D&D (2024) D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024)

[Micah Sweet]

I'm a little torn on LU's followers- they don't have statblocks, they're basically another feature. I think they'd actually be friggin dope in a 5e game, but A5E characters already have so so so many features that it can be tough to keep track. My players in one game got some, and completely forgot about them a couple sessions later.
I'm not saying it's a bad way of doing things.. writing this kind of makes me want to make a thread asking advice on best practices with them.

I'd make statblocks for them. Should be easy enough to adapt an existing one.

 

[pemerton]

The interpretation of Crawford saying that monsters won't like something is that this means WotC is hostile towards DMs, but DMs get the same abilities, that players won't like.

So either WotC is hostile towards everyone (which it may be but for non-rules reasons) or they aren't hostile at all.

Players don't get to save v. prone when hit by a mastiff now for example. That's much more powerful than Topple.

And it wasn't Crawford who said it, it was a joke in the Beyond summary article.

The whole line of argument - that WotC is hostile to GMs - is bizarre.

I GMed 4e D&D for years. I got frustrated when the players would use their PC abilities to impose action denial on my NPCs/creatures, in much the same way as I might get frustrated if my Ace is trumped when I lead in five hundred. That doesn't mean that WotC "hates me" - as an aspect of design, it reflects the wargame-y part of D&D that has been a perennial since for ever, and as marketing hype it is exactly that and nothing more.

 

[TiQuinn]

IMO, the point about whether WotC is making the game easier or harder for DMs to run the game and challenge players is going to be less dependent on the DMG, and more dependent on the Monster Manual. Generally when I’ve seen people say WotC is “hostile” to DMs, they’re usually referring to this point: how much effort does the DM have to put into making an encounter that will challenge players across the various tiers of play?

It always seems to come down to the monsters. How much damage can they do? Do they have enough HP or are they going to eat it in a single round? Are they going to be stunlocked or banished immediately even though they’re your BBEG? Yes, there’s ways to mitigate that but that’s where the increased effort comes in…the amount of work that the DM has to do to make it challenging. It’s why some of the best 3rd party products have been monster accessories as of late.

 

[pemerton]

IMO, the point about whether WotC is making the game easier or harder for DMs to run the game and challenge players is going to be less dependent on the DMG, and more dependent on the Monster Manual. Generally when I’ve seen people say WotC is “hostile” to DMs, they’re usually referring to this point: how much effort does the DM have to put into making an encounter that will challenge players across the various tiers of play?

It always seems to come down to the monsters. How much damage can they do? Do they have enough HP or are they going to eat it in a single round? Are they going to be stunlocked or banished immediately even though they’re your BBEG? Yes, there’s ways to mitigate that but that’s where the increased effort comes in…the amount of work that the DM has to do to make it challenging. It’s why some of the best 3rd party products have been monster accessories as of late.

It seems odd to focus so much on the skirmish/combat aspect of play, in looking at the tools the game gives the GM to do their job.

But even through that lens, the issue seems to be more about does the GM have the tools to make play interesting? - stunlock, for instance, can be a bit boring - than does the GM have the tools to make play challenging?

 

[TiQuinn]

It seems odd to focus so much on the skirmish/combat aspect of play, in looking at the tools the game gives the GM to do their job.

But even through that lens, the issue seems to be more about does the GM have the tools to make play interesting? - stunlock, for instance, can be a bit boring - than does the GM have the tools to make play challenging?

It’s not the entirety of the game sure, but combat is still the largest part of the game. If I want anything from the DMG, I want them to bolster support for the exploration pillar that they claim is as important as the others.

I would say interesting play goes hand in hand with challenging play. Of course, you want a variety of challenges too. It wouldn’t be a good idea for DMs to simply increase HP for every monster as a solution to problems because that just drags the game on longer without any variation: you’ve simply made the wall the PCs have to climb higher.

 

[mamba]

But even through that lens, the issue seems to be more about does the GM have the tools to make play interesting? - stunlock, for instance, can be a bit boring - than does the GM have the tools to make play challenging?

maybe this is not true for you, but if the players cannot be challenged then the game also is not interesting to me, as player or DM

 

[pemerton]

maybe this is not true for you, but if the players cannot be challenged then the game also is not interesting to me, as player or DM

But the GM has the tools to make the game challenging - for instance, the GM has the tools to present the players with monsters their PCs have to fight.

 

[Parmandur]

maybe this is not true for you, but if the players cannot be challenged then the game also is not interesting to me, as player or DM

The changes in the new PHB fo not materially change that: the challenge remains, as it has for the entirety of 5E, one of attrition of resources. Weapon Masteries do not change that, and no report from people actually playing the game suggests they do. Just clickbaiters on YouTube overreacting to off-habd marketing jokes.

 

[mamba]

The changes in the new PHB fo not materially change that: the challenge remains, as it has for the entirety of 5E

it’s not like the complaints are new either though, and I do not see 2024 helping, if anything it gets slightly worse

 

[Parmandur]

it’s not like the complaints are new either though, and I do not see 2024 helping, if anything it gets slightly worse

In certain circles, possibly.