D&D 5E What are the "True Issues" with 5e?

[Oofta]

These creatures need to be much tougher then, you're right.

While I do think fighters are extraordinary action heroes (which they should be) I also agree that many animals should be much tougher than represented. In many ways it's how we handle strength - there is no way a human will ever be stronger than a full grown grizzly bear. But I'm not sure what the balance should be, after all people have been killing things like brown bears using sticks with pointy rocks attached to the end from time immemorial.

 

[Golroc]

For me, the books they release are all over the place. It feels like articles in Dragon Magazine in how all over the place the subject matter is.

• Here's a campaign setting! (maybe there'll be more material at some point in the future)
• Here's a book about magical items and a few random odds and ends!
• Here's a book about giants - but it's really generic and kind of a grab bag of stuff related to giants. It's certainly not part of a series with a common theme for what is included for specific archetypical monsters.
• Here's a book about dragons - but it's mostly recycled content and somewhat whimsical.
• Here's an adventure book set in Forgotten Realms! It's also got a little bit of sourcebook-style content.
• Here's a cross over with some media thing which was popular when we planned the release!

It feels like a company selling books and keeping the franchise / system afloat so they can cash in on licensing while they prepare for AI-driven virtual tabletops.

It's sort of related to when Games Workshop started doing really bad on the game design side because they went with a "we sell miniatures, not games". I can't put my finger on it, but I really don't want to buy any of the D&D material despite being super nostalgic about D&D, being super hyped about BG3, loving so many of their settings, having had a great time watching Critical Role. I am exactly the kind of veteran they should be able to rope in - I had nostalgia overload from Stranger Things.

But what happened? I looked at 5E and was immediately put off. I like the enthusiasm they radiate in streams and at live events. I can understand their focus on OneD&D and the future VTT. But I went out and bought Pathfinder stuff. Because that feels like a "real" RPG system. I supported indie Kickstarters that went all in on creating awesome settings - trying to give players and GMs some cool material to explore and be inspired by.

The D&D playtests feel super corporate. The books feel anemic and creatively disjointed. I feel kind of bad writing this as I'm sure the creative staff poured a lot of passion and love into these works. But I can't recall D&D feeling this generic ever - it's like a nightmare reality where everything is subtly off, and I feel like all the worst parts of the 4 editions have merged into this weird thing that's wearing D&D, but underneath is just a corporate machine.

I know companies have to make money. I know TSR of old wasn't profitable. But the true issue of 5E for me is that it feels creatively and mechanically dead. It feels like design by committee - rules and lore both. And I hate what they done with the settings. Pathfinder can do setting sourcebooks that are awesome. I wish D&D had that kind of material too.

 

[mamba]

Does that guy..Muhammad Ali/Anderson Silva equivalent fight D&D monsters the way D&D fighters fight D&D monsters (e.g. Dragons and Giants)..toe to toe slugging it out until one of them goes down?

I submit that they would not.

hard to say, will depend on the specific giant / dragon / demon… and I am perfectly fine with that

I am not looking for superhero characters

 

[Vaalingrade]

Outrunning Usain Bolt in full plate is not that much less.

Shouldn't be that hard. I doubt Bolt is even trained to use full plate.

 

[Undrave]

"So I'd like to introduce my new character Dunny. He's a flooded dungeon, so he's not very mobile; and while you all go off adventuring he'll just sit where he is and be wet."

Not watered like that

Imagine if a Dungeon was a person: Big, scary, guarded, filled with traps, maybe you’ll meet some critters, but there’s gold somewhere in there.

If I want a PC that can run faster than Usain Bolt I'll run a monk. Or just take an eldritch knight and misty step, instantaneous teleportation for the win!

The hierarchy of speed should go : Usain Bolt > Fighter > Barbarian > Monk > Teleportation

 

[Minigiant]

13th Age has a simple fix: each spell is castable X time per preparation, with X varying between spells. So if you prepare fire bolt once, you can cast it any number of times. If you prepare burning hands once, you can cast it three times. If you want six burning hands, prepare it twice. Fireball is once per preparation.

You have five slots. Do you prepare fire bolt once and burning hands four times (12 castings) or five fireballs?

That's how my Urban Fantasy game works.

Mageries and Alchemy are Unlimited
Sorceries and Witchcraft are Thrice per Scene
Prayers are Thrice per Act
Wizardries and Miracles are Once per Act

Each magic user has access to at least 2 types of magic and can lean hard in either direction depending on their stats and how much stress they want to take.

But it quickly gets complex.

 

[Minigiant]

how do the subclass levels fit into this theme?

The designers expect DMs to shift the subclass features with previous editions touchstones up or down to match individual tastes and use their experience to balance it

 

[Undrave]

Outrunning Usain Bolt in full plate is not that much less. I find both equally realistic and desirable.

Not that much less?!? What?! The Flash is basically a Speed Elemental that reads any setting he's in and the Hulk has no recorded maximum strength and you want to tell me running a little faster than a real dude is comparable?!? It's like saying going from a musket to a shotgun is not much less than going from a musket to an nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile!

 

[Gammadoodler]

hard to say, will depend on the specific giant / dragon / demon… and I am perfectly fine with that

I am not looking for superhero characters

Then I rather expect through hp inflation alone..high level 5e D&D is not for you.

 

[Baron Opal II]

For me, a true problem of 5e D&D is no mention of an expected short : long rest ratio. I don't really care what it is, but whatever they came up with during the initial playtesting would have been useful information. I think that number was pretty close to two or three, and that short rests required an hour was a "subtle" reinforcement of that. I haven't been able to find any documentation on an expected number, however.

If it was explicit, then it would be easier to see designer expectations in situations where short rests would be expected to be plentiful or rare.

I also have issues with layout, font, and the like. While I appreciated the information density of the 1e DMG, my eyes aren't good enough anymore. Something between the two would be welcome.