D&D General Design issues with 5e

Sulicius · 2026-03-10T09:44:30+0000

Retros_x said:
No HP bloat.

What makes having more HP a problem in 5e? That fights take longer? Or is this just comparing old monsters to new monsters and seeing a higher number?

Retros_x · 2026-03-10T09:50:15+0000

Sulicius said:
What makes having more HP a problem in 5e? That fights take longer? Or is this just comparing old monsters to new monsters and seeing a higher number?

Yes it takes longer. Mostly because adding dozens of dices and subtracting it from a three digit HP block is more annoying. But also because many 5e higher level monsters are just big blobs of HP. The fights don't get much more interesting on higher levels, its just punching down the numbers.

Sulicius · 2026-03-10T10:16:56+0000

Retros_x said:
Yes it takes longer. Mostly because adding dozens of dices and subtracting it from a three digit HP block is more annoying. But also because many 5e higher level monsters are just big blobs of HP. The fights don't get much more interesting on higher levels, its just punching down the numbers.

Try 5.5e, it's a lot better at the high levels. Plus PCs deal more damage, so that's not the issue. The problem is more all the added abilities used every bonus action, reaction and for free.