D&D 5E What 5e rule/option/class/item etc. do you regret allowing into your game

[hejtmane]

None zero

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[Greenstone.Walker]

Same here, but without all the moaning. "Why can't I play a monk? Why aren't there any Paladins? I want to be an Elf! Why can't I be a kenku?"

Then followed by complaining when the town guard harassed them out of town because the party had a genasi, a bunch of short races, a goliath and a dragonborn, in a superstitious, low-magic, human-centric nation.

Seriously people, you play freaks and there will be social consequences.

As for what I with I hadn't allowed:

Sharpshooter. The "ignore cover" and "ignore long range" rules are just too powerful, especially for an archer who has +12 attack bonus and Extra Attack. He can just reach out and kill anything, anywhere on the battlefield.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

It is a very powerful combo - I'm playing a character who uses it in Adventure League right now because I wanted to see for myself if it was as OP as people said. It is.

I made a rogue with a hand crossbow when I was asked to join a level 13 game. The balancing factor for hand crossbows seems to be that magical hand crossbows don't exist, so eventually you hit a point where all of your attacks are at half damage. I ended up using a magic dagger for my main weapon, although I still kept the hand crossbow for bonus attacks against a second target, because half damage is better than nothing.

The thief backstabs just about each round since we tend to play with flanking and advantage. At a certain level that damage is the highest in the party. Not necessarily the worst thing, but it stands out, even with the fighter getting 2 attacks and the higher chance for criticals.

That happened to me, even when I wasn't doing more damage than anyone else. I think it's a player perception thing, because they see the one attack for 35 damage and it's a bigger number than the fighter/paladin making four smites for 28 each.

 

[Mistwell]

If I may ask, is it because of
(a) low rolls (characters are not up to challenges)
(b) high rolls (characters find challenges too easy), or
(c) the variation between players (and so differences between characters at the same level)?

combination of b&c. Some guys have all high rolls, while others have average, and over time it magnifies the difference.

 

[Mort]

I made a rogue with a hand crossbow when I was asked to join a level 13 game. The balancing factor for hand crossbows seems to be that magical hand crossbows don't exist, so eventually you hit a point where all of your attacks are at half damage.

Isn't magic ammunition totally a thing though?



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[The Crimson Binome]

If I may ask, is it because of
(a) low rolls (characters are not up to challenges)
(b) high rolls (characters find challenges too easy), or
(c) the variation between players (and so differences between characters at the same level)?

I had one player who rolled an 18 and a 16 (boosted to 20/18 with racial bonuses), and another player with nothing higher than 14 (increased to 16 by race), and neither one overshadowed the other until level 8 - when the second player's character maxed out their prime stat, and there was virtually no observable difference in their power levels.

If I had to guess, most people who dislike rolling stats in 5E are also using feats, and feats tend to magnify the difference from stats. If you're using feats, then a player who rolls well can still take an incredibly useful bonus at every opportunity, while the player who rolls less well is stuck playing catch-up forever.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Isn't magic ammunition totally a thing though?

Not for hand crossbows. I mean, it's totally up to the DM because ammunition is just listed as ammunition on the table, but it would be really weird if the ancients left a bunch of magical hand crossbow bolts around but not any magical hand crossbows.

 

[Mort]

Not for hand crossbows. I mean, it's totally up to the DM because ammunition is just listed as ammunition on the table, but it would be really weird if the ancients left a bunch of magical hand crossbow bolts around but not any magical hand crossbows.

I suppose it depends on how you do magic items in your game. The DMG is, deliberately , vague in that in this edition, leaving it up to the DM. Nothing says new magic bolts can't be created unless that's just not a thing in your campaign (magic items are essentially all relics).

Also, I'm actually not sure how magic hand crossbows are not a thing unless it's specific to a campaign. weapon +1-+3 is generic in the DMG, ANY weapon can have a magic equivalent - if the DM wants it. Am I missing something?

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[The Crimson Binome]

Also, I'm actually not sure how magic hand crossbows are not a thing unless it's specific to a campaign. weapon +1-+3 is generic in the DMG, ANY weapon can have a magic equivalent - if the DM wants it. Am I missing something?

It was a published adventure, and there weren't any magic hand crossbows in it. I think that's true of almost every published adventure for 5E.

For a DM to include a magical hand crossbow in their adventure, they would need to think of a reason why an enemy would have one (or why someone in the past would leave one lying around). Most DMs tend to not think about powerful NPCs who have hand crossbows, for whatever reason, unless there are a ton of Drow in the campaign.

 

[clearstream]

I'm starting a fresh 5e Greyhawk campaign - the players should be generating new characters soon. I'm generally pretty permissive and have been doing this long enough to spot traps/trouble but it's always good to crowd-source these kinds of things.

So, as the title says, What rule/option/class etc. do you regret allowing into your game? If you're a player - what do you wish hadn't been allowed into the game? Basically, what addition/option (be it feats, a UA option, a certain class, etc.) do you believe was not good/fun for your game?

It's worth remembering that UA is not fully playtested and not balanced: in my campaign UA can usually only come into the game with balancing revisions. It always pays to ask the question - what is this like as an MC dip? Revised Ranger for example, is an imba MC dip.

GWM is okay because it is toe-to-toe and you need to sacrifice defense: before you nerf GWM think hard about how much you like your casters to outshine martials? Sharpshooter on the other hand is not okay because it deals similar damage to GWM... at 120'+ range: I recommend "Once per turn" on the Sharpshooter power attack.

For overall game balance that allows all classes to shine, I recommend tweaking the Crossbow Expert's obviation of disadvantage in close for ranged attacks, to something like "When you make a melee attack against a creature, being within 5 feet of that creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls for the rest of the turn."

Bladesinger is problematic. Wizards are already the most powerful class: they don't need to also out-tank the heaviest martials.

Any kind of flying PC race can warp the narrative unless your campaign is setup specifically to accommodate them.

Variant-Humans tend to overshadow other characters for the first few levels. Either disallow them or give them their feat at 3rd or 4th level.

Think about the crown jewels of each class (usually found in the first few levels). Don't give away Expertise in key exploration and Social skills to characters other than Bards, Rogues and (outdoors) Rangers. Don't give away the highest possible AC to anyone but Defense fighting style, plate and shield, fighters. Don't give away Metamagic to anyone but Sorcerers. Etc. Protect the things that make each class shine.