D&D (2024) Smite Changes

[tetrasodium]

Sorry that is just a feature of the unarmed ability. Just like barbarians can come out of jail naked with a great AC, druids can wildshape into a bear and kill, and monks....you know....become just ok

Casting spells without a focus however is not a feature of "unarmed ability"

 

[Stalker0]

Casting spells without a focus however is not a feature of "unarmed ability"

Sure... the "naked out of jail" scenario is particularly hard for casters, forcing them to play differently for a time. Why is that a bad thing?

Again the naked scenario effects differently classes differently, and there is nothing wrong with that. Its a scenario that shakes up the narrative, forces players to think a little differently.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Casting spells without a focus however is not a feature of "unarmed ability"

But if you're a conjuration Wizard you can minor conjuration yourself a wand. You can also teleport. I was honestly a little disappointed nobody ever tried to imprison my conjuration wizard.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I don't have much to add to this conversation other than the fact that I played a ranged Paladin in 3.5 and it was completely over-powered. The fact that, in the new iteration, they reduced it to one smite/round, I don't think it will be broken. That said, a ranged paladin will certainly have an advantage over a melee paladin. It feels like, yet, another reason to play a dex-based class.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I don't have much to add to this conversation other than the fact that I played a ranged Paladin in 3.5 and it was completely over-powered. The fact that, in the new iteration, they reduced it to one smite/round, I don't think it will be broken. That said, a ranged paladin will certainly have an advantage over a melee paladin. It feels like, yet, another reason to play a dex-based class.

Ranged is just too powerful in 5e. At the very least the archery fighting style should be replaced with something else. I mean there's a reason that target shooting is a sport and target stabbing is not, hitting things at a distance is harder in real life (especially moving targets). I can accept leveling the field for simplicity's sake, but then they add a fighting style that make is easier to hit at range than in melee (with no comparable melee hit improving option). So you get to not soak damage, not waste turns dashing to the enemy, and you hit easier. Melee is a sucker's game.

 

[RangerWickett]

I wish the paladin wasn't always built for heavy armor. I want paladins who serve gods of beauty, of travel, of the hunt.

I basically want paladin to be an option to tack on to any type of character. I want wizard paladins. Druid paladins. Bard paladins.

I want it to be easy to multi-class into.

 

[James Gasik]

Ranged is just too powerful in 5e. At the very least the archery fighting style should be replaced with something else. I mean there's a reason that target shooting is a sport and target stabbing is not, hitting things at a distance is harder in real life (especially moving targets). I can accept leveling the field for simplicity's sake, but then they add a fighting style that make is easier to hit at range than in melee (with no comparable melee hit improving option). So you get to not soak damage, not waste turns dashing to the enemy, and you hit easier. Melee is a sucker's game.

Of course, if everyone is ranged, then everyone is in melee eventually.

 

[MarkB]

"should paladins be able to smite outside of using a melee weapon?" Maybe, but the still current version of being able to make the attack roll determine if there was a successful attack and only then declare a smite is doubly problematic when it comes to ranged weapon smite. The GM winds up getting pressured by players because Bob can't cast a spell, call for a dex save, & then decide if he wanted to cast a failed acid splash that was saved against or consume a spell slot for a successful lightning bolt that targeted a failed save.

Weird - the battle master's ability to only decide to spend a superiority die to inflict a special effect with a ranged attack after he knows it's hit has led to no such issues.

 

[tetrasodium]

But if you're a conjuration Wizard you can minor conjuration yourself a wand. You can also teleport. I was honestly a little disappointed nobody ever tried to imprison my conjuration wizard.

Are you really atte. To go to compare a scenario where Alice actively takes some action to "create* a focus item that may require some effort to physically hide it as equivalent to Bob simply saying " no I ignore that & don't need a focus or improvised weapon... in fact I ignore the problem with being cuffed that are going to hinder Dave's claws too unless you fiat an adversarial 'because the gm said so' type roadblock for this one mold breaking ability of mine as well"?

@MarkB that battlemaster ability does not deal things like 5d6+banish or 3d6+blind. and it's still problematic design that has the GM needing to appear fair while juggling the fact that Alice & Bob are playing by a very different set of rules for basic attack declarations because one can retcon a resource consuming action into their quantum attack after determining success while the other & the rest of the table only sees the GM enforcing an unfair situation

 

[Horwath]

I wish the paladin wasn't always built for heavy armor. I want paladins who serve gods of beauty, of travel, of the hunt.

I basically want paladin to be an option to tack on to any type of character. I want wizard paladins. Druid paladins. Bard paladins.

I want it to be easy to multi-class into.

Every class should come with custom proficiency choice:

10pts pool:

skills: 1 pt per skill, max 5
armor: 1 pt per category, max 3 for heavy
martial weapons: 2pts
cantrips: 1 pt per cantrip, max 4
saves(dex, con, wis), 2 pts, max 1
saves(str, int, cha), 1 pt, max 2