Okay, disclaimer. I love strategy games. I love roleplaying. I love fun and interesting and complex mechanics. I'm not some stereotypical cartoon jock calling people nerds and shoving them into a locker. I have some genuine criticisms with the game, and I'd appreciate if people would read this giant unfathomable wall of text. Some opinions have also been exaggerated for comedic effect.

Edit: This is talking about base-game DnD. Obviously, homebrew exists, but that's like installing a game mod to correct the problems with the original, then saying the original doesn't have flaws because you can just play the mod.

So! DnD! The game that sells itself as being a fantastic adventure where you can be anything, do anything, and tell any story you want along the way. Or, at least, that’s what it markets itself as. In reality, and as dictated by the rules, the game is far less of an epic fantasy guided by imagination and more a swingy number-crunching grindathon driven by slap-fight combat and little storytelling. Keep in mind that I have played DnD six separate times with different DMs, so this isn’t speaking from lack of experience or contempt for the game. I wish that this wasn’t the bog-standard for TTRPGs and I genuinely think there are way better alternatives, like Blades in the Dark, Call of Cthulhu, etc. Like, TTRPGs aren’t the problem, DnD’s systems are. Obviously, a good DM can turn this horrible spreadsheet of rules into a fun experience, but that’s because the DM oftentimes has to work around these shitty defaults, not because the system itself supports these stories. 

Problem #1: Combat Is Genuinely Ass and Takes Too Long

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc at nibh in mi cursus tempus. Suspendisse potenti. Nam dapibus tempor mollis. Nullam eu risus ac ante pretium tempus. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Integer vehicula velit et venenatis gravida. Nulla maximus, risus non imperdiet lacinia, quam quam ultrices turpis, at finibus magna arcu ac justo. Nullam a molestie ex, vel feugiat quam. Pellentesque blandit leo nec nisi feugiat efficitur. Curabitur ac metus pulvinar, iaculis dui quis, vulputate ex. Suspendisse potenti.

Nulla dictum aliquam nunc, id iaculis eros. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Curabitur nec semper leo, non semper mauris. In viverra vehicula tincidunt. Mauris dictum ipsum id tellus ultricies, ac ultricies tellus viverra. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Sed condimentum erat vel arcu euismod, eu pretium neque mollis. Pellentesque sem leo, placerat in ante nec, tempor porttitor diam. Phasellus nec posuere mi. Nullam facilisis augue vitae nisi aliquam placerat. Morbi volutpat dui turpis, eu mattis magna ornare nec. Curabitur et pulvinar lorem, vitae dignissim ante. Fusce purus risus, hendrerit a ipsum in, aliquam condimentum est. Phasellus non ligula velit. Praesent interdum porta mi vel pretium.

Vivamus ullamcorper, velit ac pulvinar consequat, est purus ultricies risus, sed aliquet eros mauris vitae quam. Quisque hendrerit a sapien vel condimentum. Duis elementum, dolor nec sollicitudin pellentesque, leo orci mattis nisl, in sodales dolor ex eget tellus. Mauris vulputate augue imperdiet, tristique ligula sit amet, imperdiet mi. Nulla sed leo mi. Vivamus sagittis mattis auctor. Morbi bibendum velit id semper vulputate. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus posuere facilisis odio, ac accumsan nisl vestibulum ut. Aenean tincidunt eros eget ornare euismod. Vestibulum pharetra suscipit ligula ut ullamcorper. Duis et lacus vitae tortor suscipit suscipit non nec nibh. Sed mollis aliquet nulla eu gravida. Nullam vestibulum condimentum libero, sit amet ultricies urna rhoncus ac.

Nam accumsan quis velit sit amet interdum. Fusce iaculis sagittis lorem eu tincidunt. Vestibulum finibus feugiat turpis nec tempus. Pellentesque tincidunt lobortis nulla, ac mattis ipsum. Etiam porta facilisis malesuada. Sed id bibendum purus. In eu tristique ligula, at tristique tellus. Vivamus accumsan mollis viverra. Maecenas ex est, luctus quis commodo eu, finibus sit amet tortor. Nulla nec consequat justo, mattis iaculis sapien. Cras cursus tortor pulvinar turpis lobortis ultrices.

Morbi auctor sit amet augue eget fringilla. Ut pharetra ultrices semper. Duis diam turpis, bibendum nec sapien sit amet, fringilla feugiat tortor. Integer hendrerit, ex in tristique malesuada, leo est porta elit, id vehicula felis est at dolor. Duis commodo porta commodo. Nunc convallis condimentum sapien vitae interdum. Aenean at suscipit tortor. In lacinia erat augue, id gravida risus egestas non. Aliquam in sem pharetra, rutrum quam at, porta nisi. Suspendisse quis turpis neque. Phasellus nibh tellus, aliquam vel feugiat cursus, consectetur ut mauris.

Problem #2: Extremely Swingy RNG

Nulla augue justo, ultricies sed pellentesque sit amet, rhoncus scelerisque lacus. Integer non purus et dolor gravida convallis ut in ante. Ut lectus dui, eleifend non justo sit amet, pulvinar euismod urna. Aliquam erat volutpat. Vestibulum vitae pulvinar ante. Phasellus a nunc leo. Morbi quis sapien quam. Proin vel mi non lorem lacinia iaculis quis in urna. Pellentesque felis odio, varius nec hendrerit et, aliquet eget purus. Aenean rutrum facilisis tempor. Etiam elit mauris, tempor ultrices euismod malesuada, suscipit nec ipsum. Praesent congue ante quis magna tristique, eu commodo mi cursus. In mattis dignissim erat, at imperdiet augue varius vel. Suspendisse potenti.

Morbi non leo mi. Maecenas congue ex id quam euismod vehicula. Vivamus eu efficitur odio, ac dapibus ligula. Sed in porta sapien. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Praesent non ipsum vitae lorem venenatis rhoncus. Fusce quis cursus lectus. Integer eu urna ac lectus iaculis ultricies et ac ex.

Problem #3: Leveling Takes Too Long, Too

Etiam fringilla, augue scelerisque molestie porta, nisl lorem imperdiet mauris, vel porta mi dui ut erat. Aliquam sit amet odio vulputate felis finibus accumsan. Aliquam condimentum nunc eget magna luctus, nec vestibulum sapien vestibulum. Quisque pretium ornare eros, ac tempor odio volutpat vulputate. Nunc ligula ligula, commodo eu metus eu, interdum fermentum risus. Morbi commodo ullamcorper purus, eget imperdiet mi ultrices eu. Duis odio lorem, blandit id tincidunt a, maximus sed sem. Fusce rutrum arcu lectus, quis sagittis orci rutrum sed. Duis iaculis posuere dignissim.

Nullam blandit tristique ligula, pellentesque rhoncus quam consectetur ac. Donec blandit tellus ipsum, vel interdum urna vulputate nec. Pellentesque consectetur, odio efficitur sodales porttitor, justo elit maximus sapien, id porta justo eros vitae augue. In in nisi tristique, eleifend purus et, placerat nulla. Proin id justo non tellus convallis congue ut non sem. Mauris eu sollicitudin tortor. Quisque sapien nunc, ullamcorper vitae semper in, tempus non velit.

Pellentesque quis metus placerat urna dictum scelerisque vel a massa. Maecenas tincidunt luctus imperdiet. Aliquam erat volutpat. Suspendisse et sapien quis neque aliquet lobortis at non dolor. Nulla porta, augue sed vulputate molestie, tortor sem porttitor dui, sed rutrum augue eros at nibh. Quisque sit amet ligula imperdiet, dignissim dui sed, ultricies nulla. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Curabitur ac lectus sit amet elit mollis euismod eu eget massa. Suspendisse a nisi id urna dictum pretium in ac dolor. Phasellus risus augue, egestas vel fringilla quis, condimentum et leo. Donec eu ullamcorper velit.

Vivamus ullamcorper, velit ac pulvinar consequat, est purus ultricies risus, sed aliquet eros mauris vitae quam. Quisque hendrerit a sapien vel condimentum. Duis elementum, dolor nec sollicitudin pellentesque, leo orci mattis nisl, in sodales dolor ex eget tellus. Mauris vulputate augue imperdiet, tristique ligula sit amet, imperdiet mi. Nulla sed leo mi. Vivamus sagittis mattis auctor. Morbi bibendum velit id semper vulputate. Aliquam erat volutpat. Phasellus posuere facilisis odio, ac accumsan nisl vestibulum ut. Aenean tincidunt eros eget ornare euismod. Vestibulum pharetra suscipit ligula ut ullamcorper. Duis et lacus vitae tortor suscipit suscipit non nec nibh. Sed mollis aliquet nulla eu gravida. Nullam vestibulum condimentum libero, sit amet ultricies urna rhoncus ac.

Problem #4: Permadeath

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi cursus, est non tristique maximus, nibh urna pellentesque nisi, eget tempus quam nunc vel tortor. Nunc a ex dignissim lectus dapibus fermentum. Proin id lorem enim. Ut ac mauris odio. Aenean tincidunt nisi sit amet mi sollicitudin, eget bibendum nibh efficitur. Pellentesque pharetra a sapien ut ornare. Nunc a luctus orci. Phasellus interdum, quam id gravida accumsan, ligula purus pretium tortor, eu finibus risus arcu id nibh. Ut at leo non justo molestie pulvinar. Nulla blandit diam sit amet lectus luctus auctor. Vestibulum ornare felis non leo sollicitudin, ut efficitur risus tincidunt. Aliquam nunc velit, pharetra et ultrices sit amet, placerat eget arcu. Sed ac dolor et mi efficitur convallis.

Problem #5: An RP game without RP mechanics

Nulla facilisi. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Vestibulum elementum vulputate metus, ac gravida mauris pharetra a. Proin augue risus, malesuada condimentum ultrices id, egestas at odio. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Quisque nisl lectus, interdum nec mi vel, porttitor bibendum libero. Maecenas id nibh mauris. Nam ultrices, diam vel suscipit facilisis, urna turpis molestie diam, sed tincidunt quam enim at enim. Vestibulum ultricies nisl commodo tincidunt ultrices. Nunc molestie ultricies ipsum a rhoncus. Mauris massa velit, sodales aliquam odio vitae, hendrerit volutpat ante. Curabitur arcu dui, lacinia tincidunt hendrerit eget, viverra in urna. Sed condimentum arcu eget lectus tristique, in rhoncus lectus ultrices. Proin finibus condimentum libero, a imperdiet sem. Vestibulum efficitur pulvinar nisl sed commodo. Pellentesque volutpat commodo placerat. 

Problem #6: Manual Overhead

Nunc magna magna, rutrum id massa ut, dapibus cursus neque. Pellentesque eget nunc convallis, condimentum nisi eu, semper tortor. Pellentesque mi est, cursus sit amet vehicula ut, pretium non nunc. Ut varius turpis libero, eget elementum felis venenatis eget. Vestibulum eu sodales nulla. Fusce sagittis leo pharetra eros venenatis, non suscipit nisl tristique. Ut quam dolor, euismod hendrerit quam suscipit, tristique imperdiet nunc. 

Problem #7: It’s the Default RPG

Proin sollicitudin arcu libero, a tincidunt elit dictum at. Duis lacinia mauris vitae libero ullamcorper ultricies. Suspendisse rhoncus magna et neque faucibus, quis rutrum nulla tempus. Donec ac vestibulum neque. Vivamus ac velit elementum, tempor magna et, gravida neque. Quisque sit amet laoreet mauris, eu tempor leo. Nullam dictum turpis porttitor leo elementum feugiat.

This is not a joke or a shitpost. This was at a Montreal subway station which I regularly take. For context this station is sometimes frequented by a guy who fakes playing a violin with a sign asking for money. I've seen him once or twice and today he was here again when I was exiting. I saw a guy drop him a bit of change as he was exiting, but he was turned away so I couldn't see his face,. I went up to him and realized this was Liam O'Brian. I explained the story behind the violinist and he agreed that when you pay attention to it it's kind of obvious he's faking it. Anyway he thanked me but wasn't really gonna go back and take the change away from the guy, so we took a selfie and went our separate ways.

This is not a joke or a shitpost. I was at a mall in Toronto with my brother, and I was making a trip to the parking lot to put a few big things we bought in the car when I saw XPtoLevel3 speaking with about 2 young guys (they were pretty shady looking in retrospect). Didn't think much of them at the time so I went up to Jacob and asked him for a photo, at which point the two guys just stared at me for a good 10 seconds and left without speaking a word. He started thanking me profusely and said they were trying to intimidate him into giving them money. We got a selfie and then went to security to file a complaint, which was pretty cool. They didn't have security cameras in the parking lot though so tough shit but still.

😭😭😭

I'm trying to come up with a more interesting consequence for dealing massive amounts of damage to an enemy than one extra hitpoint, and what I came up with is a list of effects the player can choose from, to apply on the adversary. Never tried it in play yet, but i'd love to hear any ideas and feedback. This is what I could come up with for now, good and bad:

- Displace: move an adversary up to far range, breaking any terrain in the way, if necessary. This one i really like, but don't know if it's very attractive as an option for a player.

- Permanent injury: until the end of the scene, reduce the adversary's difficulty by 1. This effect cannot be removed by the GM, and it does not stack. I'm not sure reducing difficulty lies within DP's design philosophy for Daggerheart, as the witch had a similar ability in v1.4 but it was changed to all attacks against X have +2 in v1.5. Maybe to reduce crunch ? Either way, the idea with this one is just to give the adversary a permanent debuff.

- Glimmer of hope: you and an ally of your choice gain a hope.

- Encore: the spotlight remains in the player's hand, even if the attack was rolled with fear (GM still gains a fear) This one i'm not sure of. Think it might be too powerful compared to the others.

- Terrifying: all adversaries within close range must mark a stress.

- Massive: deal 4HP of damage. The idea is still to have that as an option, but to let the player choose something else if they find the default underwhelming.