D&D 5E D&D 5e Basic Set: Things that make you go "what?!"

[amerigoV]

I used the Sleep spell in one of our sessions against the wizard/leader of the party during one of their Temple of Elemental Evil forays....The player/PC plays to this massive ego so the others generally rag him.

I finished 1 hit point away from his current hit point total.

Tense Combat Encounter - check
Awesome that Party Survived - check
Memorable - check

Whatever the problems or abuse that could occur, thankfully I have never experienced it, but after that fight I'm a huge fan of it.

Nice.

I just want to state that I am not pounding the table that its bad, it just caught my eye as a departure from that I was used to under 3e and before. I did not do the play tests (other than one game at Origins a few years back) so I do not have a feel how it interacts with the rest of the system.

 

[mach1.9pants]

My newest "what?" is minor: It is possible for a LG halfling to carry around mummified elf fingers, depending on their trinket roll. Ew.

A holy relic, he has the opportunity to make great backstory as to how he received it. Did he find it? Did he save it from a temple that was being desecrated by marauding gnolls?

e.g.

The Finger of St Thomas

"Doubting" Thomas was unable to accept the resurrection even though Christ stood there before him. So Christ allowed him to put a suspicious finger inside the wound made in his side by a Roman soldier's lance. It is a moment miraculously painted by Caravaggio. If you doubt the story, you can see Thomas's finger itself, preserved in the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome (they've got three pieces of the True Cross, too).

 

[jodyjohnson]

Also...Manacles are extrememly flimsy. Its a DC 20 strength check to break...meaning Joe Average will break his manacles after two minutes of trying.

The DC for breaking your thumbs and wrist is a DC 15 strength check. Every time you roll after the first, I let the manacles roll too (items can be characters too).

 

[Sadrik]

Is Power word stun much better than hold person?

 

[Nagol]

Is Power word stun much better than hold person?

It's different and it hard to tease out enough to see if it better save through play.

The different saves are pretty much a wash, but I suspect we'll see slightly higher average Con compared to Wis. That's a half-point for Hold Person.

Hold Person can be leveled to extend its effect to multiples so that's a point for Hold Person.

Paralysis is like stunning except melee combatants within 5 ft auto-critical on a hit. Both conditions offer attackers advantage. So that's a point for Hold Person.

Power Word: Stun has an automatic effect if the hp threshold is met so the victim gets no initial roll to resist. That's a point for Power Word: Stun.

 

[Particle_Man]

Also Hold Person is a Concentration spell and Power Word Stun is not. That is a point in Stun's favour.

 

[JC99]

The DC for breaking your thumbs and wrist is a DC 15 strength check. Every time you roll after the first, I let the manacles roll too (items can be characters too).

Alternatively, you might have the character take 1 point of damage for every number they're short on the DC 20 roll to represent the manacles mangling their hands/wrists as they strain to break free.

Roll a 6? 14 damage.

 

[jodyjohnson]

Alternatively, you might have the character take 1 point of damage for every number they're short on the DC 20 roll to represent the manacles mangling their hands/wrists as they strain to break free.

Roll a 6? 14 damage.

1 point if you fail by 10 or more would be sufficient in some cases. Especially while getting captured pretty much defaults you to 1 hp, and hanging from the wall doesn't count as a short rest.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

1 point if you fail by 10 or more would be sufficient in some cases. Especially while getting captured pretty much defaults you to 1 hp, and hanging from the wall doesn't count as a short rest.

Yeah getting hit by a torch deals 1 fire damage. I don't think you ought to be able to mangle your own hands as badly as 14 points of damage. That would mean that your average person would have a high probability of KILLING THEMSELVES while trying to break manacles. As you say, 1 will do.

 

[evilbob]

Definitely sad to see the final version of the sleep spell. The old "turn undead" mechanic is clunky, requires extra rolling and adding, pretty much needs a break in the action to look it up in the book, requires the players know exact HP totals, and all this complexity comes with no real payoff that I can tell. I was thinking of houseruling it to something along the lines of "affects 3 targets in range, wisdom save to negate, +1 target per higher spell charge spent" but I will think about it.

HP thresholds in general are disappointing; I guess if you include sleep there are only 3 spells that have them? They just don't seem necessary.

Very few "Whaaaa?" overall, though! It's been fun to see how things have finally shaken out.