D&D 5E Things that make no sense rp wise

philosophers_stoned · May 6, 2016

The druid ability Timeless Body, for example: "For every 10 years that pass, your body ages only 1 year". So, if you are human and you get to live to be 90 years old, you have passed 10 to 20 years being really old and plagued by the disabilities that aging brings. But a druid will have to be this old and disabled for 100 to 200 years! Is this a blessing or a curse?

Another thing that bugs me is that the mechanics make it really really difficult to actually verify what's real. For example, you meet someone and you agree to do a quest for him/her. But did i really meet someone or was it an illusion? Or a shapeshifter? Was it a human or a vampire? I cast Detect Evil and Good. He is human. But Nystul's Magical Aura exists. Should i cast first Dispel Magic and then Detect Evil/Good? Did Dispel Magic work? Can i do that to everyone i meet? Of course not. All these are wonderful hooks to start an adventure and are part of DND's charm. But shouldn't be a way, at least at high levels, to have a clear view of things? Only the warlock approaches this opinion of mine with Witch Sight. Isn't a little sad to be a 20th level character and still get fooled by little tricks like these?

What do you think does not make sense rp wise?
Your thoughts and opinions my Lords and Ladies.

AaronOfBarbaria · May 6, 2016

philosophers_stoned said:
Is this a blessing or a curse?

Depends on whether you develop that ability before, or after, your age starts making your body feeble.

For example, if you are able to spend 100 years in the physical condition of someone's 20s or 30s, it's definitely a blessing.

philosophers_stoned said:
Another thing that bugs me is that the mechanics make it really really difficult to actually verify what's real.

It is no more difficult for the character to verify what is real than it is for any of us using this forum to verify what is real - you don't have to conduct scientific tests on the matter, you just simply believe that you know that the screen you see before you and the keyboard you feel at your finger tips are real, and that the messages you see upon the screen were placed there by other real people like yourself - rather than all of it being a dream, or some other un-reality, or all of us other posters being relatively sophisticated computer response systems.

philosophers_stoned said:
Isn't a little sad to be a 20th level character and still get fooled by little tricks like these?

Odd as it may seem, I've not seen 20th level characters get fooled by any of the little tricks you mentioned.

philosophers_stoned said:
What do you think does not make sense rp wise?

Nothing, and everything. It all comes down to whether you choose to find a sense for the thing to make, or choose to find a reason why the thing doesn't make sense.

famousringo · May 6, 2016

Druids aren't the type to play shuffleboard at the retirement home. If they're having trouble living on their own, they'd probably allow a pack of wolves to tear them apart or take a lethal dose of nightshade at the roots of a grand oak or something.

Second point seems more like an existential crisis to me. I mean, how do you know I'm real? You could be posting on a forum full of bots. Or maybe every account here is just a separate facet of your personality, all creating illusions so your consciousness doesn't feel lonely.

Not sure if combat mechanics count as 'rp' for this discussion, but it bugs me is that swinging a large weapon really hard requires advanced training, but any anemic wizard can make himself more effective in combat by dual wielding knives. And if you're really good with a crossbow you can fire them faster than anything.

Also, beastmaster action economy makes no sense rp-wise, we all know that. Druid shapeshifting restrictions are bizarre (wolves are fine, but otters are hard because they swim). Barbarian damage resistance is just cartoonish.

Shayuri · May 6, 2016

Answers

Point 1: Druids would experience a prolonged Venerable age category, though the game rules don't model the consequences of aging beyond a few stat penalties. However, Timeless Body obviates all stat penalties for aging in addition to extending lifespan. So one can assume from that they don't suffer senescence and infirmity. Go druids.

Point 2: True Sight. Gem of Seeing. Saving throws for interacting with illusions.

There are many ways to con people, in game and outside of it. Illusions are just one, and not even the best one. With great power (for a high save DC) and great luck (that the character didn't have any precautions active), you might fool a high level character with an illusion. Probably just once though, and then you'd have to spend a lot of time watching your back...because there are many ways for a high level character to find you as well...

Gardens & Goblins · May 6, 2016

Falling Damage

Imaculata · May 6, 2016

philosophers_stoned said:
What do you think does not make sense rp wise?
Your thoughts and opinions my Lords and Ladies.

What I don't think makes any sense, is that heavy armor makes you harder to hit, and yet you take the same amount of damage as if you were wearing nothing at all.

Salamandyr · May 6, 2016

Why is this guy who has thousands of gold pieces, enough to live in comfort for the rest of his days, still tromping around undead tombs instead of living the high life in splendor that would make a sultan blush?

Why is this renegade prince, who has sworn a blood oath to depose the nefarious brother who stole his throne, taking time out from his vengeance quest to noodle about in an abandoned library?

It seems a truism that the more intricate the character background, the more likely it was for the player to forget to include a motivation for a character to choose to crawl around in holes in the ground with little or no incentive.

lowkey13 · May 6, 2016

*Deleted by user*

FormerlyHemlock · May 6, 2016

lowkey13 said:
Bingo! I mean, I don't have much of a problem with it from a game perspective in most situations. It's, you know, fine.

But when people try to meta-game the rule, I really, really dislike it. In the bar bet thread, when a person stated that the way to win a bar bet was (IIRC) to shift into a mammoth, fall an eternity (because Max damage is 20d6, which is less than the hit points of the mammoth) then change back ... that annoyed me. Because if an elephant falls from an airplane, you get elephant burgers, not a living elephant.

In 5E, an ant that falls out of a tree will be annihilated, but an elephant that falls off a building will be fine. Sigh.

ProphetSword · May 6, 2016

The game has an issue with the mechanics of lava and the assumption of how it should be roleplayed.

Lava damage. The rules in the DMG about improvising damage suggest that "wading through a lava stream" would do 10d10 damage (average 50), and being "submerged in lava" would do 18d10 (average 90).

In real life: Lava can reach up to 1200 degrees fahrenheit. Long before you could even "wade" or be "submerged" into the lava, you would be dead from the heat, noxious fumes and thermal radiation. Lava causes 4th degree burns (which means it burns straight into the muscle and bone). Bones crack under the pressure, cells boil, etc.

A high level fighter with 150 hit points is not going to shrug off 90 points of lava damage.