How Difficulty Class and the D20 engine ruined roleplaying
How Difficulty Class and the D20 engine ruined roleplaying
An OSR Blog about fantasy world building and rules analysis for D&D. Also home of the B/X inspired 5e-clone "Into the Unknown."
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The author may have a good point--though I'm honestly not entirely sure they do--, but even if the D20 vs DC turns the experience into a gamist simulation, what is exactly the problem? Personally, I'd rather play a game of dice than "mother may I" with the DM.
I've been playing since 2e, and I very much enjoy the mechanical aspect of the game, to the point that I grew tired of 5e lax and vague rules and moved to PF. That doesn't mean 5e is bad, it's just something different from what I want, and that is ok.
Plus, lets say that a player isnt comfortable into going full roleplaying. Saying what he wants to do with or without a die is a decent way to keep them included into the dialog.
That's a very good point. When I DM, I always let the players avoid any unnecessary rolling, especially if they get into character and describe what they do, if so they want. Something like, "you can skip rolling, and this happens, or you can roll and try a better outcome, but also risk a worst one." Works wonders with all kinds of skills. For example, (in PF2e), you can spend two actions to climb that wall, with no need of rolling, or spend one action and an Athletics check to see if you can do it faster.
Upvote for recognizing that "different from what I want" is not the same as "bad".
I wish the blog writer had learned that.