tacticalcombat and class features that care more about tactics than the theater of the mind style

games would provide.


1:45 Jaden - (Trevor) We're not really set in stone for how the open playtest would work, butit sounds like it would be available for home play.


1:47 Comment From DispaminiteHow important will magic items in combat for level progression?



What about stats? What will it mean to be someone with strenght 22? I'd like to think

that even someone normal and not an adventurer can reach it



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1:48 Comment From Alphadean

So when is playtesting going to begin


1:48 Comment From JoshaWill D&D Next be able to cover fights with dozens of combatants?


1:48 Comment From Dispaminite

will there be a clear division/delineation between skills useful and not useful in combat?


1:49 Comment From Adze

There was a mention of saving throws tied to ability scores. Could you give us anexample situation you envisage where one of these saving throws might be called for?


1:52Q: How do you feel about skill challenges going forward?

Rob:(jokingly)I really want skill challenges to die in a fire. The plan was great for

those, but I always felt it subtracted too much from the narrative. I think we can do

complex skill checks within the narative and provide a robust amount of information to

help the DM just weave them into the story.

Monte: The only thing I would add is that I don't want to take away from the idea of a

player saying I want to do this thing. And the DMs response isn't just well make thecheck and you do it. Instead I want to encourage or empower the DMs and the players

to describe what they're doing and what happens in response. You see a lot of

interesting story and conversations at the table when someone comes up with a coolway to cross that pit.

Greg: Do you think there's room for that player or players who might not becomfortable with really roleplaying out what they're doing when they do these kind of

skill interactions.

Monte: Oh yes, if you want to roll the dice and make your check, you can still do that.But I think that once that player dips his/her toe in that water and starts describing their

actions, things will open up and that kind of activity will continue. You see it happen at

tables all the time.


1:52 Comment From K-bec

Regarding the tactical combat module will see things like THAC0, fumble and critical

hit tables return?


1:52 Comment From Paladin1

Will the playtest be available worldwide?


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1:54 Comment From TheGreenKnight0

In regards to ability scores, is there the possibility of seeing penalties or limits related to

races to perhaps encourage the feel of how a member of a given race would play asopposed to just a racial "skin" any class can wear?


1:55 Alright all. That ends the coverage of the last of the seminars. The designers are

packing up and doing a bit of mingling. Thanks much to all of you for joining our livecoverage and putting your questions out there. For those that we didn't get to answer,

we are gathering the questions and we will get them in front of R&D to see which ones

we can answer in future articles and other areas.


1:55 Stay awesome everybody.



LONG LIVE D&D! Please keep the Rangers like we have them in 4e!


1:56 Comment From AlzerCheers for having us! Being able to read through these is really getting me pumped up

for the newest edition.



Thanks a lot, this has been great. It's nice to see the fans at home get a chance tocontribute.


1:56 Comment From AlThanks for all the live chats


1:56 Comment From Aoirorentsuthanks for doing this!


1:56 Comment From RobilarThanks a lot! That was a meaty presentation. Yummy.


1:56 Comment From K-bec

Tanks for sharing all this. Can't wait for the play test!



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1:57 Comment From BrentNewhall

Thanks very much for doing this!


1:57 Comment From Robert MThx guys, keep us informed. Play testing should be fun.


3:01
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