This is my assessment of the new MCDM RPG rules in the first playtest packet. I’ll be evaluating these rules against the Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition (5E) rules. First, like Tales of the Valiant and the new Pathfinder Core rules, the MCDM RPG was created because of a desire to have a fantasy roleplaying game (RPG) not beholden to the 5E Systems Reference Document (SRD), after Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) attempted to capitalize and to take ownership of third-party content based on the SRD. So, MCDM RPG can be evaluated as a 5E replacement. Second, as a 5E player and Dungeon Master (DM) would I want to play MCDM RPG. Therefore, this assessment will be focusing on rules which would make playing MCDM RPG similar or different to playing 5E.
Summary: The changes that MCDM made to their RPG to differentiate it from 5E seem to follow certain themes. One is to reduce randomness, which it looks like it does pretty well. Another is to emphasize tactical combat over the other standard RPG pillars. Not enough information is provided in this playtest packet to tell whether that combat will be enjoyable. It does provide some indications that MCDM RPG may be adopting some aspects of D&D 4E that Matt Coville really likes but generally made that version the least popular D&D version. Certainly, those rules made me drop that version like a hot potato. Thus, MCDM RPG is trending heavily negative at this point.
A rule by any other name: MCDM RPG has a lot of rules that are fundamentally the same as in 5E, but called something different - abilities vs. characteristics, might vs. strength, tests vs. checks. Using different names does emphasize that MCDM RPG is not 5E. It does not really seem that it would make any substantial difference during gameplay. The exception might be when a 5E player gets an MCDM RPG rule wrong because they assumed that “A is just a renamed B” and used the 5E rule, when the MCDM RPG rule was actually different.
Dice: Perhaps the biggest difference between MCDM RPG and 5E are the dice. Most rolls in MCDM RPG are the sum of 2d6, perhaps summed with other d4 or d8 dice rolls or ability, excuse me, characteristic scores. 5E, of course, used d20 rolls, with other polyhedral dice used for combat damage rolls. Other systems, such as Forged in The Dark and Candela Obscura, only use d6s. Savage Worlds’ based systems use many polyhedral dice, with more sides indicating more skill or more power. The non-MCDM systems tend not to add die rolls together, except when calculating damage in 5E. That means that, in the MCDM RPG system, the chances of rolling a particular number is a bell curve. The chances in other systems is flat (unless multiple rolls are being made simultaneously and the highest or lowest result chosen). MCDM RPG rolls tend towards the mean. Less chance of a spectacular success, less chance of spectacular failure. Rolling a 12 or a 2 on 2d6 is about half as likely as rolling a 1 or 20 on a d20. Rolling a 7 on 2d6, on the other hand, is about 3 times as likely as rolling a 10 on a d20. Does this matter? The MCDM RPG method reduces the effects of randomness. Which is generally a good thing, as it makes player choices more important. However, I like the Forged in the Dark way of using d6s and the Savage Worlds way of using polyhedrals better. It seems to me that, if you are going to get rid of half the polyhedral set, you should be able to figure out a way to use just d6s.
Boons/banes: The MCDM RPG adds or subtracts a d4 to rolls to represent a boon or a bane. Roughly speaking, the boon/bane mechanism is equivalent to the 5E advantage/disadvantage mechanism. Use of a boon die (or a d8 impact die at higher levels) also represents being trained at a skill when rolling a skill test. Overall, this method reduces the effects of advantage/disadvantage. After all, rolling more dice means that the results tend more towards the median, reducing randomness while boosting the result slightly. It does add some randomness to skill checks, as 5E proficiency bonuses are fixed. An interesting choice for the game designers.
Characteristics: Like Pathfinder, MCDM RPG has done away with ability…characteristic scores from which modifiers are derived. Both just use the modifiers. I think this simplifies these systems. I like this change. The characteristics themselves are just the renamed 5E abilities. As such, there isn’t much difference between MCDM RPG and 5E.
Victories and Experience: The use of victories during an adventure hasn’t been detailed yet, so this rule cannot be assessed. Victories turn into experience points (XP). The use of XP also has not yet been explained. I heavily favor the use of milestone progression over XP progress. I suspect that I’ll favor 5E in this category.
Heroic resources: The use of heroic resources has not yet been explained. It will probably be something along the lines of “Spend X points to do this nifty thing.” 5E has some similar rules, such as barbarian rages or caster spell slots. This might be good, or it might just be complicated.
Recoveries: MCDM RPG recoveries seem to be based on the 4E healing surge mechanism. Some people like it; some do not. It is the equivalent of a 5E character spending a round to quaff a healing potion, without the randomness of how many hit points are recovered and the chore of keeping acquiring and tracking potions. As it simplifies the game and makes combat a little faster, the MCDM RPG rule is better.
Tests: MCDM RPG tests are checks that use a 2d6 roll plus a characteristic modifier or a 2d6 roll, plus a characteristic modifier, plus a boon die, if it is a skill check for a skill in which the character is trained. Except for the die differences discussed above, pretty equivalent to 5E checks. The MCDM RPG equivalent of a 5E critical success is a beneficial success. These occur on a test result of 4 or more than the target number. A 5E critical success occurs on a roll of a natural 20. MCDM RPG beneficial successes occur more often for simpler tasks and less often for harder tasks. 5E critical successes are a set likelihood. The MCDM approach is a clear winner here.
Skills: I won’t compare the list of MCDM RPG skills with that of 5E one-by-one. I will call out a few important aspects.
The MCDM RPG skill descriptions list things a character can do with that skill. I do not like this approach. Besides just padding out the document, it is likely to limit player creativity. Many players are likely to assume that these things are the only things their character can do with that skill. If swinging on a chandelier is not listed, they are not likely to try it.
Trade is a craft skill you can use to make a living during downtime or to make something during a session. The first use is a welcome addition. The second, not so much. It makes a player choose to use a scarce skill slot on something that might rarely happen. In 5E, a character can roll against Slight-of-Hand to forge a document. In MCDM RPG, they have to use the forgery skill. I think that reducing specificity for generalizations and letting the players get creative makes for a more fun game. No regrets for the rogue who trained in forgery for a wilderness campaign.
Knowledge - areas of expertise skills also force players to use scarce skill slots for benefits in very specific circumstances. I have said before that 5E needs a few more knowledge skills. What does a player roll to figure out whether his character knows the name of the deputy mayor? It is a fine balance to have enough knowledge skills to prevent any major gaps and ones which are so specific that they are rarely of use (*ahem* Patherfinder *ahem*). MCDM RPG may get closer to this goal than either 5E or Pathfinder.
Initiative: In MCDM RPG, initiative is determined per side with unmodified d6 rolls. No DEX modifiers (5E) or Perception modifiers (Pathfinder). Just random. For a system that seems to want to reduce the effects of randomness, this is a strange rule. Notice, also, that initiative is per side. The players all get to discuss who goes next. Nothing disrupts a combat more than a lengthy discussion on tactics. To me, this is the worst MCDM RPG rule so far.
Maneuver vs. action: In a turn, a creature gets to take both a maneuver and an action. The rationale behind defining some things as actions and some as maneuvers seems somewhat arbitrary. Actions are combat activities, attack and defense. Most maneuvers are not, although I would argue that grappling someone and breaking a grapple are combat activities. If a character moves, they cannot drink a potion, but they can bop someone over the head. It seems to me that calling all maneuvers and actions a single thing and allowing more than one of those single things per turn both simplifies the system and makes it more flexible.
Attack and damage rolls: There is a lot to unpack here. I’m not entirely sure I understand the system. First, there are no attack rolls. A character attacks, they hit and roll damage. Some creatures have a damage threshold that must be overcome before the attack deals any actual damage. The Defend action applies two bane dice to a damage roll against the character. These banes could reduce damage to zero. Armor isn’t discussed in this packet. I assume that different types of armor apply different numbers of banes.
A damage roll is 2d6 plus a characteristic modifier plus, possibly, an impact die and boons and banes. Unlike the Pathfinder “numbers go up system”, it looks like this is a “numbers never go up” system. This packet doesn’t say how characters advance with experience. It might be that they just get more heroic resource points to spend or they unlock new powers. This system is supposed to be “heroic”. It doesn’t seem very heroic if a mighty fighter fighting a 200 HP dragon hits for 14 damage.
Non-basic attacks have effects that they do. It is this system that made me decide not to play 4E as soon as I saw it. I didn’t want my dwarf fighter to generate a gust of wind that pushed enemies back when hitting them with their axe. To me, that isn’t what fighters do. That is a video game, not D&D. Effects can be chosen so that they fit with the theme. I’d be just fine with that dwarf having a mighty smite that does double damage. How MCDM chooses to select effects will heavily influence whether I’m interested in their game.
There are some interesting but less important rules changes. In MCDM RPG, critical hits grant an additional action rather than additional damage. This rule allows chaining actions together and reduces the chance of a random one-hit kill. Sounds like it would increase fun and reduce randomness. A chance hit - so much of an opportunity attack that the description uses the word “opportunity” - does a relatively minor amount of damage, 1d4 plus modifiers rather than 2d6 plus modifiers. Not major changes, but ones which make the system a little better.
MCDM RPG advertises itself as a combat-heavy system. Obviously, the combat rules in such a system are going to be key to whether it will be fun to play. This playtest packet has not provided enough details to the combat system. The ones that are providing are raising some red flags.
Dying: When an MCDM RPG character gets down to 0 HP, they are “unbalanced”. They can still move and do some other maneuvers. If they attack, defend, or use some other action, they lose more HP. When they reach negative their bloodied value, they die. I have a minor quibble with the use of the term “unbalanced”. It makes it sound like the character has just had a dizzy spell, rather than that they are bleeding out. Indeed, “bleeding out” would be a more evocative term. More substantially, this rule has some interesting benefits. An unbalanced character can run around the battlefield with no problem, as long as they are not attacked. They can flee or run over to a healer, rather than forcing a healer to find a way to them. It doesn’t seem very thematic but could simplify combat. It also allows for a scenario that is both very thematic and very heroic. Envision the mighty fighter dripping with blood, holding the line while the rest of their party flees from an overwhelming foe, knowing that they’ll die with the next swing of their sword. Can’t get much more cinematic than that.
Negotiation: For an RPG that claims it is all about tactical combat, MCDM RPG has a well-fleshed out social interaction system. The 5E rules are much less involved and seem to be a bit of an afterthought. In my experience, those rules are often ignored. The mere fact that MCDM RPG has such an extensive system means that it would probably be used more often. It would take actually playing with them for a while to see how well they work.
Den of the Red Wolf 