D&D 5E Things That Make a DM Say "Whoa?!?!"

[Syntallah]

After a quick read through of the PHB, I had a couple of 'holy crap' moments from the possibly-overpowered-department:


- Wolf Totem Spirit Barbarians grant advantage to the melee attacks of all friends within 5' of them [starts at 3rd level]

- Paladin's Aura of Protection grants them, and any friendly within 10', a bonus to all saves equal to their Cha mod [starts at 6th level]


Within the realm of Bounded Accuracy these features are huge..! The Wolf effectively grants a +5 to all attacks, and any Paladin worth his salt is granting at least a +2 to all saves. I will make every effort to run the Game as written first to actually see the ramifications, but man, things like this make me reflexively grab my nerf bat...

 

[SigmaOne]

I agree these are awesome, but it'll take time (and the MM) to know how over-powered they are. Even Kobolds get advantage whenever they're within 5' of an ally (Pack Tactics). In fact, this power is just mimicking the Pack Tactics feature of the wolf (hence Wolf Totem). So, there's cool stuff all around.

Also, I love that these powerful benefits make their teammates better, rather than themselves.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Within the realm of Bounded Accuracy these features are huge..! The Wolf effectively grants a +5 to all attacks, and any Paladin worth his salt is granting at least a +2 to all saves. I will make every effort to run the Game as written first to actually see the ramifications, but man, things like this make me reflexively grab my nerf bat...

Thinking of Advantage as "a +5 bonus!!!!!!" is a good way to confuse and mislead yourself. Advantage is Advantage. Frequently that's about equivalent to a +5 bonus, but it doesn't stack with other sources of Advantage (unlike an ACTUAL +5 bonus), and is negated by ANY source of Disadvantage.

Further the power you list forces PCs to clump up for AE and enemies using similar abilities! (which are common)

Is it nice? Yes, but please don't start talking about "+5 bonus!" and so on. It's completely the wrong way to understand it. If this makes you want to wield your nerfbat, it should be confiscated from you!

 

[cpendlet]

How else is the Barbarian going to get any one to hang out with him
The area is very small on that so most likely it will only be affecting one (occasionally 2 depending on party composition and the mobs they are fighting) other party member.

That paladin ability is nice but again it is a small area so it is unlikely to be covering the entire party. I could see a situation where the party knew something nasty was coming and every one ran into the aura. But they could also just spread out so the dragon can only hit a few party members instead of all of them.

Both of them seem like nice abilities but not really overpowered (compared to other abilities - bonus on healing from the life domain is rather nice). Personally I like the bear totem powers better. How can you go wrong with a nearly unkillable engine of destruction

 

[Murkmoldiev]

In my campaign NO ONE is going to be within 15 feet of a raging barbarian swinging a great axe or whatever...

Not With my ( Yes INSANE ) Critical Fumble system that is ... See 1 and 9

1 roll to hit friend if nearby, otherwise Wild swing , spin around one and roll two fumbles.
2 -3 You fail to anticipate your opponent’s maneuvers and you step into your opponents trap.Your opponent effortlessly circles around your attack and is flanking you at the beginning of the next round. You provoke an Opportunity attack from any opponents that threaten you.
4 WEAPON BREAK.
5 deflect enemy attack with personal gear; random item totally destroyed
6 poor follow through , position swap AOO
7 sudden terror hesitate piss pants a tiny bit go last next round.
8 Weapon Break.
9 Fling weapon random direction D12 /1d % feet
10 weapon lodged in random object or floor: roll STR DC 10 + 1d20 to recover.
11. Weapon Break
12 You have grit or gore in your eye. Blinded 1d4 rounds.
10 You slip, fall prone , cutting / bashing yourself for 1d6
11. Fall hurt foot twisting ankle, movement 1/2 until healed (odd-left)
12. fall prone ; hurt wrist 1d4 damage and hand useless until healed (odd-left)
13 stumble back 5 ft - provoke AoO
14 Weapon Break
15 armor / clothing struck and gains- gains Broken condition/destoyed
16 Weapon break.
17 get into a clinch with opponent - start next turn in a grapple.
18 - hit self:for 1d6 damage
19 - Slip over banging head - stunned one round..
20 - MIRACULOUS recovery - Whole new turn of actions. With advantage !

 

[kerbarian]

In my campaign NO ONE is going to be within 15 feet of a raging barbarian swinging a great axe or whatever...

Not With my ( Yes INSANE ) Critical Fumble system that is ... See 1 and 9

Amusingly, a barbarian using Reckless Attack is far less likely to fumble -- 1 in 400 instead of 1 in 20.

 

[Paraxis]

Amusingly, a barbarian using Reckless Attack is far less likely to fumble -- 1 in 400 instead of 1 in 20.

I hate fumble rules so much, but if I was in a game for some reason and the DM decided to use them I would make a halfling barbarian and then not have to worry about it.

 

[Vanye]

- Paladin's Aura of Protection grants them, and any friendly within 10', a bonus to all saves equal to their Cha mod [starts at 6th level]

Its been a while since I've looked at one, but wasn't this an ability the 1st & 2nd Ed paladins had?

 

[Chocolategravy]

The advantage doesn't stack. Having 3 melee in your party take 6 levels of paladin however...

 

[Dionysos]

Contagion just ruins legendary monsters, since they are affected by it for a minimum of three rounds. I think the intent is for the enemy needing to fail three saves before being affected, but the wording does not support that. This probably needs errata.