D&D 5E What Single Thing Would You Eliminate

[TwoSix]

TWF is really a wreck. God forbid that you just give people an extra attack. Then a Ranger could cast Hunter's Mark and strike with his offhand the same round, absolutely ruining the game forever.

Making the ranger actually good would be too big of a travesty to tolerate.

 

[Feyfiendmonsterer]

I'd like more critters to speak Common, because I've always loved the idea of actually getting along with Kenkus here, Lizardfolk there, Leonines and Loxodons down the middle and so on, and it seems a pity when you encounter these and battles are refreshingly avoided because enough other critters are, like the player, not necessarily going to fight for the sake of it, that you then can't communicate, so actions, feelings, verbals can get misunderstood and then it begins a fight anyway. Most players, unless they've managed a few extra languages. and even those might be irrelevant to what they actually meet, only speak Common, and that can limit all sorts of play, even if it's something setting a trap. Even the odd Kenku being allowed to have a voice, rather than click, Myconids being able to talk not just through telepathy. I would give most creatures the ability to speak, and certainly Celestials. Why shouldn't Blink Dogs and Pegasi and Phoenixes and Kappa etc. all speak? They have PC's intelligence at least, and there's few things more dispiriting than reading: "This being is human intelligence and can understood all you say BUT CAN'T SPEAK". In a fantasy world where just monsters render prey to stone, blast fire and lightning from the sky and 'swim' through the earth?! Is it REALLY so hard for most things to be able to speak a PC's language AS WELL as their own, which we have the fair likelihood of not understanding, and for that reason, non-PC beings choose to speak in our common little common tongue as that's all we can handle!

 

[TheSword]

I mean... It rewards achieving goals if you award it for achieving goals...

I do... milestone levelling.

 

[Raith5]

Huh? How is it "better" than minor actions? It's the exact same mechanic with a different name.

Minor actions were for every PC at every turn, while bonus action are only for specific spells or abilities.

IME minor actions slowed down play because everyone wanted to maximise their turn (coupled with 4e having a lot of minor action powers etc). So it slowed down an already slow system even further.

 

[TheSword]

Thinking about bonus actions some more, I keep running up against them because so many things use them. I had an idea for a dual wielding rune knight but the barbarian rage and giant's might both require a bonus action to use, as does two-weapon fighting. After reading up on the powers and realising this, I think it might be better to just make rune knight a barbarian subclass because the multiclass just doesn't work well due to all of the bonus actions needed.

You get that this is a balance issue right?

Despite that both rage and Giants might last multiple rounds so you can have both running.

Basically you want free buffs instantly and extra attacks? While the wizard/cleric is using their actions every turn to get theirs...

 

[Reynard]

I do... milestone levelling.

Just out out of curiosity: how do you incorporate player agency into milestone leveling? I ask because usually "milestone leveling" is either number os sessions, or some story gate, and neither of those things really says "agency."

 

[Oofta]

Just out out of curiosity: how do you incorporate player agency into milestone leveling? I ask because usually "milestone leveling" is either number os sessions, or some story gate, and neither of those things really says "agency."

Speaking for myself: player agency affects the ongoing story, not the meta-game of leveling. That wizard isn't thinking "if I fireball these orcs I'll get more XP and level up" because neither of those concepts exist in the fiction of the world. On the other hand, those orcs do exist and maybe talking to or avoiding them is a better idea than turn them into crispy critters.

 

[Dausuul]

Minor actions were for every PC at every turn, while bonus action are only for specific spells or abilities.

What minor action in 4E is available to every PC? It's been a while, but I don't remember any. All minor actions I know of come from specific abilities or items... just like bonus actions in 5E.

And as for "every turn," 5E is loaded with every-turn bonus actions. All rogues above 2nd level and all monks above 1st get a bonus action every turn. So does every dual wielder, and everyone packing Polearm Mastery or Crossbow Expert, and every Eldritch Knight from 7th level onward, and probably a whole lot more I'm not thinking of off the top of my head.

On top of that are all the bonus actions that are not usable literally every turn, but have multiple uses that can be quickly refreshed, like Bardic Inspiration and Quicken Spell, and low-level bonus action spells. And so on, and on, and on.

Nope, @TwoSix had it right: Bonus actions are just minor actions with better marketing.

 

[Reynard]

Speaking for myself: player agency affects the ongoing story, not the meta-game of leveling. That wizard isn't thinking "if I fireball these orcs I'll get more XP and level up" because neither of those concepts exist in the fiction of the world. On the other hand, those orcs do exist and maybe talking to or avoiding them is a better idea than turn them into crispy critters.

That doesn't address the issue of milestone leveling at all.

 

[Puddles]

Darkvision.

Also,

Goodberry.