Writing, Drawing and Talking
Apr. 21st, 2004 02:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rowynI did do a little more writing last night, and got almost-all-the-way through the latest Hateable Scene. (yay!) I'm a little less unhappy with it now than I was last night. Gets a little easier the more I write down.
Afterwards, I still wanted to draw.
I went into the living room to work on what Lut described as a Very Large Picture. It's not all that big, actually, just 18"x24". After much searching on Sunday evening, I'd finally found my box of chalk pastels. I'd fiddled with my sketch some more Sunday night, and then yet more on Tuesday evening, before I finally started coloring it last night. I started with the background, just like a Real Artist. And managed to rather thoroughly muck up the background. I should've spent more time sketching it. *sigh*
Still, it's been a long time since I've done anything with pastels, so maybe it's just as well. I can use this version as practice and do a "real" version later.
While I was drawing, I gave![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jordangreywolf a call, and woke him from a nap, poor thing. We talked a good deal about his current campaign, and he explained d20 D&D to me. It's amazing to me that the system has any recognizable features at all. I'd stopped playing AD&D around the same time that the 2nd edition version was released, so I was pretty clueless about the current state of affairs. But the mechanics of a particular system aren't all that important to understanding most of what happens in an RPG. The fundamentals of planning and executing a session don't change all that much.
We also talked about how making a system that's "simple" isn't as easy as it sounds. Cutting down on the number of stats or skills that characters can use doesn't necessarily make things simpler, just like expanding on the number of stats or skills won't necessarily make the system more realistic. Yes, there are some trade-offs between simplicity, flexibility, and accuracy, but it's entirely possible to make a system that's none of the above. >:D
After a very pleasant hour or so of conversation, I had to get off the phone so Lut could make a call. Then we watched an episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on DVD (pointless aside: Howard Tayler agrees with me that watching TV shows on DVD isn't the same as watching TV -- whee!) I'd thought of watching the first of the Babylon 5 fifth-season episodes, but we decided to wait until I got back, so that we wouldn't be just whetting our appetites and then having to take another week-long break.
Then I threw some clothes into the wash, and went to bed.
I've trained large chunks of my job to a couple of other people in my department, and they've all taken them over now, so that they can get in practice doing them while I'm still here to ask questions. I feel all at loose ends now. Most of my work is either already done, or being done by someone else.
Still, there's plenty I could be doing. Guess I'll get to it.
Afterwards, I still wanted to draw.
I went into the living room to work on what Lut described as a Very Large Picture. It's not all that big, actually, just 18"x24". After much searching on Sunday evening, I'd finally found my box of chalk pastels. I'd fiddled with my sketch some more Sunday night, and then yet more on Tuesday evening, before I finally started coloring it last night. I started with the background, just like a Real Artist. And managed to rather thoroughly muck up the background. I should've spent more time sketching it. *sigh*
Still, it's been a long time since I've done anything with pastels, so maybe it's just as well. I can use this version as practice and do a "real" version later.
While I was drawing, I gave
jordangreywolf a call, and woke him from a nap, poor thing. We talked a good deal about his current campaign, and he explained d20 D&D to me. It's amazing to me that the system has any recognizable features at all. I'd stopped playing AD&D around the same time that the 2nd edition version was released, so I was pretty clueless about the current state of affairs. But the mechanics of a particular system aren't all that important to understanding most of what happens in an RPG. The fundamentals of planning and executing a session don't change all that much.We also talked about how making a system that's "simple" isn't as easy as it sounds. Cutting down on the number of stats or skills that characters can use doesn't necessarily make things simpler, just like expanding on the number of stats or skills won't necessarily make the system more realistic. Yes, there are some trade-offs between simplicity, flexibility, and accuracy, but it's entirely possible to make a system that's none of the above. >:D
After a very pleasant hour or so of conversation, I had to get off the phone so Lut could make a call. Then we watched an episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on DVD (pointless aside: Howard Tayler agrees with me that watching TV shows on DVD isn't the same as watching TV -- whee!) I'd thought of watching the first of the Babylon 5 fifth-season episodes, but we decided to wait until I got back, so that we wouldn't be just whetting our appetites and then having to take another week-long break.
Then I threw some clothes into the wash, and went to bed.
I've trained large chunks of my job to a couple of other people in my department, and they've all taken them over now, so that they can get in practice doing them while I'm still here to ask questions. I feel all at loose ends now. Most of my work is either already done, or being done by someone else.
Still, there's plenty I could be doing. Guess I'll get to it.
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-21 01:29 pm (UTC)The main flaws in the system are inherent to the core conceits of the system: the idea of "leveling up" across the board, with combat ability being inherently tied in with just about any other skill that someone might be able to perform. Even wizards who improve in spellcasting ability WILL improve in combat ability as well. Ditto for an experienced farmer. It's a fighting game, pure and simple, and the mechanics are heavily biased toward that fact.
The NEW flaws, in my opinion, are areas of complication that aren't strictly necessary. With so many ways to add bonuses to rolls from spells and skills and whatnot, it's not enough to know that you have a +2 bonus to a roll. You need to know what TYPE of bonus it is, because some bonuses don't "stack" with each other; if you have a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength and a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, the end result is that you have a +4 to your Strength, rather than +6. It's a necessary mechanic to limit "munchkinism", but I also find it easy to get confused over the particulars from time to time.
The other major problem would be all the combat rules, all the numbers, all the different modifiers and chances that apply in different situations, all the special case rules introduced if you happen to have certain "Feats". The ability to choose Feats gives players yet another thing to go shopping for - a choice to make when improving one's character - but it also complicates the job for a DM who just wants to quickly generate some NPCs. It's not insurmountable, but sometimes I regret the added layer of complication.
Bottom line is: D&D is better, but it's not my favorite system. I'd like to see WotC succeed and give RPGs a little more polish and dazzle, but I'd rather that other game companies didn't jump on the bandwagon and decide to turn everything into "d20". ("d20 Deadlands", et al.)