D&D 5E Removing the Concentration Damage Save: Houseruling the Affected Feats and Abilities

[Kobold Avenger]

I'm very much for keeping most of Concentration in place with it's ruling that a caster can only concentrate on such spell at a time, and the responsibility of remembering the spell is in effect with the player who cast it. I'm not keeping the Saving Throw to maintain concentration when one takes damage, because it's too fiddly, it's often forgotten and various other reasons.

So with the damage save gone, there's at least 2 feats and 1 subclass ability that would be affected by this houseruling: Mage Hunter, War Caster and the Conjurer's ability Focused Conjuration.

There may be abilities in other books or for classes that are in development like the Mystic, but the only ones I can think of that depend on the damage save are those 3 abilities from the PHB.

So Mage Hunter might be the easiest to house rule in my mind, instead of imposing disadvantage the damage save, you inflict an extra 1d6 damage on casters who are concentrating.

The advantage of the save for War Caster was probably one of the big reasons many would take the feat. It could be replaced with +1 AC bonus while concentrating, but I feel it would step on the War Mage's (Durable Magic) toes. Maybe it could be temp hit points instead, or maybe it's replacement could have nothing to do with concentration at all.

Finally the Conjurers Focused Conjuration that needs to be completely replaced as it's invalidated by the house rule. Maybe summoned creatures get bonus AC (temp HP already taken), or maybe the conjurer can teleport/change the position of a conjuration/creature once during it's duration as an action.

Any ideas on how to deal with those 3 abilities? Are there any other such abilities that I haven't caught which deal with the concentration damage save?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I'd grant Mage Hunter the ability to disrupt concentration by forcing a concentration check. - Since this will be the only way to disrupt concentration (outside of actually killing the caster) it works as a feat ability.

Would granting an armour or weapon proficiency be a good replacement for the concentration bonus in War Caster?

For Conjuration Wizard, maybe disadvantage to dispel or banish objects and creatures that you summon with a conjuration spell?

 

[Iry]

So Mage Hunter might be the easiest to house rule in my mind, instead of imposing disadvantage the damage save, you inflict an extra 1d6 damage on casters who are concentrating.

This is absolutely fine.

The advantage of the save for War Caster was probably one of the big reasons many would take the feat. It could be replaced with +1 AC bonus while concentrating, but I feel it would step on the War Mage's (Durable Magic) toes. Maybe it could be temp hit points instead, or maybe it's replacement could have nothing to do with concentration at all.

A little boring, but you can turn it into a half-feat. Have it grant +1 Con (appropriate for being in the thick of combat). It won't be nearly as popular, but still functional for builds that want to use spell based attacks of opportunity.

Finally the Conjurers Focused Conjuration that needs to be completely replaced as it's invalidated by the house rule. Maybe summoned creatures get bonus AC (temp HP already taken), or maybe the conjurer can teleport/change the position of a conjuration/creature once during it's duration as an action.

Beginning at 10th level, your conjuration spells last 50% longer if they have a duration greater than instant.

This one has some interesting implications. Certainly it can allow some conjurations to be used in an additional combat or two, but it also allows conjurers to potentially cast an hour long duration summon before a short rest and still have 30 minutes remaining afterwards.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

You could just make it automatic to lose concentration when you take damage, unless the caster uses his/her reaction to try to keep the spell going (still making a save, but puts the onus on the player to remember to do so) or you have focused conjuration. Mage hunter only involves changes some wording to "When you damage a creature that is concentrating on a spell, that creature has disadvantage when it tries to use its reaction to maintain its concentration" and war caster changes to "You have advantage on Constitution saving throws that you make to maintain your concentration on a spell when you use your reaction to try to maintain the spell when you take damage."

That actually makes concentration a little tougher, since a caster who had already used his/her reaction would automatically fail.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Well since edit post doesn't seem to be working today:

One more thought: This would change the save from being less "working through the pain" to more "how fast can I regain my focus", which would justify a change of saves to mental saves rather than a con save.

 

[Rossbert]

I am a bit nervous about the concept as a whole, since as a player, forcing concentration saves is one of the few ways to shut down some pretty major spells for most characters.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

You could just make it automatic to lose concentration when you take damage, unless the caster uses his/her reaction to try to keep the spell going (still making a save, but puts the onus on the player to remember to do so) or you have focused conjuration.

This isn't about other alternatives to the damage save, it's about the save being gone, period.

I'd grant Mage Hunter the ability to disrupt concentration by forcing a concentration check. - Since this will be the only way to disrupt concentration (outside of actually killing the caster) it works as a feat ability.

Could be acceptable, but I think being able to kill the caster faster helps disrupt concentration too.

Would granting an armour or weapon proficiency be a good replacement for the concentration bonus in War Caster?

Light Armor prof might do.

For Conjuration Wizard, maybe disadvantage to dispel or banish objects and creatures that you summon with a conjuration spell?

Dispel or Banish is likely to make the Conjurer's life miserable so those could help. There's precedence given what the Abjurer gets.

A little boring, but you can turn it into a half-feat. Have it grant +1 Con (appropriate for being in the thick of combat). It won't be nearly as popular, but still functional for builds that want to use spell based attacks of opportunity.

I never even considered a +1 bonus to Con, yeah it's boring but it's a reliable replacement.

Beginning at 10th level, your conjuration spells last 50% longer if they have a duration greater than instant.

This one has some interesting implications. Certainly it can allow some conjurations to be used in an additional combat or two, but it also allows conjurers to potentially cast an hour long duration summon before a short rest and still have 30 minutes remaining afterwards.

Maybe, durations are simplified, but I wonder how much many would remember it could last an additional encounter.

 

[Galendril]

So, you're changing a core mechanic which most of the other mechanics were developed with that in mind. Be aware, you will have a lot of unintended consequences by doing this.

Also, you don't say what you're going to do instead of not having concentration saves. There are two options: casters automatically lose concentration when hit or casters automatically continue concentrating when they are hit. Please specify which option so people can provide better advice.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

So, you're changing a core mechanic which most of the other mechanics were developed with that in mind. Be aware, you will have a lot of unintended consequences by doing this.

It's an often overlooked mechanic that has never existed in D&D until the current one. It has already unleashed unintended consequences of ensuring that casters will almost never buff themselves, it has the unintended circumstance making Protection from Energy fairly useless against surviving a burning building when you're probably better off using the lower level spell that grants fire resistance as a reaction. It has the unintended circumstance of making it a better idea for a Paladin to cast their melee damage spells on the Rogue instead of themselves, when it's them that should be wading into combat with the blessing of their divine power.

I'm well aware of the "tactical" implications of removing the damage save, and I feel it's not a big deal at all.

And it's not a lot of unintended consequences to the mechanics, there's like 3 so far I've counted that's it. And feats are optional to begin with.

A subclass of the Mystic may have gotten something along the lines of, "oh waitaminute there's that rule" but it's still in development and they haven't ever made that many things beyond those 3 abilities in the PHB.

 

[Galendril]

It's an often overlooked mechanic that has never existed in D&D until the current one. It has already unleashed unintended consequences of ensuring that casters will almost never buff themselves, it has the unintended circumstance making Protection from Energy fairly useless against surviving a burning building when you're probably better off using the lower level spell that grants fire resistance as a reaction. It has the unintended circumstance of making it a better idea for a Paladin to cast their melee damage spells on the Rogue instead of themselves, when it's them that should be wading into combat with the blessing of their divine power.

I'm well aware of the "tactical" implications of removing the damage save, and I feel it's not a big deal at all.

And it's not a lot of unintended consequences to the mechanics, there's like 3 so far I've counted that's it. And feats are optional to begin with.

A subclass of the Mystic may have gotten something along the lines of, "oh waitaminute there's that rule" but it's still in development and they haven't ever made that many things beyond those 3 abilities in the PHB.

You obviously didn't read my entire post because you didn't answer my question. But, contextually, it seems you are allowing casters to maintain concentration despite taking damage.

Congratulations. You have now boosted the power of all casters (which hardly needed the boost).