What is missing in 5E that you had in other editions?

Raith5 · May 18, 2019

I do miss some of the things and ideas from 4e, especially the more complicated/surprising monsters, more tactical options for martial classes and more options for customizing character. One thing I notice that I miss in 5e are out of turn options in combats. I know the could slow things down, and I doubt that I would want to return as having as many out of turn options in 4e, but some would be nice to make combats a bit more dynamic.

Mercurius · May 18, 2019

A meaty edition war.

ssvegeta555 · May 18, 2019

-Pets and summons

-monster templates

-proper supplements that that aren't a mish mash of random stuff thrown together like 5e books tend to be.

-actual campaign setting books

-spells and magic item compendiums

-incarnum

-Prestige classes

-more base classes

-psionics

-manual of the planes

-full fledged MMs, not half MM half whatever

-varied weapon stats

-alternate class features

-cure x wounds spell names, I know it's not needed for 5e but I really love the progression those spell names.

-+5 weapons/armor

-subsystems galore that was prevalent in 3.5.

In fact, I missed so much of that stuff I found it easier to return to 3.5 and just backport my favorite stuff from 5e over (HD healing, concentration limit, full attack after moving and more).

I felt at home again running 3.5 after over 10 years.

Shiroiken · May 18, 2019

I think the only thing I really miss would be multi-classing with demi-humans in AD&D. I do not like the 3E style multi-classing personally, but I understand why it was kept for 5E. I think the best way to represent this would be to take the classic "multi-class" options and create sub-classes for them. They've already done this with Eldritch Knight for the classic Fighter/Magic-User, and the War Domain is a solid Fighter/Cleric type. I wouldn't mind seeing this continued for things like the Fighter/Thief/Magic-User and such.

Oh, something else that I miss is tables with the value of magic items, rather than the overly broad system we have now. I don't want players buying magic items, but I'm okay with them selling or trading.

Sacrosanct · May 18, 2019

Rule books I can color.

Al2O3 · May 18, 2019

A class where I can cause a lot of damage each round on my turn without having to be the one picking classes, feats and weapons for it. When I feel like "everyone else can do more powerful attacks than I", the solution should be "let the others do more attacks on my turn, but do it better". Throw in some healing and similar utility.

In short, I want the 4e Warlord back.

Jacob Lewis · May 18, 2019

There are plenty of things I miss from old editions. Most have been mentioned already in this thread. But in all honesty, I would not change a thing. 5e serves its purpose well getting new people and interest into the hobby. This edition is for the new generation of gamers who are not burdened by the wants and wishes of editions past. I have plenty of old material and options to fulfill my wishful needs for a more complex and dynamic game, and the experience and wisdom to combine and adjust the rules from every edition to suit my tastes.

More importantly, if 5e gets too good then no one will ever want to try different games. Lately, I have been finding more people wanting to talk about different systems because they have grown bored with D&D. I can relate to them having been there myself. If it wasn't for 5e, I might not have discovered some truly innovative and alternative styles of play that have become my preferences; namely the Star Wars RPG, which has rekindled my passion for Star Wars in general, and more board games.

For this reason, I think 5e is perfect with all the missing pieces. Rather trying to scratch every possible itch, I think it has finally settled on a niche and has agreed to stay in its lane. Let everyone customize to taste, and allow gamers to try something different without trying to satisfy every alternative on their own. That just creates more division within the community, which it still suffers because we can never let go of our past. Let 5e be 5e. And let more gamers discover more games.

muppetmuppet · May 18, 2019

Stalker0 said:
Mechanical support for intelligence. While the new skill system is good, now that int is divorces for that system it really feels like the dump stat of the edition.

4e bloodied condition and mechanics for it.

4e monsters. Now there were problems with early monsters but ultimately I found as a dm it was easier to use stock 4e monsters and have interesting combats. Certainly can do it in 5e, just takes a bit more work and imagination.

3e charge. It’s probably the common rule my players “forget” is not in 5e

I use all these in my 5th e.

Oofta · May 18, 2019

What's missing? Well, in my personal opinion (feel free to disagree)

Generic classes that felt bland and only supported one play style preference because they tried to make all classes equal and gave everyone "powers" that for many people felt supernatural and somehow limiting as well.
Overly complex rules bloat that led to a high barrier of entry; system mastery allowed people to build PCs that were vastly more powerful. Rules upon rules that tried to dictate how to resolve everything that never really worked.
Quadratic power for fighters, exponential power for casters which was supposedly balanced by wizards being only slightly tougher than your average commoner at lower levels.
Weird backwards math, having to look up whether you hit on a chart.
Racial and gender limitations on what type of class you could have and how strong you could be (which in some cases was kind of logical, but it's a game)
If you wanted to be a fighter/wizard you had to be an elf.

Oh wait ... was this supposed to be a list of what I miss? Because that's not what the title says. Hmm. Okay: nostalgia for games I used to play that in their own way were fun but also flawed just like every other game in existence.