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

DMZ2112 · May 18, 2019

The thing I find most compelling about D&D5 is the fact that anytime I sit down with the books to do campaign planning, I am reminded in a flood of all the things it does not do that D&D4 did, or that D&D3 did, or that Pathfinder does, or that AD&D2 did...

...but when I sit down at the table with my players and the session begins, none of that matters.

What I miss the most is personalization. D&D5 has good customization, but it doesn't have the breadth of options necessary for real personalization. AD&D2 and D&D3 both excelled at that (and were often waking nightmares as a result).

The Old Crow · May 18, 2019

I miss really simple stat blocks for monsters. So simple they could often be reduced to a single line in some cases. Made adventure writing so much easier, and compact. I really, really miss this.

Oh, and wimpy orcs. Never read Tolkien, so AD&D orcs are my metric. 5 hp, a sword or spear, and no strength bonus damage. Could have a horde of them; it was quantity not quality when it came to orcs. Perfect fodder for 1st level parties.

Swarmkeeper · May 18, 2019

The Old Crow said:
I miss really simple stat blocks for monsters. So simple they could often be reduced to a single line in some cases. Made adventure writing so much easier, and compact. I really, really miss this.

I know what you mean. At lower levels while running 5e, I was able to mostly get by with notes that included AC, HP, Attack and damage stats for each low level creature. Once Saving throws start coming into play, all bets are off. Need that stat block. Now I try to have my monster stat blocks printed off or bookmarked ahead of time. Keep things flowing.

The Old Crow said:
Oh, and wimpy orcs. Never read Tolkien, so AD&D orcs are my metric. 5 hp, a sword or spear, and no strength bonus damage. Could have a horde of them; it was quantity not quality when it came to orcs. Perfect fodder for 1st level parties.

If you read Tolkien, you’d know that wimpy orcs are called goblins.

But, for serious, just assign them the minimum HP (8) as detailed in their stat block (2d8+6). Or, assign all members of the orc band 5 HP each as they’ve just come from a skirmish before the party stumbled upon them. And maybe have them carry clubs instead of their typical weapons. The wimpiness level is really in your hands as a 5e DM.

Beleriphon · May 18, 2019

Gradine said:
Major NPCs that are just the designers' names spelled backwards?

I know Drafwarc and Slraem. Good guys, handy with a fireball spell.

Laurefindel · May 18, 2019

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

my college buddies...

77IM · May 18, 2019

Astral Diamonds.

No, seriously, they were a unique D&D thing, and I thought it was cool that the most valuable gem was so rare it had to be mined on another plane of existence. And in the 5E treasure tables, the highest-value gems (diamonds, rubies, etc.) are worth 5,000 gp, so it would be easy to make the next highest level be the astral diamond worth 10,000 gp.

I don't miss residuum, though. F@#$ that s%&*.

Draegn · May 18, 2019

77IM said:
Astral Diamonds.

No, seriously, they were a unique D&D thing, and I thought it was cool that the most valuable gem was so rare it had to be mined on another plane of existence. And in the 5E treasure tables, the highest-value gems (diamonds, rubies, etc.) are worth 5,000 gp, so it would be easy to make the next highest level be the astral diamond worth 10,000 gp.

I don't miss residuum, though. F@#$ that s%&*.

I remember these too. I also remember that if you were fast enough you could cut out the heart of a demon or devil and get a black diamond or fire ruby worth 1000 gp per hd.

Dannyalcatraz · May 18, 2019

DMZ2112 said:
What I miss the most is personalization. D&D5 has good customization, but it doesn't have the breadth of options necessary for real personalization. AD&D2 and D&D3 both excelled at that (and were often waking nightmares as a result).

One man’s waking nightmare is another’s paradise.

aco175 · May 19, 2019

Printed modules that cost only a few bucks and I did not mind writing in.

Weapon leveling to +10 and item creation rules

4e monster rules

multi-classing that worked well and did not make me feel like the PC is falling behind

Ratskinner · May 19, 2019

The only thing about 5e that irked me when running it was the monsters. I'd have preferred a more 4e style of monster design. (IMO, the single best thing about 4e). With the glossing-over of a lot of the tactical detail, they could be super-simple stat blocks.