“So then it’s onboarding people, teaching them how to play D&D, which is really complex”
As a person w/ out d&d experience, who was broadly aware of the game (ie. know classes but not the difference between actions & bonus actions), I didn’t have a terrible time onboarding. I started as a paladin and found that most of what I could do was pretty apparent and my friends who probably knew less than me seemed to catch on just as fast.
Some things like throwing potions wasn’t as obvious but I could see some choice paralysis from being a spellcaster.
For me, all my trouble comes from my party members. I understand my character and his limitations, but managing classes that I don’t fully understand has led to me greying out spells due to armor restrictions or causing my party to accidentally split because the wizard, weighed down by cloth, a book, and a cane, can’t jump as high as my fully-kitted out fighter with ringmail and a greatsword and now is alone in combat against some CR3 monster.
You played one of the simpler classes to be fair, paladins just hit things and hit things harder with smite.
High level wizards are when it can complicated, or you can forego all the complication and just spam fireball as the hammer to every nail
I learned to play D&D Advanced Ed, TMNT the rpg, Shadowrun 1st edition, GURPS, and others, when I was 10-11 years old.
It’s not particularly complex, you just have to be interested enough to read and take the time to learn the ruleset.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot because I have two weekly games, and both have at least one player who just doesn’t really master the rules.
They’re not stupid people. But they don’t pick up the rules. Ten weeks in and I’m still reminding them about opportunity attacks. One group isn’t playing DND and one player has similar problems.
I don’t know what to do.
What other game is the second group playing?
I found that the idea of “D&D” doesn’t match with the reality of D&D® (or adjacent like Pathfinder and Shadow of the Demon Lord). Like most people think of grand stories with climactic moments and character growth and the modern D&D offers more of a “square - counting, binary pass/fail roll slog, abstract resource management with little character choice after 3rd level, and almost zero risk” experience. Which is great in a video game, but boring at the table.
I’ve ran D&D® (or adjacent) for numerous groups for over 30 years now across multiple editions and the most success in the D&D® framework I had was B/X, but I think the game that comes closest to realizing “D&D” as a concept is Dungeon World. No overwhelming player facing textbooks, and it constantly pushes the narrative forward no matter what the outcome of a roll is. It’s also free.
There’s thousands of different games out there from more complex than D&D to single word RPGs. Find the right one for you and your group 😄
The other game is Mage: The Awakening (2e). It’s very, very, different than D&D. It’s one of my big game crushes that I’ve rarely been able to play.
But the player decision space is pretty huge, and the players have a lot of tools at hand. I don’t really want to remind them every time like “You can use Web Weaver to make the connection easier to work with” or “You can ritually cast instead of instant cast to get more dice and reaches”
It’s perfectly fine to not be a stickler about rules, the real trick is finding a DM who is cool as shit and not all caught up with their own self importance as the controlling power of the game. Play to have fun and roll with it. As long as the group as a whole and the one player is still having fun, that’s all that matters.
“Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?” - Minsc the Great, uh, Philosopher Barbarian Ranger
Honestly after a while I stopped caring and just enjoyed that I could do three actions per round as a Monk. Does it matter that Gale can’t throw this grenade? Nope. Can he take this healing pot? He sure can! I don’t care for minmaxing and optimising my playstyle, I prefer to wing it and see how it goes. If an NPC dies in the process, RNGesus has spoken.
I know this will be a very controversial comment, but I actually can’t stand the combat (extremely unfamiliar with the genre as a whole, and I’ve also never been a fan of turn-based systems), but love the game to death. As a result, I’m using a trainer to essentially trivialize combat encounters, because my BG3 addiction stems from the characters, their stories, the incredible world and the exploration it offers, the side quests, the lore, the insane detail in every corner of the map. I also work 80 hour weeks and want to spend the little time I get with the game doing what I love most, which is exploration and delving into my characters’ stories.
I’ve just gotten through Moonrise Towers (and have done all I can find to do in each area so far, although I already know I’ll be doing multiple playthroughs), and it’s one of the most immersive and enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve ever had, despite the fact I’m quite literally cheating my way through combat encounters. I’m basically playing it as a very interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ novel, with weapon and armor pickups being cosmetic-only in nature, and the focus of my playthrough being on exploring the world and delving into its inhabitants’ backstories and the mysteries they hold.
Playing a game differently to make sure you’re having fun is fine to me (presuming you’re not messing up other people’s multiplayer experiences or something, which isn’t the case here).
Don’t see why this would need to be controversial.
I don’t disagree with your stance, but I am curious why you decided on a trainer instead of picking the easier difficulty. Did you try it and still find it too much? I have read about the differences between modes but haven’t actually tried anything other than normal, and even though I’m extremely familiar with PF 1e and D&D 5e I’ve struggled with lots of encounters.
I initially started on easy, but just found it far too complex of a system to get my head around, and when my work hours can see me going days between play sessions, any knowledge I do pick up often isn’t retained. I also just don’t enjoy turn based combat at all, so when I enter combat, I just throw on god mode and infinite turns to get it over and return to the story or quest more quickly (I’ll often alter things depending on what’s happening in the game at the time though. For example, I did the Gauntlet of Shar with Shadowheart on her own, as it felt like something she needed to tackle solo, even if I wasn’t in any genuine danger.)
I guess tl;dr - even easy was a bit too much for me to take in given my work schedule, as well as the combat taking a lot of time away from the aspects of the game I love, namely exploration and stories.
Not the one you’re asking but I feel the same as them.
I am playing on the easiest setting with no mods because it’s my first playthrough, I can finish the combat sessions without struggling but I don’t like the combat mechanics at all, this system is just not for me.
Next playthrough I’ll use mods and if there’s something that can make combat finish as fast as possible so I don’t have to deal with it too much, I’ll definitely use it.
a separate program that allows one to “cheat” (not a bad thing, as long as it’s not done in multiplayer) by scanning and modifying the game’s memory.
for example, it could figure out where your hitpoints are stored and constantly overwrite that value with your full hit points
You’re not alone, I can’t stand the combat either, not a fan of turn-based combat in RPGs and DnD rules seem needlessly complicated for a videogame, but I absolutely love everything else about BG3, there are so many possibilities I want to explore.
I’m doing my first playthrough on the easiest setting without mods but from the next I’ll use mods and if there’s something that can reduce combat to a minimum I’ll definitely use it. What trainer are you using?
What about the combat is so unbearable for you? Is it too complex or too long per encounter? I’ve played a lot of CRPGs so to me the combat is very intuitive and one of my favorite parts of the game.
I think it mainly comes down to the length per encounter, on top of the turn based system and mechanics I’m very unfamiliar with. I have pretty severe ADHD too, so it’s kinda a perfect storm of combat mechanics I’ve never been a fan of. I prefer real time, “learn the patterns” style combat ala Dark Souls or Sekiro. If I was younger and had more time to play, I’d likely have pushed through and learned the way BG3 plays on a fundamental level, but the reality is, I have 3-5 hours to play once or twice a week, and I just don’t want to sacrifice time in a combat system I don’t find enjoyable when I could be out adventuring and meeting new characters.
Your comment makes no sense. You claim to have ADHD, but prefer to beat your head against the wall repeatedly learning patterns in a FromSoft game? To each their own, but oof.
I’m a different commentor but wanted to reply with my biggest complaint about the combat is that I can’t skip the enemy turns and fast forward through them. It gets real tedious when you get into the encounters with like 20+ enemies. Otherwise I enjoy the combat. Do wish opportunity strikes against me would trigger a warning and ability to cancel my movement though since I often miss the red arrow or I misclick 1mm too far.
I personally love the big encounters with 20+ enemies but I do agree that it can really drag out combat and be unfun just waiting 10 minutes to do something again. I would love to see an option, similar to that in civ 6, where you can skip movement and attack animations to really speed up combat.
Then fucking play something else. This game is for fans you stupid small dicked cunt
40 hours later of couch co-op with my inexperienced partner who chose Wizard for some reason, and their character is finally useful in battle near the end of act 2.
I try not to control them, I just say what I’m doing and planning so they don’t launch my team off a cliff. Occasionally I’ll say “Yes, counterspell cloudkill please.” but I’m mostly hands off. When asked for advice I give it, I’m not a monster, I just think if we’re playing together we should both get to play.
I haven’t played any DnD since 3rd, and my partner loves these role playing shows like Critical Role or whatever. My biggest takeaway I’ve had from our sessions is that those shows most not have any mechanics whatsoever.
