i really liked the... I think it was the Oracle class in pathfinder. that would be fun.

Either way it's a system designed for pen and paper, which inevitably imposes some limits compared to something custom tailored for a video game format from the get go.

5e is a great system for a “Rule of Cool” style of DMing. That’s amazing for a decent DM and inexperienced/less technical players.

It's not even that good at that. Fate, for example, is a much lighter and better system for that. Aspects are a very simple system for setting expectations and letting players do wacky things based on them.

If I was going to run a game for new players I would absolutely not reach for 5e. It provides too much fertilizer for "can I move that far?" and "if he's flying 30' up can I still shoot him?" minutia.

I probably had fewer "can I...?" questions in BG3 than any other CRPG, if for no other reason than that all of the enemy attributes are exposed at all times, and your spells tell you which attributes they interact with. It's that same quality that allows the technical design of Larian's engine to shine, and it made large swaths of the genre feel dated immediately. Either in the video game or the tabletop, my combats don't have many questions to bog them down.

I disagree. It's a poorly designed system that fails at accomplishing anything better than alternatives. The thing it has going for it is the name/marketing. There are lighter systems that are easier and cooler, there are heavier systems that are more tactical, and there are equivalent systems that are less jank. The fact that there's things like the bonus action, that was added so late in development it was never playtested, in 5e makes it pretty awful to play. There are so many exceptions you have to learn to even start too. It's not a good system for noobs and it's not a good system for experienced players.

I played Original Sin 2 after BG3, and at first it leaves a huge positive impression, but then more and more problems present themselves as time goes on. The armor systems create stunlocking issues; the XP system encourages genocide; the skill system feels freeing at first but ends up landing on dominant strategies very quickly. It's still a good game, and they've said in an AMA that some of my biggest criticisms won't be in this new Divinity, but their track record thus far is that their own RPG systems are not as good as 5e.

Divinity might also be closer than you think. If they go early access, which they haven't committed to, we might be playing it next year.

The variance on a single d20 is miserable after playing games with better probability curves.

1d20 + proficiency + modifier isn’t that bad, but I’ve seen a lot of players who can’t correctly add 16 + 7.

https://old.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1jphv4b/favorite_calculator_for_the_table/

Having done a lot of digital GMing recently, I had the sudden realization that a physical calculator with buttons has sped up my play immensely.

One can grab an inexpensive calculator if it's a matter of being able to do it at all, I suppose. Or use a phone calculator app. But...even with a calculator, there are just going to be some limitations on how many modifiers one can reasonably have and how they can interact. Like, if you have, say, four or five inputs for a check that all have percentile modifiers from various equipment or spells or statuses or whatever, it just starts to become a pain to deal with. A computer won't notice that, and there, it's fine. But for TTRPGs, one doesn't want to turn a play session into a bunch of people just playing Sim Spreadsheet. Kinda bogs down the game, kills the flavor.

I bet that there are some people who won't even play D&D in its present form because of the math.

searches

https://old.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/177rybf/have_a_friend_who_struggles_at_math_what_can_i_do/

I have a friend of mine who's very interested in playing DND, and TTRPGs in general. However, he's admitted to me, and I have genuine proof, that he struggles with even the simplest concepts of math (such as addition or subtraction). Does any other DMs or players (or, hell, anyone really) have any advice to lessen the amount of math that needs to be done, or even make it a no-math sort of deal? Much appreciated!

While we're at other properties, when's the last time Drizz't made an appearance? We should do a Drizz't game.