doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Does it bother you how perfect they are?
D&D General What are your Pedantic Complaints about D&D?
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Does it bother you how perfect they are?
What actually bothers me about them is how they all have the phrase of course you can use acrobatics to climb stuff engraved up the side.
DND_Reborn
The High Aldwin
And what is your experience out of curiosity? 6 seconds in the wrong situation can certainly seem like it will never end. However...
D&D isn't literally meant to be (or at least never was in prior editions) a "blow-by-blow" simulation of combat. Enemies attack and parry, dodge and move for position, etc. It was assumed many exchanges were made and the attack roll came when an opportunity presented itself to really hurt your foe. Oftentimes, attacks "hit" but are ineffective or glancing. If it were meant to be more of a simulation of combat, when targets are hit they might double-over, grab at a stab to stop the blood, etc. and getting in the first "real blow" can mean your foe is stunned for the beat down. D&D doesn't model any of these things with each successful hit. Few people can take a real hit in a real fight and not react to the pain or injury in a fashion that makes them less effective afterwards.
As I wrote before, I don't think rounds should be a minute, but 10-20 seconds depending on your POV would be better in my estimation. Or a different system of movement and actions were a character is not doing as much in a 6-second round.
DND_Reborn
The High Aldwin
Luckily, all my comments come with a money-back guarantee!
Wonderful, now I am in the mood to watch Gladiator! I haven't seen it in a decade. Thanks a lot.
Of course, it brings back memories of the Fighter Tactics house-rules we made up, like Aggression (before 3E Cleave), Finesse, and Stunning Blow, which we got idea for from the movie LOL. Funny how so many house-rules ended up showing up in later editions. Hmm...
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Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Do we really even need combat rounds to represent a specific, standardized amount of time? Frankly, I think it would be better to leave it abstract - a round could simply represent an exchange of blows, which might be anywhere from a few seconds to half a minute or more, as suits the narrative.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
My experience is fighting with melee weapons. Many attacks are attempted in 6 seconds. I’d guess...as many as 4 per second, but more usually 5-7 per 6 seconds.
Swords move quite quickly.
There are certainly times where all the actions of a turn, or the call and response of a full round, strain credulity. I’m just saying movement and attacks shouldn’t create that strain.
Arnwolf666
Adventurer
My pet peeve is potions shouldn’t even be useable in combat.
And I hate the concentration mechanic with a passion. Seems like something that belongs to psionics.
Agree with potions. I also don’t think you should be able to pour one down an unconscious character’s throat. Most of my players seem to think that is a thing.
I’m ok with concentration, though. The take action to disrupt a spell is a classic trope.
Flamestrike
Legend
I hate Concentration saves as mechanic. Too easy to forget.
I saw a cool House rule that ditched the 'make a save when damaged' rule, and instead imposed a rule that had you instead only make the Concetration save when casting while threatened (spell fizzles if you fail).
Thought that was pretty neat.
For minor pet peeves; the Trident.
It's a heavier, more expensive, and harder to use... spear with absolutely no reason anyone would ever use one.
In my games I allow people to use the hand(s) holding the Trident to Grapple. Instead of a free hand, you can snare them with the Trident.
Gives it some kind of benefit over the spear.
I saw a cool House rule that ditched the 'make a save when damaged' rule, and instead imposed a rule that had you instead only make the Concetration save when casting while threatened (spell fizzles if you fail).
Thought that was pretty neat.
For minor pet peeves; the Trident.
It's a heavier, more expensive, and harder to use... spear with absolutely no reason anyone would ever use one.
In my games I allow people to use the hand(s) holding the Trident to Grapple. Instead of a free hand, you can snare them with the Trident.
Gives it some kind of benefit over the spear.
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Interesting that most of the pet peeves shared here don't bother me much. For example, I agree that 6-seconds is an eternity in combat and you can do A LOT in six seconds when it comes to punches, movement, and sword play. BUT I would like to see many more spells taking longer than an action. And I think it is silly to be able to take something out of your bag as a free action.
But I'm happy abstracting things and being beholden to reality when playing a game.
What tends to annoy me in games have more to do with how mechanics impact play.
With D&D, as a DM, I what I still struggle with the most is planning for player-character magic. More than any other action, selecting spells and applying magic effects seem to slow down the game. Also, hen I was running my home-brew campaign, I found I that magic tended to surprise me and trivialize many encounters. It has caused me to stop running a home brew campaign and move to published material. Further, magic in D&D pushes the game into gonzo territory pretty quickly. I know that as a DM I can control what spells characters have access to, and have many other tools at my disposal, but I find it to be a lot of work that gets in the way of, and distracts from, the activity I most enjoy: building engaging scenarios and interesting worlds for players to create memorable stories with.
But, overall, I'm still greatly enjoying 5e after almost six years of play.
But I'm happy abstracting things and being beholden to reality when playing a game.
What tends to annoy me in games have more to do with how mechanics impact play.
With D&D, as a DM, I what I still struggle with the most is planning for player-character magic. More than any other action, selecting spells and applying magic effects seem to slow down the game. Also, hen I was running my home-brew campaign, I found I that magic tended to surprise me and trivialize many encounters. It has caused me to stop running a home brew campaign and move to published material. Further, magic in D&D pushes the game into gonzo territory pretty quickly. I know that as a DM I can control what spells characters have access to, and have many other tools at my disposal, but I find it to be a lot of work that gets in the way of, and distracts from, the activity I most enjoy: building engaging scenarios and interesting worlds for players to create memorable stories with.
But, overall, I'm still greatly enjoying 5e after almost six years of play.
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