Hello Web DMNs! How are you all doing on this, the first Friday in April? You'll get no pranks from us today, but you will get some answers to some excellent questions. There's a loose theme to these questions that I didn't really appreciate until after the recording was over, which is how to go about adding layers of complexity - to a subsystem, to a game, to a rulebook, etc. Ultimately, it's a question (like many in gaming) that come down to taste and table, and it's one of the dials we like to consciously adjust as we play games. It's a spice of life.
Enjoy!
Time stamps:
4:58 - Brandon Nguyen: What's the flavor/narrative difference between gaining advantage and gaining doubled Proficiency bonus? When making a custom sub-class feature, how would you decide when a feature gives advantage vs doubled Proficiency from a purely flavor perspective?
16:04 - Thomas Benefield: Why haven’t we seen a con based class? Specifically a sorcerer or caster class? Why no racial feats or more class feature variants? What would you like to see?
25:35 - Ashley Smith: how do you serve up grander challenges to a party that is starting to feel like big fish in a small pond?
34:18 - Joseph Blaine: I had a general question about TTRPG game design: how would a rulebook designed with different levels of complexity work out?
48:17 - Greed713: How do you feel about lair or legendary actions that deal exhaustion damage? Would there be a save? Just one level as an area effect in the lair? 1D4 exhaustion damage as legendary action con save DC = CR?
54:08 - Patrick J Buczek: When should I use the intrusion mechanic in Numenera?
1:03:23 - Patrick J Buczek: I have an idea I'd like to develop to replace or work alongside the Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws mechanisms of 5e. When approaching the design of new game elements - that is, whole cloth mechanical pieces for an existing game rather than an entirely new system or the like - at what point in your process do you begin to consider the implications of your creation on other pieces of the game?