D&D 5E Differing opinions about 5e

[Caliban]

Even setting the complainer issue aside, and look at what is expected of the role, I'll choose to be a Dungeon Master rather than a Dungeon Interpreter.

Be reasonable.

You don't always get to choose what job openings are available, and your resume may only qualify you for a lower level position.

Dungeon Janitor, Dungeon Accountant, or Dungeon Farmer are all honorable professions. (Dungeon Slave, less so. But it still has more applicants than available positions.)

 

[Corwin]

Be reasonable.

Puh-lease. This is the internets.

You don't always get to choose what job openings are available, and your resume may only qualify you for a lower level position.

Dungeon Janitor, Dungeon Accountant, or Dungeon Farmer are all honorable professions. (Dungeon Slave, less so. But it still has more applicants than available positions.)

Maybe I should set my eyes first on an entry-level job such as a Dungeon Runner? Or maybe even Dungeon Facilitator?

 

[ExploderWizard]

Agreed. I think the real elephant in the room is probably the hard truth that some DMs are just flat out poor fits for the role. They fail to challenge a party because they lack the skills to apply encounters in effective and interesting ways. And so they blame the system, rather than their own shortcomings. or worse, refuse to confront their own unwillingness to improve themselves.

DMing is a skill that takes time to develop. Like anything else that requires a bit of dedication, some expect the rules and basic guidelines to make them instant experts. If the published adventures don't give you the game that you want when run straight as written, then learn from that and make changes. Otherwise you are living the definition of insanity.

Even setting the complainer issue aside, and look at what is expected of the role, I'll choose to be a Dungeon Master rather than a Dungeon Interpreter.

 

[Tony Vargas]

DMing is a skill that takes time to develop. Like anything else that requires a bit of dedication, some expect the rules and basic guidelines to make them instant experts.

Rules & guidelines can certainly help, the former making the tasks of GMing easier or less onerous, the latter giving the new GM a jump on developing the requisite skills. 5e, presumably because it evokes the classic game & Empowers DMs (but I also like to think because it leverages the pool of existing DM expertise out there), does err on the side of requiring more from DMs than other modern editions may have.

Otherwise you are living the definition of insanity.

Or 'immersion,' as we like to call it around here...

 

[cmad1977]

I'll have to ask my players sometime if 5E is "too easy". Considering that last game I had an encounter where the barbarian and fighter were both knocked unconscious at one time or other and the other characters were beaten bloodied and bruised. According to the XP calculator I use (it ignores numbers of opponents) it was supposed to be a high-medium encounter.

Some of it was just luck, my dice were hot and theirs were cold.

Or in the game I played in where we tend to only have a handful of fights between long rests and my cleric had to use revivify and mass heal or we were looking at running away or a TPK. As it was, it was still close. It was intended to be a tough boss fight against one of the last of our major foes so it was appropriate.

The published mods may be on the easy side, but there is a pretty vast difference between effectiveness of parties. If they were not on the easy side, many novice parties would be wiped out on a regular basis. I DM two different groups. Both are fun, but the challenges I throw at one group to challenge them would wipe out the second group and vice versa. Also remember that the guidelines are designed for a party of 4, a party of 5 or 6 can handle quite a bit more.

The fact that some DMs have to turn up the knob a little bit for your group is not surprising, I don't know how you could design a game where it wasn't the case.

Difficulty is set by the DM.

How dare you sir! How dare you take responsibility for the games you run??!


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