While I have a strong opinion on metagame design elements, I by no means intend to imply that those who enjoy such concepts are doing it wrong or should convert to my way of thinking. This is about a preference. It would be just as silly to try to convert everyone who prefers chocolate ice cream to vanilla. Vanilla is better in my opinion but philosophically "a matter of taste cannot be disputed"
So a short definition: Metagaming.
Metagaming is when a player makes a decision that the character the player is playing could never conceive of or know about.
Here are some examples of metagame rules in 5e.
1. The player chooses the number of hit dice to apply towards healing during a short rest. There seems to be no analog for the character. There also seems to be a resource being consumed but what is that resource? Potential healing?
2. Action surge. Why is this limited (besides game balance) early on to once between short rests? Can a fighter really only once in the course of a battle choose an exact moment to make an extra effort and then not again? This again seems like the player is choosing something the fighter would know nothing about.
3. Second Wind. A player decides to give his character a surge of energy. The character just gets it apparently unexpectedly. It happens in the fast and furious furer of combat so it's not even something the character could think about much.
4. Inspiration. Since this part of the game is pretty optional (and my guess is anyone close to my thinking ignores it anyway), it's not that big a deal.
I realize I'm picking on the fighter but the fighter is pretty egregious in these areas. I'm sure may of the other classes have at least some issues like this though perhaps not to the same degree.
So how do you guys with my own sentiments (or at least some sympathy for my sentiments) handle these things. What house rules have you developed? Is the game salvageable for someone like us?
I've been thinking about Pathfinder 2e as another possibility. Do you think it will do better in that particular area? Worse? I'm going to check out the pdf.
What about you old schoolers? There is a lot to like in some of the old school games but I find them not systematic enough for me. Heck 5e probably isn't as much as I'd like. Everything is a special class rule. I do think feats as a mechanic might be better ala Pf2e. But I am also thinking they'll make some pretty awful feats as well.
Thoughts?
I got thoughts.
For one, I’m sympathetic that 5E’s design didn’t quite deliver on the dials and tweaks that might’ve accommodated your preferences and mine alongside one another. But I’ll leave that aside for a sec and see if I might take a stab at some of your fighter concerns.
Biggest ‘offenders’ (or let’s say ‘areas of opportunity for change’) I see are Second Wind, Action Surge, and Indomitable. Each of these, the player decides to use when they wish, and then must rest some amount of time before they can be used again. So we’re looking for the smallest possible alterations we can make so that the choice to use these abilities originates from the character, doesn’t have an arbitrary limit on use, or perhaps replaces the ability with a functional equivalent.
Second Wind regains hit points commensurate with the fighter’s level, and can be used any time, but you need a rest to use it again. In an average day, the fighter has one 8 hour rest of sleep, and realistically one or two short rests of an hour during an adventuring day. In short, he can regain 3d10 plus 3 times his level hit points every day. Practically speaking, you could easily replace Second Wind with a couple Cure Wounds Spells, a packet of bonus hit points (that maybe increases as they level), or a slight resistance to damage.
I propose: “True Grit” - whenever you are damaged by an attack, reduce the incoming damage by an amount equal to your constitution modifier (minimum 1). No problems now, the fighter is just a bit more durable on average than everyone else.
Action Surge. This lets you take an extra action in one combat, and you have to rest before you can do it again. Alright that’s tougher. We have to look at some averages to gauge a replacement. It’s said there’s 6-8 medium difficulty encounters in an adventuring day. It’s said that each encounter is about 3 combat rounds. So it looks like you get one extra action every other combat. There’s no real limit on what that action can do. But after about 11th level, if you’re not using it for attacks, I’m a monkey’s uncle. That’s 6 attacks in one of your combat turns! A damage bonus might be sufficient. I think that’s sufficient but boring.
I propose: “Grand Slam” On your turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to zero hit points with one, you can use the momentum of your devastating strike to carry you forward and take another action this turn. This keeps the extra action fun, but changes the frequency of use so that it doesn’t conflict with your sensibilities. It happens in particular circumstances, based on battle conditions and in-world effects.
Finally we have Indomitable: re-roll a failed saving throw. Recharge after a rest. This is like how the AD&D fighter had the most favorable saving throw progression. I think we solve it the same way - improve the saving throw. It could be as simple as “you have advantage on all saving throws.” Here’s why: you were only ever going to re-roll failed ones, and you would only ever take the best result. Practically speaking, there’s a very small boost in giving a blanket advantage to all saving throws over Indomitable-as-written. Alternatively, you could gain proficiency in a new saving throw at 9th, another at 13th, and another at 17th. I’d personally stick with advantage on all saving throws, but whatever. Either way, we don’t run into arbitrary use or limits.
In each change I’ve proposed, your fighter is always trying their best. Not selectively - all the time. And the changes aren’t even big. Just a replacement sentence at most. That ought to make this class more palatable to your particular taste. Let me know what you think.