D&D 5E good things, bad things and things you would change about 5e

[Hakon Blum]

Hey all

I am working on my own RPG and was wandering what 5e players felt were the good, the bad and the in need of change rules from 5e

i have a thread in the general section as well so people can discuss non 5e rpg's
you can find it here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...what-are-rules-and-concepts-you-love-in-rpg-s

but here i would like to discuss just 5e

ideas I'm kicking around are multi stat dependency to prevent min maxing
2d6 for dice roles instead of 1d20
and possibly 12 stats instead of 6
hp not increasing each level

but otherwise i feel my system is very close to 5e and 3.5 e so i would get the most help from you guys.

things i personally think are great in 5e are the advantage and disadvantage system
things I'm not so keen on are super feats


So please let me know about your 5e views, what do you hate, what do you love, what would you change.

 

[Aldarc]

One that has occupied my thoughts as of late have been surrounding the status of Intelligence as this edition's dump stat. So I would like to see changes that gave greater value or mechanical weight of Intelligence for non-wizards (and subclass dabblers).

 

[Hakon Blum]

One that has occupied my thoughts as of late have been surrounding the status of Intelligence as this edition's dump stat. So I would like to see changes that gave greater value or mechanical weight of Intelligence for non-wizards (and subclass dabblers).

yes i agree completely which is why i have expanded the regular 6 stats in my system to 12
with 6 combined stat titles:

Brawn = strength + size
Fortitude = Endurance + vitality
Agility = Reflex + dexterity
Intelligence = Knowledge + Cunning
Wisdom = Willpower + Sense
Presence = Charm + Confidence

by having 12 stats i find it prevents min maxing too much.
it also allows things like agile bruce lee type characters to add Power (strength + reflex) to damage instead of Brawn or in rare cases their lethality (knowledge+strength) for a sherlock homes style (downey's)
It means that the thieve needs to have a decent intellect as to disarm the trap he will use a cunning+dexterity role
but to pick a lock he will need a knowledge+dexterity role as he needs to know how to pick the lock as well as have the dextrousness to do so.

a lot of my system involves taking an average of 2 stats right now, each skill is different e.g. swim =strength+endurance climb = dexterity+strength HP= size+vitality etc

I find the current 6 stat system doesn't allow good explanation for things like reptiles with low energy reserves but being tough as nails.
or characters who are scary as hell because they are big and confident.

I'm still working on a lot of it. But i think its coming along.

 

[Hakon Blum]

another thing that annoys me in D&D is what good are stats for and why have stats at all if we only use the bonus it provides

they could have made your stat be the dc for checks
or your con be your starting health
why have a range band of 8-18 if i means nothing

 

[JonnyP71]

8-18?

Roll 'em! You can get more variety that way

Seriously, the aspect of 5E that most annoys me is the short rest/long rest dependency and how it affects healing. When I start DMing 5E again, I'll keep standard lengths of SR/LR for character skills/spells etc, but make natural healing based around 1 day/7 days.

 

[Hakon Blum]

8-18?

Roll 'em! You can get more variety that way

Seriously, the aspect of 5E that most annoys me is the short rest/long rest dependency and how it affects healing. When I start DMing 5E again, I'll keep standard lengths of SR/LR for character skills/spells etc, but make natural healing based around 1 day/7 days.

8-18 has long been the standard starting stats for characters

i too think their is a lack of rules for non magical healing.
especially for those who want a low magic setting.

 

[JonnyP71]

It's debatable as to whether it is 'standard', in AL maybe, but almost everyone I know still likes to roll.

 

[KahlessNestor]

yes i agree completely which is why i have expanded the regular 6 stats in my system to 12
with 6 combined stat titles:

Brawn = strength + size
Fortitude = Endurance + vitality
Agility = Reflex + dexterity
Intelligence = Knowledge + Cunning
Wisdom = Willpower + Sense
Presence = Charm + Confidence

by having 12 stats i find it prevents min maxing too much.
it also allows things like agile bruce lee type characters to add Power (strength + reflex) to damage instead of Brawn or in rare cases their lethality (knowledge+strength) for a sherlock homes style (downey's)
It means that the thieve needs to have a decent intellect as to disarm the trap he will use a cunning+dexterity role
but to pick a lock he will need a knowledge+dexterity role as he needs to know how to pick the lock as well as have the dextrousness to do so.

a lot of my system involves taking an average of 2 stats right now, each skill is different e.g. swim =strength+endurance climb = dexterity+strength HP= size+vitality etc

I find the current 6 stat system doesn't allow good explanation for things like reptiles with low energy reserves but being tough as nails.
or characters who are scary as hell because they are big and confident.

I'm still working on a lot of it. But i think its coming along.

Sounds like your system could use a Savage Worlds-esque and instead of numbers use die types, then roll them together.

Sent from my SM-G900P using EN World mobile app

 

[Salamandyr]

Oh I've got stuff...

I would get rid of weapon specialization, and replace it with abilities that triggered based on what type of weapon you were fighting with at the time.

Get rid of all combat applicable feats--make it strictly for ability broadening and concept filling.

Get rid of Extra Attacks--replace it with more dice at higher levels (the way cantrips mostly work no), and a universal cleave/multiattack feature for warriors to hit more than one opponent in a round.

Have alchemical substances go up in power, so they could be useful across a campaign.

More heroic, dude oriented art. Fewer pics of monsters overwhelming the presumptive PC's, almost no fashion model poses of people standing around in pseudomedieval cosplay, and lots more pics of powerful looking men--human men slaying beasts, fighting off hordes, wrestling dragons, rescuing fair individuals, and just basically doing all the stuff we play Dungeons & Dragons to pretend like we could do.

 

[Blue]

There's some good posts here already you can mine for ideas.

There's a great one about favorite and least favorite in 5e that was rather considered, few people ranting. I can't find it quickly but that would be a great place to start. Probably done Sep/Oct? I might be off by a few months. But really, this is exactly what you are asking about.

Suggested improvements:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?503052-CHALLENGE-Change-one-thing-about-5e

Ones for things people don't like:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?516371-What-is-quot-broken-quot-in-5e
Lots of well thought out stuff here.

My personal pet peeve about 5e is that the resource mechanics tie recovery to rests and days, but then balance against numbers of encounters within those periods that I find extremely limitting. Basically, 5e resource management forces everyone to run one specific way otherwise balance is off. I like things like 13th Age which is similar but doesn't tie recovery to time passing.

My favorite abut 5e is how fast it runs at the table.

My wish-it-was-better is that the inspiration rules are so bolted on that every single DM I've played 5e with has ignored them. I like mechanical support for playing to character.