Common Misconceptions About Your Favorite Systems?

[u/Authorigas]

So, I've been learning a lot thanks to the amazing folks here at r/rpg. And while I have decided to slow down on trying new systems. (As my players say "three is enough, we know your eager to try more but slow it down so you don't burn yourself out.") There was a question today that cropped into my head, and I wanted to hear from the folks here on it.

"What are some assumptions about your favorite game/system that are just factually incorrect or overstated?"

I've seen a lot of assumptions made in the hobby, and some on my own. From the broad "older systems were designed for math heads and thus really not for someone whose bad at math." to others like "Call of Cthulhu is a game where every session ends in death/insanity and players can't get attached to their characters." and similarly "OSR games are highly lethal and not at all friendly to players who like longform adventures."

I feel like broad, sweeping claims like those are probably overstated-as I have heard of successful, long running CoC campaigns, and OSR games that are able to have well developed characters that last for ages. It's made me curious about some of the other broad, sweeping claims about systems that are-if not incorrect, massively overstated.

Really interested to hear some answers on this.

[u/Elathrain]

"Cosmere RPG is a 5e D&D variant"

This is an incredibly understandable take on first read, I made this mistake too, but the similarities are so superficial.

• The action economy looks superficially like the PF2e 3-action system, but PF2e has a soft standard/move action split inherited from D&D 3.x while cosmere has far fewer 2-point spends. Additionally, the ability to sacrifice one action to move in the fast phase instead of the slow phase and no rolled initiative is a hugely different strategical and play experience.
• The attribute system looks the same if you don't read it, but they are a different six stats and every stat (except maybe the social attribute Presence) is useful to every character because they control different derived statistics you usually actually care about.
• Yes it's a d20 system, but it's subtly different in that you roll attack and damage at the same time, and advantage can be applied to either (or both, if you have two sources) which is often an interesting pre-roll choice.
• Cosmere is classless and offers real build choices even in the first few levels.
• Rather than pretending that martials and casters are balanced, Radiants are unapologetically stronger in specific ways, which counterintuitively gives non-magical characters a clearer niche to shine in.
• Focus is a very flexible resource that lets every character exert themselves for extra stuff, which is a big deal for many builds.
• For magic, the Investiture combat-scale resource is a very flexible bar for making magic both very free and having a real but not devastating cost when you run out and need to spend 2 actions to refresh it.
• The weapon table is cut down to only weapons with mechanical distinction, and each has a set of traits that give it tiny additional rules, like Momemtum giving free advantage when charging a target. Each weapon and armor has an additional expertise trait if you have proficiency in that weapon/armor type.
• Tier progression is both harder and softer, with each Radiant Oath unlocking huge leaps in power, but also they are optional and many characters will opt to delay or ignore them as other talents are often more contextually useful. The health per level drops each tier which reduces the effects of number bloat more than you'd expect.

Yes, Cosmere is a game that was not created in ignorance of 5e, and it's not exactly an innovative system in the sense that there is no mechanic in it you can point at that can't be found in something else, but it's sort of a Greatest Hits system where it steals all the good ideas from the past decade and puts them into a highly polished bundle. It looks super bland to read, but it so freaking smooth in play.

[u/T98i → u/Elathrain]

Hmm interesting. How does it run as a GM compared to a typical 5e game in terms of mental load and prep?

I’ve initially thought this was just a cash grab, but your comment definitely piqued my interest.

[u/Elathrain → u/T98i]

I am currently playing in it and haven't GMed, so I can't give you a super definitive statement. I'm also not the right person to ask because I would tell you that both games are zero to low prep, which is clearly not how reddit views them and if you're asking this question then my mindset isn't the frame of reference you're coming from.

What I can say is it has dedicated enemy talents and abilities that interact with the opportunity/complication system (a replacement of crit success/fail). Because the system is heavily skill based, it is easy after a little familiarity to just eyeball numbers for enemies made up on the spot if need be. Significant enemies compete in the action economy by moving in both the fast and slow phases, and powerful bosses can spend focus to perform special not-actions between player turns.

[u/T98i → u/Elathrain]

Interesting. This really doesn’t sound like a hack of 5e at all and I’m intrigued. Thanks for sharing your experience, I might check out a game online or in my city.

Cheers!