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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aberzanzorax" data-source="post: 5953108" data-attributes="member: 64209">Mostly I just want 5e to take the best of all prior editions and cobble together a fantastic D&D experience. I want that to the degree that I hope they restrain themselves from introducing too many new rules or elements that don't hearken back to at least one (but ideally more than one) prior edition.  BUT! Here is a request for something that fits with D&D (IMO, YMMV), but has been somewhat conspicuously absent (or tacked on).  What I'd like is for the gravity of the threat to be at least somewhat intelligible to both players and their characters.   In my opinion, it's good game design to include elements and foes that the player characters can't defeat (yet) unless they're truly lucky (and foolish). However, in most of D&D it is not always obvious whether the tentacled monstrosity is cr 5 or 25...and whether players need to fight or run. Similarly, there is the element of the npc (or any statted, leveled humanoid) who might be level 1 or might be level 20. Just how impressed/intimidated/likely to die, is something I'd like for my player characters (or at minimum, players) to be able to gauge.  Now, I'm not saying that there couldn't be trickery involved, with a high level sorceror posing as a peasant (or somesuch). I also don't want to entirely remove the mystery. And yes, description of the monster or the NPC, including gear, is a tool, but not a great one.   So...what I'm asking for is a way for characters to gauge whether an encounter or monster or npc is: likely easy, likely a fair challenge, likely a boss fight/difficult challenge, beyond their capability (but they might get lucky), or auto death (attacking Orcus at level 3 when he's undisguised and apparent...but even when players just see "a fat demon the size of an ogre" and they COULD defeat the ogre).  Thoughts? Am I missing existing mechanics for this? Are there unseen problems with this that I'm not noticing?</blockquote>

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