Weapon Master Fighter subclass pt1 – The Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour August 16, 2018Zoltar <br /> hello everyone and welcome back once<br /> more to the microworlds happy fun hour I<br /> am still Mike morals creative franchise<br /> creative director on Dungeons & Dragons<br /> and your host for the next hour<br /> Gabe retake maybe five minutes more<br /> likely take so last week we talked about<br /> play testing and the role plays in<br /> tabletop game dine tabletop game design<br /> specifically and some of the lessons we<br /> learned in play testing fifth edition<br /> D&D you know if you if you were involved<br /> in the play test back in the day which<br /> is like five years ago now there was<br /> very much an iterative process which I<br /> talked about last week there was a lot<br /> of discovery of trying to match up how<br /> the game function do versus how people<br /> wanted it to function and then what<br /> you’d expect from play test just the<br /> testing of here’s a concept is this<br /> working is this matching what we need<br /> so hello up there and shad is ever<br /> having a good Tuesday yeah dinner puppy<br /> yeah happy Tuesday back to you man time<br /> for good vibes and epic loot I like that<br /> doom Drake 13 I like that the so last<br /> week I talked a bit about just the mid<br /> basic mechanics of a play test what you<br /> can do to sort of prepare for success<br /> what you can do to think about how you<br /> want to shape your expectations and the<br /> preparation for a test and the steps<br /> behind each phase and so what I wanted<br /> to do here was show you how when in your<br /> design step how you can design for<br /> testing and this goes back to I talked<br /> about last week about really<br /> understanding what is your design about<br /> what’s the question you’re asking and<br /> how can you establish this identity<br /> within your design that ensures that the<br /> information you’re getting back from<br /> your play testers is relevant to what<br /> you want to do with the design you’re<br /> working on and I think I mentioned this<br /> last week in my experience that’s the<br /> biggest mistake I see people make with<br /> play testing they make a game they ask<br /> people to play it they ask them did you<br /> like it yes No<br /> and then okay from there we’re good they<br /> all said yes sorry the there are a lot<br /> of sort of things you can do to ensure<br /> that the information that you get back<br /> is useful the in fact I mean I can’t<br /> remember I’m gonna watch me watch me<br /> sure here we go play sings play dusting<br /> example I want to do it just a quick<br /> recap in case you weren’t here last week<br /> you just really these are our steps the<br /> also secretly want to make sure I don’t<br /> forget one in case when I’m doing this<br /> it’s like you told us to do this and<br /> you’re not even doing it so you play<br /> testing steps if you design a thing<br /> people play they give you feedback<br /> probably by pulling and then you iterate<br /> you need to have a clear vision you want<br /> to know what it is you want to design<br /> you want to know your end point so as<br /> you test you’re making progress toward<br /> that end point you don’t just end up<br /> spinning in circles your high wall means<br /> if strong visions you really know what<br /> you want to do and you’re only making<br /> changes that are really tangibly<br /> improving what you’re doing that goes<br /> back to having a good destination and<br /> you understand the role the test what’s<br /> here that we’re actually trying to solve<br /> so all those things combined when you<br /> think about it you can design with these<br /> things in mind and I found in my own<br /> design it does help because then I start<br /> to understand what it is I’m actually<br /> working on so last week we talked about<br /> rolling out this idea of a weapon master<br /> fighter a fighter whose abilities we’re<br /> on a daily schedule that’s a very fancy<br /> way of saying it’s a fighter he needs<br /> long rests to get their stuff back and<br /> you know within the game we started with<br /> looking at the brute and how the brute<br /> failed a lot of those tests it didn’t it<br /> didn’t have a really clear role its<br /> identity was very much like well it’s<br /> just it’s kind of like the champion but<br /> different players really didn’t react<br /> well to that it was we saw a lot of<br /> unhappiness with the fact there’s<br /> copying mechanics over and it goes back<br /> this concept that helped guide 5th<br /> edition it’s not perfect like we had<br /> these concepts we try to follow them<br /> you’re never gonna flawlessly follow<br /> your concepts if you find yourself doing<br /> that your concepts might be a little too<br /> loose<br /> because there’s always gonna be<br /> exceptions but in general we wanted to<br /> make things as different as possible<br /> when we’re designing them for the<br /> friends and subclasses character classes<br /> pushing them apart to provide as wide<br /> coverage as we can in the game<br /> so the what I wanted to do was show you<br /> what the weapon master and chat let me<br /> know if the text is too small I’m gonna<br /> further in bigan and on my screen here<br /> it looks like okay that’s a nice and big<br /> so I ended up coming up this idea as a<br /> Mesa bitch block work through it of<br /> moving to a fighter with more daily<br /> powers and a fighter who maybe not maybe<br /> is focused on a style of weapon and so I<br /> went back after watching the vod’s one<br /> put a blue kobold one’s funny I like it<br /> something like it at one point five<br /> times it’s just I imagine myself like a<br /> hyperactive chipmunk and I resist the<br /> urge now to speak super fast just to<br /> throw that off yeah the Oh quick<br /> question and I’m gonna get this wrong<br /> had Jace Jace lender eyes whatever<br /> probably butchering a pronouncement how<br /> was usual played test going from<br /> Marshall we actually haven’t started yet<br /> one of the things we’re having is that<br /> if you remember a couple weeks ago I<br /> said I was expecting the artificer to go<br /> into play to you a for play test this<br /> month it actually got bumped back<br /> because there were a number of races we<br /> needed to do a public test on for<br /> Ravnica that we couldn’t test some of<br /> them we could because we hadn’t<br /> announced the product yet some we could<br /> test because it was just like oh it’s a<br /> centaur that could be anywhere<br /> others like you know a a Simic hybrid is<br /> a little harder to hide and say oh no<br /> this isn’t for Abner guy it’s just I<br /> don’t know in case you want to play a<br /> Simic character in scranton realms so I<br /> we had to adjust this the schedule a bit<br /> to account for that so there’s a little<br /> bit of a backup in some of our things<br /> here but we are planning on getting to<br /> them the the Marshalls also interesting<br /> because maybe this fighter could<br /> interact with an extreme but we’ll see<br /> we’ll get to that anyways uh wolfen one<br /> why not really see the auditor now<br /> though the main thing is just attention<br /> what we find is if we do multiple<br /> surveys at once they all get fewer<br /> results fewer people filling them out so<br /> it’s best for us just to push one of the<br /> time and focus on that and be that the<br /> link that everyone’s talking about if we<br /> and I think we learned this in the<br /> fission<br /> playtested we do multiple ones it just<br /> like instead of having no whatever I’ll<br /> make up a number a hundred thousand<br /> people answering one survey if we do<br /> five we end up with like ten thousand<br /> answering the five like you just you<br /> lose a bunch of audience and they’re<br /> more dispersed so the I don’t know the<br /> numbers all thought my head so the but<br /> that’s that’s Charlie the trend we’ve<br /> seen so when we push out one at a time<br /> so the weapon master here so one of the<br /> things in designing this was if you if<br /> you understand playtesting in its role<br /> my experience is it allows you to be a<br /> bit more pushing the boundaries with<br /> your design you a little more daring<br /> because you can you can retrofit things<br /> after the play test to bring them more<br /> sort of back down to earth<br /> but that’s only possible if you<br /> understand the play test and what role<br /> it’s gonna play and so what I want to do<br /> is walk you through some of this design<br /> and we’ll do some design on screen to<br /> because there’s nothing says fun like<br /> watch me mess with Excel and neck screw<br /> upward and have to redo things that’s<br /> how I think of designing on screen is<br /> built but hopefully it seemed I hope<br /> it’s entertaining the so I kind of show<br /> you here what the questions are and how<br /> that might shape the design keep in mind<br /> this is not at at a text it’s not been<br /> templated to fit the full language of<br /> fifth edition but this is this is a good<br /> starting point because I want to do<br /> something very different with the weapon<br /> master because we already have the<br /> battle master so weapon master is a name<br /> are not the bat it’s probably not gonna<br /> stick but it’s just it works it’s good<br /> enough right now it’s a little too close<br /> to battle master but I wanted to do was<br /> was give a really distinct way to use<br /> these abilities that felt very different<br /> from what the other fighters were doing<br /> and we’ll see if I did that so the what<br /> we have here is a class that uses<br /> martial exploits if you’re familiar with<br /> fourth edition that’s what we call the<br /> fighters abilities and I think the the<br /> martial characters overall use the word<br /> martial exploit so here we’re<br /> repurposing a term that maybe you’ve<br /> heard before and this comes in at third<br /> level and what it does I’ll just go down<br /> to the table and I think that the table<br /> looks big enough my screen like said<br /> Chad if it’s not big enough and begin<br /> our change of Derek’s sword sage could<br /> be a possibility but didn’t quite feel<br /> right for some of the characters I was<br /> picturing so but man I’m not very<br /> naming things the so what we’re looking<br /> at here is the fuel for this character<br /> class so we got our level column right<br /> here so we go from levels 3 to 20<br /> because you come into the sub class at 3<br /> the number of paths you have access to<br /> I’ll get to that in a second but<br /> essentially you can think of your paths<br /> is your power sets uses it’s pretty<br /> straightforward how many times can use<br /> this ability and then each time you use<br /> the ability it gives you a number of<br /> exploit dice to spend now this is<br /> something already that I’m not confident<br /> in because this is looking kinda like<br /> this the the dice the battle master gets<br /> so already though I feel like<br /> mechanically this could be really fun<br /> and interesting but I know one of the<br /> things I’m gonna want to test for is our<br /> people okay with this looking like<br /> something they’ve seen before the brute<br /> showed me that reusing mechanics does<br /> not go over well that doesn’t mean I<br /> just don’t do that what it means is I<br /> have to be aware of it and I have to<br /> understand that if I’m tinkering with<br /> something that looks similar to what’s<br /> come before I need to be aware that<br /> that’s something I need to test and so<br /> it will kind of see as we go forward<br /> like I don’t know if I quite did this<br /> but there’s the intent here what I<br /> really need to is make sure that my test<br /> is focused on proving out that this<br /> approach is not just fun to people but<br /> interesting to them and feels distinct<br /> enough this might fail that test right<br /> off the bat now walk you through why I<br /> did it this way<br /> there are ways which we don’t need to do<br /> it this way but I just felt as a 1<br /> through in my mind how I was thinking<br /> this would work this felt like an be a<br /> fun way to work and it can make the<br /> abilities you’re using feel really<br /> distinct the okay just gonna check real<br /> quick the okay cool so I don’t see any<br /> burning questions up there but the so if<br /> there’s why feel free to repeat but I<br /> don’t see anything oh I got a couple<br /> questions see how a casting<br /> slots for a fighter I’m not sure if<br /> that’s a question there or not I’ll get<br /> back to it if you sorry if I’m missing<br /> something but and I’m gonna try to hit<br /> on questions that apply to here rather<br /> just more general system questions<br /> Twitter is the best place to have a<br /> general question about fifth just<br /> on twitter i’m at mike Murrells alone<br /> word so what we have here is a system<br /> where when you use an exploit as the<br /> default what I wanted to do was build in<br /> a default a thing where hey I just wanna<br /> use an exploit just what does it give me<br /> and that was one area where I felt this<br /> would feel a bit distinct from the<br /> Battlemaster it might not be enough and<br /> a bit distinct from spell casting and so<br /> the idea is the generic use of an<br /> exploit is when you make an attack now<br /> don’t worry there are with those some<br /> that don’t require you to make an attack<br /> but those are the exceptions when you<br /> make an attack you can you can choose to<br /> use your exploit roll the dice your<br /> exploit along with your attack so I’m<br /> rolling my D 20 and I’m rolling some<br /> number of D sixes if your tech misses<br /> you can use one or more of the exploits<br /> dice results as a bonus to your attack<br /> if the attack hits apply any unused dice<br /> as a bonus to your weapon damage roll so<br /> the idea is I have two six adders my<br /> exploit dice I’m at third level I’ve<br /> just entered this thing I take a swing I<br /> decide to use it I roll my D 20 along<br /> with my dice if I miss I can convert one<br /> of one or both of those dice into an<br /> attack bonus to ensure I hit maybe s to<br /> one because I think I came close then if<br /> I do hit I get those dice as a bonus to<br /> damage I wanted to just make something<br /> that was just a basic use case so that<br /> within my paths that are essentially my<br /> power sets I didn’t have to worry about<br /> constantly giving you just a basic thing<br /> when you’re just like I just need to hit<br /> this person hard right I’m a fighter on<br /> this this character I’m fighting a troll<br /> we know the trolls really beaten down I<br /> just need to finish this troll I don’t<br /> need to redo that design a bunch of<br /> times because I just I don’t think<br /> there’s much of value there and saying<br /> here’s eight ways to just hit something<br /> harder if you’re going to hit something<br /> harder like more harder than what this<br /> provides for you I wanted that to be a<br /> feature of a path rather than just be<br /> something which only certain paths got<br /> this is essentially when you’re<br /> designing things like this if you<br /> remember if you’re here last week<br /> this table essentially translates where<br /> the eldritch Knights spell slots into<br /> raw damage and then makes it you know<br /> has a prettier presentation we never<br /> want to put players in a position of<br /> they are unable to do essentially<br /> they’re their standard damage output<br /> because we just haven’t given given them<br /> that<br /> that option solicits someone just I just<br /> wanna hit someone hard I can do that I<br /> want to ensure I hit I can do that now<br /> the so that just kind of builds at our<br /> basic use case I’m gonna skip wave the<br /> blade and superior fighting style but I<br /> will point out is if you scroll down<br /> here I didn’t bother with the 15th and<br /> 18th fellow abilities yet because at<br /> this stage in testing I have a very<br /> foundational ability I need to prove out<br /> so the next I don’t need to design the<br /> entire class because the entire subclass<br /> because there’s no point in doing the<br /> 15th and 18th abilities yet if this<br /> exploit dice mechanic does not work<br /> that’s going to affect the rest of my<br /> design and I suspect at higher levels<br /> I’m going to want to tinker with these<br /> if it does work then great I know I have<br /> a solid foundation I can go ahead and<br /> add some more design to me that’s a good<br /> I like that practice I like doing that<br /> because I think not only does it save<br /> you some time but it also forces you to<br /> think about your your design again in<br /> turn in terms of the test what’s the<br /> question you’re asking and if you’re<br /> asking a question try not to put much<br /> more of your design on top of that<br /> question make it dependent on that<br /> question unless you absolutely have to<br /> it saves you some work but it also gives<br /> and it gives you some flexibility you<br /> know it’s it’s always rough to throw out<br /> work right no one likes to do something<br /> that have to throw it away so why bother<br /> with that pain point if you can dodge it<br /> again if you notice you’ve been along<br /> some of the play tests we’ve done for<br /> new character classes we often I think<br /> we with the the was the mistake and is<br /> now the scion only started like levels 1<br /> to 5 then went to 1 to 10 then then 1 to<br /> 20 and you need to prove the foundation<br /> first before you build on top of it now<br /> if this is something for a nerf that I<br /> kinda I probably would just go ahead and<br /> build out the rest of the class but if<br /> this is something like you know showing<br /> you as far as and the ideal path would<br /> be you deck it a bit more iteration here<br /> this is much more like how we proceeded<br /> with the fifth edition design then it is<br /> the the you a path where the system set<br /> so we want to give you a full piece<br /> because it’s rare that a subclass<br /> demands multiple public tests so the<br /> let’s see what else we got here<br /> I heard that that was the mistake that<br /> became the mistake but the so let’s jump<br /> down I worked up two paths and I wanted<br /> to I wanted to have a couple pre-built<br /> so I kind of show you what I’m intending<br /> and then and then we can build one on<br /> screen how what I often do when I’m<br /> building a new thing that requires<br /> multiple parts is I try to build the<br /> simplest versions first well suppose<br /> version first like that that’s like your<br /> your easiest use case so you build that<br /> and then I try to build something that’s<br /> maybe a bit like maybe I don’t wanna say<br /> it stretches as far as the system can go<br /> cuz you probably don’t know what that<br /> looks like your first pass but you at<br /> least try to say I want to build<br /> something that feels a lot different so<br /> I can I can kind of understand the<br /> flexibility and I can also make my first<br /> play test as useful as possible so I’m<br /> not only looking for do you like this<br /> I’m also looking forward do you like the<br /> style of it do you like the creative<br /> direction for it so we have the past of<br /> the sublime way the subline way is<br /> something I I pulled from the book and<br /> Einhorn’s from 3/5 that was a book that<br /> gave fighters a lot of different<br /> fighting styles okay I work in that book<br /> so I like some of this stuff for me and<br /> so I worked up two paths and I want to<br /> walk you through the structure of them<br /> so one of the paths first time I did was<br /> pass the stone dragon<br /> the stone dragon path focuses on brutal<br /> power and overwhelming toughness it<br /> focuses on use focused twice it focuses<br /> on – what – hidden weapons<br /> most of these exploits require you to<br /> attack see here’s what I do is just<br /> delete this we don’t need that sentence<br /> most of these exploits require you to<br /> attack the two ended what melee weapon<br /> or versatile may the weapon you wield<br /> into hands wars the stone dragon we’re<br /> often cruel destroyers they fight with<br /> the subtlety and irresistible force of<br /> an avalanche they subtly it’s kind of<br /> good rope there they’re punishing<br /> attacks render their enemies at mobile<br /> allowing them to then take careful aim<br /> for one final executioner’s blow so<br /> really just wanted to DPS<br /> yeah look I just wanna hit you hard it’s<br /> a pretty simple expression one of the<br /> things we’d want to test here is is this<br /> restriction flavourful or is it bogus<br /> as some designers would say the<br /> requiring you to use a 200 weapon<br /> essentially it gives us a distinctive<br /> identity you can think of the character<br /> who chooses this as someone who wields a<br /> big weapon some savage that would say<br /> you’re needlessly restricting player<br /> choice here this is another example of<br /> in addition to a question we might ask<br /> what your general happiness with this<br /> ability we might ask a very specific<br /> question of do you feel that this<br /> restriction is interesting or do you get<br /> stupid alignments for paladins I can’t<br /> remember from the fifth edition play<br /> test we had two alignment restrictions I<br /> think at one point we did and it was<br /> something we saw a lot of pushback to<br /> and we I think had a specific survey<br /> question about so the but typically what<br /> I like to do in it if I know I’m play<br /> testing again what I focus on what are<br /> the questions I want to ask this is a<br /> good question to ask rather just not do<br /> it like I’m worried people might not<br /> like it so let’s get rid of it it’s a<br /> useful question to ask because it<br /> provides a lot of direction for your<br /> future design if it turns out people<br /> like this a lot then that tells me I<br /> want to focus my design on more sort of<br /> restrictive but flavorful restrictive<br /> abilities if people don’t like it I know<br /> to back away from that and really this<br /> is a matter of the reason you do this is<br /> twofold first it adds flavor it gives<br /> characters a distinctive identity what<br /> that also does is the second point it<br /> simplifies the class quite a bit because<br /> it means is a player coming in rather<br /> than having to look at all these paths I<br /> can just focus on the ones that really<br /> reflect the weapons I use and then those<br /> will give me flavorful interesting<br /> things I probably know if I’m a<br /> two-handed weapon user I like dealing<br /> damage a more DPS than defense so these<br /> if these effects will fit in with that<br /> but again sometimes you know do they<br /> just depends on where things settle in<br /> my experience is typically players like<br /> things that are very obvious like I’m an<br /> archer versus I fight in close combat<br /> otherwise that they prefer flexibility<br /> and so that might be enough but again so<br /> it’s something which now also unbalance<br /> would have to understand what I’d have<br /> to think about is do I want to ask this<br /> question along with all the other<br /> questions if this is too much job what<br /> you want to go ahead and cut it knowing<br /> I just don’t have the bandwidth to test<br /> for this and everything else those are<br /> kind of things need to think<br /> but again being aware what you’re<br /> testing and understanding why you’re<br /> asking those questions is important so<br /> then we go through here how these<br /> abilities work so the idea behind them<br /> is if I choose this path I get all the<br /> benefits listed under it which in this<br /> case I’m scrolling really quickly don’t<br /> worry I’ll go back and walk through them<br /> we have adamantine bones colossus strike<br /> jaws of the stone dragon mountains grasp<br /> and sweeping legend this is an area<br /> where I don’t know if I’d actually wanna<br /> try to test this and that is our five<br /> things here is that too many do I need<br /> to gate them more as designed right now<br /> you talk about camp here I choose the<br /> path the way this is written I get all<br /> these abilities at once let’s take a<br /> look at the general text here and I can<br /> kind of walk you through how these<br /> things are working I realize I sort of<br /> just skipped over that so I went<br /> straight to here when let’s see so<br /> basically each path Ms sublime way<br /> features unique take on combat mastery<br /> many but not all require you to wield<br /> certain weapons to use their exploits so<br /> that’s another case where I’m testing<br /> that so I make sure I make it obvious<br /> like the players understand what they’re<br /> getting into when you use a marshal<br /> exploit remember we have a standard use<br /> which is just I expend it roll the dice<br /> add attack bonus anything left goes to<br /> damage you can choose to use one of the<br /> special exploits listed under one of the<br /> paths you know so here I’m really<br /> designing for flexibility and again this<br /> is something where I wanted to<br /> differentiate it from the battle master<br /> but making you feel like you had more<br /> options and you had more flexibility in<br /> what you could do rather than having a<br /> sort of a tight cluster of trick so you<br /> could use again and again you’re trading<br /> repetition for breath so essentially the<br /> encounter recharge being I can do this<br /> more consistently you choose the special<br /> exploit when you decide use a marshal<br /> exploit what isn’t captured here is some<br /> of these allow you just as an action<br /> bonus action do a thing some of these<br /> abilities required to roll fewer dice<br /> when using a marshal exploit you cannot<br /> use an ability that reduces the total<br /> dice you roll for an exploit to less<br /> than one such abilities beyond your<br /> skill so this is as I wrote this<br /> paragraph this might be an argument in<br /> favor of Nod just giving you everything<br /> upfront there might be some level gating<br /> we need to add but I you know so it’s<br /> something we have to think about I think<br /> and it’s not to me that’s not a great<br /> question to ask<br /> in a play test because really you’re<br /> asking players you know it’s not really<br /> this really doesn’t really hit on the<br /> feel of a thing it doesn’t really fit<br /> hit on the identity of it in the game<br /> it’s very much almost like a bookkeeping<br /> exercise and generally speaking if<br /> you’re gonna gate something you’re<br /> really think of it in terms of just how<br /> many things may putting in your<br /> character sheet that maybe you’re saying<br /> that big Naurang so that’s also another<br /> argument against you know how many of<br /> these things I want to give you I need<br /> to decide that ahead of time I don’t<br /> want to try to test that because I also<br /> feel that’s kind of thing and testing is<br /> a it players aren’t necessary very good<br /> at self diagnosing that they might use<br /> very general language like oh this is<br /> confusing it was overwhelming<br /> I had trouble tracking things that might<br /> point to a lot of different sources and<br /> so as much as possible your sort of user<br /> console you want to try to get that as<br /> lockdown as possible I think that was<br /> one of the trickier things to solve the<br /> fifth edition play test it required us<br /> to do a lot of sort of cross-referencing<br /> of individual data points to figure out<br /> where was that know where was that sort<br /> of friction coming from and and that led<br /> us to really dramatically where these<br /> trying to make the game simpler<br /> especially in combat so so kind of note<br /> to self this is not something I<br /> necessarily a test I really need to<br /> think about this as a designer and<br /> resent something that’s closer to<br /> finished and then we give you your DC<br /> calculation eight plus proficiency plus<br /> strength modifier you could argue that<br /> maybe this should be different maybe<br /> it’s intelligence by just for you to<br /> start with strength just because I’m<br /> writing this out and something good to<br /> think of but again this is something<br /> that I don’t necessary want to try to<br /> test this because I think that is<br /> getting to a level of detail that’s a<br /> lot of players are going to notice the<br /> table they’re just going to give you<br /> general unhappiness and then diagnosing<br /> might be harder than I want again this<br /> is a case right to think about the test<br /> a lot as I write this and I really<br /> understand what it is that I’m testing I<br /> already have some pretty heavy things<br /> I’m testing I don’t want this noise<br /> creeping in and throwing off my results<br /> so we got here any questions<br /> see well game fandom DM will we see a<br /> class that uses more of these exploits<br /> with this fighter subclass and being the<br /> subsystems equivalent to the lodger<br /> tonight yeah and I think that’s one of<br /> the ideas here is that if we would do<br /> this this is something we could add<br /> stuff to later in a print let’s say we<br /> put this in a printed product we would<br /> probably republish the subclass like the<br /> core mechanics which luckily aren’t like<br /> extensive like a page of text if let’s<br /> say we’re doing setting or world<br /> specific or campaign specific paths so<br /> okay so that’s the basically how these<br /> things work so let’s take a look at the<br /> path of the stone dragon so what I want<br /> to do is make makes one very simple so<br /> adamantine bones is essentially a way in<br /> which you can to reflect the sort of<br /> stone dragon like toughness and brute<br /> power this way you can convert one of<br /> your martial exploits to temporary hit<br /> points so it basically says when you<br /> expend a marshal exploit when attacking<br /> with a 200 weapon blah blah blah after<br /> blowing the dice select one or more of<br /> them you gain temporary hit points equal<br /> to their total plus or constitution<br /> modifier and this is a case where you<br /> can also activate this ability as a<br /> bonus action so if you’re not in a fight<br /> or you’re not attacking someone you can<br /> still bonus action roll your dice you<br /> gain temporary points equal this would<br /> be plus constitutional on fire<br /> so this is a pretty basic ability that’s<br /> just translating your damage output into<br /> temporary hit points which are basically<br /> equivalent the Colossus strike you swing<br /> we’re up in an upward arc catching your<br /> phone in the chest and setting them<br /> flying across the battlefield so that’s<br /> an example of one where I’m chiming I am<br /> trading Dyson for an additional extra<br /> effect the so you expend a marshal<br /> exploit when attacking this is one where<br /> does make sense but its own because it’s<br /> part of an attack after rolling the dice<br /> you can select one or more of them and<br /> disregard the results you’re basically<br /> dropping out some damage no you’re<br /> probably gonna drop the dice that rolled<br /> like ones and twos but the system<br /> doesn’t try to account for that<br /> interesting feels kind of nice as a<br /> player in a Maximizer<br /> for each dice elected you push the<br /> target five feet in a straight line<br /> along the ground if you’re taught kids<br /> this is just basically hit someone with<br /> overwhelming force you do your damage<br /> and you push them away and then jaws of<br /> the stone dragon I just get this one<br /> instead go to mountains grass because<br /> there’s actually a combo I built and<br /> built into this here mountains grass<br /> says when you expend a marshal exploit<br /> when attacking the target speed is<br /> reduced by 5 feet per die applied as a<br /> bonus show up ins damage roll now keep<br /> in mind the oops and weapon rolls damage<br /> lock and roll doesn’t have damage it’s<br /> the weapons damaged roll so this is one<br /> where it’s actually free I just apply<br /> this I’m not spending any my dice I’m<br /> just counting them up and reducing your<br /> speed by 5 feet it lasts until the end<br /> of your next turn then there is jaws of<br /> the stone dragon now this doesn’t quite<br /> work yet I realize with mountains grasp<br /> I think the 5 feet per die doesn’t quite<br /> work out but this is something where I<br /> had to maybe just change to be the<br /> saving room and you get immobilized when<br /> you expend a marshal exploit when<br /> attacking a creature that cannot move or<br /> with a speed of 0 you gain additional +2<br /> bonus for die used as a bonus to up<br /> individual so this is the idea that I if<br /> I mobilize someone I hit them really<br /> hard right now this isn’t quite working<br /> because at low levels I can maybe only<br /> do like a 10 foot speed penalty so again<br /> this is something where I need to make<br /> sure I’m not like serving up things that<br /> obviously you want to say work together<br /> I wrote this one first then had this<br /> idea all let me add this one in it’s<br /> important to go back and make sure for<br /> instance in this case what I’d probably<br /> say is the here I can just go over here<br /> and grab this language oops what costs<br /> drink<br /> I obviously grab this and just say<br /> expend it one or two dice probably two<br /> dice and force the creature make a sink<br /> there or be speed zero for around so<br /> just capture this and this build up<br /> mechanic you’ll see there’s another one<br /> that uses this I think actually uses<br /> applies it more correctly the so when<br /> you expend a marshal exploit which<br /> hacking after rolling the dice you can<br /> select one or more with them in dis and<br /> you can select at least two of them look<br /> at me trying to hit the CA collect two<br /> of them and disregard their results and<br /> this is just the idea by this is the big<br /> brutal fighter you know you’re<br /> connecting with these heavy weapons I<br /> you basically trapping people the I give<br /> the Avalanche to tumble down and people<br /> that can’t get away once you have them<br /> in your grasp<br /> you start pummeling them heavily one<br /> thing that does come up is since this<br /> does require two-handed weapons it<br /> doesn’t mean I can’t grap I can’t base<br /> each weapon fight to grapple and then<br /> once your speed 0xr gotten your Apple<br /> and hit you with a weapon from a bunch<br /> of bonus damage if we did move away with<br /> from the two-handed weapon thing we have<br /> to consider what you know how does it<br /> interact with it is it okay<br /> the cuz I believe you can do up in fight<br /> to grapple I’d again that something I<br /> have to look up as they refine this and<br /> their final effect this is kind of a<br /> template for something that might be an<br /> AoE textile effect is its sweeping<br /> bludgeon when you expend a marshal<br /> exploit when attacking with a treated<br /> weapon blah blah blah after rolling dice<br /> you can select one or more of them and<br /> disregard the result for each die<br /> selected and pick a creature within<br /> reach of your attack doesn’t have to be<br /> the target of your attack it’s just some<br /> other creature each chosen creature must<br /> make a string saving therapy not<br /> approved this is this does not translate<br /> the attack into an AoE because we<br /> already are dealing with fighter who is<br /> the best class of getting additional<br /> attacks and so I felt like I didn’t<br /> necessarily have to let you trigger an<br /> AoE in place of an attack<br /> I’d also be worried that it with<br /> multiple attacks you could trigger multi<br /> lay us and really slow the game down so<br /> chances are if I was to do an AoE thing<br /> it would be its own separate action that<br /> would require you to expend an exploit<br /> but I wasn’t quite ready to get there<br /> yet I felt like this one would work<br /> pretty well because if I did have<br /> multiple attacks on my first attack I<br /> could sure I could trigger this knock a<br /> couple people prone then I might then<br /> attack a prone person yeah but probably<br /> my initial target I want to try to knock<br /> pro in so I could and then the in adults<br /> make sure the timings right on this so<br /> that’s something which doesn’t make sure<br /> was correct the and then if I have a<br /> second attack I’d fall up and hit a<br /> prone person and then just do full<br /> damage to them the so yeah that that’s<br /> something where like I thought about<br /> making an AoE but I chose not to<br /> so the yeah key thing I mentioned is an<br /> option providing style this is a way<br /> which we could potentially insert it is<br /> have a path that is like basically a<br /> pugilist and that’s also kind of why I<br /> like this structure because as I thought<br /> about it it could kind of pull in a few<br /> of the different fighters that right now<br /> we don’t quite support especially we<br /> paired it with a fighting style that<br /> made unarmed fighting flavorful for a<br /> fighter like that pugilist I guess the<br /> word he used as opposed to the monk<br /> which is more like a martial artist so<br /> this is basically the structure we’ve<br /> got a lot going on here and this is when<br /> you look at this one of the reason<br /> another one of the reasons why going<br /> back after this table you know I talked<br /> about how I didn’t design a 15th and<br /> 18th availability because I have so much<br /> stuff going on that again I want to try<br /> to design is the smallest amount of work<br /> possible in order to start testing this<br /> because I just have conceptual questions<br /> here I also have a lot of design<br /> questions like is that too much within<br /> one path when you are at high levels<br /> I’ve projected you’re gonna have five<br /> paths if that’s five abilities under<br /> each it’s 25 abilities you can<br /> potentially apply at any moment ten<br /> times you know because the open deal 10<br /> uses that could potentially be overload<br /> even if a player who want something a<br /> little more complicated it might just be<br /> too much to track so these are like sort<br /> of big questions I need to answer in<br /> terms my user interface and again I’ve<br /> got to answer those before I go to test<br /> because that kind of complexity can be<br /> very murky and very hard to distant<br /> from the overall you know reaction to<br /> the mechanics the so I want to show you<br /> in contrast the the starts to make can<br /> do I keep them and can’t use artery<br /> fighting style through and weapons I<br /> actually I can’t remember I think it<br /> says specific you can because I think it<br /> says they’re arranged weapons you know I<br /> can always forget that that’s like a<br /> Crawford level like discussions like<br /> when do traits apply to weapons and when<br /> do they don’t they always apply and<br /> because the classic thing and the<br /> irritating thing rolling his eyes is<br /> like hey man I’m swinging my throwing<br /> axe and it’s a ranged weapon so I get<br /> this bonus in melee right and you I<br /> would actually argue it doesn’t really<br /> matter whether you were getting this<br /> bonus in melee or with a ranged weapon<br /> but it what it does it does break<br /> immersion but like hey I’m a superior<br /> Archer which means I’m really good at<br /> fighting with hand axes in close combat<br /> like that just yeah it’s kind of thing<br /> where just starts messing up the sort of<br /> understanding of the conceptual<br /> understanding a player might have of a<br /> mechanic because of its name alright um<br /> I want to take a quick look oh no I want<br /> to take a look at the other school I<br /> made so if this one was real mud look I<br /> just wanna give you a chance like really<br /> hurt people and maybe a way that feels<br /> kind of tactical and maybe a little<br /> interesting and do some kind of control<br /> I keep them close to you then is the<br /> path in the Shadow hologram the shadow<br /> Harlequin which I wanted to make a very<br /> distinct much more about being clever<br /> much more about being fighting with<br /> light weapons and being sort of a<br /> controller but what I did right here and<br /> this is where I think I might go overall<br /> what the design is so I’ll read the text<br /> this is what I do the shadow Harlequin<br /> path is a school of artful swordplay and<br /> mesmerizing flourishes its practitioners<br /> attack of foes mind and body nuvaring<br /> their foes into tactical blunders with<br /> cunning faints and sudden surprising<br /> moves shadow Harlequin typically fight<br /> with light agile weapons such as rapiers<br /> and short swords but oops but their<br /> talents are useful to almost any work so<br /> the idea here was to create a flavor and<br /> say this is typically what happens but<br /> if you want to have a giant axe and use<br /> these abilities I’m not going to stop<br /> you and that’s probably where I to end<br /> up with this just again to pull<br /> something off that could potentially<br /> cause static MyPlate<br /> and I have to undertake to myself kind<br /> of goes back to the high wall don’t want<br /> to die on this hill I think this is so<br /> important that I really will not want to<br /> put a lot of work into it and frankly no<br /> I don’t think it’s that important I’d<br /> have to make sure that this is an it<br /> does not interact with grapple an odd<br /> way so I’m not like you know versatile<br /> up in one hand offhand attack trying to<br /> grapple you hey I’ve got your grapple<br /> now we started hitting it my other<br /> weapon<br /> stuff like that but I I can solve that<br /> I’m not too worried about it but let’s<br /> take a look at the Harlequin because the<br /> the first one when I throw out here is<br /> coming forth to dance and I would just<br /> admit this this sort of theatrical<br /> approach just was a good excuse to give<br /> like cheesy names to these things but I<br /> allowed the cheese so come forth it is<br /> my head in the way no it’s not today<br /> your weapon moves in a lazy hypnotic<br /> pattern luring your foe to blunder ahead<br /> and walk into your trap so here’s an<br /> example of an ability and this is gonna<br /> require a little smithing on my heart<br /> part again you don’t play test wording<br /> that’s definitely do not think you can<br /> like especially an established system<br /> like word this I’ll just cobble<br /> something together the player testers<br /> will give me feedback no that’s where I<br /> like a like a fellow designer and it’s<br /> how we think of editors here they’re<br /> essentially fellow designers they’re<br /> just sort of their their medium is a bit<br /> more the language and the implementation<br /> rather than the concept<br /> you can’t crowdsource that you need an<br /> expert it’s like you know yeah I<br /> wouldn’t want a crowdsource like my<br /> dental surgery I had want the most<br /> experienced expert you know doing that<br /> rather see it’s 100 people try and<br /> someone will get it right the and that’s<br /> kind of a good way to think about<br /> testing is like crowdsourcing things<br /> where it is the value of having lots of<br /> eyes rather than having one expert sort<br /> of eyes it’s saying like rather than<br /> having Stephen King write a horror story<br /> which is you know he’s a really talented<br /> great author let’s have a hundred people<br /> write horror stories because you know<br /> for whatever reason we’re trying to get<br /> a sense of like you know whatever there<br /> it’s the volume is it’s our new award in<br /> that case maybe you’re looking for like<br /> a new writer or a new approach we know<br /> what Stephen King can write we don’t<br /> want just another Stephen King story we<br /> want something new and different so<br /> we’re gonna have like an open call so<br /> send in your writing samples we’re<br /> looking for something new and this is a<br /> case where with your writing<br /> the wording you’re not looking for<br /> something new you’re looking for<br /> somebody an expert in what you’ve<br /> already built who understands your<br /> system to build new infrastructure to<br /> support<br /> things so with all that said this means<br /> before I send out come forth through<br /> Duns for testing I’d want to be make<br /> sure this is something I want to talk to<br /> Jeremy and make sure that our wording is<br /> correct but here we have directionally<br /> as an action expended Marshall exploit<br /> and select a creature that you can see<br /> within 15 feet of you the target must<br /> make a wisdom saving throw if it fails<br /> it moves up to 15 feet closer to you you<br /> then make a single melee attack against<br /> it using your Marshall it exploits dice<br /> what’s going on here is what I want to<br /> say is you know hey it’d be silly to say<br /> you attack a creature then make it move<br /> closer to you because I think people<br /> tend to look at the steps in which you<br /> do if missing mechanically has the steps<br /> in which it plays out in the game so<br /> it’s kind of goofy to think hey this<br /> guy’s good 15 feet away from me so I’m<br /> gonna swing my sword at him clearly I’m<br /> gonna miss Clewes 15 feet away I’ll look<br /> he walked up closer I get to know hit<br /> him right so it’s just the the idea<br /> being how can we make sure this mechanic<br /> is flexible enough that I can apply it a<br /> number of different ways in this case<br /> our test case is I can spend the exploit<br /> do a thing then make my attack what I<br /> want to make sure is that this effect is<br /> not so strong that you necessarily need<br /> to lose dice over it I might have to say<br /> you know we do using your Marshall<br /> exploits exploit with one fewer die I<br /> might say that just but I think it isn’t<br /> free but it lets you basically alert<br /> someone in so again this is being more<br /> straightforward manipulation we’re using<br /> the wisdom saving thorough rather than a<br /> strength or Constitution once all about<br /> messing with someone’s mind yeah blue<br /> kobold 120 pulls are the best they are<br /> there’s nothing like being a fighter<br /> who’d like make someone come closer this<br /> one is a little bit more cutting<br /> dialogue kind of flavorful this idea of<br /> the agile warrior so you’re pretty good<br /> at making reactions as a rule I don’t<br /> like putting reactions into the game<br /> they slow things down<br /> tremendously especially if they are<br /> open-ended actions open-ended reactions<br /> we try to really limit them we found in<br /> testing they slow the game down<br /> ridiculously I brought combat to a crawl<br /> excusing an open-ended one might end up<br /> with everybody’s action monster a<br /> character with the player with the<br /> open-ended reaction going okay does<br /> anyone need this yet for exam<br /> let’s say I’m a character and as a<br /> reaction I can heal you when you take<br /> damage we kick in the door to the room<br /> and there’s a dozen kobolds okay great<br /> they’re gonna fire arrows at us so the<br /> DM rolls the 12 dice normally that might<br /> not take a lot of time to resolve but<br /> now it’s like okay wizard do you need<br /> healing yet do you need healing it<br /> cleric unis healing you basically every<br /> attack you end up asking a question and<br /> it makes things go really slow so but I<br /> did want a reaction here except felt<br /> like on flavor for this sort of agile<br /> character I also just like the idea of<br /> cutting dialogue if this exchange of<br /> blows is a dramatic play let your<br /> rejoinder be its final act I felt<br /> probably felt prouder of that than I<br /> should good and this is pretty simple as<br /> a reaction when a creature makes them<br /> melee attack against you so this is your<br /> chance to throw some extra dps out there<br /> it’s saying look you detect you get to<br /> make a counter-attack you could spend a<br /> marshal exploit and make a melee weapon<br /> attack against that creature you can<br /> select one of the dice rolled and add it<br /> to your AC against the targets attack<br /> this also got a side got in the sense<br /> that the shadow Harlequin character is<br /> pretty it’s a JAL’s weapon master in the<br /> sense are very fast and you could do a<br /> quick Perry and counter-attacked getting<br /> across that feel the rapier of the short<br /> sword but again this is something you<br /> can imagine a character doing this with<br /> an axe<br /> you know why Limit that why and why not<br /> let the player kind of create their own<br /> story or explain this out the player<br /> who’s looking for Direction finds it the<br /> player who wants to be just I want to<br /> make up something in cobble it together<br /> can also do that too and essentially<br /> what you’re just doing is you’re letting<br /> someone get an extra free attack<br /> obviously the cost of their reaction so<br /> they wouldn’t get an opportunity attack<br /> and then dramatic exit so this is<br /> similar to the structure I had for the<br /> attack where basically there’s the speed<br /> reduction you’re overly dramatic strike<br /> distracts your opponent allowing you to<br /> slip away from their grasp when you<br /> expend a marshal exploit when making a<br /> melee weapon attack you can move up to 5<br /> feet without provoking opportunity<br /> attacks after your attack / exploit die<br /> rolls myth you know move that here so<br /> there we go so and I move that they’re<br /> just so because this is an important<br /> thing about as far as your distance the<br /> after the attack is timing this is<br /> magnitude put the magnitude next to the<br /> thing<br /> it’s amplifying rather than after when<br /> it happens so yeah so five feet without<br /> provoking opportunity tax per exploit I<br /> rolled after your attack so there you go<br /> and this allows this sort of agile<br /> swordsman to get out of to get out of<br /> trouble<br /> note that it’s all opportunity attacks<br /> not just going to swear were you<br /> attacked so you can make an attack and<br /> then get it get out of Dodge you might<br /> need to make the attack move away and<br /> they attack someone else if you have<br /> multiple attacks so so that’s the basic<br /> structure we have here and what I’m<br /> hoping you see here is I feel like<br /> shadow Harlequin with the tight<br /> selection maybe this is a little too<br /> further part maybe I need to build on<br /> come forth to dance and have more just<br /> direct mind control type things and then<br /> maybe put these into a more defensive<br /> like I foil your attacks and get away<br /> and I as I said that I instantly think<br /> that that might be the right direction<br /> because I think having tightly grouped<br /> thematic things will make choosing these<br /> easier while still giving you that sense<br /> of flexibility<br /> it also means I’m really leaning into<br /> the benefit I have of having just a<br /> standard way to spend these things I<br /> just want to hit you harder or I want to<br /> change making sure I’m going to hit I<br /> just have a standard use of these<br /> abilities that anyone can use it’s also<br /> super important that this one be work<br /> that this would this work that goes back<br /> to my next point when I talked about the<br /> study of the minimum viable thing<br /> working through this I might actually be<br /> tempted to test this only say at levels<br /> 1 to 5 like get it get it tested up<br /> until the first level the fighter has<br /> multiple attacks maybe a little bit<br /> higher or we’ll see I had let me think<br /> about it but I really am seeing now as I<br /> walk this and explain it to you and talk<br /> about it there are three pillars that<br /> must be rock-solid for this subclass to<br /> work and again this is all about when<br /> you’re testing understanding what is it<br /> that you need to test I need to ensure<br /> that this basic mechanic works that’s<br /> number one<br /> boom this mechanic works then I need to<br /> make sure that my my standard way of<br /> using them also works it’s possible<br /> people might like the dice but not like<br /> the standard thing they all get the<br /> thing that everyone gets that doesn’t<br /> work that’s weakening the rest of my<br /> design because my third pillar these<br /> specific<br /> paths they rest on that they rely on the<br /> player having just a standard way to<br /> burn one of these things to get extra<br /> accuracy and damage they’re not trying<br /> to supply that they’re just applying the<br /> flourishes that live on top of it if the<br /> first one Falls the other two go down<br /> with it and the first one stands and the<br /> second one Falls it pulls the third one<br /> down with it<br /> I proved out my first two pillars now I<br /> can just focus on getting the paths<br /> correct and that’s where a lot of them<br /> my iteration is going to take place this<br /> goes back to the idea of having a clear<br /> destination a clear question I<br /> understand what I’m what I’m trying to<br /> move toward if I get a lot of negative<br /> reactions to this that tells me my first<br /> place I want to go look and really focus<br /> my analysis on is that initial concept<br /> of the exploit dice does this feel<br /> unique enough it’s gonna really help my<br /> searches and those common fields I’m<br /> gonna have thousands of comments I can’t<br /> read them all well okay I could if I<br /> wasn’t married didn’t have a kid didn’t<br /> have a job then I could read them all<br /> the our job other stuff to do<br /> but what it means is now I can do<br /> searches right I can go through and sort<br /> those comments I can take a look and say<br /> okay I got say a thousand comments let’s<br /> do a quick search how many times does<br /> Battlemaster show up how about a master<br /> she look like 30 times well that’s three<br /> percent of my commenters are saying<br /> battle master it actually is probably<br /> tip of an iceberg where a lot of them<br /> are thinking about it but maybe not just<br /> writing the words battle master and then<br /> I can start understanding what I’m<br /> testing so again when you’re designing<br /> think about your play tests think about<br /> the question you’re asking think about<br /> why you’re doing things and think about<br /> what’s the feedback you’re looking for<br /> they can prove out the utility and value<br /> of what you’re doing in both it’s a<br /> mechanical identity and what you’re<br /> doing and it’s in World identity in<br /> terms of who was doing this and again<br /> that’s very specific to two subclasses<br /> it also does apply to monsters though a<br /> monsters identity should be reflecting<br /> its abilities another discussion we<br /> designed monsters last month you can go<br /> find the archive on YouTube so that’s<br /> we’re looking at here now what I want to<br /> do yeah dead in seconds about a master<br /> will get mentioned know when it’s true<br /> we know it’s gonna come up right I can<br /> guarantee you that some percentage of<br /> players are going to talk about it and<br /> so now we have to understand what<br /> they’re we have to understand of it’s<br /> saying all this looks distinct is this<br /> look too much and then we design from<br /> there so get understanding that web of<br /> that foundation and how the pieces<br /> Connect is critical to making forward<br /> progress with your design and a play<br /> test I’m gonna take a quick moment and<br /> what we actually what’s already a<br /> quarter oh so I guess we won’t be<br /> necessary doing a lot of design on<br /> camera I hope this has been useful you<br /> know I know typical weeks we’re doing a<br /> lot of design but I’m hoping that kind<br /> of walking you through my thinking is<br /> helping understand how things end up<br /> next G fact share DVI vex feedback in<br /> the fighter I will put the word<br /> Battlemaster 10,000 times then thank you<br /> just get the giant cell um people have I<br /> think that the the most amusing you<br /> please don’t oh my god now it’s gonna<br /> challenge okay I’m here to see what<br /> people do with it we had someone I think<br /> put it in erotic short story in the<br /> comments once it wasn’t about one of us<br /> thank God it was just this sort of like<br /> yeah you know and I just you know it<br /> does it’s just was it’s kind of like oh<br /> that’s interesting we’re getting<br /> hundreds of thousands of people filling<br /> out a form and you never know what<br /> they’re gonna put in there yeah a game<br /> Bentham DM this is last episode of grill<br /> informing my future survey filling<br /> hopefully in terms of what you’re<br /> talking about and not just dropping in<br /> no mission erotica for us to enjoy cool<br /> so let’s take a look at the other so I’m<br /> already gonna stink you know what I<br /> think I have those pillars I don’t think<br /> I necessarily detest a level seventh or<br /> tenth ability but I wrote them so loose<br /> I’ll talk about them a little bit I<br /> initially thought I could test up to<br /> tenth you know but as I walk through<br /> this I can see especially I worked on<br /> the the paths last night in today and<br /> it’s inching his path the stone dragon I<br /> did first then path the shadow Harlequin<br /> I did sided later and I could kind of<br /> already see my kind of thoughts<br /> coalescing it often helps to walk your<br /> with through your design with someone<br /> else<br /> I do find actually is useful in the<br /> stream because it does make me start<br /> asking questions and rethink things from<br /> a different angle<br /> I think sometimes if you read something<br /> versus speak about it it actually fires<br /> off different parts of your brain least<br /> for me and it makes me think of it from<br /> the bagels<br /> oh that is one thing though okay this is<br /> a question that come up a bunch of times<br /> do you as a designer tell your testers<br /> your design intent<br /> I’ve heard a lot of opinions about this<br /> I don’t I think it’s almost like a 50/50<br /> split<br /> but the<br /> my opinion is as a designer you do not<br /> you do not tell your testers your design<br /> intent because that’s cheating<br /> you’re gonna shade them toward trying to<br /> find that explanation rather than<br /> requiring them to find it I strongly<br /> believe the design should speak for<br /> itself if I have to tell you what my<br /> design intent is that means my design<br /> has failed to me would be like saying a<br /> chef has to tell you oh this was I was<br /> using you know I really wanted to evoke<br /> the feel of Thai cooking but crossed<br /> with with with Mexican cuisine if I need<br /> you to tell me that and I ate your dish<br /> and I had no idea it was time X<br /> confusion I think your dish didn’t work<br /> where does he tell me that ahead of time<br /> you’ve primed me I’m probably gonna<br /> start seeking out and what could have<br /> been a model which is what I want to<br /> know is a designer I want to know that<br /> it’s muddled I don’t want you to like<br /> you know I’m not looking for a design<br /> that Pat’s you in the back I’m looking<br /> for a design that kicks my ass right I<br /> mean a play test I don’t mind if a play<br /> test kicks my ass because that’s just<br /> saving ass-kicking when we’ve released<br /> the actual product and it turns out<br /> everyone hates it so I’d rather take<br /> your lumps and testing that’s the safest<br /> place to take them you’d rather you know<br /> it’s like training for an app you know<br /> for sport you know you’d rather do those<br /> wind sprints so you have you know your<br /> your energy in the fourth quarter of a<br /> basketball game then skip them then when<br /> you’re playing the actual game you’re<br /> lagging behind you can’t keep up with<br /> other team take your lumps and testing<br /> so that’s why I don’t like talking about<br /> the design intent with the testers I<br /> think that’s cheating now that’s a very<br /> strong opinion I have how the designers<br /> would disagree they would say that<br /> that’s a clear conversation you’re<br /> having with their testers and you’re<br /> trusting your testers to set aside that<br /> information and then they now know where<br /> where they’re going with their tests but<br /> for me I just feel that’s wrongheaded I<br /> think you don’t want the testers to know<br /> where it’s going your text has to<br /> provide that for them or your games it’s<br /> a video game<br /> if it can’t if it’s not doing that then<br /> I think that’s actually a enormous fault<br /> and they and the work itself but again<br /> you all get different opinions on that<br /> so anyways I’ll get off my soapbox put<br /> it aside and tell you about way of the<br /> blade so start so what I want to be was<br /> dropping something that spoke to like<br /> non-combat things there might be a<br /> better way to do this once we get the<br /> the paths sorted out but this is a<br /> starting at seven level you blend your<br /> martial talent with the softer skills<br /> needed to navigate the world if you are<br /> holding a weapon when you make a<br /> strength athletics dexterity acrobatics<br /> or charisma intimidation check you gain<br /> a bonus to the role equal to half your<br /> proficiency bonus you use your weapon to<br /> assist in your checks that just pull<br /> vaulting to the staff using your sword<br /> in your balance or menacing an enemy<br /> with your bloodied flail I have to admit<br /> I kind of actually love this mechanic I<br /> find it really this is the kind of thing<br /> I love designing it’s I feel like it’s<br /> pretty direct and simple but it has a<br /> really flavorful effect in the world I<br /> was tempted to say you get your full<br /> proficiency bonus but I thought that<br /> felt like a little like I think I’m<br /> giving you your full proof of<br /> proficiency bonus if you had to select<br /> one of these three rather than getting<br /> all three I think you get all three and<br /> a half or want it full we’ll see the way<br /> of path of the way fun times so yeah<br /> this is something where I think about<br /> now this is a good example for testing<br /> it’s a little hard to actually ask that<br /> question so probably what I would do is<br /> pick one that I thought was the riskier<br /> choice and go with that which might mean<br /> you’ll pick pick one of these and maybe<br /> expend this to the list a little bit and<br /> say you’re really good at that one<br /> holding a weapon the one thing I like<br /> about that direction is a bigger<br /> magnitude effects I prefer it means this<br /> is more of a character’s signature thing<br /> I prefer to give characters things that<br /> are like really obvious signature<br /> abilities or the other players will<br /> notice rather than a smaller bonus that<br /> comes up more often but might get lost<br /> you know another player might not<br /> understand you’re getting a bonus to<br /> your strengths athletics check because<br /> your your pub all thing with your<br /> halberd whatever it puts a little more<br /> pressure on the player to describe it<br /> whereas a big check like when you know<br /> when the fighter is like okay I can<br /> activation check oh yeah you know it’s a<br /> Devore fighter with the eight charisma<br /> and he busts till like a 23 well how’d<br /> that happen right so I kind of go either<br /> way I think for testing this is a tricky<br /> one to test but that’s also why it’s the<br /> seventh level ability it’s more aimed at<br /> like hey and extra kind of cool little<br /> toy rather than super class defining<br /> that’s another thing another tip if<br /> something is hard to test try not to<br /> make it a central element this is not a<br /> pillar of the subclass it can go a<br /> little off the rails but it’s not<br /> affecting those three core pillars<br /> and then we go to gonzo town with<br /> superior fighting style you know I kind<br /> of like the idea if this guy’s mean the<br /> weapon master and maybe if I get a name<br /> change to say look you’re just better<br /> with weapons than other fighters and<br /> especially if this was getting tied back<br /> to some of the paths like the I imagine<br /> we’ll have a ranged weapon attack path<br /> so this just takes your fighting style<br /> you can either gain a second fighters<br /> fighting style which we know people<br /> don’t like some well you didn’t like<br /> just getting anyone how about making<br /> your old one better this just replaces<br /> one you already have with a better one<br /> for being 10th level so our tree goes up<br /> to plus 3 bonus rather than plus 2 with<br /> your TAC rolls superior defense says you<br /> also now get that bonus to all your<br /> saving throws that might be a little too<br /> small maybe needs to be +2 again that’s<br /> not something I want to try to test it’s<br /> just to find a slice so I need to be<br /> pretty smart about making sure I get<br /> that right up front<br /> really what I’m testing here is just<br /> things our concept of this dueling gives<br /> up to a + forward bonus true damage<br /> rolls superior great weapon fighting<br /> extends the die roll rear wall to 1 2 or<br /> 3 and superior protection is you can use<br /> your reaction to protect the guy and<br /> then you get make an opportunity attack<br /> I actually like that too because it<br /> meant then on my opportunity attack it<br /> could trigger a use of an exploit to<br /> really to put put some some guy down so<br /> oh and then super superior to everybody<br /> this is a tricky one because whenever we<br /> do 2 up and fighting enhancements we<br /> have to we say feats aren’t core but<br /> we’ve gotten we get the feedback so<br /> often that hey this is just repeating a<br /> feat especially with 2 weapon fighting<br /> because I think if you liked weapon<br /> fighting you kind of feel like you need<br /> that feat to make it work so this was<br /> just an additional +1 buzz to AC the<br /> idea was you’re getting closer I’m gonna<br /> stay see if you take the feet it would<br /> also stack with that and give you a +2<br /> bonus daysy so that was the idea there<br /> to kind of thread that needle so these<br /> the one argument against doing this from<br /> a testing standpoint is this is a lot to<br /> process and test for 1/10 of a class<br /> feature that’s not not one of our three<br /> foundational pillars that we’ve<br /> established so that would be the<br /> aggregates doing this it might work as<br /> something but then again I don’t know<br /> where else we’d use this so I’d have to<br /> kind of think about you know this is<br /> also not the case – we’re doing a phase<br /> testing helps if I’m testing levels 1 to<br /> 5 which this is probably good argument<br /> favor of if I test out one levels 1 to 5<br /> and improve up my three pillars<br /> then I can now come in with another<br /> flourish that might take a sub class<br /> that’s succeeding from good to great or<br /> from great to fantastic where if I get<br /> this right players like I have this<br /> really cool new mechanic I can only get<br /> here it’s fun and flavorful<br /> let’s see live in the happy world where<br /> our three pillars work then they go just<br /> really cool I get even yeah cuz I’m the<br /> weapon master I get a superior fighting<br /> style my fighting style is better than<br /> other fighters Fighting’s now and that<br /> can be that this is when we talk about<br /> polish this is polish right polish is<br /> this exact like I’m getting to like<br /> second tier things and I’m making them<br /> awesome because my first here is just<br /> fantastic now I can make my second tier<br /> so let that quality bleed deeper into<br /> the design and again you can get that if<br /> you have good clear path for testing it<br /> means you’ll have bandwidth in time to<br /> start testing deeper elements that you<br /> might not be able to be able to put as<br /> much time in to improve out so this week<br /> was a lot of me talking it’s long a lot<br /> to work through this is I kind of<br /> intentionally want to do something a<br /> little more complicated to show you the<br /> ins and outs and to give you a sense of<br /> like your testing approach can and<br /> should inform your design approach to me<br /> testing is a necessary part of any<br /> commercial game design if you’re<br /> designing something just for fun you<br /> don’t take it this seriously but I’m<br /> clearly I’m designing this cuz it’s my<br /> job to get it right so having the the<br /> test portion inform how we approach the<br /> design portion that really does at the<br /> end of the day that that that polished<br /> segment that’s what benefits the most<br /> and if I was to look back at fifth<br /> edition and say why are we in a world<br /> now where 5th edition has just been such<br /> a really great success such a big<br /> community sprung up around it you know<br /> it’s orders of magnitude bigger than the<br /> past couple editions of D&D had been I<br /> think it’s because we were able to test<br /> deep enough into the game to really add<br /> a level of polish that we wouldn’t have<br /> been able to otherwise without the the<br /> duration of the test the depth in which<br /> we’re able to test and having great<br /> people on staff like it came along<br /> stream would have managed their testing<br /> thing where she was able to hit a lot of<br /> the work and managing that data for us<br /> and helping us structure our test I<br /> think it was a big advantage<br /> that we had over prior work we had done<br /> somebody cuz we just kind of learned the<br /> hard way you know I’ve worked on game<br /> since the late 90s that this is a tool<br /> if you have a chance to use it<br /> definitely use it especially if you’re<br /> doing something on you know something<br /> for sale so I hope that was useful<br /> design super broken stuff there’s a<br /> place where some people like super<br /> broken stuff like you may build an Atari<br /> game around it but probably not D&D so<br /> um I hope that that was useful um<br /> what I’ll probably do next week I’ll<br /> kind of I mean I’ll do a Twitter poll to<br /> see if people want to see this finished<br /> out what I’d like to do is do a little<br /> more design and then actually do maybe<br /> just throw up my own little survey that<br /> I’ll just share on Twitter and get<br /> people to like give me feedback on it so<br /> you can kind of see like oh like what is<br /> the feedback on this I don’t think I<br /> want to go through the full process<br /> because as I mentioned our unearthed<br /> Arcana schedules a little crowded right<br /> now because we have the Ravnica stuff<br /> and then we have the run stuff coming up<br /> so I’ll probably just see about just<br /> doing my own little quick SurveyMonkey<br /> survey or something like that sharing<br /> this design on Twitter somehow maybe<br /> just three images or something and then<br /> you know I’m not gonna get anywhere near<br /> as many responses I’d get for a full<br /> survey but I think it’s still be useful<br /> to see what the reaction is and then how<br /> it might then influence the next round<br /> of testing so I think I think that’s<br /> what I’ll try to do so it’ll just be a<br /> matter of timing and see how quickly I<br /> can get it up so okay yeah don’t delay<br /> everyone yes M Torres X we’re not gonna<br /> deliver and game fend of BM yes to<br /> Twitter<br /> so yeah the the yeah so and I see<br /> there’s a couple of questions I didn’t<br /> get you feel free and hit me hit me up<br /> on Twitter with those kind of questions<br /> I have been pretty busy lately so I<br /> might not be able to get to something<br /> the O attacking it real good I will say<br /> any chance to get more unearthed or<br /> Canada for a bit while it’s packed you<br /> know like say what happens there as we<br /> start it starts hurting our our surveys<br /> if we because really what the ueo it<br /> drives the e way is what we need for<br /> future design and then the rate in which<br /> we can put play test surveys out and<br /> still maintain a good lesense<br /> good level of responses and engagement<br /> if we did too many we find it just<br /> starts spewing it just starts spreading<br /> players too thin<br /> okay so<br /> no in project rails everyone in Ravnica<br /> those subsets no typically found it’s<br /> pretty much the same core of really<br /> motivated people who want to test<br /> basically everything so the I think if<br /> these were separate role-playing games<br /> would make more sense but yeah it’s so<br /> far that’s we found interesting just<br /> ends up spreading things too far but I<br /> can completely sympathize with wanting<br /> more stuff first have to i wanna i want<br /> my wrap like a book I’m pretty excited<br /> about it in my ever on book 2 which<br /> already had but you know it’s where<br /> we’re finding it as we go so anyways<br /> thanks so much for tuning in I what I’ll<br /> do is probably announce the survey will<br /> see all the timing goes follow me on<br /> twitter follow me on Twitter it’s just a<br /> big ad follow me on Twitter lose our the<br /> benefits of follow me on Twitter you get<br /> pictures of like cats and I retweet<br /> random stuff no I’ll probably throw it<br /> out that up there and I’ll probably<br /> announce next week well good let’s do<br /> this I’ll get a summary together and<br /> next week during the hour I’ll put a URL<br /> on screen and I’ll tweet it out so you<br /> guys we can start surveying and what<br /> I’ll do for next week is either do a<br /> little more design of this on screen or<br /> maybe pull it another thing that would<br /> be interesting to test just so you can<br /> kind of see how again testing can inform<br /> design then I think that’ll bring us to<br /> a good stopping point to do some other<br /> work and then circle back as we get clay<br /> test feedback coming in alright thanks<br /> everyone and enjoy the rest of your<br /> afternoon and I’ll see you next week<br /> Share this:TweetWhatsAppTelegramEmail
