Hello everyone!
This is a short design document meant to explain the pillars from which all the sub-classes, spells, and other mechanics are based off. When something seems out of sort with how D&D is typically presented, you can find the answer as to why here. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them!
Thank you! :D
Pillar 1: Interesting Choices
Sid Meier once said that games are a series of interesting choices. With that in mind, I would like for players to always have tactical options in whatever kind of scenario they are in. It lends itself better to using a battlemap and all that, but doesn't exclude mind-gaming the whole thing. When possible, players should always be presented with meaningful mechanical choices that align with or reinforce the roleplaying that they are doing. Roleplaying doesn't end when combat begins - it's just another way to act it out.
Pillar 2: Action over Attrition
D&D can by its nature be attritional and a game of resources. How much you spend on each encounter versus your long-term combat encounters. In D&DvsA&A, I'm moving away from that for a model that is more about tactical choices during an encounter. Sub-classes will have access to ways to replenish their abilities by taking different actions during combat. It leaves less guesswork for players, and allows them to spend their limited actions differently.
Pillar 3: Less Swingy
We've all been there: you've waited for your turn for 10, maybe 15 minutes, and when it finally arrives, you have a 50/50% chance that your action will amount to nothing. As it happens, you've lost that coin-flip 3 times in a row and have waited 30 minutes for almost nothing. It's true that dice tell stories, but the D20 leaves a wide range between success and failure.
In D&DvsA&A, the design will be focused on reducing the swingyness of D&D and focus less on random chance and more on choices made. Advantage will be easier to get, some enemies will be easier to defeat, and hopefully action will be more interesting.
Pillar 4: Nothing Should Prevent Player Participation
Save or Die, save or suck, paralysis, and so on are to be avoided in D&DvsA&A on the basis that they stop players from participating in the game. Having a crucial party member disabled might make the battle more exciting for the rest, but it's not going to be much fun for the poor soul being unable to play the game for who knows how long.
Those are the four major pillars of design. Some minor ideas:
More interesting magical items
Finding a magic should be a cause to celebrate, allow some interesting action or switch in strategy, or RP opportunities. That is the goal.
Less book-keeping, faster action
Fights can drag out. I'll try to design things here that reduce book-keeping and useless actions, letting players have big epic fights but reducing the amount of tedius grind.
Weird, fun, strange stuff
You know me. I'll always make settings that contains a heavy dose of strange. That's why it's D&D versus Aliens!
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