D&D 5E Bard's Powers

[Ashrym]

If a person focuses on the narrative instead of the number of encounters the players won't notice the number of encounters or short rests allowed at natural breaks in that narrative. Especially if a person varies it with some sessions fewer harder encounters and others with more frequent and easier encounters, and varies the type and style of such encounters.

The assumptions and XP budgets are based around balance but they're still just a loose framework that a DM fills with the actual adventure and open to adjustment because a DM knows than campaign better than a general guideline. Start with a framework based on it and adjust from there.

Regarding magical secrets, it's just a bit of customization in the spell list and not as much as a person might think. As other classes also open up more spells than a bard can possibly add the impact seems smaller and smaller. Only adding spells instead of tradition benefits or not having things like metamagic or arcane renewal tarnishes the shine a bit too.

Great class for versatility, less so for hard hitting moments.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

DMG-recommended style of "lots of 'Medium'/'Hard' fights" are boring. Quality is better than quantity. And that is why dungeon crawls make unmemorable stories and why balancing via attrition is doomed to failure.

There's a balance in everything, but I could not agree more with this final statement. I've never understood this recent emphasis on attrition in D&D. I mean, everyone can enjoy a good dungeon crawl now and then. But everyone enjoys memorable encounters.

How often have you had the following conversation-

"Hey, you won't believe the awesome game I just played! We had 6-8 medium encounters, evenly spaced out, with orcs. Seriously, so much fun! You know, approximately 8-12 orcs per encounter. Dude- I totally resource managed that!"

Isn't this "working as intended"? I thought 5e was specifically, intentionally, and even pointedly distancing itself from 4e's "set-piece" model of combats, where minor/uneventful skirmishes are handwaved and at most cost a healing surge, while 2-4 fights a day were Serious Business that involved much Action, terrain effects, traps, etc. The whole "fight lots of 15-30 minute fights" was supposed to be an enormous selling point, or so I was led to believe. Was I incorrect?

(Note the "supposed to be." I don't actually find this a selling point at all, rather the opposite, though I am hopeful that this is more due to being low level than a fundamental part of the game. We shall see.)