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Command is the Perfect Encapsulation of Everything I Don't Like About 5.5e
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 9439582" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Sure. Literally dozens of players, both in groups I've DM'd and played in, across decades of play.</p><p></p><p>But, sure. It's a player problem. Couldn't possibly be a spell problem. The fact that we never have these problems with identical spells - like Dissonant Whispers - which don't have vague definitions is just a bizarre coincidence. Couldn't possibly be anything else. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/erm.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":erm:" title="Erm :erm:" data-shortname=":erm:" /></p><p></p><p>Or, maybe it's because things like pretty much all of the most problematic spells in 5e, the ones that perennially top the charts as spells that frustrate DM's pretty much are all brought forward from the early days of the game, when the idea of technical writing wasn't really a thing at all. Command is just a perfect example. At it's heart, in 5e, it's a "Force the target to move somewhere and deny it's action for one round" spell. That's what it does at it's most basic. Which is identical to the Dissonant Whispers spell except that instead of dealing damage, the caster gets a bit more control over where the target goes. </p><p></p><p>But Dissonant Whispers, being first introduced into the game much, much later, has tight, easy to understand rules with no real vagueness. Command OTOH, being introduced into the game in the 80's, is chockablock with vague definitions which have slowly (very slowly) been tightened up over time.</p><p></p><p>The changes in 5.24 are simply a continuation of the general tightening of the rules that's been wending its way through the game for years. </p><p></p><p>But, sure, it's just a player problem. The changes that are being made to the spell have nothing to do with making the game easier to run. No, it's that WotC just hates creativity.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 9439582, member: 22779"] Sure. Literally dozens of players, both in groups I've DM'd and played in, across decades of play. But, sure. It's a player problem. Couldn't possibly be a spell problem. The fact that we never have these problems with identical spells - like Dissonant Whispers - which don't have vague definitions is just a bizarre coincidence. Couldn't possibly be anything else. :erm: Or, maybe it's because things like pretty much all of the most problematic spells in 5e, the ones that perennially top the charts as spells that frustrate DM's pretty much are all brought forward from the early days of the game, when the idea of technical writing wasn't really a thing at all. Command is just a perfect example. At it's heart, in 5e, it's a "Force the target to move somewhere and deny it's action for one round" spell. That's what it does at it's most basic. Which is identical to the Dissonant Whispers spell except that instead of dealing damage, the caster gets a bit more control over where the target goes. But Dissonant Whispers, being first introduced into the game much, much later, has tight, easy to understand rules with no real vagueness. Command OTOH, being introduced into the game in the 80's, is chockablock with vague definitions which have slowly (very slowly) been tightened up over time. The changes in 5.24 are simply a continuation of the general tightening of the rules that's been wending its way through the game for years. But, sure, it's just a player problem. The changes that are being made to the spell have nothing to do with making the game easier to run. No, it's that WotC just hates creativity. [/QUOTE]
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