D&D 5E Player angry about enemies climbing rope with Rope Trick

[Mistwell]

Sorry. I was just referring to 5E. I've been playing D&D almost monthly since 1984. 5E is easy mode compared to Basic, AD&D, and 2E. And it's about on par with 4E, though it's about 3x harder to die in 5E than 4E. In 4E your death saves didn't reset until after a short rest. So if you dropped three times in one combat, you were dead. I mean, infinite over-night healing vs healing 1 hp per full day of rest. Dying at zero hit points instead of zero and then failing three 55% or better checks. Come on.

Sure.

We must be defining challenging differently then.

How many characters actually died for real? Like dead, dead. Not just dropped to zero then were fine the next day or easily resurrected or raised.

not played tomb of annihilation I assume? No raise dead of any kind in that adventure. it's, in fact, the theme.

 

[overgeeked]

not played tomb of annihilation I assume? No raise dead of any kind in that adventure. it's, in fact, the theme.

Nope. So how many characters actually died? Not just dropped to zero then were fine the next day?

 

[Fifth Element]

Nope. So how many characters actually died? Not just dropped to zero then were fine the next day?

Before you get an answer, what would the answer have to be for you to accept that your position is incorrect? Would any number do that?

 

[Maxperson]

Ok, Im missing something where does it say Orcs dont understand spells or how to climb a rope?

Why would Orcs know the ins and outs of the spell when spellcasters are relatively few in number per the DMG?

 

[Maxperson]

That is stupidly high and a poorly written rule IMO. So a 1st level 17 Int wizard has a 50/50 shot of ID'ing a 1st level spell?

Did they know they weren't writing for 3rd edition, with its bloated numbers/DC's?

Edit - That's the exact same DC as 3rd edition, with its awful system of 487 different stacking modifiers. So apparently the intent is to make magic even more inscrutable to trained mages, despite every other DC being flatter due to bounded accuracy/proficiency/reduced modifiers.

It's not quite that bad. You get advantage to the roll of the spell on their class list.

 

[Redwizard007]

Nope. So how many characters actually died? Not just dropped to zero then were fine the next day?

This kind of statement bothers me for several reasons.

First, I have killed PCs in at least 5 editions of D&D, 6 if you count 3 and 3.5 separately, and it is not significantly more difficult to do so in 5e if that is your goal.

Second, DMs who make statements like this usually don't really use the rest and/or death saves mechanics properly. Remember, you only regain up to half your HD on a long rest, making several days of tough battles linked together significantly more difficult. Similarly, striking a creature that is already down is 2 automatic failed death saves. In a world where PCs are known to bounce back easily, why wouldn't you make an effort to land a couple de gras? It's what you would have done in the "good old days."

Third, why is your goal to kill the PCs? Do you frame the character sheets of fallen PCs and hang them in your mom's basement like some sort of serial killer? Can you drink diet coke instead of the tears of your players? Isn't there something better you can try, like telling a story or spending a few hours in some mutual escapism?

 

[Bill Zebub]

Isn't failing to stop the rampaging baddie, or failing to get the treasure, or failing to prevent the war, also a kind of 'losing'? Is character death the only failure state?

 

[overgeeked]

This kind of statement bothers me for several reasons.

First, I have killed PCs in at least 5 editions of D&D, 6 if you count 3 and 3.5 separately…

I’ve only run four. And killed PCs in all of them.

and it is not significantly more difficult to do so in 5e if that is your goal.

Not the goal, no. But one easy and obvious metric of how challenging the game is. “Rocks fall, everyone dies” is dead simple in any edition. But the combat, healing, death, and dying mechanics in 5E are wildly more in favor of PCs survival…especially compared to AD&D.

Second, DMs who make statements like this usually don't really use the rest and/or death saves mechanics properly.

I know. It’s always the DM’s fault.

Remember, you only regain up to half your HD on a long rest, making several days of tough battles linked together significantly more difficult.

Not really. Full hp and spell return after 8 hour’s sleep is what’s important. Having 6-8 medium-to-hard encounters per day is the designed balance point. So anything shy of that makes combat easier. Only if you’re running that 6-8 for multiple days in a row will hd matter. Most DM’s don’t run that much combat in one day, much less two in a row. So there’s a mismatch between how the game’s designed and how people actually play it.

Similarly, striking a creature that is already down is 2 automatic failed death saves. In a world where PCs are known to bounce back easily, why wouldn't you make an effort to land a couple de gras? It's what you would have done in the "good old days."

You wouldn’t need to in the old days. Zero hp meant death. When PCs fell, they were dead. End of. Now, smart monsters could do that, sure. And even dumb monsters who’d watched a PC stand up after a “killing blow.” But the PCs aren’t wearing badges that indicate their status as PCs for the monsters to see and realize, oh, they make death saves unlike us.

 

[GreyLord]

To put it another way anc compare it to RL - about 0.2% of the US population are pilots, but if you walked into an empty cockpit on an airplane at least half of americans would know the basics of how the flight controls worked. They might not have the experience and dexterity to fly the plane, let alone land it but they could describe what it is, how it worked and probably do the basics as far as steering it.

Completely off topic...but...

As someone with a private Pilot's, I would disagree.

Depending on the plane, many might not even figure out how to start it, much less be able to steer it on the ground. Steering it in the air is another ballgame entirely.

Most would point to the joystick (or main flight control) and think that's what you use, that the basics is that you just use that. That's what they see in the movies. That's what they see in games.

But they would be wrong.

 

[Tonguez]

Why would Orcs know the ins and outs of the spell when spellcasters are relatively few in number per the DMG?

They dont need to know anything about the spell, all Krunk needs to know is that “my target has just climbed the rope thats dangling in the air front of me -Me see magic- Me can climb too!”