D&D 5E Feats, class balance and fun

[FrogReaver]

Do you also know the HP totals?

Its a little pointless using GWM on a creature with 10 or less HP remaining.

Don't need to.

 

[Flamestrike]

Don't need to.

As a DM Ive seen PCs use it pointlessly on low HP (wounded or wheatever) critters, missing when a hit would have been the end of them.

AC doesnt tell the whole story.

 

[Barolo]

likely incompetent. Precision attack and often using reckless attack as a barbarian are the keys. Of course if there are no battlemasters or barbarians then those feats make a bit less of a difference.

It is just an anecdote, but a barbarian with reckless attack using GWM as often as he could is something I have had at my table. He was really a heavy hitter, but didn't ruin everybody else's fun, or required me to design encounters specially taking him into account, and definitely did not "break" the game for my table. He did have a hard time choosing between ABI and the feat at leveling up, because he wanted to up his defense too, and barbarians are MAD on that regard, but he decided to focus on the offence. I can remember at least one fight though, that was harder, against a very tough boss that would not go down fast, no matter what. The barbarian was the party tank, and sooner than latter noticed that using reckless offence would drain his HPs way too fast, even while raging, not buying enough rounds for the party as a whole to deal with the beast. So he decided to just hold the line without reckless, and dropped the -5/+10 too, as the boss had actually quite high AC at that level of gameplay. Had he not have the job of party tank all on himself, surely he would be doing his "thing" as usual.

 

[Vulf]

Sharpshooter does not lot you ignore cover. It lets you ignore 1/2 and 3/4 cover, which are the worst kinds of cover. Against good cover (total), Sharpshooters are just as crippled as anyone else. They have to either switch targets or maneuver for a shot.

If it is soft cover like a tarp or bushes, you could make the attack without seeing the enemy.

 

[Barolo]

Do you also know the HP totals?

Its a little pointless using GWM on a creature with 10 or less HP remaining.

I do not inform openly the AC or HP of monsters during game, but I do expect my players to have an idea on the probable HP and AC range of most monsters, as we have been playing for so long.

Also, I do expect them to be able to evaluate overall difficulty to hit (AC) just by "looking" at the enemies (actually paying attention to the descriptions I provide) as a lot of monsters and NPCs have clear signs of what sort of defense they have (hobgoblins in chain armor and shield, for instance, dragons clad in thick scales, unarmored giants with somewhat thicker-looking skin, or simply unprotected yet agile centaurs). And I do telegraph how is the HP drop going, how did the monster react to the perceived threat of some damage they just took, etc., and by so pacing the HP drop they can more or less guess the totals.

I do all that on purpose. I want them to know that information, not 100% sure, but with high confidence (some blur in info spices up things, nobody needs to be too comfortable). The same way, if they are to face monsters with special defenses or deadly attacks with nasty lasting consequences, I give them in-game opportunities to find that information. It is not for granted, but if they miss it (which is not very common), they usually figure out by themselves latter they had the opportunity to find that information during the other pillars of the game, but through their own choices and actions they just didn't manage to. I want them to make well-informed decisions. Challenges seem more interesting to me when it is not a game of guessing blindly.