From: zaghadka@hotmail.com   
      
   On Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:03:09 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson   
    wrote:   
      
   >Of course, none of that really happened. But let's pretend that it   
   >did. What's the one thing you would change about D&D --from whatever   
   >edition-- that you think was bad for the game. Preferably it should be   
   >a rule that hasn't since been already binned (like, say, the specific   
   >weapons-vs-specific armor type bonuses/penalties from 1E) but,   
   >whatever. If that's the one rule you _really_ want dead, go for it.   
   >Ghostly Gygax says its okay. ;-)   
   >   
   Annoyances. Opportunity Attack/Attack of Opportunity. Gone.   
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   Who thought this up? Hey, let's make the movement phase of the game slow,   
   pensive, and complicated. FFS, can we please just play? It adds less than   
   nothing to the game. Just let me walk away from somebody already without   
   determinining which squares are "threatened."   
      
      
   Broader tactical remediation. The 6 second round. Gone.   
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   Back to 1-minute rounds in 10 6-second segments.   
      
   Why? Mostly, because casting times then mean something again. It takes 18   
   seconds to cast a Fireball (3 segments). A Flame Strike? 8 segments.   
   You're at it for almost a minute. PWK is feared again because it is   
   *fast*. Initiative means something again because spellcasters can   
   actually be interrupted and have to *choose* if they're going for big   
   mojo or a quick attack. No more dumping out Flame Strike round after   
   round like it's candy. You do it once and then everyone knows who to pile   
   onto. You ain't casting that again if anyone has anything to say about   
   it.   
      
   One "standard action" or "magic action?" No. Just no. Spells are supposed   
   to be *complicated* and the 6 second round is what really has people   
   bitching about casters being too powerful. It was not a problem in 1e/2e.   
      
   Finally, the most annoying thing the 6-second round got us was people who   
   think combat should be "realistic." It's not. It's abstracted and always   
   will be. Nobody gets hit square in the chest with *one* arrow and doesn't   
   die shortly thereafter. That's real. D&D is not.   
      
      
   3.5e specific. Book of Nine Swords. Gone.   
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   Yeah. Here's that caster/melee divide solution we all needed.   
   Unfortunately, they wrote it as a different game with a whole subset of   
   splatbook specific rules. You're no longer playing D&D. Great. Now I have   
   to worry about what "stance" my Warblade is in because it gives me some   
   arbitrary bonus on damage or whatever. Make this drek go away please.   
   Playing a melee character used to be easy. You could hand the sheet to a   
   newb and they could have fun. Now *nothing* is easy. That's what Tome of   
   Battle got us in 3.5e.   
      
      
   5e specific. No more than one leveled spell per turn. Gone.   
   ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````   
   Cast away! Misty Step then all you can do is a cantrip? No. What fun is   
   that? Why even make it a BA at that point? Let me Healing Word my fighter   
   then Ice Storm my opponents in the same round. It's more exciting that   
   way. This rule does nothing for game balance whatsoever. It just makes   
   people go "aw, shucks." Concentration spells fixed casting balance. This   
   rule is just... lame.   
      
   That's my list.   
      
   --   
   Zag   
      
   Give me the liberty to know, to think, to believe,   
   and to utter freely according to conscience, above   
   all other liberties.                ~John Milton   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)