D&D 5E What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

[dave2008]

All non-traditional classes. And by traditional I mean:
Fighter
Mage
Cleric
Rogue

Everything else can be a subclass of these four IMO. Now I guess that would require a reworking of the subclass structure, but I'm still saying that is my one thing!

 

[Bitbrain]

Shouts from the mountain:

ALL WEAPONS SHOULD BE BASED ON STRENGTH EXCEPT THOSE WITH THE FINESS WEAPON PROPERTY!!!

 

[jmartkdr2]

All non-traditional classes. And by traditional I mean:
Fighter
Mage
Cleric
Rogue

Everything else can be a subclass of these four IMO. Now I guess that would require a reworking of the subclass structure, but I'm still saying that is my one thing!

Can I ask why?

 

[dave2008]

If you don't, the PCs just blow through the encounters. The game is designed for its use and it really throws things off if you don't.

My group has tried making a long rest 7 days, and that helped since I can spread those encounters out over a 7 day period, making the encounters feel more organic rather than clumped up, but it was unsatisfying to the players who have played for a long time and want a long rest to be overnight. A long rest when the DM says so was even less satisfying for the players, since getting abilities back at irregular intervals makes no in game sense. But rushing all the encounters together is immensely unsatisfying to me. I want to be able to challenge the group with a single encounter or maybe a few encounters.

It's a big enough deal that if I can't figure out a good way to do it, the next 5e campaign might be my last. I've already told my players that I'm thinking about going back to 3e over this issue. And that's a real shame, because by and large I love 5e and am still buying books.

I assume you have tried just make fewer, more difficult encounters? I find this works for my group. If I want to challenge my players I don't have an problem spreading the pain in 2-3 encounters per day. Heck, I can even do it in one big encounter if I really want to. Of course, I have no issue with PCs blowing through encounters on occasion either.

 

[dave2008]

Can I ask why?

Yes

 

[dave2008]

Can I ask why?

It seems to me all classes are some versions of these base classes anyway. I think the game would benefit from having tighter class structure.

 

[Blue]

Long rests.

 

[Maxperson]

I assume you have tried just make fewer, more difficult encounters? I find this works for my group. If I want to challenge my players I don't have an problem spreading the pain in 2-3 encounters per day. Heck, I can even do it in one big encounter if I really want to. Of course, I have no issue with PCs blowing through encounters on occasion either.

Two things. First, I don't want to have to do 2-3 encounters per day any more than I want to do 5-7. In areas where there are lots of encounters like a dungeon, that's not a problem. However, often the players aren't in areas where that many encounters make sense.

Second, I want to be able to have days where there is one encounter that challenges them, except that creatures that have enough hit points to survive a nova from a party of 4 usually have enough damage and high DCs to kill some of the PCs, or even TPK the party. And I also don't mind them blowing through an encounter on occasion.

 

[Aaron L]

Gonzo XP for monsters. Put the XP back into the recovery of treasure.

Yes, friggin' absolutely. That might help put a stop to the endless cycle of kill-monsters-to-get-XP-to-kill-tougher-monsters-to-get-more-XP. 3E's change to XP being solely gained through monster killing may not have exactly created the murderhobo, but it sure as Hell exacerbated the problem by an order of magnitude.

The goal has always been to acquire more XP, but back in the day that was primarily accomplished through finding treasure. Now it is solely accomplished by endless killing (and no, changing XP gain to the DM just arbitrarily handing out XP or levels at "story milestones" doesn't cut it, because I want XP to be tied to an actual tangible accomplishment the PC has made, not because they hit a save point in the storyline.)

 

[Stormonu]

I mean, sure, if you aim to TPK your PCs you can. You're the GM. But you have to work at it. Or, they have to work at it, if they are stubborn and stupid. But my point was that after a certain level the accidental TPK was not much of a threat in 5E. Certainly far less than almost any previous edition.

I never “aim to TPK” a group, but it’s still easy to accidentally TPK a party in 5E. It may very well be we play differently, but I’ve never had a sense on either the player or DM’s side in 5E that death wasn’t lurking around the corner, just a die roll away. Even more so, many a fight I’ve thought for sure were going to end in a TPK until someone pulled a Hail Mary outta their butt and ended up saving the day. Even so, I’ve lost 3 characters so far in our current Tomb of Annilihation campaign, and I’ve seen 3 character deaths in the Saltmarsh game I’ve been running (this weekend’s game being a hair’s breadth from the 4th, and possible spiral of a TPK from there).