D&D (2024) Rules that annoy you

[pukunui]

Rocky gets knocked down. He's at 0 HP. His trainer yells at him, using Healing Word. Rocky gets up and keeps fighting.

Using healing word to get someone back into the fight is fine. I've got no problem with that. The issue I have is with someone using an action to make a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check to stabilize a dying character. How do you describe that action in the fiction? What is the character making the check actually doing to stop their comrade from dying? They don't even have to be proficient in Medicine to make the check! Anyone can do it.

Bardic Inspiration as a bonus action is another one that I find extremely difficult to describe in-game. What is the bard actually doing within the less-than-6-second timeframe implied by a bonus action? I get that it's a bonus action from a game perspective so that the player can do something besides just inspire their friend. That's fine. But at least try to have it make some sense within the context of the game world.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

But at least try to have it make some sense within the context of the game world.

Without, of course, introducing unnecessary complexity to the game, given that complexity is a colligative property of rules interplay rather than a property of individual rules.

 

[Greg K]

Healing Potion as a Bonus Action has been mentioned so I will add:

• Species not granting any ASI or at least species having maximum non-magical limits on strength to account for size.
• Ignoring Loading property of Heavy crossbows with Crossbow Expert
• Being able to load a crossbow without a free hand with Crossbow Expert

 

[FrogReaver]

Healing Potion as a Bonus Action has been mentioned so I will add:

• Species not granting any ASI or at least species having maximum non-magical limits on strength to account for size.
• Ignoring Loading property of Heavy crossbows with Crossbow Expert
• Being able to load a crossbow without a free hand with Crossbow Expert

The last isn’t actually a rule?

 

[Greg K]

The last isn’t actually a rule?

yes, it is according to someone going over the feats in a PHB reveal.
According to the video, "If you’re holding one of them, you can load a piece of ammunition into it even if you lack a free hand" with "them" being a Hand Crossbow, Light Crossbow or Heavy Crossbow.

 

[FrogReaver]

yes, it is according to someone going over the feats in a PHB reveal.
According to the video, "If you’re holding one of them, you can load a piece of ammunition into it even if you lack a free hand" with "them" being a Hand Crossbow, Light Crossbow or Heavy Crossbow.

ugh. that's terrible.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

My new pet peeve with the new rules is grapple + spike growth cheese grater builds.

These existed before and were annoying, but they are going to explode in popularity with grappling becoming so much easier and Grappler feat doubling the cheese grater damage (by no longer cutting movement speed in half).

 

[pukunui]

Healing Potion as a Bonus Action has been mentioned so I will add:

• Species not granting any ASI or at least species having maximum non-magical limits on strength to account for size.
• Ignoring Loading property of Heavy crossbows with Crossbow Expert
• Being able to load a crossbow without a free hand with Crossbow Expert

Yes, having a feat enable you to ignore the loading property of crossbows was bad enough, but explicitly making it so you don't need a free hand? Ugh ... I would much prefer to have physical modifications that enable anyone (not just someone who took a feat) to do impossible things with crossbows.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

Monk not getting anything remotely close to Weapon Mastery is a COLOSSAL flavor fail to me. It literally paints the image where Barbarian, whose whole thing is swinging so wildly he opens himself to counterattack, is now well-versed in tactics and techniques to provide a versitile arsenal, while Monk, whose whole thing is to study martial arts and be able to utilize martial arts techniques in combat is just a stupid moron that blindly swings fists without thinking.

Another fail is that Warlocks now canonically have no idea who their patron is before level 3. Warlock coming in with built-in excuse to include powerful NPC they are tied to, but who may have their own agenda, was a big selling point of the class for me as a DM. Now it just makes me ban Warlocks for games that don't start at third level due to how much of a flavor fail this is.

Limiting some feats to only beign taken at level 4+. Combine that with last feat being pretty much reserved for Epic Boon, considering how much stronger they are and other feats you gain normally still beign needed to boost the character through Ability Score Improvements, and it is very unlikely many people will be still taking 4+ feats, aside of Fighter players.

 

[Shiroiken]

Potions of Healing being common equipment, and the new use of them as a bonus action. I'll continue to replace them with Herbs of Healing, which is a non-magical version that takes 1 minute to apply. Potions of Healing can be found as treasure, just like every other magic item.