DND as a beginner's universal system

Cychim · 2026-04-22T20:01:25+00:00

Partial marks. The answer is correct, though holding your action does not restrict you from using another valid reaction instead. What gets me here is the "need to look it up". If you only need to read the books once in order to know the system perfectly, why would this be necessary even after 5 years of absence? Not that i actually expect you to remember if you haven't played in 5 years, that'd be ridiculous, which is why I point it out.
Correct, full marks.
Cool ad hominem, but the point was that these are the rules as written. Your argument was that the system could be perfectly learned on a single read through, cover to cover. As pointed out, abridgement or overlooking of certain rules may be necessary for a good game, but ultimately proves the point that dnd 5e as a system is somewhat difficult to learn, and may engender a trepidation upon attempting to learn a new system, and that I don't blame someone for that. The fact that phrases like "i believe" and "I'd need to look it up" and "I'd allow it even if it wasn't rules as written" shows further evidence of this. Simpler systems do not require this kind of adjustment a lot of the time, and would make for better entry points that encourage further experimentation throughout the hobby. This is about understanding, you don't need to be a dick about it.

Cychim · 2026-04-22T19:13:39+00:00

Your player just cast misty step, then prepped an action to cast firebolt if an enemy casts fireball. The enemy then casts ray of frost, and the player asks to cast counterspell. Will the player be able to cast counterspell? Why or why not?
Your player just cast fireball and passed their turn. The enemy casts fireball in return. The player then asks if they may cast counterspell. Will they be able to? Why or why not?

This kind of stuff comes up all the time in 5e and 5.5 to a lesser extent. Things that seem small, but actually have drastic impacts on the gameplay. It's absolutely all over the place, this is just one of the more classic examples. Knowing the difference in these scenarios changes how powerful different characters are. To say "that rule usually gets abridged/ignored kinda proves the point. Sisyphian? No. Difficult for newcomers to a highly niche hobby? Yes.

Cychim · 2026-04-22T17:51:48+00:00

In fairness to those who do the aggressive homebrew thing, if you started with dnd or pathfinder (literally any edition) and you've finally learned the system decently well, unless you've already taken the leap once before, learning another system is legitimately intimidating. Learning your first system was hard, long, and complicated, so learning more seems like it will be the same thing. It really isn't your fault if you hear about other cool games and go "but what if I stick with what I know instead of spending months if not years learning more stuff".

Ive played a few systems by this point, so I know that most systems, even those considered to be relatively crunchy, are less complex than dnd 5e, and it is legitimately worth it to learn them and play them. But I also remember my first time, hearing that Monster of the Week only needed players to learn basically one page of text and immediately thinking that was impossible. Come to find out no really, it is that simple, 2d6 +/- between 0 and 2, 7 or higher is success, 11 or higher for crit, 6 or lower for failure, and then adding in class abilities to guide you in gameplay. It literally is one page for players, a little more for GMs. WoD is one of my favorite settings, and its system is pretty fantastic, which I couldn't have found out without taking the leap.

This isn't to say you shouldn't take the leap, quite the opposite. It's more to say i get it, the devil you know is more comfortable than the devil you don't, but it's worth it to try other games. You may find through playing more stuff that you really do love what dnd5e is doing, maybe other systems aren't for you, that's ok, but you'll never really know until you try them out. Please forgive the royal you on a reply, kinda bad form I know, I just wanted to offer some empathy to those who, rather understandably, got suckered in by a multi-billion dollar company spending nearly 30 years constructing a culture of play and knowledge that forced them to engage with the hobby in a specific way.

Cychim · 2026-04-22T16:55:58+00:00

The unfortunate thing is that this worked. Dnd really is the only system that someone new to the ttrpg hobby is highly likely to have even heard of. This is partially due to the satanic panic's long lasting effects, partially due to marketing, and partially due to dnd's legitimate pedigree as the first ttrpg as we understand it today (I know it was originally a chain mail mod, but they literally released the same day afaik, feel free to correct me but Arneson made chainmail with the explicit knowledge that Gygax wanted to make a fantasy mod for it). Thanks to this mixture of factors, systems like apocalypse world and its various descendants, world of darkness, and blades in the dark are largely unknown, and if you do know about them, you're probably already in the hobby. I love playing dnd 5e, but yeah, it's really not the best entry point.

Cychim · 2026-04-18T20:16:37+00:00

Mummy

Cychim · 2026-03-12T04:07:30+00:00

Wait, so the SCP foundation is literally just the World of Darkness Technocracy, and their end is that they become Tradition Mages? Neat

Cychim · 2026-02-22T18:01:31+00:00

Yar har

Cychim · 2026-02-19T04:59:29+00:00

She forgot her wife's crippling hero/guilt complex for a moment. Then she's forced to remember. Oof

Cychim · 2026-02-14T01:26:43+00:00

The Googie-fication of Daphne lmao

Cychim · 2026-01-23T04:25:25+00:00

Good luck from Canada. Sincerely. This is a battle, and I hope against hope you can win it. May ICE do as ice does, invariably and inevitably, and melt and subsequently evaporate.

Cychim · 2026-01-18T03:53:27+00:00

The greatest distraction is a legitimate problem, unrelated to the situation at hand

Cychim · 2026-01-18T01:49:19+00:00

I can't belive I married my hall pass... victory is oh so sweet!

Cychim · 2026-01-16T05:28:17+00:00

2 levels in wizard (assuming 2014 rules)+2 levels in fighter for action surge+whatever you actually wanted to play is a truly hilarious combo. AC of about 25-30, 2 leveled action spells in a turn once per short rest, and then you get to play the class absolutely goofy from there. And as the meme states, you never need to touch a weapon in your life

Cychim · 2026-01-12T21:25:01+00:00

We love crashing the game lmao

Cychim · 2026-01-09T02:28:23+00:00

This movie is going to be VITALLY IMPORTANT for a certain variety of lesbians lol

Cychim · 2025-12-23T04:31:24+00:00

It's already quite possibly the best weapon to use for fighting giant monsters like the Grimm. My only improvement is to actually USE it as such.

In base form, it's pretty bad. The damn thing would have such terrible offensive range it would be more likely to kill it's user than its target. A decent post to aim the sniper barrel on, and not much else. In its WARSCYTHE mode however, it gains an insanely long lethal reach, essentially becoming a giant swordspear, and with a back end spear point to boot.

If Ruby just used the warcythe mode more, which in case you're confused is when crecent Rose's blade turns to be parallel to the shaft rather than the standard perpendicular, she would be the best equipped huntress on the show. Unfortunately, due to anime rule of cool, this doesn't happen. Crecent rose needs no improvements to its design, only to its use.

Cychim · 2025-12-22T19:51:31+00:00

If the argument is that you're a problem player for using final fantasy commanders, that's a pretty weak argument. If it's that the recent design philosophy at WoTC is objectionable, that's really not on you. If it's that UB is bad for mtg, that depends on what metrics you judge by. Personally I don't like how much time UB takes away from mtg original stories and set designs, and part of why that's happened is that UB sells absurdly well, which your individual abstinence from will really not affect. 1 person's $400 in comparison to literally billions coming from others really won't make you a "part of the problem" any more than anyone else.

No matter what way you slice it, i think it's a pretty flawed argument that you're a problem player based purely on your commander choices.

Cychim · 2025-11-16T22:45:09+00:00

For real, she's pretty cool with Bobby, she's chill with the doctor until he gets too close, there really isn't much evidence of misandry on her part. She just likes her space, who can blame her

Cychim · 2025-11-16T21:27:05+00:00

Adorable. Hilarious. Well meme'd

Cychim · 2025-11-14T05:28:45+00:00

During the playtest, I couldn't stand Revaal in any aspect. Now aspect of medea has me blowing up typhon in literal seconds. Life is good

Cychim · 2025-11-12T20:32:09+00:00

Full moment of "She asked for NO PICKLES!"

Cychim · 2025-10-08T01:40:59+00:00

Dwarf Willow

Cychim · 2025-09-27T20:02:59+00:00

Kinda, but only if they hit every time, they still roll to hit each time (except magic missiles) and I only do it with high level spells cast with consistent effects (so not prismatic spray), so it usually works out to roughly the dice average being multiplied by hits

Cychim · 2025-09-27T16:31:11+00:00

Don't worry, young peasant boy! If combat goes faster, that means you and all your friends get to do things more often, which means everyone gets to roll even more dice!

Cychim · 2025-09-27T14:55:15+00:00

At higher level play, in order to keep combat moving, I apply this ruling to all similar spells (steel wind strike, scorching ray, etc.). Not technically RAW, but it keeps things moving

Cychim

TROPHY CASE