D&D General Things That Bug You

[Mind of tempest]

Why is that? It seems very natural to me, but I'm sure my experiences are different than yours. Just curious why you feel it shouldn't exist.

I have been considering changing six stats to eight stats as it might fix things better.

 

[fearsomepirate]

• Saving throws. Why the hell have it, if in 4E we had defenses that work better in every way? Or, maybe get rid of AC and add armour saving throw, either would be fine

Can't crit on damage that's saved against, and it's much harder to gain advantage or impose disadvantage on saves. So at least in 5e, the mechanical difference isn't trivial.

 

[Emerikol]

• Saving throws. Why the hell have it, if in 4E we had defenses that work better in every way? Or, maybe get rid of AC and add armour saving throw, either would be fine

For me, I've been considering the idea that the players should always roll when they can. So they save against attacks when they are attacked. They roll attacks when they are attacking another. The only time the GM should roll is when the PCs could not know they need to roll or when failure could be automatic because there is nothing to find and you don't want the PCs to know they failed even when rolling a 20.

 

[Oofta]

My biggest gripe with 5E and most other editions is that the trope "terrifying arcane power gained by unearthing of dark, ancient secrets" - which is central to so many published campaigns (perhaps the granddaddy of tropes) and implicit in a lot of the descriptive text - is not reflected in the mechanics, like at all.

There are no spells, feats, class features, magic items etc. that can be more easily (or only) gained through nefarious sacrifice rather than plucky ambition. There are no moral trade-offs required for the upper echelons of arcane or divine power. 8th and 9th level spells don't have any profound costs, just gp equivalents. And the "ancient secrets" are almost always re-skins of existing knowledge or an adequately CR balanced magic item.

It feels like a very central trope to fantasy adventure is just artifice and macgunnfin-ism in D&D.

It's not a trope I use very often because I agree it's over used but I still have used it or variations in the past. Just because we don't have that magic ritual available to PCs doesn't mean it can't exist. So, yes, NPCs can summon a legion of demons to do their bidding while the PCs can't but starting the next apocalypse is my job, not the job of the PCs.

 

[Aldarc]

The Six Attributes/Ability Scores. They are clunky mofos and I dislike 'em. I can tolerate them in D&D on the basis of tradition, but I hate when they show up outside of D&D.

 

[dave2008]

Can't crit on damage that's saved against, and it's much harder to gain advantage or impose disadvantage on saves. So at least in 5e, the mechanical difference isn't trivial.

Not sure that is good or bad, but it is a difference!

 

[dave2008]

For me, I've been considering the idea that the players should always roll when they can. So they save against attacks when they are attacked. They roll attacks when they are attacking another. The only time the GM should roll is when the PCs could not know they need to roll or when failure could be automatic because there is nothing to find and you don't want the PCs to know they failed even when rolling a 20.

Isn't there an option for the in the DMG, or was that in a UA?

 

[dave2008]

The Six Attributes/Ability Scores. They are clunky mofos and I dislike 'em. I can tolerate them in D&D on the basis of tradition, but I hate when they show up outside of D&D.

Just play D&D then JK

The abilities have never bothered me much, but I did like the 3 saves of 3e and 4e and would have thought the next evolution was just to use them for everything (attacks, check, and defense). But 5e took a step back to tradition and it seems to have gone pretty well.

 

[jmartkdr2]

What edition are you talking about? That certainly isn't the case in 5e. If anything, armor doesn't give you enough protection IMO (in 5e).

My 5e paladin goes from 19 in plate + shield to 9 in his skivvies. That's "good enough to make the dm's job harder" to "all combat is suicidal."

 

[dave2008]

My 5e paladin goes from 19 in plate + shield to 9 in his skivvies. That's "good enough to make the dm's job harder" to "all combat is suicidal."

Yes, but that paladin could have an AC of 15 + shield in his skivvies too. If you want to be good with dodging outside of armor you can be. Also, with the # of hit points a paladin has, even an AC of 9 is not suicidal in combat (which is also a form of dodging).