D&D 5E (2014) Could SCAG be power creep?

[Athinar]

Could SCAG be power creep? I don't have it and before I buy it and add it to the game I would like to have other people’s option

 

[Al2O3]

There is a really good monk subclass and some really nice cantrips for weapon users, but I doubt that any of the most damage optimised characters rely on SCAG material.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I'd say that SCAG is closer to the high end of the PHB class power scale, but does not surpass it.

 

[Athinar]

But they say the PC's are balanced so there should be no "high end of the PHB class", correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Al2O3]

I don't think they've said that all options are equally effective in combat, and combat is where power creep may happen. So comparing the combat abilities, I think "high end of the PHB" is a good description.

There are also options clearly not focused on combat, and it mostly offers diversity.

 

[Ganymede81]

Isn't that the book that lets first level Tiefling characters fly?

 

[Al2O3]

Isn't that the book that lets first level Tiefling characters fly?

Now that you mention it, I think that is an option. However, the price for those wings are way to high to be worth it.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Ans: Probably power creep, like any other splatbook. Every extra option adds more possibilities for a power combo that wasnt possible before, even if by itself the addition seems fine.

I dont have SCAG, but the Tiefling flier sounds like an example, combo with some kind of ranged blaster like a warlock or SS Fighter and issues begin to appear.

 

[Flamestrike]

Its balanced and adds some great options. I havent seen anything broken come from it yet at all.

There was a lot of outrage over the bladesinger at first, but then people played it and realised youre basically just trading some amazing abilities (portent anyone?) for being a high AC sword swinging wizard who otherwise sucks in melee (middling DPR, wizard HP, no str or con saves) when you should just be sitting at the back doing what wizards do (blasting and being God).

Flying tieflings are a corner case. Just use common sense when approving flying PC's (or acknowledge that if you are gonna let them in, ensure that you design your encounters appropriately - i.e. ranged weapons and flying monsters appear with a bit more frequency).

 

[brehobit]

Actually, I'd say mostly the subclasses are weaker than the PHB. And most of the crunch is SCAG is also par or below par IMO in the general case. But as Psikerlord says, more options create more possibilities. For certain games, some of these will be quite powerful. I'm going to discuss these in terms of min-maxing and mostly focus on combat since that's generally what we mean my power creep.

Let's go through what I _think_ is all the crunch:

• Duergar: The resistence is nice. The spells are very nice. I'd say a pretty big upgrade over the other Dwarf options. But it comes at a pretty serious price--sunlight sensitivity. With the stat bonus to STR and CON, you are almost certainly looking at a melee martial type where attack rolls are common. And so if direct sunlight is even mildly common, you're hosed. I'm having a hard time coming up with a reasonable build that doesn't suffer more than it gains. Unless you are playing a game where you just never get direct sunlight (pure underdark for example) in which case Duergar are a pretty solid win as the other two dwarven options are at best "eh".
• Ghostwise Halflings: Certainly cool, but from a raw combat viewpoint, probably the weakest of the options. Potentially being able to talk to nearly anything, and to do so silently, is huge. But in most games it isn't going to be a big deal.
• Svirfneblin: Sure, you can get some cool stuff with a feat, but feats are really (really) useful. I'd say potentially on par--and better if you really don't have a good choice for a feat and you don't need a stat upgrade (really?), but that seems rare.
• Half-elves did get better. Some of these options are a very nice trade, depending on the game, for 2 skills (Drow magic, swim speed). For a water-based game, the swim speed is crazy good (lots of fun things come with that). And the Drow magic is just probably better than 2 skills in a hack-and-slash game.
• Tiefling options are great. The wings are potentially amazing. Devil's tongue is nice, but not really better than the base option.
• Arcana Domain: Spell Breaker is very nice indeed. And starting at 8th level, eldritch blast gets to be huge. But the domain spells are mostly weak (magic missile is nice, but that's about it). A nice addition, but not, IMO, a clearly better option than all the rest.
• Purple Dragon Knight. This sub-class is way underpowered, at least until 10th level when it move up to "eh". I'd say it's by far the weakest fighter subclass. Cool, but the others (including Champion which I'm not a big fan of) are stronger.
• Way of the Long Death: Nice. I like the PHB monk options better, but Touch of Death could be very nice in a game where the DM tends to throw around lots of weaker creatures rather than a big bad. Hour of Reaping uses an action but not a ki point and has a lot of potential given the area of effect. Mastery of Death is just plain old broken in many situations.
• Way of the Sun Soul: Nice to have range options, but nothing special. I think open hand is generally better unless you really need ranged attacks on a regular basis.
• Oath the the Crown: Spirit Guardians are great, as a spell options, but it comes pretty late (9th level). Turn the Tide is nice--potentially very nice. And the 20th level capstone is nice. But still, about on par I'd say.
• Mastermind. The 3rd level power is really (really) nice. After that, there isn't much "there" there (at least from a combat viewpoint). I'd say great at lower levels (where other subclasses give more options AND where allies typically have only one attack so granting advantage on one attack is much bigger), but eh at higher ones.
• Swashbuckler: Good, especially in a parties where you don't have a melee buddy for some reason. But I like the PHB options as much or more.

There are a few others, and I may revisit this, but i'm off to bed. But yeah, more creep than I thought, but I'd say mostly more options, and other than maybe the half-elf and thiefling vareints, there wasn't anything I felt would commonly be a better option than the PHB.