D&D 5E 5th Edition -- Help Me Break the Game!

[Andor]

Break the game?

Overweight Dwarven Monk. Dumpstat charisma. Take a "Vow of Nudity". Specialize in high kicks.

For bonus points take another vow not to bathe.

Oh, and take Tavern Brawler for bonus grappling fun.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I'll have you know I am an accomplished Battlemaster, good sir, not an illiterate savage. If I want to improve my accuracy, I'll use Feint for advantage and an extra d10 damage on my first attack, then use precision attack on the next four.

gah! In australia there is still no phb, what does precision strike do my good man?

 

[Psikerlord#]

I dunno. Advantage on attacks is nice, but it comes at the cost of advantage against you for a round, too. Barbarians have high HD to balance that. (Also, I think that feature is 2nd level now, not first. It's not an intrinsic part of rage, but its own thing.)

Plus, you'll have to forego the fighter's heavy armor, or else forego the barbarian's rage (and fast movement, and unarmored AC bonus).

It's doable, absolutely, but there are better synergies out there.

you might be right, I have yet to see a PHB, another 2 weeks prolly... But still adv on all attacks, he'll hit with most of them, and if hte monster dies before it can return attack... dont matter if it would have had adv against him

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

gah! In australia there is still no phb, what does precision strike do my good man?

Add your expertise die to the attack roll.

 

[MortalPlague]

The Cleric/Wizard with 20 AC is going to have to rely on Shield much less often than the straight Wizard with 15 AC. Also 20 AC is much more hittable than 25 AC is.

I think you may have found something here.

If this is the worst offender, I think we can safely say the game is pretty well balanced. I can deal with a high-AC character.

 

[omniknight]

I think you may have found something here.

If this is the worst offender, I think we can safely say the game is pretty well balanced. I can deal with a high-AC character.

Meh, a very high AC it isn't meant to be the end-all-be-all for defense. I am not saying my Wizard concept is unbeatable, but with a single L1 dip you shore up a major weakness without using spell slots and get the equivalent of ~3-4 Feats worth of traits without hindering spell slot progression. Combine this with Resilient (CON) and a low DEX saving throw seems to be the only other major weakness. However that can be somewhat mitigated with high HP, which 18 CON+Hill Dwarf+Tough nets you base 224 HP at L20, nearly equal to an 18 CON Barbarian (225).

Personally I think the jury is still out on the most broken things one can do in 5e. I suspect someone will use the Bard to create some nasty combos. We'll see.

 

[Zelc]

Why mention all of those things that the straight Wizard gets that the Cleric/Wizard gets too? Granted all Wizard features are delayed by one level, but at 20 you still end up with everything but the lackluster capstone. Two free L3 spells per day is hardly worth sticking to Wizard 20 for, when you can instead get all the armor stuff and a bunch of Cantrips and L1 spells (healing specifically) with Cleric 1 right away.

You're right about the level 20 ability -- I thought it gave infinite casts like the level 18 ability. Two extra level 3 spells 1/day is pretty meh. Still, a 1-level delay on your abilities is pretty important while actually playing the game. See the 3.5 Sorcerer's delayed spell progression.

I think you're right, the 1-level Cleric dip seems very strong, although in this case I think it's mainly a problem with the Wizard's level 20 ability being pretty weak and an unhealthy interaction with the Wizard's level 18 ability.

 

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

So now that the books are out and the rules are in our hands, how can we BREAK 'em?

What are some of the rules xxxploitz that we can use to "optimize" (wink) our characters?

I want to know all the stuff I can do to make my DM cry!

Ok, if you need to go this route to have fun, why not just cheat?
Get some loaded dice, or a d20 with every side being a 20. Roll your stats with 8d6, drop the lowest 5.
Go buy 3rd party supplements that havent really been playtested, or better yet, write your own where you have the Sword/Spell/Class Feature of Insta-Kill at first level. Or a Ring of Exponential Hit Points.
Make sure you have fun at everyone else's expense.
Why bother role-playing and having a collaborative narrative gaming experience with a group of friends when you can uber-blast the Dieties themselves with your +40 Loin Gauntlet of Holy Vorpal Keen He-Man Power?

~Desh

Mod Note: Upthread, a mod already noted that we don't get to tell folks how they should play the game. That includes scathing negative remarks that otherwise lack content. You don't have to like the playstyle, and can say so, but we expect you to refrain from spitting on it in public. ~Umbran

 

[GrumpyGamer]

Nothing has jumped out at me in the player's handbook, but so far in my game we are still playing with the basic rules... so I have not really gone hunting.

Where I would look though is at ways to boost your hit and combine with Great Weapon Master.

 

[Jer]

In the "game days of old" this kind of thing really didn't happen. Sure Unearthed Arcana in 85 added some power to the classes but it was nothing the DM could not handle.

Pages and pages of letters to the Dragon Magazine Forum column would disagree with you. (Ah the politeness of editorially moderated flamewars...)

Mostly the "brokenness" discussed there stemmed from mechanical advantages that were "balanced" via roleplaying hindrances (hello Paladin! And later the Barbarian!), the handing out of the "wrong kind" of magic items to creative players, or spells that were out of whack power level wise.

But it was there. It was the whole reason that the developers tried to codify 3e mechanically as much as they did in the first place.

And threads like this one (as well as those old forum letters) remind me that having players who are super casual about the game can be a blessing, even as they make more work for me sometimes...