D&D General Let's Talk About How to "Fix" D&D

[Dragonsbane]

Problem: BBEG/ solo are push-overs without minions or other elements to help make them tougher.
Fix: Give BBEG or solo creatures max HP and/or have them deal max damage?

This is a good start. Sadly it might not have worked in my last BBEG battle. The BB was ready with bonus actions, reactions, legendary actions, etc. He rolled last against a party of 6 and I never let players do reactions before their first initiative count, so the BB technically should not use his legendary actions (seemed fair) so he got wasted. Perhaps let him act right away, mmmm perhaps always goes on init 20? Not sure how to address this.

 

[Horwath]

There's another mode?

 

[Reynard]

I’m not aware of that data and don’t recall ever saying that? I mean, it might be true, but if so it’s not a thing that I know.

I guess I conflated "hardcore" with "veteran" in my head.

Must people don't delve into the forums of news websites. I visit a dozen news websites every day (different topics - world news, tech news, movie news, etc). On all of them I visit the front page, skim it for news articles which interest me. I don't even know if those sites have forums!

The forum folks are the hard core. They're a (vocal!) minority dwarfed by the majority who drive by the front page each day.

 

[Reynard]

This is a good start. Sadly it might not have worked in my last BBEG battle. The BB was ready with bonus actions, reactions, legendary actions, etc. He rolled last against a party of 6 and I never let players do reactions before their first initiative count, so the BB technically should not use his legendary actions (seemed fair) so he got wasted. Perhaps let him act right away, mmmm perhaps always goes on init 20? Not sure how to address this.

I think maybe the Boss monsters who have multiple things they can do should get multiple initiatives for those things. It is a LONG time between turns for the solo.

 

[DND_Reborn]

This is a good start. Sadly it might not have worked in my last BBEG battle. The BB was ready with bonus actions, reactions, legendary actions, etc. He rolled last against a party of 6 and I never let players do reactions before their first initiative count, so the BB technically should not use his legendary actions (seemed fair) so he got wasted. Perhaps let him act right away, mmmm perhaps always goes on init 20? Not sure how to address this.

Legendary actions don't require or use reactions, so you could have used them at any time after another creature's turn provided your first turn has come (which it didn't in this case, but I just wanted to point out it has nothing to do with reactions).

FWIW, you know not allowing reactions until your first turn is a house-rule, right? Totally cool, just checking.

Anyway, you could change the rule for legendary actions to be on or after Init 20. I think that would work well.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I definitely think 5e (and pretty much every edition) struggles with big bad bosses being little more than bags of hit points. Legendary actions certainly help with this, but we still run into a problem that unless there are minions or other enemies (meaning the party has to split their attention and focus), it's an easier than intended battle.

So I'd expand the legendary actions, and give them all a way to impact the environment. Not just more attacks (cuz boring), but something that impacts the battlefield itself. Either creating things like rockslides, pitfalls, fissures, or things like fear, charming, etc--i.e. abilities that are more battlefield control rather than attrition of HP loss.

 

[steeldragons]

I think the action econ/big bad problems could be settled fairly simply, and not detract with Legendary Actions (or make them ubiquitous. Let the legendary things keep their legendary stuff and be legendary).

PCs get: Action, Movement, Possibly 1 Bonus Action (from class feature, feat, what have you). And possibly 1 Reaction per round (also by class features, feat, whatever).

Foes/NPCs/Monsters -yes, ALL/ANY of them: Action. Movement. Bonus Action... and can make 1 Reaction per round up to a maximum equal to each HD they possess (minimum 1).

4 against 1 guy with 5HD? They can take a Reaction up to 5 times per round...Since there are only 4 guys attacking him, this only allows for 4. But if the party was 6 PCs, the BBEG could "hit back" (or run away, cast a quickie spell, whatever is allowed for "Reactions") 5 times.

Also, just for me, I'd wish the Bard was made a half-caster and had a spelllist that was significantly more focused and included more Nature/druidy stuff.

 

[Oofta]

View attachment 132483

Also known as "how the h-e-double-toothpicks do you read that?" mode.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Also known as "how the h-e-double-toothpicks do you read that?" mode.

is this pro or anti dark mode?

 

[Oofta]

is this pro or anti dark mode?

Depends on if you like dark mode?

In all seriousness, while I get that some people don't understand how to dim their monitors but dark mode is not good for you. But since there's no one true way, feel free to do it wrong.