D&D 5E 5 Years in: Concentration

[Sword of Spirit]

5 years in and we still go by the book...except that we still tend to forget the saves when taking damage. We are going to learn to do that! Really!

I’m going to start using markers to indicate when concentration is going on.

 

[Ashrym]

We're also missing the whole aspect of being able to interrupt spells while they're being cast, and I've increasingly come to feel that that's an important aspect of the tactical team aspect of the original game.

That's not missing at my table. It requires a readied action to attack when the spell is cast with damage determining a concentration check.

Every once and a while, I consider taking the Bard to the drawing board and making them a half-caster. I'm often reminded of my desire to do that when the Bard gets ahold of a Paladin or Ranger spell that wasn't balanced to be around so early.

I don't agree there are any such spells. ;-)

All spells are ranked by spell level instead of character level.

 

[Don Durito]

That's not missing at my table. It requires a readied action to attack when the spell is cast with damage determining a concentration check.

That aspect perhaps. (Although if that means missing out on extra attacks you're giving up a lot). But you miss the whole aspect of getting off a fireball being a team effort. If the wizard can be interrupted than he needs the Fighter to make sure he isn't interrupted.

 

[ccs]

In previous campaigns we've: played it as written, based the # of spells you can concentrate on to = your Prof. bonus, ignored it completely, put in alot of work reassigning what spells use it, etc.

But in the end? What I've settled on for when I DM is pretty much just tracking the durations. I mean, that worked perfectly fine for all the previous editions....
What I have added though is the basic concentration . Anytime you'd need a concentration check? You roll for each "C" spell you've got running.

 

[abirdcall]

5 years in and we still go by the book...except that we still tend to forget the saves when taking damage. We are going to learn to do that! Really!

I’m going to start using markers to indicate when concentration is going on.

Good idea.

We have the spell cards and when someone has a spell active they set it out in front of their sheet. Makes it easier to remember.

 

[Nebulous]

5 years in and we still go by the book...except that we still tend to forget the saves when taking damage. We are going to learn to do that! Really!

I’m going to start using markers to indicate when concentration is going on.

The markers really help.

 

[Nebulous]

In previous campaigns we've: played it as written, based the # of spells you can concentrate on to = your Prof. bonus, ignored it completely, put in alot of work reassigning what spells use it, etc.

But in the end? What I've settled on for when I DM is pretty much just tracking the durations. I mean, that worked perfectly fine for all the previous editions....
What I have added though is the basic concentration . Anytime you'd need a concentration check? You roll for each "C" spell you've got running.

Huh. I never really considered just screw it, and ignore the limitation. I guess if the bad guys can do it too it's all fair. Although doesn't that make the casters significantly more powerful than they'd otherwise be? Now you can have flying, greater invisible and banishment all running at once.

 

[LordEntrails]

I like the marker idea. If I ever go back to mini's will have to remember to use it. Since we use FG, it makes concentration checks for us automatically. So never a hassle to remember.

Concentration is a major component of class balancing. I always felt (even as a player) stacking all the buff spells in 3.5 was tedious. (ok, for 6 rounds before the enemy reaches us, we buff in this order...)

 

[Nebulous]

Concentration is a major component of class balancing. I always felt (even as a player) stacking all the buff spells in 3.5 was tedious. (ok, for 6 rounds before the enemy reaches us, we buff in this order...)

Yeah, I was just thinking, to remove the concentration would return the game to the pre-buff days of old. Although honestly, I might try it just to see what happens, maybe I can say the Winds of Magic are in flux, and you feel the ether working differently today." Or some BS.

 

[Dausuul]

I agree that it's a bit overused. I might strip it off a few spells that don't seem to need the limitation. However, in general I think the mechanic is excellent and would not want it changed. (And I play casters almost exclusively when I'm not DMing.)