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<blockquote data-quote="Xeviat" data-source="post: 6709585" data-attributes="member: 57494"><p>Awesome list. My favorites are Ranger domain spells (beast master should really have "speak with animals", and I might even argue that they should get it with their companion for free at a certain point), Medium Armor Mastery, and your Champion buff. I have no issues with any of them. I've been looking for a way to buff the champion, and that's nice. When you say Hit Dice are d12s, do you just mean the health regaining hit dice or do you also mean their HP rolling on level up hit dice (so they're getting +1 hp per level)?</p><p></p><p>Consider all of these added to my growing list of house rules. As you may know from the other boards, the changes I'm working on often go farther, but these are really nice things, things that I would have expected to see during 4E's style of balancing errata.</p><p></p><p>My own list is 3 pages long (including explanations, that is) without adding these new things. Looking through it, I only have a few that are as simple of changes as these, but here's some of my suggestions:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Way of the Four Elements Monk Ki Spells:</strong> Looking at the baseline spell guidelines in the DMG, Water Whip feels like a sound 2nd level spell for a caster that's more melee oriented. It costs 2 ki points. Thus, in an effort to balance the Elemental Monk, ki costs for spells will be reduced to spell level in ki points (not the spell level+1 that they are now). Additionally, they really need some other features, as all of their features are just extra ways of spending ki (compared to the abilities that the other monks get). A cantrip at level 3, some energy resistances at level 6, some extra ki at level 11, and something else at 17 maybe? I'll have to test just how much oomph their ki spells have compared to just using flurry and attack.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Fighting Style on Paladin and Ranger:</strong> I'm strongly considering moving Fighting Style from 2nd level to 1st level. Having it at 2nd level doesn't really keep people from dipping; non-fighters dip fighter for 1 level, often 2 because Action Surge is nice. I'm not worried about dips. Otherwise, the Paladin and ranger have nothing offensive at 1st level over the baseline, and they otherwise get a big jump at 2nd with spells and fighting style. In the first game I ran, the paladin player questioned this and I was quickly convinced. Most of the styles don't stack anyway, so cross dipping isn't a big deal, I don't think. Maybe change how defensive works?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Beast Master Ranger:</strong> I'm planning on adjusting their stat blocks (making them more balanced with each other, instead of being 100% based on the monsters) and having their HP incorporate their Con mods (so low AC beasts get more HP). Also, I'm going to have them work like warlock familiars; they can take an action on their own right out of the gate, but if you want that action to be "attack" you have to give up your attack. Yes, this means they can help every round right out of the gate, but I've tested it and it seems to balance against the Hunter's Colossus Slayer +1d8 damage once per round.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Sorcerer's Wild Magic Surge;</strong> If a surge roll comes up with a spell that's higher level than the sorcerer could cast, reroll; no fireballs on the party until 5th level at the earliest (they're still really bad then as it is).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Warlock of the Blade:</strong> Your solution is halfway to my solution. I don't like that there are offensive invocations; I think all invocations should be about adding utility and options (yes, some grant attack spells, but they still require you to use your pact magic slots). I'm planning on treating the Pact Blade as a melee eldritch blast, and having it automatically use Cha + Str or Dex for damage and Cha to hit. So it trade's EB's range for more damage. I'll need to make a new blade invocation; maybe one that lets you choose energy types for the blade? Early on, with standard stat arrays, it's comparable to the Duelist Fighting Style; the warlock just gets pact spells instead of Action surge.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Armor and Weapons:</strong> I'm currently trying out a more 3E take on weapons and might be tweaking the armor table a bit. I'd like more granularity and more options (I LOVE your medium armor mastery change, btw).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Small Size:</strong> 3E weapons will bring back small weapons. To make up for the lost damage, small characters will get +1 to hit with weapon attacks (not spells). Also, small characters are going to get advantage on dexterity checks and disadvantage on strength checks (modeled after the Enlarge/Reduce spell), largely because I want small characters to get a bonus on stealth. I may trade this for +2/=2 bonuses instead.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Critical Hits:</strong> I'm changing crits to x2 damage, instead of double dice. It's easier at the table. It prevents crits from ever being only +1 damage on a bad roll. Spell crits and Sneak Attack crits are already basically double damage; combined with your changes to Great Weapon Master and Sharp Shooter, I'm not concerned about repercussions (and the Champion deserves a bump anyway).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Battlemaster:</strong> I'm strongly considering dropping their starting Superiority Dice down to 2, but then ramping up how fast they are gained (so it ends the same). Right now, 3 Fighter is too tempting of a dip, and they gain way more power at 3rd level than the Champion or the Eldritch Knight.</li> </ul><p></p><p>My other changes are more table rules. I extensively use "skills with different abilities", generally calling for an ability check and letting players come up with ways to bring their skills to bear. I've removed the Perception as a passive skill and rolled the remainder of Perception and Investigation together; passive perception has moved over to a Wisdom save. I give proficiency bonus to all saves and changed out save proficiencies for save bonuses (monk's proficient in all saves becomes advantage to all saves; rogue slippery mind becomes save at start of round as well as end of round to end effects). I'm implementing 0 levels on all the classes that must be taken when multiclassing; this combines with allowing Extra Attack to stack to both limit and help multiclassing (so a 5/6/6 fighter/barbarian/ranger gets +3 attacks; I might move the fighter's 3rd attack to 17, their 2nd action surge to 20, and give them a little something else at 20 too).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Xeviat, post: 6709585, member: 57494"] Awesome list. My favorites are Ranger domain spells (beast master should really have "speak with animals", and I might even argue that they should get it with their companion for free at a certain point), Medium Armor Mastery, and your Champion buff. I have no issues with any of them. I've been looking for a way to buff the champion, and that's nice. When you say Hit Dice are d12s, do you just mean the health regaining hit dice or do you also mean their HP rolling on level up hit dice (so they're getting +1 hp per level)? Consider all of these added to my growing list of house rules. As you may know from the other boards, the changes I'm working on often go farther, but these are really nice things, things that I would have expected to see during 4E's style of balancing errata. My own list is 3 pages long (including explanations, that is) without adding these new things. Looking through it, I only have a few that are as simple of changes as these, but here's some of my suggestions: [LIST] [*][B]Way of the Four Elements Monk Ki Spells:[/B] Looking at the baseline spell guidelines in the DMG, Water Whip feels like a sound 2nd level spell for a caster that's more melee oriented. It costs 2 ki points. Thus, in an effort to balance the Elemental Monk, ki costs for spells will be reduced to spell level in ki points (not the spell level+1 that they are now). Additionally, they really need some other features, as all of their features are just extra ways of spending ki (compared to the abilities that the other monks get). A cantrip at level 3, some energy resistances at level 6, some extra ki at level 11, and something else at 17 maybe? I'll have to test just how much oomph their ki spells have compared to just using flurry and attack. [*][B]Fighting Style on Paladin and Ranger:[/B] I'm strongly considering moving Fighting Style from 2nd level to 1st level. Having it at 2nd level doesn't really keep people from dipping; non-fighters dip fighter for 1 level, often 2 because Action Surge is nice. I'm not worried about dips. Otherwise, the Paladin and ranger have nothing offensive at 1st level over the baseline, and they otherwise get a big jump at 2nd with spells and fighting style. In the first game I ran, the paladin player questioned this and I was quickly convinced. Most of the styles don't stack anyway, so cross dipping isn't a big deal, I don't think. Maybe change how defensive works? [*][B]Beast Master Ranger:[/B] I'm planning on adjusting their stat blocks (making them more balanced with each other, instead of being 100% based on the monsters) and having their HP incorporate their Con mods (so low AC beasts get more HP). Also, I'm going to have them work like warlock familiars; they can take an action on their own right out of the gate, but if you want that action to be "attack" you have to give up your attack. Yes, this means they can help every round right out of the gate, but I've tested it and it seems to balance against the Hunter's Colossus Slayer +1d8 damage once per round. [*][B]Sorcerer's Wild Magic Surge;[/B] If a surge roll comes up with a spell that's higher level than the sorcerer could cast, reroll; no fireballs on the party until 5th level at the earliest (they're still really bad then as it is). [*][B]Warlock of the Blade:[/B] Your solution is halfway to my solution. I don't like that there are offensive invocations; I think all invocations should be about adding utility and options (yes, some grant attack spells, but they still require you to use your pact magic slots). I'm planning on treating the Pact Blade as a melee eldritch blast, and having it automatically use Cha + Str or Dex for damage and Cha to hit. So it trade's EB's range for more damage. I'll need to make a new blade invocation; maybe one that lets you choose energy types for the blade? Early on, with standard stat arrays, it's comparable to the Duelist Fighting Style; the warlock just gets pact spells instead of Action surge. [*][B]Armor and Weapons:[/B] I'm currently trying out a more 3E take on weapons and might be tweaking the armor table a bit. I'd like more granularity and more options (I LOVE your medium armor mastery change, btw). [*][B]Small Size:[/B] 3E weapons will bring back small weapons. To make up for the lost damage, small characters will get +1 to hit with weapon attacks (not spells). Also, small characters are going to get advantage on dexterity checks and disadvantage on strength checks (modeled after the Enlarge/Reduce spell), largely because I want small characters to get a bonus on stealth. I may trade this for +2/=2 bonuses instead. [*][B]Critical Hits:[/B] I'm changing crits to x2 damage, instead of double dice. It's easier at the table. It prevents crits from ever being only +1 damage on a bad roll. Spell crits and Sneak Attack crits are already basically double damage; combined with your changes to Great Weapon Master and Sharp Shooter, I'm not concerned about repercussions (and the Champion deserves a bump anyway). [*][B]Battlemaster:[/B] I'm strongly considering dropping their starting Superiority Dice down to 2, but then ramping up how fast they are gained (so it ends the same). Right now, 3 Fighter is too tempting of a dip, and they gain way more power at 3rd level than the Champion or the Eldritch Knight. [/LIST] My other changes are more table rules. I extensively use "skills with different abilities", generally calling for an ability check and letting players come up with ways to bring their skills to bear. I've removed the Perception as a passive skill and rolled the remainder of Perception and Investigation together; passive perception has moved over to a Wisdom save. I give proficiency bonus to all saves and changed out save proficiencies for save bonuses (monk's proficient in all saves becomes advantage to all saves; rogue slippery mind becomes save at start of round as well as end of round to end effects). I'm implementing 0 levels on all the classes that must be taken when multiclassing; this combines with allowing Extra Attack to stack to both limit and help multiclassing (so a 5/6/6 fighter/barbarian/ranger gets +3 attacks; I might move the fighter's 3rd attack to 17, their 2nd action surge to 20, and give them a little something else at 20 too). [/QUOTE]
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