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  1. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    I agree. Magic item pricing is difficult. The other problem with making magic items expensive is that if they find such items, they can sell them for a lot, which may have other unintended consequences. I'd be inclined to have legacy magic items or similar that scale with the characters in an...
  2. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    Regarding issues with 5E D&D magic item prices, I recommend to take a look at the thread below, in particular the PDF linked in the first comment. We used that pricing for a 5E campaign, and it worked quite well. ENWorld thread: D&D 5E (2014) - Sane Magic Item Prices Giant in the Playground...
  3. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    You are correct, as they cannot sheathe a weapon as a free object interaction to cast the Shield spell as a reaction. But there are very few spells that are limited in this manner by the rules as written (RAW): Absorb Elements, Counterspell, Hellish Rebuke, and Shield. For other cases, where...
  4. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    The A5E Stronghold rules are pretty good in my opinion. That's where we have been funneling spare money, to get the +1 ability score bonus at a level 3 stronghold, another +2 at a level 6 stronghold, and there are other benefits as well depending on the type of stronghold.
  5. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    A5E has spells, maneuvers, and knacks. It works fairly well, though knacks are class-specific.
  6. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    I'd argue that one of the key things that makes certain spells and combat maneuvers iconic is that they have a one or two word name that at a high level describes them well. For example: Backstab, Cleave, Cone of Cold, Conjure Elemental, Deflect Missile, Feint, Fireball, Invisibility, Lightning...
  7. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    There are distinct bumps in character effectiveness in 5E at level 5 in particular. While that was present in 3E and earlier editions, it was not quite as major - Fireball only did 5d6 at Wizard level 5 in AD&D and 3E, and then there were the different XP progression rates across classes as you...
  8. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    5E and 5.5E D&D don't allow the Dexterity maximum bonus to AC to be increased significantly for bounded accuracy reasons. You're limited to one of the following: Light armor AC 12 + full Dexterity modifier => maximum of AC 17 with Dexterity 20. Medium armor AC 15 + Dexterity modifier (max 2) =>...
  9. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    I agree. It is good to have a common maneuver and spell system, as there's no way everyone is going to be able to remember all of them if they are unique for each class. That said, having a few encounter or daily powers codified by class also makes sense, or have a generic mechanism to handle...
  10. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    Compared to 5E and 5.5E D&D, A5E has much better utility/exploration development for all the classes. They get knacks et al., some of which do provide new skill proficiencies or similar. I really like this aspect of A5E. What would you prefer to see for the armor table?
  11. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    Take a look at rare spells in A5E. It is a good mechanic, and works well for treasure, or spell crafting during down time.
  12. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    Negative levels from earlier editions are a dreadful mechanic. It can permanently nerf a character vs. their fellow party members, either on XP, if restored at the lower minimum for the level, and/or level, if not restored. This is something that I absolutely hated as a player. Item saving...
  13. Tessarael

    D&D General Design issues with 5e

    I prefer the 5E skill system to 3E. The problem with the 3E skill system is that it was quite complicated, particularly with skill synergies, and there were a bunch of crap skills that were very situational and should be mostly avoided. 5E has a simpler skill system, with better consolidated...
  14. Tessarael

    D&D General 6e guesses

    There were a few reason why 4E failed. Two of the key ones from my perspective as a player: Insufficient play testing, so excessive errata. It got to the point where I could not make a character using the books. Removal of free access to the online platform to create a character with the class...
  15. Tessarael

    D&D General 6e guesses

    A key question is where they're making most of the money going forwards. Is it core rule books? Adventures (doubtful)? DM's Guild long tail sales of 3rd party products? Computer game licensing? One way or another, it looks like the focus is going to be increasingly digital. Simpler mechanics...
  16. Tessarael

    D&D 5E (2014) Popular death/dying house rules in 2026?

    Have you looked at Critical Role's desperate measures mechanic to trade automatic failure on death saving throws for other benefits to increase the tension and risk? It also provides a mechanism for a player of an unconscious PC to contribute to the action by giving another PC advantage on a...
  17. Tessarael

    D&D General Steampunkette's Bard Redesign

    Here's my detailed constructive feedback. That it with a grain of salt, just my opinion. :) Having seen D&D 2014 Bards in player, and having player a similar character myself with some adjustments to the class, I think they work okay as is with full spell casting progression. Giving Bard extra...
  18. Tessarael

    Level Up (A5E) Secrets of the Tome (A5E)

    Adding some more rare spell variants would be good too. Feel free to plunder some of my ideas for example. :)
  19. Tessarael

    Level Up (A5E) Rare variants of spells that don't have them

    The A5E version of Goodberry is quite bad. As a result, I have never memorized it with the A5E Druid that I have played from level 1 to level 7. The A5E versions provides 2d4 berries, an average of 5, half of the 10 berries provided by the D&D 2014 and D&D 2024 versions. D&D 2024 also changed it...
  20. Tessarael

    Level Up (A5E) Rare variants of spells that don't have them

    I think this is fairly balanced vs. a spell like Shillelagh, particularly if it still takes an action to cast, rather than the bonus action rare variant that I suggested for Arcane Muscles. However, I would not allow this in campaigns where there are Adepts/Monks, as it could overshadow their...
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