D&D 5E concentration in 5th edition, whats your fix?

[jgsugden]

The game works well, as is, but I do think a little nuance can improve it. In my campaign, you get a number of concentration points equal to the highest level spell slot you can cast. Spells have 'concentration costs' which are generally equal to the spell level at which it was cast, but I have tailored a bit for certain spells.

* For each spell you're already concentrating upon, the concentration cost of concentrating on a new spell rises by one.
* If you concentrate on multiple spells, you must be the target of one of them.
* If you're concentrating on more than one spell, you have disadvantage on concentration saving throws, as well.

A wizard at level 3 you have 2 concentration points. You can concentrate on a second level spell, or a first level and a cantrip.

At 5th, the wizard could concentrate on 3 cantrips, a 2 and a cantrip, two ones or a three.

At 7th, the wizard tops out at 2 cantips +1st, a 2nd and a 1st, a 4th, a 3rd and a cantrip, etc...

At 11th level they could concentrate on 4 cantrips, a 3rd and a 2nd, or a 4th and 1st. They can never cast more than 4 spells.

At 17th or higher level you might be concentrating on 3 1st level spells and a cantrip, 3 2nd level spells, 2 4th level spells, a 6th and a 2nd, etc...

 

[Stalker0]

Right now I have two main rules:

1) Reliable: Concentration spells with this keyword follow stacking rules as normal. However, you do not need to make a concentration check when taking damage.

There are many defensive spells that I think its terrible that as soon as you get hit, the spell can just drop. That said, I still like the restriction to buffing, so this was my answer to that.

2) I made a consumable potion that lets a caster maintain a second concentration spell.

I am trying this out in my games right now as a test. This allows the casters to expand concentration but I maintain control....and if I find its not too bad I'll incorporate some more default house rules.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I really think the only problem with concentration is some of the spells that require it.

For instance, Rangers get totally hosed by concentration, as do most gish builds.

 

[werecorpse]

Can I reanimate this thread a second time? Re re animated?

I tend to resist changing stuff until I’ve played it RAW for a while, my first instinct with the concentration rules was that I liked the fact that it reduced the 3e massive pre combat buffing which was a problem both in the amount of time taken up and the huge difference in power between a prepared party and an unprepared party. I didn’t think that spells like hold person, web or blindness needed to be concentration because I didn’t see what problem they were trying to fix by making them concentration and if an aspect of the game worked fine you don’t need to fix it. But I figured it had been playtested so I’d give it a go.

Ive now played enough 5e RAW that I’m beginning to be irritated by some of the effects of concentration. For me it’s an aspect that’s working ok some of the time but has begun to show some issues.

In a 1980’s game called Bushido they had a limit to stop people overbuffing. In that game they had certain spells that couldn’t be cast on the same subject. So it was the recipient of the spells that was limited not the caster. In 5e you can still have 5 casters buff up one person. So using that Bushido limit in 5e if a wizard had enough spell slots they could give the fighter stoneskin, make the rogue invisible and themselves resistant to fire. I quite liked this as it kept buffing simple but flexible.

I don’t see the requirement for battlefield control spells like entangle, web, fog cloud or evards to be concentration or spells like hold person or blindness. They already have secondary save escapes and the like.

sure some attack spells need a concentration mechanic to stop them ie the new to 5e spell Spirit Guardians needs to be concentration because otherwise it lasts 100 rounds and the cleric will upcast it to the max maybe get turned invisible and rip through huge sections of many adventures. But does mordenkainens Sword, which is just a wizards 7th level version of spiritual weapon but with concentration. Does flesh to stone?

Another alternative is to allow some spells to be upcast 1 or 2 levels to get rid of the concentration requirement. So say invisibility cast as a 3rd level spell doesn’t need concentration, maybe greater invisibility cast as a 6th level spell. Anyway that’s how I’m approaching it at the moment as I’m looking at tinkering with the game.

 

[Nebulous]

I played it as is. We'd discussed an optional rule to let you concentrate on a second spell by spending your action, so you could cast Fly turn 1, Invisibility turn 2, and thereafter spend your action to concentrate, so all you could do is move and take bonus actions.

I like that too. Did you ever try it in play?

 

[Nebulous]

Another alternative is to allow some spells to be upcast 1 or 2 levels to get rid of the concentration requirement. So say invisibility cast as a 3rd level spell doesn’t need concentration, maybe greater invisibility cast as a 6th level spell. Anyway that’s how I’m approaching it at the moment as I’m looking at tinkering with the game.

I like that as well. I don't have any great problems with the Concentration mechanic, although as DM it sometimes gets frustrating because I can't use my evil wizards to full effect because the con mechanic gimps them.

 

[TwoSix]

Can I reanimate this thread a second time? Re re animated?

Yes, but only if you concentrate on it.

 

[CapnZapp]

For player characters, the Concentration mechanism is essentially fine.

For enemy casters, it's another matter.

Fortunately, the higher level, the more likely I am to bend or simply disregard the rules...

But seriously, there should totally be options for Archmages to concentrate on more than one thing at a time.

Let's say you need to be level 17 to access these abilities, because that justifies me giving them to any CR 17 spellcaster you meet... Bwhaha

 

[neogod22]

I'm planning on house ruling a feat called "Advanced Concentration" which will allow a caster to conce trate on a 2nd spell. I might restrict it to requiring lvl 11+.

 

[Wiseblood]

I'm planning on house ruling a feat called "Advanced Concentration" which will allow a caster to conce trate on a 2nd spell. I might restrict it to requiring lvl 11+.

I was thinking of giving a magic item that would allow that. Requires attunement and perhaps has a level cap.