D&D 5E My biggest gripe with 5e design

[Arnwolf666]

What about most of them?

Zombies can inflict 1 level of exhaustion on a critical hit. If you are at 0 HP, instead of giving you 2 death saves, they give you 2 levels of exhaustion.

Ghouls attacks also give 1 level of exhaustion on a critical hit, but also if you fail the initial paralyzed save. Ghast the same, but the Stench also drains you, and each failed Paralyze save (not just the initial) gives you 1 more level.

Just have your life ... drained ... out ... of ... you.

If you die from undead exhaustion, and proper burial rites do not occur, you can rise as an undead (roll 1d6: minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, then roll 1d100 for how many)

Niiice. Does the group you DM hate you?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Things I do beyond ''damage'' to challenge my friends characters:

• Damage that reduces the character max hp for X time.
• Effect that gives my players ''disadvantage'' on all healing roll for X time.
• Curses/diseases that block healing damage for a time.
• Poison that deals damage over time instead of of just another ''have disadvantage on X'' condition.
• Effect that amplify next attacks for X times (Ex: Burning Wounds: 3d6 fire damage on a hit. Everytime the target is hit for the next minute, it takes extra damage equal to half the damage of the initial roll). Stolen from Pillars of Eternity.
• Curses that makes the character unable to roll higher than its stat score for a specific ability.

etc

I really like the last point. All the rest though? Still tied to hit points.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Things I do beyond ''damage'' to challenge my friends characters:

• Damage that reduces the character max hp for X time.
• Effect that gives my players ''disadvantage'' on all healing roll for X time.
• Curses/diseases that block healing damage for a time.
• Poison that deals damage over time instead of of just another ''have disadvantage on X'' condition.
• Effect that amplify next attacks for X times (Ex: Burning Wounds: 3d6 fire damage on a hit. Everytime the target is hit for the next minute, it takes extra damage equal to half the damage of the initial roll). Stolen from Pillars of Eternity.
• Curses that makes the character unable to roll higher than its stat score for a specific ability.

etc

I like a lot of these.

Playing off of the first idea, I like the idea of a critical hit reducing max HP until the character takes a long rest.

 

[Sacrosanct]

5e is dangerous over the course of an adventuring day.

I like that long rests reset everything. It's cleaner. It's a release of tension and then the next day can start fresh.

You say that the 24 hr petrification from the Cockatrice isn't a big deal, but if you wait that long you're most likely going to be failing your mission. At the very least you're probably in a dangerous area a character down.

And if time isn't a factor, what are you really doing? There is no tension there to begin with. If the party has all the time in the world to rest then it doesn't matter if they reset after a long rest or after 50 long rests.

5e is about running lower and lower on resources. That 50 dmg and 3 spell slots the party used up that battle doesn't feel like a lot now, but it will after 4 or 5 such encounters. At the players should know this. They know that things are going to get tough so they're going to feel it even early on in the day.

Players at my table do everything they can to avoid fights and to be prepared because they know that they can fail. Sometimes catastrophically with a TPK.

If failure is not allowed to happen at a table then yes, 5e is not dangerous or tension filled.

that 24 hour temp paralysis after TWO failed easy saves isn’t a big deal.Not when compared to instant petrification after a single harder save. It’s about context. Which of the two will strike more fear into the PC?

I get how “well, you might impact the mission negatively.” But being permanently petrified screws the entire campaign. Forget the mission, you’re lucky if your buddies drag your heavy stone booty back to a place that even has a stone to flesh option. It’s the difference between sitting idle for a few minutes, and tearing up your character sheet to start over. 5e monster effects are a cakewalk compared to early editions. For better or for worse (depending on preference).

 

[AtomicPope]

I've been running the same campaign since 2016, going on 4 years. The PCs are all level 20 and have boons, artifacts, and legendary equipment. They still have to worry about dying because combat can be deadly. Right now they're hunting down some fiends and trying to get rid of them before they corrupt anyone else. They're fighting corrupted Giants, basically Giants with an ability or two. Even at 20th level with ACs over 20, three or four Giants can still be dangerous. The last encounter there were only two Giants. During the fight there were two Nat 20's, the only attacks that hit fully. It was over 100 hit points damage. The fighter was pushed against the wall (Fire Giant special ability from SKT) and trapped. They beat the crap out of him. Sure everyone survived but even two Giants with some special powers can put up a real fight.

The standard for DMing is knowing your PCs and players. I throw trash mobs that they cannot lose to because it makes them feel like super heroes (think of Jedi wading through Droids). It's good to puff them up. The nice thing about 5e is Bounded Accuracy keeps trash mobs like Hobgoblins relevant. They're not completely harmless, but they're not going to win unless the PCs are utterly careless. Then I mix it up with some brick walls, something that stops them dead in their tracks. Deadly fights are Boss fights, using Lair Actions, Legendary Actions, and exotic terrain. Tying it together thematically is part of the storytelling. Keeping it challenging and exciting is just DMing. The PCs have to be challenged, and that means they could fail, either by dying, making the wrong choice, or simply running out of time.

 

[Krachek]

5th is the happy edition of DnD.

 

[Oofta]

I agree that 5E isn't as deadly or debilitating out of the box. I don't think that's a bad thing; it lets groups decide what level of deadliness they want. There are plenty of alternate rules in the DMG to make the game more brutal.

But 5E can be quite deadly. I've had 2 of my PCs die*, I've had as many near TPK's (I've only had 1 TPK in 3.5, an all mage party was a bad idea). It takes a little more work and intent on the part of the DM is all.

Want to terrify people with "merely" being incapacitated for a short period of time? While a PC is incapacitated the monsters drag the body off to be eaten later. Knowing there's a good chance you'll turn to stone next round is far more tense than "bad roll, turned to stone" IMHO.

But no game is perfect, nor is every game going to be a good fit for everyone. I personally prefer having more control over how deadly encounters are and I find 5E a lot easier to fine tune. YMMV.

*One was my fault for running an elf, every elf I play dies before I get past 3rd level. The other was a bad "wandering" DM at an AL convention who basically cheated along with a bad party mix.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Its possible to challenge nearly all numbers on the character sheet:

• Creatures X. Y, Z are no longer considered allies for X time.
• Steal/drain spell slots
• Remove/steal for yourself/reverse a player Immunity/Resistance.
• Have your players be ''brittle'' after saving against the first save the of petrification for X time, with vulnerability to bludgeon damage.
• Curses/parasites that ''booby-trap'' spell slots. Like a Geas around spells of 7th level: the caster can use its slot, but if he spends the 7th level slot, he takes damage, like 5xspell level psychic damage or such.
• Reduced sight, like the blinding shot from the Arcane Archer. Cannot see beyond 10' or whatevs.
• Damage weapon and armor, like the rust monster. You can have the equivalent of the rust monster but for arcane focus/component pouches/spell book

Dont be afraid to have massive acid or necrotic damage avoid the whole ''3 death saves'' if they drop the PC to 0 hp, ala Disintegrate. Raise the PC as zombie if the damage was necrotic.

 

[Maxperson]

Yep. 5e is less paranoia, more heroism, relative to the classic, TSR era game - at least by default.

Mind you, there are still echoes. Innocuous combats can easily kill a 1st level PC with just a bit of bad luck, for instance, so a new players, starting at 1st level, can get a "this game is deadly" first impression that adds a bit of excitement for as long as it last... and y'know, first impressions.

This risk of death is what allows heroism, though. Less risk = less heroism, so 5e has less, not more.

 

[Tony Vargas]

This risk of death is what allows heroism, though. Less risk = less heroism, so 5e has less, not more.

Real heroism, yes. There's virtually 0 risk at the table (y'might choke on a funyon or step on a d4), and no heroism, period.
There's - possibly - stories of heroism, like those you might find in a book or movie, being modeled in game.

In a book or movie, heroism is enabled - and not often posthumous - thanks to author force (plot armor &c). In games, it must be modled by mechanics, or forced by the GM 'cheating.'

In 5e, it's not too badly modled by the mechanics. PCs can be played heroically and level up rather than die consistently.