D&D 5E Ten House Rules for More Dynamic 5E Combat

[Gadget]

Seems interesting. I'm not a fan of of the DMG flanking rule that grants advantage. While it does promote a more tactical play style, it becomes too easy to get advantage and devalues other spells and abilities that grant it. I would think the ad hoc advantage/disadvantage rule would be sufficient for some circumstances that warrant it.

 

[Charlaquin]

Allies, cover, and ranged combat is a strange one. I think the author maybe doesn’t realize that creatures (including allies) are already sources of half cover by RAW in 5e, and/or that half cover increases a target’s effective AC by 2. This accomplishes the same thing as their proposed house-rule in terms of making shooting into melee more difficult, without conflicting with ad-hoc advantage and disadvantage (which, again, I think is just best practice rather than a house rule).

 

[Charlaquin]

I do really like the death save house rule. I’ve messed around with giving PCs the ability to remain conscious at 0 HP at a penalty, but it has generally felt kinda off. This version is pretty interesting though, I might give it a try.

 

[Pedantic]

Yeah it’s also directly in conflict with ad hoc advantage and disadvantage, since having such an easy source of advantage eliminates the need to try and gain it through improvised actions.

This is a general problem with 5e not having enough levers to provide bonuses outside of advantage. A5E's modified take on expertise (which is what you get for flanking) is a good adjustment. You get a +1d4 to your roll, and if multiple sources of expertise would stack (this actually isn't the case in A5e, but say something like the Bless spell), the die increases in size to +1d6 instead, up to +1d8, with a few special mechanics letting you break the limit up to +1d12.

 

[Charlaquin]

This is a general problem with 5e not having enough levers to provide bonuses outside of advantage.

5e does actually have non-advantage bonuses and penalties, they’re just used very sparingly. Cover, for example, grants +2 AC for half or +5 AC for 3/4. Bless/Bane grant +/- 1d4. So, the tools exist within 5e’s framework, they’re just under-utilized so a lot of DMs don’t consider them (when they even remember they exist). I like advantage and disadvantage a lot as the catch-all circumstantial bonus/penalty, but when using house-rules like these, I think it’s important not to have them all use that same mechanic.

A5E's modified take on expertise (which is what you get for flanking) is a good adjustment. You get a +1d4 to your roll, and if multiple sources of expertise would stack (this actually isn't the case in A5e, but say something like the Bless spell), the die increases in size to +1d6 instead, up to +1d8, with a few special mechanics letting you break the limit up to +1d12.

That’s pretty neat.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I use ad hoc bonuses and penalties, but I usually keep them to +2/-2. Advantage/disadvantage is equivalent to +5/-5. So I reserve that for more significant situations.

Shooting into combat is a thing that bugs me in 5e.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Allies, Cover, & Ranged Combat - make shooting into melee potentially perilous forcing more careful positioning

Shooting into combat is a thing that bugs me in 5e.

Bugs me too. Ranged attackers already have it good and prior editions penalized trying to fire into melee.

Disadvantage is an easy-to-remember house rule if there's an ally in between. Otherwise, I'd think if grappling, it'd be fair that you've got a 50/50 chance of the attack roll being applied against your chosen target.

 

[Blue]

I like your list, but we tried flanking in two separate games and dropped it in both. It made advantage too easy to get, which minimized trying to get it other ways, and trivialized class features that granted it. "Look, a Samurai can do it for three whole rounds a day!" Also because melee-focused foes often outnumbered front lines, it meant that there was advantage against PCs most of the time, making striving for high AC less useful, and causing more swingy combats due to more crits against PCs. There were other, smaller issues as well such as penalizing the character with the higher initiative who gets their first and such.

If flanking switched to a bonus, say a flat +2 or +1d4, it would get rid of half of those issues.

 

[Charlaquin]

I use ad hoc bonuses and penalties, but I usually keep them to +2/-2. Advantage/disadvantage is equivalent to +5/-5. So I reserve that for more significant situations.

It’s only equivalent to +5/-5 when you need a 10 or 11 on the d20 to succeed. The further from a 50/50 chance you have, the smaller the impact of advantage/disadvantage. If you need an 8 on the die (which is more typical for attacks with 5e’s math) it’s equivalent to +4.5. Which is still significant, but my point is that the effect of advantage and disadvantage is much more complex than “about +5.” A more useful heuristic is that advantage and disadvantage reduce swing. If you already had a really good or really bad chance of hitting, advantage or disadvantage won’t change that much. If you had a 50/50 shot, advantage or disadvantage will make a significant difference.

Shooting into combat is a thing that bugs me in 5e.

Not a fan of the rules for cover?

 

[Charlaquin]

Bugs me too. Ranged attackers already have it good and prior editions penalized trying to fire into melee.

So does 5e, since creatures (including allied creatures) are sources of cover. Unless you have Sharpshooter, you need a good angle or your allies will grant your enemies half cover, which increases their effective AC against you by 2.

Disadvantage is an easy-to-remember house rule if there's an ally in between. Otherwise, I'd think if grappling, it'd be fair that you've got a 50/50 chance of the attack roll being applied against your chosen target.

I just use the Hitting Cover optional rule from the DMG. If you miss a shot that would have hit if the target’s AC if they didn’t have cover, you hit the source of cover. Which basically means you’ve got a 10% chance of hitting your allies when shooting into melee without a clear angle.