D&D 5E I have the DMG!

[Mouseferatu]

...

Okay, so if a barbarian is at the very highest level anyone can attain, and if he's maxed out Dex and Con, and if he has multiple casters in his group, and if they have the right buff spells prepared...

Then, if the casters are willing to forego a whole array of potentially encounter-shaping high-level concentration spells like wall of force because they're too busy maintaining a 1st- and 3rd-level spell, they can give the barbarian an AC that's really tough, but not impossible, to hit. For up to a minute, or until one of them fails a Concentration check.

The idea that this somehow means the game's basic mechanic is broken goes beyond silly into the realm of the deliberately surreal. If I hadn't seen it myself, I couldn't imagine this claim appearing seriously anywhere other than gamer-focused performance art.

 

[Falling Icicle]

All of this could have been easily avoided if they had just included a rule that magic item bonuses to the same stat don't stack with each other.

 

[transtemporal]

...other than gamer-focused performance art.

Lol, that idea alone merits XP!

 

[seebs]

All of this could have been easily avoided if they had just included a rule that magic item bonuses to the same stat don't stack with each other.

But the entire point is to get away from stacking rules. And I am pretty much okay with this, because yeah, I think +1 chain and +1 shield should be better armor than if either wasn't +1. Therefore they should stack.

 

[pepticburrito]

All of this could have been easily avoided if they had just included a rule that magic item bonuses to the same stat don't stack with each other.

The existence of magic items in the game are up to the GM. It's the GM's responsibility to make sure his/her game runs. If the GM says nothing stacks with magic items and the player doesn't like it, then the GM can just go with the default. Which is no magic items at all.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

In 3e your aim was ro be hit only at a 20... which 5e in most cases avoids.
Being surrounded with many lesser foes will still give you a high chance to meet your creator sooner than later...

With a measly +4 to hit, you hit AC 23 with a 19... if you have mob tactics (or flanking advantage), the chance gets even better.
Nearly 10% chance to crit. Surrounded by 8 little goblins and look how long you are standing.

 

[Tormyr]

In my 5e Age of Worms conversion, I have given the players almost all of the magic items called for in the 3.5 adventure path. Each melee PC has +1 AC and a +1 weapon. At 4th level, the Paladin had AC 21, and the monk had an AC of 18. The game still plays well. Just last week I had 2 of the 6 PCs go unconscious. If not for some quick thinking, it would have been a TPK.

 

[Chocolategravy]

...

Okay, so if a barbarian is at the very highest level anyone can attain, and if he's maxed out Dex and Con, and if he has multiple casters in his group, and if they have the right buff spells prepared...

Then, if the casters are willing to forego a whole array of potentially encounter-shaping high-level concentration spells like wall of force because they're too busy maintaining a 1st- and 3rd-level spell, they can give the barbarian an AC that's really tough, but not impossible, to hit. For up to a minute, or until one of them fails a Concentration check.

The idea that this somehow means the game's basic mechanic is broken goes beyond silly into the realm of the deliberately surreal. If I hadn't seen it myself, I couldn't imagine this claim appearing seriously anywhere other than gamer-focused performance art.

Very dramatic. However...

You can do much less and invalidate the challenge of CR 20 monsters and thus break the system.

It's not the only way to get high AC. There are several ways to get to this level of AC.

This problem will get worse. We don't even have the full list of magic items from the DMG yet with Ioun Stones, Bracers of Defense and the like or the first splat book with new classes, spells, feats and even more magic items.

PCs can reach ACs that encounters rated as deadly can't hit and simultaneously have AB that mean they rarely miss.

As I've said before, there are games out there with bounded accuracy. It's very easy to see the difference between their mechanics and 5Es and there is a difference because 5E is not a bounded accuracy game. It is a game that is intended to be as simple as possible for kick-down-the-door gaming while maintaining some of the feel of previous editions and to be that simple things got sacrificed and one of them was bounded accuracy.

 

[Chocolategravy]

In my 5e Age of Worms conversion, I have given the players almost all of the magic items called for in the 3.5 adventure path. Each melee PC has +1 AC and a +1 weapon. At 4th level, the Paladin had AC 21, and the monk had an AC of 18. The game still plays well. Just last week I had 2 of the 6 PCs go unconscious. If not for some quick thinking, it would have been a TPK.

When I ran AoW for 3.5E I had well over 30 permanent character deaths. No TPKs but they came close. Some of the early encounters can be pretty rough. And some of the deaths were just mean, like when a couple of the more experienced players convinced a couple of the less experienced to go in the "elevator" with crushed bones on the floor... or when those character's brothers joined the party and decided it would be a great idea to scout ahead... It was a learning experience for some of the players.

 

[pkt77242]

Very dramatic. However...

You can do much less and invalidate the challenge of CR 20 monsters and thus break the system.

It's not the only way to get high AC. There are several ways to get to this level of AC.

This problem will get worse. We don't even have the full list of magic items from the DMG yet with Ioun Stones, Bracers of Defense and the like or the first splat book with new classes, spells, feats and even more magic items.

PCs can reach ACs that encounters rated as deadly can't hit and simultaneously have AB that mean they rarely miss.

As I've said before, there are games out there with bounded accuracy. It's very easy to see the difference between their mechanics and 5Es and there is a difference because 5E is not a bounded accuracy game. It is a game that is intended to be as simple as possible for kick-down-the-door gaming while maintaining some of the feel of previous editions and to be that simple things got sacrificed and one of them was bounded accuracy.

In my group the Fighter with Plate +3 and a Shield +3 would never in a million years also get a bracers of defense or anything else that helped AC as the other party members would want it. You are right, if you take the single best magic items from the DMG and give it to a single player then they become incredibly powerful. The real question is who is stupid enough to do that? If you do it at your table then it is your problem.