Level Up (A5E) Changes to Advantage

[DND_Reborn]

Oh I just mean that by native 5e it doesn't stack and I think it should, and the 2d8 2d12 system makes stacking even more weird to figure out because I don't have d14s.

Oh, gotcha! Yeah, just stack them, it works fine like that. No need for wonky dice or anything else IMO.

 

[TheSword]

Give me more ways to do extra things that cost disadvantage. So when I can got advantage from multiple sources the duplicates aren’t wasted.

 

[p_johnston]

I Would also point out that any sort of stacking disadvantage/advantage makes spells like darkness and fog cloud largely useless. The purposes of spells that end up blinding everyone is that since everyone is blinded they all have advantage and disadvantage. This means everything equals out to normal rolls no matter what. If you allow stacking advantage/disadvantage then using a spell like fog cloud is almost entirely useless.

I used to do stacking advantage/disadvantage and stopped for that very reason.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I Would also point out that any sort of stacking disadvantage/advantage makes spells like darkness and fog cloud largely useless. The purposes of spells that end up blinding everyone is that since everyone is blinded they all have advantage and disadvantage. This means everything equals out to normal rolls no matter what. If you allow stacking advantage/disadvantage then using a spell like fog cloud is almost entirely useless.

I used to do stacking advantage/disadvantage and stopped for that very reason.

Welcome to the EnWorld! Congrats on the first post and have a like.

We've been stacking sources for advantage/disadvantage since we began. So far, nothing has seemed almost entirely useless, but obviously your experiences have differed from mine.

 

[p_johnston]

Thanks!

I will admit that darkness, fog cloud, and the like still have some use through devils sight, blindsight, and truesight. It does make it much harder for characters to utilize them though because the only easily available way to get one of those three is through a warlock invocation. So in the end it ended up with me the DM having fun toys to play with and the players having a few spells they just stopped using.

I have always enjoyed the idea of having a greater options then simply granting advantage/disadvantage if multiple things are working for/against the action. I just have yet to find a method that felt right. The best solution I have come up with is having each additional advantage/disadvantage grant an additional +1/-1 with it still evening out to a normal roll if you have both.

 

[rules.mechanic]

The biggest difference between Advantage 2/5/10 and stacked advantage is that Advantage 2/5/10 is essentially fractional (depends on target but approximates quarter, half or full advantage), while stacked advantage is a multiplier e.g. "double" advantage from 3x d20. All depends on whether you want the new system to have granularity with "lesser advantage", or with "greater advantage". I'm happy with "greater advantage" from stacked advantage, for lesser advantage I am comfortable with small modifiers instead (+/-2) but I know others are less keen.

 

[DND_Reborn]

The biggest difference between Advantage 2/5/10 and stacked advantage is that Advantage 2/5/10 is essentially fractional (depends on target but approximates quarter, half or full advantage), while stacked advantage is a multiplier e.g. "double" advantage from 3x d20. All depends on whether you want the new system to have granularity with "lesser advantage", or with "greater advantage". I'm happy with "greater advantage" from stacked advantage, for lesser advantage I am comfortable with small modifiers instead (+/-2) but I know others are less keen.

My issue with modifiers for advantage of 2/5/10 is that it raises both the floor and ceiling. Stacked advantage keeps things capped at 20+ modifiers. With how bounded accuracy is supposed to work, using advantage as modifiers breaks that, especially at higher levels, and makes the game too predictable IMO.

 

[Zaukrie]

Instead of changing the mechanic, I’d like to see character abilities where you can choose to roll with disadvantage, and get a benefit if you succeed anyway. It’s a way of having a more interesting risk:reward option.

Absolutely this. Give me more action types (I have about 6 I'm considering adding to my game, this is one I'm going to look at adding)

 

[DND_Reborn]

The problem with this IMO is it leads to GWM-syndrome. AC's are generally too low and getting over the -5 penalty isn't that hard for the benefit. In a like manner, if you could accept disadvantage to get a rider effect, etc., people would be using it a lot because hitting, frankly, is not hard in 5E. Against many creatures, the "risk" for the reward simply isn't really there.

Ultimately, it depends on how good the riders are, but given most homebrew stuff is more towards the OP side than the conservative, odds are it would be too much. I could be wrong, shrug, I would have to see some ideas.

 

[Giauz]

This seems like a lot of work for what amounts to making a simple system complex in a way that doesn't give additional options. It also doesn't solve the problem of stacking advantage and disadvantage.

Shrugs It was worth a shot to solve the lack of d16 and d24, and that's the only problem I was trying to solve.

you could go with 2d8 and 2d12