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<blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 9386584" data-attributes="member: 12731">I don't disagree.I don't think this is nerfed because it is overpowered. I think it is nerfed by a combination.Many players (not you) feel size and mass should still mean something.WotC probably instead have realized it is an unintentional rules &quot;exploit&quot;. I put exploit within scare quotes because it isn't exactly a hidden exploit - they could have asked me in 2014 and I would have asked them to check twice: &quot;you sure you understand what the various Athletics (Intimidation, etc) checks will do to monsters..?&quot;This is because 5E is not the first nor the last game where, evidently, developers don't fully comprehend the consequences of having rules where skills can meaningfully reduce a monster's combat ability.It is also not limited to combat. There are games where it's trivial to create a character who routinely can, through a Persuasion check, turn hostile NPCs into best friends, no magic involved.Main difference: such non-combat skill outcomes are easy to ignore, much easier than effects that tie into the combat subsystem (by giving out status effects like Prone or Restrained, for instance)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CapnZapp, post: 9386584, member: 12731"] I don't disagree. I don't think this is nerfed because it is overpowered. I think it is nerfed by a combination. Many players (not you) feel size and mass should still mean something. WotC probably instead have realized it is an unintentional rules "exploit". I put exploit within scare quotes because it isn't exactly a hidden exploit - they could have asked me in 2014 and I would have asked them to check twice: "you sure you understand what the various Athletics (Intimidation, etc) checks will do to monsters..?" This is because 5E is not the first nor the last game where, evidently, developers don't fully comprehend the consequences of having rules where skills can meaningfully reduce a monster's combat ability. It is also not limited to combat. There are games where it's trivial to create a character who routinely can, through a Persuasion check, turn hostile NPCs into best friends, no magic involved. Main difference: such non-combat skill outcomes are easy to ignore, much easier than effects that tie into the combat subsystem (by giving out status effects like Prone or Restrained, for instance) [/QUOTE]

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