Hi folks! Today, let’s talk about game design, and how it’s important to be honest about what characters in your game actually *do*.

D&D 5th Edition (5e) is a good example of how to do this poorly.

Let’s get digging...

So what do characters, uh, *do* in 5e?

- Go on adventures!
- Uh, kill monsters!
- Dungeons! Loot!
- Survival? Heists? Fighting an interdimensional will to CONSUME with the power of friendship??

If you ask 5e, it’ll say you can do *anything* in the system.

Sure...

But when you dig into the specifics, it becomes really unclear what gameplay is expected to *look* like, because there are contradictions and half-measures everywhere.

Is combat designed for war-gaming on a grid map, with spells receiving defined ranges and aiming patterns?

Or flashy action based on narration, with vague spell language, limited options for fighters, and no mention of grids in core rules?

Are characters expected to fight their way through everything, since all classes get combat chops?

Or rely on all the skills, tool proficiencies, and utility abilities that rogues, bards, and rangers get?

Is resource management supposed to be important, with prices and weights attached to every piece of gear, and rules for regaining hit dice and spell slots slowly?

Or not, because I’ve seen no one actually track encumbrance and ammo?

Are survival and wilderness exploration supposed to matter, with rules for exhaustion and travel time?

Or not, since Goodberry and Leomund’s Tiny Hut solve the biggest survival problems in two spells?

(Also, why are exhaustion rules buried in an Appendix?)

Are players expected to make optimized characters and parties using rules-as-read (RAW) in order to face difficult enemies and environments?

Or are players expected to read rules loosely, homebrew weird mechanics, and prioritize the role-play?

The worst symptom of these muddled gameplay goals in 5e is the Medicine skill, which...lets you stabilize a character making death saves with a skill check.

But not heal HP.

It’s like the Spare the Dying cantrip , but worse!

If you have a party healer, this is useless!

Wizards! Mike, you turd of a man! You added a Medicine skill to your game because you wanted a skill list, and skill lists need a Medicine skill, but you didn’t think to ask when anyone would use the Medicine skill you gave them!

This game is a mess, because 5e thinks it can be a universal RPG.

And it can’t! Nothing can!

D&D 5e tries to please everyone, so it becomes an aggregation of jank where everyone selectively ignores and hacks rules to make the game they *actually* wanted to play.

You can do better.

Be honest with yourself, and with the game you’re writing.

What do characters do in your game?
What DON’T they do?
What really needs detail?
What can you hand-wave away?

What matters to your game?
More importantly, what *doesn’t* matter to your game?

Masks doesn’t really care what your character’s superpower is. Just roll +Freak and describe the vibe.

The Witcher TPRG doesn’t assume your characters are trained fighters. Most classes don’t start with combat skills.

Flying Circus doesn’t track enemy planes your characters don’t see. They’ll turn up, eventually.

Genesys lets GMs track minion groups with one initiative slot and one health pool. Making all ten goons act independently would just take too long.

Even D&D 4e did this. Wizards figured that what people liked about D&D was tactical combat on a grid map, so 4e became tabletop DoTA.

Fighters had options. There was a dedicated tactician class. Class roles were clear.

Maybe not what folks wanted, but it was HONEST.

Your game won’t be for everyone.

It won’t let characters do everything.

Let go of that fantasy.

Write the engaging, crunchy mechanics ONLY for what you want characters to do.

Abstract the things you don’t care about, which you find boring to agonize over.

And don’t add crap that you don’t expect players to use.

If you’re honest about the narrative and ludic (gameplay) goals of your game, your games will be tighter, sharper, and more engaging.

More so than a sprawling book that can’t give a straight answer about which chapters actually matter to your table.

I haven’t set up a Ko-Fi, so if you wanted to send me money, send it to Amr @ammourazz instead!

Check out DREAM AT HIGH NOON, a game that knows what it wants (tense Wild West action structured around poker hands) and makes that happen.

Amr’s Itch: https://ammourazz.itch.io/