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

[Warpiglet-7]

I agree with this. Having a money-based magic item economy like 3E and 4E reduces the portential for meaningful plots revolving around money in investment, politics etc. Basically, if gold = xp in another form, other uses of money disappears. 5E tried to avoid this, but it seems to be returning in the new edition.

Still, I find that in my own game, I do use the money = xp paradigm. Silly me.

In the old days we would be giddy if we got a big haul…because leveling was so rewarding.

Cue people saying “but there weren’t meaningful choices”

I only know it felt great to get money and level up

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The poster upthread had the right of it. Model gear after the crowbar.

"Crowbar. Using a crowbar grants advantage to Strength checks where the crowbar's leverage can be applied." —PHB, p151.

Gear. Using a piece of gear grants advantage to appropriate checks where the piece of gear can be applied.

Done. There's your gear rules. The other thing gear does is grant narrative permission. You want to stay warm during a blizzard? That's what winter clothes does. No rolls, no checks, just narrative permission. What does 50ft of rope do? Gives you advantage on relevant checks. Climbing a wall? Advantage. Tying someone up? Advantage. What does a crowbar do? Gives you advantage on relevant checks. Can be used as a mace. Etc. You don't need dozens of pages dedicated to things like describing what a tent is, what it can do, and how it works.

I actually use this. It's an extrapolation from things said in Xanathars that are rather vague, but it's almost already RAW. I'd like a little more than that, though. A few more things that have rules about as long as Caltrops do, and Alechemical items that scale better. No one is asking for the moon.

 

[Gammadoodler]

I actually use this. It's an extrapolation from things said in Xanathars that are rather vague, but it's almost already RAW. I'd like a little more than that, though. A few more things that have rules about as long as Caltrops do, and Alechemical items that scale better. No one is asking for the moon.

Yeah. The lack of any discernible mundane tool/consumable scaling is pretty weird.

 

[Parmandur]

It's almost like there's a problem with there being almost no bonuses or penalties besides advantage/disadvantage...

I mean, there are still a few proud nails thst should be hammered down probably, because in general asv/dis replacing dmsll modifiers is the best thing to happen D&D since ascending AC...better than ascending AC, actually.

 

[Starfox]

Yeah. The lack of any discernible mundane tool/consumable scaling is pretty weird.

I think this is a matter of setting. In a setting with magic items, it is too granular with non-magical equipment of different quality. Just too much to keep track of. In a setting without magic items, diverse types of masterwork items are a good fit. These masterwork items could be the same as magic items but without all the fancy FX, +1 swords of sharpness, not fire blades.

 

[Cadence]

I think this is a matter of setting. In a setting with magic items, it is too granular with non-magical equipment of different quality. Just too much to keep track of. In a setting without magic items, diverse types of masterwork items are a good fit. These masterwork items could be the same as magic items but without all the fancy FX, +1 swords of sharpness, not fire blades.

I think it was Green Robin games had a huge variety of masterwork items in their Black Company setting book for 3.5 It's OGL, so I guess I'll type them up at some point if they're not already easy to find.

 

[overgeeked]

I agree with this. Having a money-based magic item economy like 3E and 4E reduces the portential for meaningful plots revolving around money in investment, politics etc. Basically, if gold = xp in another form, other uses of money disappears. 5E tried to avoid this, but it seems to be returning in the new edition.

Still, I find that in my own game, I do use the money = xp paradigm. Silly me.

Switch to XP for gold spent on non-character sheet stuff. All of a sudden everyone is bribing guards, carousing, and building keeps, etc.

 

[Lanefan]

And I'm with @Vaalingrade, the last thing 5e needs is to make Advantage even more ridiculously ubiquitous than it already is.

In general I agree. There's many places where a flat (or dial-able) bonus or penalty would be the better mechanic.

However this one instance - equipment use - does in all fairness seem like a good place for adv/disadv.; a simple mechanic for what are usually fairly simple actions.

50' rope wouldn't help much with climbing (if you're the lead climber) unless you found a creative way to use it, but it would make descending much easier and tying someone up almost automatic. Various other tools and gear giving advantage in mundane situations where their use makes sense? Nice, elegant, simple, done.

 

[Lanefan]

Tracking time can be really fun, I just don't think it's always as important as some people make it out to be and sometimes I prefer to keep it abstracted, this way my players feels like they have more time to do what they actually want to do. Sometimes the tracking and pressure of time is a good thing, sometimes it can gets in the way of storytelling.

That's just it: I'm not trying to "tell" a story, not in the sense of a movie director or novel writer. Instead I'm trying to lay down a setting and backdrop for the PCs to work with, along with some potential plot elements which may or may not be completely ignored, and from there the story - whatever it may end up being - takes care of itself.

If something's going to happen in Praetos just after noon on midsummer day then that's when it's gonna happen, regardless of where any PCs are or what they might be doing at the time.

The only time I'll let contrivance take over is when a player is trying to get a new or returning character into a party, and even then there's limits.

 

[Red Castle]

That's just it: I'm not trying to "tell" a story, not in the sense of a movie director or novel writer. Instead I'm trying to lay down a setting and backdrop for the PCs to work with, along with some potential plot elements which may or may not be completely ignored, and from there the story - whatever it may end up being - takes care of itself.

If something's going to happen in Praetos just after noon on midsummer day then that's when it's gonna happen, regardless of where any PCs are or what they might be doing at the time.

The only time I'll let contrivance take over is when a player is trying to get a new or returning character into a party, and even then there's limits.

It’s okay, there is no right or wrong way of playing, we all play for different reasons. For me and my friends, it is about telling or living a story. We tend to do short campaigns and then move on to the next, sometimes with the same characters, sometimes with new ones. And when worldbuilding, I tend to leave as much blank as possible and create as we go depending on the players actions and where I feel the story should go next.