"D&D Next"

Glazer · May 01, 2012, 10:58:13 AM

Could someone explain the difference between a skill and a feat? On the face of it they seem like the same thing.

Black Vulmea · May 01, 2012, 11:06:55 AM

Quote from: Glazer;535454Could someone explain the difference between a skill and a feat? On the face of it they seem like the same thing.

Generally speaking, and allowing for the dozens of exceptions that others will come up with immediately after I post this, a skill is something your character can do, and a feat is something that affects how well you do it.

Drohem · May 01, 2012, 11:12:39 AM

Generally, a skill is something that is learned by any character with training and experience, whereas a feat can be anything from an inborn trait, a learned skill, or a learned ability.

Benoist · May 01, 2012, 11:21:54 AM

I think I can confirm "skill" and "feat" don't exactly mean what you think they mean in the context of Next. I wish I could be more precise and actually answer a particular post about this, but ... yeah, NDA and all. *sigh*

estar · May 01, 2012, 12:24:33 PM

Quote from: Benoist;535463I think I can confirm "skill" and "feat" don't exactly mean what you think they mean in the context of Next. I wish I could be more precise and actually answer a particular post about this, but ... yeah, NDA and all. *sigh*

What Ben says is accurate and also at the limit I also can say about the Playtest.

Update after reading today's Wizards article I feel I can add that themes are a fun addition and can be ignored if desired. That D&D Next feats work out better than what we saw in 3e or 4e. However the Achilles Heel of the whole thing is how they implement it for organized play and just wind up as a method of making über PCs.

RPGPundit · May 01, 2012, 04:50:23 PM

The main thing I want is for there to be the option of themes being randomly determined.

RPGPundit

crkrueger · May 01, 2012, 04:54:44 PM

Quote from: Benoist;535463I think I can confirm "skill" and "feat" don't exactly mean what you think they mean in the context of Next. I wish I could be more precise and actually answer a particular post about this, but ... yeah, NDA and all. *sigh*

You're a Frenchman residing in Canada dealing with a US company, pretty sure you can get out of it somehow.

Marleycat · May 01, 2012, 04:57:06 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;535531The main thing I want is for there to be the option of themes being randomly determined.

RPGPundit

Couldn't that be houseruled easily enough? Why would you want to go as far as putting in as an option? I am sure it's easy enough to say this is what is allowed or not during character generation kind of like race.

crkrueger · May 01, 2012, 05:02:44 PM

Quote from: Marleycat;535534Couldn't that be houseruled easily enough? Why would you want to go as far as putting in as an option? I am sure it's easy enough to say this is what is allowed or not during character generation kind of like race.

Welcome to the post 3e min/maxtard world. If you list it as an option, the GM can just point and say "It's right here, so swallow a mouthful" when the children start screaming.

It's like dealing with retarded Vulcan lawyers who lie. Nothing can be assumed.

Marleycat · May 01, 2012, 05:09:15 PM

Quote from: CRKrueger;535536Welcome to the post 3e min/maxtard world. If you list it as an option, the GM can just point and say "It's right here, so swallow a mouthful" when the children start screaming.

It's like dealing with retarded Vulcan lawyers who lie. Nothing can be assumed.

Meh, my Viking Hat still fits, fuck'em. I swear it pisses me off that you have to be so explicit while at the same time it seems that any GM with a sack went with the Elves to Avalon or whatever.

crkrueger · May 01, 2012, 05:22:05 PM

Quote from: Marleycat;535538Meh, my Viking Hat still fits, fuck'em. I swear it pisses me off that you have to be so explicit while at the same time it seems that any GM with a sack went with the Elves to Avalon or whatever.

At this point you really have an entire generation of players that grew up under a certain paradigm. As unbelievable as it sounds, just putting options actually as options in the book to show people that in fact they do exist is the first step in reversing the trend.

Marleycat · May 01, 2012, 05:24:25 PM

Quote from: CRKrueger;535543At this point you really have an entire generation of players that grew up under a certain paradigm. As unbelievable as it sounds, just putting options actually as options in the book to show people that in fact they do exist is the first step in reversing the trend.

Just wow, I think Jeff may be on to something there in his sig.

Benoist · May 01, 2012, 05:24:31 PM

Quote from: CRKrueger;535532You're a Frenchman residing in Canada dealing with a US company, pretty sure you can get out of it somehow.

It's going to be over soon, hopefully.

Benoist · May 01, 2012, 05:31:48 PM

Quote from: Marleycat;535544Just wow, I think Jeff may be on to something there in his sig.

Well I think he's on the mark here. Part of the problem is this crap gaming culture and mentality that assumes everything must be played by the book all the time or you're "cheating", that you can't possibly house rule anything without wrecking the game because the game publisher and designer knows best, that the GM is "just this other player that should shut the hell up and enable my awesomeness", that assumes guidelines are rules, and options guidelines... it's this shit mentality that needs to be taken down and shot in the face, once and for all.

crkrueger · May 01, 2012, 05:33:42 PM

Quote from: Marleycat;535544Just wow, I think Jeff may be on to something there in his sig.

Or...

you could pretend that decades of computer gaming and a decade of mmogs have had absolutely no effect on the new tabletop rpg players, and then wonder..."Hmm, 4e, what were they thinkin? *shrug* Don't know how that could have possibly happened."

You know, whichever.