D&D 5E Is Tasha's Broken?

[EzekielRaiden]

Gotta say, I find it kinda funny that people hand-wring about balance now, but when 5e was in playtest, some of the exact same people would dismiss arguments of this exact kind out of hand. Now that things come along that they don't like, of course balance is an extremely important concern and always has been!

 

[Oofta]

I don't have a significant problem with anything in Tasha's. Things like twilight cleric being "broken" just aren't that big of a deal to me, it's not that significant of a bump and most classes get a few options we didn't have before. Not particularly fond of the "put points anywhere" because I think it just leans into making all races more generic but then again had no problem playing dwarven wizards or half-orc clerics before the change.

Things change. There's minor power creep, but it's nothing like what we've seen in previous editions. As a DM I'm always going to have to adjust encounters and challenges based on what the players bring to the table, this is no different.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Incrementally more powerful than older content, maybe. “Broken”? No.

Such hyperbole.

 

[MGibster]

I just can't get behind this. Especially with the huge emphasis on bounded accuracy, that extra +2 is really not necessary. The whole argument for floating ASIs boils down to optimization, and I am just not sympathetic to arguments based on optimization. It would be different if having a slightly lower score had a huge impact, but it just doesn't.

While I'm not a fan of floating ASIs, there's a legitimate argument to be made that it makes it easier for players to create and play the type of characters they want to play. The proverbial halfling with a 20 Strength, or the Pocket Hercules, being my favorite example.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Healing .... in 5e .... is anemic?

The one thing I appreciate about the internet and this forum is that you repeatedly learn that people have opinions that you did not think were possible.

(Unless this is sarcasm?)

I think they mean in-combat healing through spells (aside from healing work pop-up). Being able to get another whole set of hp through HD use and then a total refresh overnight are a separate issue.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Healing .... in 5e .... is anemic?

The one thing I appreciate about the internet and this forum is that you repeatedly learn that people have opinions that you did not think were possible.

(Unless this is sarcasm?)

Not sarcasm at all.

Healing is rarely one hit's worth of HP, meaning it buys at best one extra turn when used. It's the actual problem with 'popup healing' You get knocked down, get healed one hit's worth, get up, then get smacked down again, so you get healed one hit's worth, get up, get knocked down.

Poor healing leads to every combat being Tubthumping. Except instead of whiskey, you get DMs complaining incessantly.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

While I'm not a fan of floating ASIs, there's a legitimate argument to be made that it makes it easier for players to create and play the type of characters they want to play. The proverbial halfling with a 20 Strength, or the Pocket Hercules, being my favorite example.

Well, the thing is ...

They don't have a subtraction to strength. So a "pocket Hercules" is just as possible with a Halfling as it is for any other race under the old rules that doesn't have a bonus for strength.

If you are using point-buy or rolling, just put your highest attribute into strength (since you can put a lower one into dex anyway and get a +2), and then ASI it. The thing is, with BA, it:

(1) Doesn't make a whole lot of difference; and
(2) It's mostly one of those extreme optimization issues (IMO).


That said, I do have more sympathy to the "stereotyping" objection.

 

[Jer]

5e is hardly balanced anyway is so many ways - it's not like the additions in Tasha's break some kind of finely tuned encounter building guidelines in the DMG or anything like that. The balance in 5e is so much looser than in 3e or 4e that I just don't see it as an issue - every table is going to have a different balance for encounters they can handle even if they all just pick subclasses from the PHB - the additions in Tasha's don't really change that phenomenon.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Not sarcasm at all.

Healing is rarely one hit's worth of HP, meaning it buys at best one extra turn when used. It's the actual problem with 'popup healing' You get knocked down, get healed one hit's worth, get up, then get smacked down again, so you get healed one hit's worth, get up, get knocked down.

Poor healing leads to every combat being Tubthumping. Except instead of whiskey, you get DMs complaining incessantly.

But that's not poor healing. Arguably, it's a rules issue (allowing the game to be whac-a-mole) but I've never heard of anyone complain about a lack of healing in 5e. The options for healing are nearly limitless- the problem (if there is one) is that most people tend to ignore combat healing options because it's really really hard to die & because it tends to use up a round where they could be doing damage, and because the options for full healing outside of combat are so plentiful and easy.

I understand what you are saying, but again ... I would never think that 5e has poor healing options.

 

[Minigiant]

In addition, it really matters what kind of balance you are talking about.

The Twilight domains top features are about supporting the party, rather than in taking direct action against the enemy. So, in terms of the balance between party members, they don't steal spotlight, but allow the other party members more time to be awesome themselves.

Do they make the party punch at a slightly higher weight class? Sure. But I'm okay with that.

I think the issue is less stealing the spotlight and more being the focal point of the spotlight spotdark too often. Its subclass features seem too powerful for the frequency you get them on a full caster. Too much of the adventure day ends up revolving around the twilight cleric and they never really drop to 3rd in highlight.