D&D 5E Concentration: Addressing Player Concerns

[Shiroiken]

The only issue I've had with Concentration is the minimum DC when hit. A single point of damage has a 45% chance (per-modifiers) of causing the spell to be lost. I felt either the minimum DC should be 5 or there should be a minimum amount of damage to cause a concentration check (I would say 5 points in a single turn).

Even with this issue, our group still uses Concentration spells regularly, because they're very strong. We just make sure not to prepare too many spells with concentration (about 1/4 seems right). Another thing to be aware of is to not overlap the use of those spells (offensive, defensive, or utility) since you can't use more than one at a time.

 

[Falling Icicle]

I like the concentration mechanic. I think it really helps to balance casters and non-casters and it prevents the excessive buff stacking that happened in other editions. However, I do have two gripes with it. First, most casters aren't proficient with Con saving throws. I believe only the sorcerer and eldritch knight are. In 3.x, at least anyone could train in the concentration skill. Now, a character's only choice is to take the resilient and/or warcaster feats. So instead of a skill tax, you have a feat tax, which is much worse. I think it would have been better if concentration checks were magic ability + prof. bonus checks instead.

Second, and this is more of a nuisance than anything, but it's really annoying that the concentration spells aren't marked with a little c or asterisk or something in the spell lists or monster stat blocks. It's really easy for the DM to forget that a particular spell requires concentration when there's nothing in the monster's stat block that reminds you of that fact.

 

[dd.stevenson]

Second, and this is more of a nuisance than anything, but it's really annoying that the concentration spells aren't marked with a little c or asterisk or something in the spell lists or monster stat blocks. It's really easy for the DM to forget that a particular spell requires concentration when there's nothing in the monster's stat block that reminds you of that fact.

Yeah, I've had the same problem. [MENTION=1288]Mouseferatu[/MENTION] 's spreadsheet has been some help (mostly since I've integrated it with my own monster builder in excel) but as time goes on I'm becoming less and less impressed with the MM.

 

[Pibby]

Has your group actually played with the concentration rules? It doesn't drop as often as you think unless your players have really bad luck or they get into melee often. Most enemies don't have ranged attacks but the ones that do can be dealt with your melee PCs or by cleaver positioning/kiting. If mobs are major concern then you could allow the DMG Cleaving rule.

1) No
2) No
3) None, but if there are ways to stack even with the concentration rules. Potions help a lot with this so a non-caster can drink it and use his concentration instead of another caster. Having a level 6 or higher Paladin in the party helps with concentration checks because of their aura. If there was a specific buff that you're players like then you can just make that into a magic item; compare them with the Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon spells if you're concerned about rarity and require item binding if neccessary.

 

[Zaran]

Has your group actually played with the concentration rules? It doesn't drop as often as you think unless your players have really bad luck or they get into melee often. Most enemies don't have ranged attacks but the ones that do can be dealt with your melee PCs or by cleaver positioning/kiting. If mobs are major concern then you could allow the DMG Cleaving rule.

1) No
2) No
3) None, but if there are ways to stack even with the concentration rules. Potions help a lot with this so a non-caster can drink it and use his concentration instead of another caster. Having a level 6 or higher Paladin in the party helps with concentration checks because of their aura. If there was a specific buff that you're players like then you can just make that into a magic item; compare them with the Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon spells if you're concerned about rarity and require item binding if neccessary.

Paladins and Rangers quite often are in melee. Clerics too. None of these have proficiency in Con and have quite a lot of Concentration spells.

 

[Pibby]

Paladins and Rangers quite often are in melee. Clerics too. None of these have proficiency in Con and have quite a lot of Concentration spells.

I am currently playing a paladin in D&D Encounters and I can say that for the most part they are essentially Fighters who use their spell slots to push for extra damage. It's not particularly important for them to concentrate on their smite spells, at least early on, since their save effects are just something nice to add to their damage. I've only used Bless whenever the party has the fight things at a distance for the majority of the fight. If Divine Favor is casted it's to kill zombies which I generally one hit ko and I never had problems fighting them even when they do hit me. I've never used Shield of Faith but whenever I DM'd and a player used it I can say that the spells itself is worth having concentration on for that level.

I have not played a Ranger or Cleric but I can vouch that the ones I've seen hardly ever lose concentration because the players avoided situations where they could lose it and even if they were in melee they always won the battle regardless of whether they did or didn't lose concentration on a spell they casted.

 

[procproc]

I'm running one game and (soon to be) playing in another. I'm not at all fond of the damage checks on concentration spells.

DMing: My players are relatively new and not terribly rules savvy, so they don't pay too much attention. I've house-ruled away the damage save for concentration spells, and I don't think any of my players are aware there's a chance they'd be losing their spells on taking damage.

Playing: I'll be playing a Bladelock. I intend to take Hex for use when I'm long-range, and otherwise avoid concentration spells like the plague.

I understand the concern about buff stacking, and it was out of control in 3.x. It's definitely closer to balanced now than it was then, but I'm of the opinion it's swung too far in the other direction. Especially for front-line casters, the chance of losing your spells is just too great unless the payoff is huge. Even if you're not a front-line caster, you're more likely to get targeted by ranged attackers to try to break your buffs on the front-liners.

Having a one-buff limit is fine, but I don't think "concentration" is the best way to do it. I'd rather have it explicitly be a "one buff limit" on each character, so you can only benefit from one beneficial ongoing effect at a time. As it stands now, a sorcerer (say) is required to choose between buffing a party member and casting a Flaming Sphere. That just feels really strange. You could still have "concentration" as a limit on spells like Hold Person, and still have damage-based interruption for those effects.

I mean, taken to its logical extreme, under the current rules you can have a fighter and a dozen casters guarding a castle wall, and the casters all buff the fighter with concentration effects so he's a Flying Hasted Blessed etc. killing machine. PCs pulling that off isn't a practical concern, but it's still possible to do.

I don't know. I'm really disappointed in the execution of the concentration mechanic. As much as I like other aspects of 5e, it's almost enough to make me move to a different system.

 

[Celtavian]

At the moment our DM and players are forgetting to make Concentration checks, thus it hasn't as badly impacted our group as it should have. When I run the game, I'm going to work harder to make sure the players are making their concentration checks because it heavily impacts the game if they miss them. The player in question only has a +2 on his saves. He should have missed far more than he has. It's annoying, but if the DM is overlooking the mechanic that is on him. I've reminded him quite often not to do so, he continues to ignore it. I guess I will as well until I run it.

I had a problem with Concentration at first. The more I play, the less I worry about Concentration.

It does force a feat tax on any class that casts concentration spells to maintain concentration on common checks. It is nearly impossible to maintain concentration from big hits like breath weapons or hard hitting attacks. If a DM doesn't allow feats, it hurts casters far more than non-casters, especially those without Con as a natural save. I can completely understand why casters in campaigns that don't allow feats would hate Concentration.

But it does allow non-casters to dispel powerful concentration spells without needing caster power themselves. I kind of like to be able to do that as a DM. Normally, physically powerful BBEGs have no way of stopping a spell. In this edition, they can hit the caster real hard to cause him to drop the spell. I think that fits well with fantasy genre. Casters in books don't normally get to stand there casting spells while getting beat on without anyone interruption in ability. I think the Concentration mechanic mirrors well the common genre trope of being able to stick your sword in a caster to stop a spell.

D&D fantasy wizards had grown into this strange being with massive stacked buffs that was nearly invincible. This is uncommon to the genre. It was specific to D&D for the most part. I feel the Concentration mechanic takes the caster closer to its literary analogue where you either avoid combat or you experience serious disruption to your casting capabilities. You can't recklessly enter battle and hope to have all your spells work. If you don't position well, pick your spots to cast, and play tactically well, you put yourself at serious risk of disruption.

I'm ok with Concentration. It has more positives than negatives from a gameplay standpoint. It is especially useful to DMs, so they don't have to always have caster NPCs as enemies to counter casters. A hard hitting physical creature or group can go after a caster slowing down his ability to function effectively. A fighter can make his way to an enemy caster helping his friends by stabbing the enemy caster to end a spell effect. I like that martials and physical creatures can disrupt casting with mundane means.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Killing buff stacking helped make playing D&D fun again. No problems at all at my table.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

5e does provide a mechanism for stacking concentration spells: potions. You could hand out a formula or two as treasure and let them spend the money and time making them if they really want them.

That is where the potion combustibility table comes in.