D&D General Design issues with 5e

i don't really care for "humans as quick versatile learners" tbh. i prefer "humans are cockroaches", but "humans are lynchpins of mundane reality" (draw steel touches that idea a bit) can also be fun.
I prefer "humans are divinely genetically variable specialists". Each individual human is very good at something different. So humans are good at exploring and settling because in every group will have people who at good at and enjoy most essential roles.

Like you need a LOT of halflings to find one who likes to fight. It will take a lot of births to make a dwarf who enjoys being outside. The average elf village won't have a tough guy. Few orcs are skilled at healing.

But an human town will have all vital services.
 

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i'm sure we could find a form of granularity that doesn't take multiple hours, overly simplistic combat doesn't appeal to me.


Simplicity and granularity is a scale, but I think 5e is slightly, not very, too far to one side.

If you have every character trying to optimize a main action, bonus action, move in one or multiple parts, and an object interaction doing something, it does not seem so bad. Then multiply that by every player at the table, plus dithering over what spell or bonus action to pick, and it becomes a problem.

The trick about reducing, even slightly, 5e's action economy is any benefit is felt five-fold. The benefit is not in you doing less. It is in everyone else going faster, so you get back to your turn faster. Faster combat rounds also means more reactive feeling combat.

Part of this is of course, that 5e monsters are bags of hit points and so hard to be reactive to. Shortening turns only also works if monster stats around hp are also lowered. There's a reason half a dozen combats per four hour session is more normal in OSR type games. 5e will never approach that as long as five different things to do every turn with decision points for each exist in the base combat framework.

All I'm saying is that I have heard plenty of complaints about 5e combat not being satisfying. I don't hear people complaining that the combat is too fast
 

I prefer "humans are divinely genetically variable specialists". Each individual human is very good at something different. So humans are good at exploring and settling because in every group will have people who at good at and enjoy most essential roles.

Like you need a LOT of halflings to find one who likes to fight. It will take a lot of births to make a dwarf who enjoys being outside. The average elf village won't have a tough guy. Few orcs are skilled at healing.

But an human town will have all vital services.
Sounds like bonus feat(s), so you can pick what you are good at.
 


Sounds like bonus feat(s), so you can pick what you are good at.

Yup.

Humans naturally specialize. Other species are 90% the same in talents.

I'd justify it with divinity. Patron dieties imbued and enforce their Favored Qualities in their races. Human patron diety is either dead, multiple, or favors specialization.

Human: Bonus Feat
Elf: Bonus accuracy and Bonus spell.
Dwarf: Bonus HP and Bonus Tool
Orc: Bonus speed and Bonus damage
Goliath: Bonus size and Bonus rune
Halfling: Bonus luck
Tiefling: Bonus resistance and Bonus magic
Aasimar: Bonus other resistance and Bonus other magic
 

Yup.

Humans naturally specialize. Other species are 90% the same in talents.

I'd justify it with divinity. Patron dieties imbued and enforce their Favored Qualities in their races. Human patron diety is either dead, multiple, or favors specialization.

Human: Bonus Feat
Elf: Bonus accuracy and Bonus spell.
Dwarf: Bonus HP and Bonus Tool
Orc: Bonus speed and Bonus damage
Goliath: Bonus size and Bonus rune
Halfling: Bonus luck
Tiefling: Bonus resistance and Bonus magic
Aasimar: Bonus other resistance and Bonus other magic
One of those is extremely more valuable than the others.

I think that the point was the fact that without the +2/-2 [+racial boons] humans wind up having their fluff/lore cake's niche and every other race's because PC's are always specialists. That's important because the -2 gave the demihuman & monstrous race options enough headspace in their racial boons the still feel distinct even when the human pc across the table is playing a similar pc with similar feat choices.
 

One of those is extremely more valuable than the others.

I think that the point was the fact that without the +2/-2 [+racial boons] humans wind up having their fluff/lore cake's niche and every other race's because PC's are always specialists. That's important because the -2 gave the demihuman & monstrous race options enough headspace in their racial boons the still feel distinct even when the human pc across the table is playing a similar pc with similar feat choices.
I'd limit it to orgin feats. Level 1 power feat.

The other species emwoulf have feature equivalent to a feat. Like an Elf or Tiefling gets an alternative Magic Initiate. Or a Dwarf gets alternate Toughness.

Basically the Patron diety chooses your racial feat. Humans lack a single living patron.

so Hunans get to choose.
 


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