This is pretty condescending.Have you considered that 5e, and more specifically DMing may not be the right fit for you? There is no rewriting of the rules that is going to make plopping down a brainless sack of hit points in the middle of a vast white room challenging. If fact, i can't think of any RPG out there that doing that would work.
I use a variety of fiat devices to ensure that most encounters in my 4e game happen at a respectable range (respesctable from the point of view of melee, that is - ie not too far away).It's one thing for the DM to rule that the Balor wasn't detected because the PCs didn't have detection measures in place; it's another thing for the DM to just fiat the Balor into existence in melee range because his battlegrid is only 30 squares wide and he likes melee combat.
Why would you assume these are diffrent things? Have you come across modules like Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain or Keep on the Borderlands?Does anyone play the game or they just try to beat it?
The second quoted paragraph seems to be in some tension with the first!The bottom line is if you try to screw around with the DM he should just pound you right back. If you abused it I would just have traps everywhere so you fail concentration checks or just search for them so long that you burn half your ki just casting that spell. There is also no reason the DM shouldn't send a Shadow Monk hit squad right after, one for each PC.
The idea is to fun, for everyone.
The second quoted paragraph seems to be in some tension with the first!
Why would you assume these are diffrent things? Have you come across modules like Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain or Keep on the Borderlands?
Not the only way to play the game, of course, but one with a pretty well-established pedigree.
I find the most troublesome players are the non-aggressive ones, to go on a tangent.
Not because of the players, but because of the time difference between a social and a combat encounter. Suddenly that time needs to be filled.
Are you a moderator? Or just the self-appointed fun police? Inquiring minds want to know.
I agree with some of those observations but don't consider them problems per se. There are things you can do to change them if you like (e.g. more interesting demons). I've also talked about what to do if you want to just accept 5E as written.
The solution you propose creates huge problems which can drive players away from the table, but it obviously works for you and your players so meh, keep doing what works for you. The same is true for CapnZapp and everyone else on this thread.