D&D 5E Advice for Running 5E -- Your Experiences

[FitzTheRuke]

If you think what they're trying should be particularly difficult, give them disadvantage. If it should be particularly easy, advantage.

That's more like setting the DC's, I'd use advantage/disadvantage in cases where EXTERNAL FORCES are making it easier or more difficult, but the task remains the same. The DC should be based on the task itself.

 

[sgtscott658]

Actually, you get advantage on flanking. So thus with advantage the Rogue gets a sneak attack each turn.

Scott

There is no flanking in 5e.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I will not be using minis and battlemats, going for a "theater of the mind plus here's a sketch" method that has served me throughout every edition of the game. I also plan on treating ideals etc... like Fate Core aspects as it relates to gaining Inspiration (just because I like the mechanic).

You've got a good idea there. It should work well.

 

[pming]

Hiya

Next weekend I am running 5E at Carnage Con (for 20 hours of hexcrawling fun!). I am a longtime DM from 1E and B/X through 3E, PF and even a little 4E, so I don't need general DMing advice. ***snip***

...well, this will be easy then. Seeing as you started with all us other old grognards (re: pre '80...or at least early/mid '80s), I can make my advice short and sweet: Don't think in 3e/PF/4e terms. The 5e system plays VERY similar to 1e/BX...and quite a bit different than 3e/PF/4e. In 5e, the mantra is "Rulings, not rules". So, just pretend you are DM'ing a game of B/X, but with different rules. You should be golden!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Boarstorm]

Actually, you get advantage on flanking. So thus with advantage the Rogue gets a sneak attack each turn.

Scott

I'm pretty sure you don't. Not by the RAW, anyway.

 

[sgtscott658]

Ah just venting my own frustration at dealing certain aspects of this game but all in all, I am still happy running 5E. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be more in the right mind to be feat freindly lol.

Huh, no offense, Scott, but I disagree with pretty much everything you say here. Feats are fun, exciting, and interesting. Rogues drop bad guys so you can get on with the story, "especially in HotDQ". IMO, feats are much more interesting than Stat bumps, especially at lower-levels when your character isn't too complicated anyway.

To each their own, I guess.

 

[Mistwell]

Actually, you get advantage on flanking. So thus with advantage the Rogue gets a sneak attack each turn.

Scott

Again, there is no flanking. You are incorrect. No flanking, no advantage for flanking, no rule like that. You can get sneak attack if an ally is next to your foe - but they don't have to be flanked in any way to get this, you get your sneak attack even if you are attacking from range, and you don't get advantage for it. I think you should read that rule again. No flanking, no advantage for any kind of flanking.

 

[sgtscott658]

You are correct. I guess I still have not scrubbed clean all the rules from 3.x from my mind lol.

Again, there is no flanking. You are incorrect. No flanking, no advantage for flanking, no rule like that. You can get sneak attack if an ally is next to your foe - but they don't have to be flanked in any way to get this, you get your sneak attack even if you are attacking from range, and you don't get advantage for it. I think you should read that rule again. No flanking, no advantage for any kind of flanking.

 

[Mistwell]

You are correct. I guess I still have not scrubbed clean all the rules from 3.x from my mind lol.

It's cool, I made a ton of those same kinds of mistakes with 5e (and I probably still am). It takes a long time to adjust your thinking on some of these issues, particularly the ones that don't come up all the time.

 

[TerraDave]

You are correct. I guess I still have not scrubbed clean all the rules from 3.x from my mind lol.

It may be coming from sneak attack (but not advantage) attacking something close to an ally.

Several low level creatures also have sneak attack variants, with the kobold, hobgoblin and bugbear seemingly dividing it up.