D&D 5E People didn't like the Psionic Talent Die

[Aldarc]

Everyone only wants the "Official D&D" stuff because there's supposedly a level of balance and playtesting and authority that comes with it. Using older stuff or 3PP stuff is a "minefield" where you just don't know how good the stuff if.

I don't want to discount what you say here, but I do think that there is another legitimate reason why people want "official D&D stuff," namely that it creates a common shared experience or language for the game community as a whole. So there may be 10 versions of psionics, for example, on DMsGuild, but people may want a version that is shared across tables. So when they sit at a given table, they have a pretty good idea or set of expectations about what they are playing. And when they talk about psionics in 5e, it becomes easier to talk about playing those options rather than traversing which version of psionics from DMsGuild they need help with. I don't think that what WotC produces is necessarily more balanced or authoritative, but what they produce does provide a communal experience and language. It is hardly a coincidence that this forum scarcely discusses DMs Guild materials as compared to discussion for WotC-produced materials.

 

[Undrave]

This is a tangent, but yes.

I've never understood why they seem to think natural weapons are powerful, and I've consistenly been floored by how weak they make healing abilities.

Or, Orcish fury. The feat is literally "deal an extra d8 damage once per short rest" unless you drop to zero hp. That isn't that good. at all.

'Too much healing' is a very constant complaint. 'Healer feat is Broken!' and 'Healing Word is Broken!' and all that jazz... People overvalue healing in general and I'm not sure why...

Healing doesn't win you fight, in TCG term it doesn't 'progress your game state'.

 

[Parmandur]

'Too much healing' is a very constant complaint. 'Healer feat is Broken!' and 'Healing Word is Broken!' and all that jazz... People overvalue healing in general and I'm not sure why...

Healing doesn't win you fight, in TCG term it doesn't 'progress your game state'.

I've heard the WotC designers discuss HP: healing and damage have identical values in their calculations, HP are HP.

 

[Undrave]

I've heard the WotC designers discuss HP: healing and damage have identical values in their calculations, HP are HP.

That's... pretty silly if you ask me.

 

[Parmandur]

That's... pretty silly if you ask me.

shrug

It's in the DMG too, discussed a bit when talking about making it adjusting spells.

Seems legit.

Keep in mind, too, that WotC does tune around the maximum 6-8 encounters with 2 short rests. HP are a daily resource, not an encounter resource.

 

[Undrave]

shrug

It's in the DMG too, discussed a bit when talking about making it adjusting spells.

Seems legit.

Keep in mind, too, that WotC does tune around the maximum 6-8 encounters with 2 short rests. HP are a daily resource, not an encounter resource.

Maybe I played too much card games but that doesn't sit well with me, especially if the healing is a standard action. As a bonus action? Sure, 1 for 1, but a standard action? Healing should count as 2 since you're not taking your action to make what is depleting your HP more dead.

 

[Parmandur]

Maybe I played too much card games but that doesn't sit well with me, especially if the healing is a standard action. As a bonus action? Sure, 1 for 1, but a standard action? Healing should count as 2 since you're not taking your action to make what is depleting your HP more dead.

Strategically, healing in combat is usually suboptimal, yes, beyond just keeping enough people standing to win. Healing is an out of combat activity, primarily.

 

[Undrave]

Strategically, healing in combat is usually suboptimal, yes, beyond just keeping enough people standing to win. Healing is an out of combat activity, primarily.

I think they shot the balance in the foot when they removed the 4e healing surge system, since it means spell slots can be potential 'free' HP instead of HP being a consistent daily resource.

 

[Charlaquin]

"I don't trust that stuff. I can't tell if it's balanced."

I think the issue is typically less “I can’t tell if it’s balanced” and more “I don’t want to open those floodgates.” 5e is often praised for its lack of bloat, but the DMs guild is bloated enough to make 3.5 blush.

 

[Olrox17]

I think they shot the balance in the foot when they removed the 4e healing surge system, since it means spell slots can be potential 'free' HP instead of HP being a consistent daily resource.

Oh yeah, absolutely. By removing healing surges, they also made healing fixed again, instead of proportional.
In 5e, healing a downed barbarian to full will take considerably more spells slots than healing a wizard in the same way. Which produces a weird narrative were the toughest SOBs need more intense medical attention than the wimps.