D&D 5E Break this House Rule: Advantage(s) can stack

TwoSix said:

Basically, what it says in the topic. If I had a house rule that said the following:

"Every source of advantage gives you one advantage. Every source of disadvantage gives you one disadvantage. Advantages and disadvantages cancel. If you have any advantages left over, roll an extra d20 for every advantage and take the highest roll. If you have any disadvantages left over, roll an extra d20 for every disadvantage and take the lowest roll."

Are there any feats/spells/class features that would be totally broken (either unbalanced or unusable) with that house rule?

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My Shadow Sorcerer would love this rule.

Shadow Hound (bonus action) + Heightened Spell (no action) + Save or Suck spell (action) = tri-disadvantage (3 saves, take the lowest).

Hilariously if the target was Lucky (the feat) they could then roll an extra d20... and take the highest of the 4 rolls!

That's one lucky SOB.

I guess if you went Swords Bard 7 instead of Sorcerer 7 then you'd get extra attack as well as some extra dice to your attack. But then you can't quicken your concentration spell, so you don't get to attack at all until round 2 (barring an opportunity to pre-buff, obviously).

Esker said:

I guess if you went Swords Bard 7 instead of Sorcerer 7 then you'd get extra attack as well as some extra dice to your attack. But then you can't quicken your concentration spell, so you don't get to attack at all until round 2 (barring an opportunity to pre-buff, obviously).

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Swords Bard 6 + Sorcerer 3.

Just 2 levels higher and it does both.

I'm currently playing a Half Drow - [Swords Bard/ Ancients Paladin/ Favored Soul Sorcerer/ Hexblade] (refuffed the patron to Elistraee from the Raven Queen, and the weapon to Elistraees moonsword) in Undermountain.

Valas D'Vir. Darkmoon Knight.

That's if the DM ever runs it again. He sucks with running games.

Flamestrike said:

Swords Bard 6 + Sorcerer 3.

Just 2 levels higher and it does both.

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Need 7 in one of them for Greater Invisibility though. So then we're at level 15 all together.

FrogReaver said:

Crit Fishing.

Faerie Fire + Prone + Greater Invisibility + Oath of Vengance + Reckless attack feature would result in a very high crit chance. I'm not sure if it's enough to break anything but that's where my concern would lie.

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Variant Half-Drow Blade pact Hexblade 5 (Thirsting blade, Eldritch smite, Devils sight), Vengeance Paladin 3 , Assassin 3, Sorcerer (any) 3, Battlemaster 3, Gloomstalker Ranger 3.

ASI: Elven accuracy.

Pre combat, you're hiding in the darkness (invisible to all creatures with darkvision thanks to Gloomstalker) with your pet Owl (obtained via the Animal friendship spell as a ranger). With Expertise in Stealth (assassin), you're darn hard to notice (+17 to Stealth checks).

Approach your mark. Initiate combat, initiative is rolled.

On your turn cast a silent spell (Sorcerer - metamagic) Faerie fire or Hold Person with your action from hiding (so as not to break Stealth), and then use your bonus action to place an Oath of enmity (Vengeance paladin) on the sucker. Direct Owl to provide the Help action.

Same turn, move to target. Action surge. Take the attack action. Swing twice.

You're now attacking a surprised (+A thanks to assassin) creature lit up with a Faerie fire or paralysed (+A) from hiding (+A) while invisible (+A), while your Owl familiar trolls it (+A) and it's under the effects of your Oath (+A), and you get to roll an extra dice thanks to Elven accuracy (+A).

Thats 8 x d20 rolls; pick the highest.

On a hit, it's an auto-crit (Assasin, and maybe also from being Held via Hold Person). Spam a superiority dice, a 3rd level slot for a Smite, and a 3rd level Warlock slot for an eldritch smite (also knocking him prone).

8d8 force from the Eldritch smite. 8d8 radiant from the normal smite. 4d6 from the weapon. 2d8 from your Sup dice.

You lose 2 'advantages' after your first attack (the Owl and Hiding) but is now prone thanks to Eldritch smite, so you get one back.

Attack again.

Flamestrike said:

Variant Half-Drow Blade pact Hexblade 5 (Thirsting blade, Eldritch smite, Devils sight), Vengeance Paladin 3 , Assassin 3, Sorcerer (any) 3, Battlemaster 3, Gloomstalker Ranger 3.

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With assassin, surprise gives you a guaranteed crit, so you're not really exploiting the many sources of advantage for crit-fishing. You have the same crit chance you'd have with non-stacking advantage, just a slightly higher chance to hit. You'd be better off as Battlemaster 3 / Paladin 5 / Assassin 12, taking Alert, Skulker, Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter and Elven Accuracy, and just using action surge to attack five times with a -5/+10, using precision attack when you miss, and auto-critting with smite when you hit.

Edit: Actually it's probably better to go Battlemaster 11 / Paladin 5 / Assassin 4, for improved precision attack and two extra attacks. You lose 8d6 in sneak attack damage, but your attacks only need to do 14 damage each to surpass that, which they almost certainly will.

Esker said:

With assassin, surprise gives you a guaranteed crit, so you're not really exploiting the many sources of advantage for crit-fishing.

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Its actually better for a crit fisher. The crits are automatic on any hit.

You still have to hit though. 8 rolls should be enough.

You have the same crit chance you'd have with non-stacking advantage, just a slightly higher chance to hit. You'd be better off as Battlemaster 3 / Paladin 5 / Assassin 12, taking Alert, Skulker, Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter and Elven Accuracy, and just using action surge to attack five times with a -5/+10, using precision attack when you miss, and auto-critting with smite when you hit.

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The only advantage of the above is that normal expanded crit ranges (as opposed to auto-crits) is should you ever find yourself in a situation where your target has an AC that you cant hit with any other roll other than a 20.

Assassin auto-crits still require hits. Meaning you only auto-crit a target with an AC of 20 or more over your attack bonus on a natural 20 still.

Champion expanded crit range turns all rolls in that range into crits (and hits).

So should you find yourself attacking something with an AC of [your bonus to hit] + [20 or more] you're better off being a champion (or Hexblade with Hexblades curse active).

Flamestrike said:

Its actually better for a crit fisher. The crits are automatic on any hit.

You still have to hit though. 8 rolls should be enough.

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Yeah, but most of the time, 3 rolls is enough. At level 20 having taken elven accuracy and all those other feats your attack bonus should be +12 (+6 proficiency + 4 ability mod + 2 archery style). Using the -5/+10 sharpshooter option, that's down to +7. With the exception of the Tarrasque and Tiamat, which have ACs of 25, ACs in the MM top out at 22. That means pretty much worst case scenario you're needing a 15 to hit with sharpshooter. With elven accuracy (and no stacking advantage) you have a 66% chance to do that. With a d10 precision attack if you use it any time you roll 5-14 you're bringing that up significantly.

The additional dice are providing pretty marginal benefit to your chance to hit, which I'm nearly certain is going to be more than swamped by the foregone attacks required to cast Faerie Fire alone.

TwoSix said:

Basically, what it says in the topic. If I had a house rule that said the following:

"Every source of advantage gives you one advantage. Every source of disadvantage gives you one disadvantage. Advantages and disadvantages cancel. If you have any advantages left over, roll an extra d20 for every advantage and take the highest roll. If you have any disadvantages left over, roll an extra d20 for every disadvantage and take the lowest roll."

Are there any feats/spells/class features that would be totally broken (either unbalanced or unusable) with that house rule?

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I see no way it breaks the game.

But "breaks the game - yes/no" is for me necessary to pass for a house rule but not sufficient. If it breaks the game, it wont be added. But it needs more than that to be considered.

Do, what is the goal you are seeking to achieve? What play problems led you to look for a house rule? Why did this specific rule out-shine the other options to deal with that in-play issue? What were the other options you chose?

Or is this change for sake of change?

To me, operating in a vacuum, not a fan of hunting for stacks of bonuses. Not a fan of having multiple PCs "helping" lead to one really advantaged roll. "I look for hidden guys" plus three "we help" not really a fan of making that into a passive percrption opat +15 for three advantages.

I have considered a less powerful variant rule for Advantage / Disadvantage of "majority wins". I.e. if your number of individual sources of Advantage are higher than the number of individual sources of Disadvantage, you'll still have Advantage - and vice versa. Only when the number of sources balance each other out do they cancel out to a normal roll.