D&D 5E Critiquing the System

[Nebulous]

Yeah, the inspiration system isn't good IMO. I like the idea, generally speaking, quite a lot, but the implementation is clunky. It's not hard to clear out some of the record keeping and play it more like a straight reward for good roleplaying though, so I don't spend a lot of time kvetching about it.

Ugh. The Inspiration system sounds good on paper but in utility it's awful, iv'e tried using some alternate ones, but even then it doesn't congeal the way I want it to. I think it needs to be baked into the rules, per CLASS, in a way everything else is.

 

[Einlanzer0]

I can attest to the issue of explosively large HP totals. It took an 11th-level Legendary monster with the advantage of being in an area of magical darkness which it could see through to drop one party member to 0 for any substantial amount of time. Also, I am the type of DM who uses tactics, so that's not the issue. Once that PC dropped to 0, they quickly died, but the party was still able (they're only 6-7th level, mind you) defeat the 11th-level Legendary monster, a custom Hierophant of Annihilation.

I actually use a houserule that tries to address this at both ends, because I think you go from too few to too many HP as you rise in level. The gist of it is that you gain your per-level bonus at 1st, but for levels after 1st you can either roll your full HD as normal or you can roll for the median. On a low-role, you take the rounded down median, and on a high-role you take the rounded up one. It's not a huge impact, but it does help.

 

[Nebulous]

I can attest to the issue of explosively large HP totals. It took an 11th-level Legendary monster with the advantage of being in an area of magical darkness which it could see through to drop one party member to 0 for any substantial amount of time. Also, I am the type of DM who uses tactics, so that's not the issue. Once that PC dropped to 0, they quickly died, but the party was still able (they're only 6-7th level, mind you) defeat the 11th-level Legendary monster, a custom Hierophant of Annihilation.

I think it could be argued the other way too, monsters just don't do enough damage. In my games I also do maximum hit point crits, so dishing 30 or 40 points at a time is not uncommon. In lots of the unofficial monster supplements the baddies do much more damage than the core counterpart.

This guy, if hitting a marked target, does 8d6+10 +4d6 in a round. Not including crits. And attacking at advantage. In my crit system, that would be 58+24 + 8d6 damage, assuming he critted twice in one round (unlikely).

 

[Fenris-77]

Ugh. The Inspiration system sounds good on paper but in utility it's awful, iv'e tried using some alternate ones, but even then it doesn't congeal the way I want it to. I think it needs to be baked into the rules, per CLASS, in a way everything else is.

Yeah, I agree about the awful part though I would diverge with you on baking into class. Not because that wouldn't work, it would, but because that's not what I personally want the system to do. The classes have lots of handles on them for roleplaying stuff and I don't think roleplaying class, as a separate thing, needs encouragement. I prefer to focus on the background and alignment choices as the things that, when set next to class, really bring a character to life. Neither of those subsystems have much of a direct impact on roleplaying from a RAW standpoint, so that's where I like to layer on some homebrew.

I'm not going to go into detail, but the broad strokes is to reward good roleplaying of the character, not so much the just the class, and especially when roleplaying the character isn't the optimal choice. Making good roleplaying decisions is easy when there aren't consequences, but much harder when there are, and that's where I like drop in some rewards for players who want to make the hard choice.

Note - you can include character race into the above discussion anywhere I said background and alignment, although I don't put nearly the same premium on roleplaying race as some DMs.

 

[Nebulous]

I'm not going to go into detail, but the broad strokes is to reward good roleplaying of the character, not so much the just the class, and especially when roleplaying the character isn't the optimal choice. Making good roleplaying decisions is easy when there aren't consequences, but much harder when there are, and that's where I like drop in some rewards for players who want to make the hard choice.

Yes, there's a system where you spend Inspiration on your ideal and get it back by succumbing to a flaw. But since it's not hard coded into the PHB then neither myself or players ever think about it. So my reasoning is, if something were written down so that we SEE it and know it is mechanically prevalent, it won't be forgotten. I mean, yes, the book does say it, in one paragraph, but I wish it was more ingrained.

GAINING INSPIRATION
Your DM can choose to give you inspiration for a variety
of reasons. TypicalIy, DMs award it when you play
out your personality traits, give in to the drawbacks
presented by a flaw or bond, and otherwise portray your
character in a compelIing way. Your DM wilI telI you
how you can earn inspiration in the game

For instance, if certain character abilities were powered by an Inspiration point, nobody would ever forget about it.

 

[Fenris-77]

Yes, there's a system where you spend Inspiration on your ideal and get it back by succumbing to a flaw. But since it's not hard coded into the PHB then neither myself or players ever think about it. So my reasoning is, if something were written down so that we SEE it and know it is mechanically prevalent, it won't be forgotten.

I know the system you're talking about, but that's not the one I use either, I have my own (although the ideals and flaws version is a little closer to what I'd like).

I can see the benefit of PHB hard coding, but I'm also fine going my own way in this particular case. There are other things I'd rather see improved in the PHB before the system we're talking about. Even if inspiration were done as you'd like, I would still prefer a system that isn't keyed to class, although I think that comes down to matters of personal taste rather than any kind of objectively better/worse comparison.

 

[Nebulous]

I know the system you're talking about, but that's not the one I use either, I have my own (although the ideals and flaws version is a little closer to what I'd like).

I can see the benefit of PHB hard coding, but I'm also fine going my own way in this particular case. There are other things I'd rather see improved in the PHB before the system we're talking about. Even if inspiration were done as you'd like, I would still prefer a system that isn't keyed to class, although I think that comes down to matters of personal taste rather than any kind of objectively better/worse comparison.

We just don't remember it, that's our problem. It would be an enormous rewrite though of core rules to change it. Just food for thought.

 

[Fenris-77]

We just don't remember it, that's our problem. It would be an enormous rewrite though of core rules to change it. Just food for thought.

The system I use is purpose designed to be easy to remember for all parties involved. Less record keeping for the DM, and easier access and use for the players. I use physical reminders, and both I and the players have them, so there's some dramatic tension involved, which helps keep the system from falling by the wayside. I also use a similar system for time, and the two systems next to one another kind of represent the changing tides of time and fortune. It's works for us anyway, which is what matters.

 

[ChaosOS]

I agree level 1 HP is a problem, but I really like Pathfinder 2e's solution of making a base HP boost a racial feature to help add one extra tuning nob for racial balance.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I agree level 1 HP is a problem, but I really like Pathfinder 2e's solution of making a base HP boost a racial feature to help add one extra tuning nob for racial balance.

For our current campaign, I used the 4e method for hit points:
1st level: Constitution SCORE + class hit die's average
Every level add the class hit die's average, no Con score bonus.