D&D 5E I'm just sayin', the concentration mechanic makes it WAY easier to balance spells

[Pandamonium87]

Up to now I'm very happy with the Concentration mechanic and I hope they won't start to release spells to avoid this nice mechanic just because people want to be broken.

 

[Uchawi]

Concentration is good for limiting the amount of spells that are in use at any given time, but it does not do much to balance a spell in regards to scope of effect, range, damage, utility, etc. And I am not sure it will apply against spells through magic items. So it may only change the focus to more disposable spells at hand through items.

 

[Steely Dan]

Just saw the best best buff round/scenario ever: Big Trouble in Little China: the drink derived from the Six-Demon-Bag: "…feel kind of invincible…" "…yeah, I have a really positive outlook on this…"

 

[EroGaki]

Up to now I'm very happy with the Concentration mechanic and I hope they won't start to release spells to avoid this nice mechanic just because people want to be broken.

Implying that people want to break the game because they don't like certain aspects of a mechanic is rather insulting. I hope they do release some good spells that don't require concentration. That doesn't make me "broken."

Besides, there are a few good spells that fit that description; mirror image comes to mind. IMO, there aren't enough decent spells that avoid the concentration mechanic.

 

[Steely Dan]

IMO, there aren't enough decent spells that avoid the concentration mechanic.

I can see that; multitasking...

 

[CapnZapp]

Concentration is good for limiting the amount of spells that are in use at any given time, but it does not do much to balance a spell in regards to scope of effect, range, damage, utility, etc. And I am not sure it will apply against spells through magic items. So it may only change the focus to more disposable spells at hand through items.

Yes we are all aware that Concentration will only be as good as the designer's discipline in future splatbooks.

 

[Pandamonium87]

Implying that people want to break the game because they don't like certain aspects of a mechanic is rather insulting. I hope they do release some good spells that don't require concentration. That doesn't make me "broken."

Besides, there are a few good spells that fit that description; mirror image comes to mind. IMO, there aren't enough decent spells that avoid the concentration mechanic.

Didn't mean to insult, sorry.

What I meant was that I hope that WotC won't start to release unbalanced material (in this case too powerful no-concentration spell) just because people (not you, but in general) wants to return to the buff stack of previous editions.

Of course I'd love more no-concentration spell too, but I'd like to see balanced stuff which is aligned to existing material.

 

[Chocolategravy]

And I would be shocked to see the concentration checks "literally" doubling the length of combat. I would imagine they add... a few seconds per round, at most.

You must have some mighty quick combats. Since an attack and damage roll would also only be a few seconds per round you must get your combats over in under 2 minutes!

Until the first targeted dispel magic goes off, and you have to spend five minutes re-working your AC, attack bonuses, save bonuses and so on.

So rolling for haste getting dispelled every single hit in 5E and accounting for it is "seconds", but getting debuffed in 3E takes 5 minutes. Yeah, not buying that bridge there.

And God help you when you're high enough level that Mordenkainen's disjunction comes into play, because then it's the whole party, and each player takes twenty minutes to rework. One spell can bring a 3e table to a halt for almost an hour. No single concentration check will do that in 5e.

Again, a completely overblown time estimate that destroys any credibility, not to mention a completely inappropriate comparison. High level 5E characters walking into an anti-magic field and losing all their potions, buffs and magical equipment bonuses would be more accurate. And I'll say that will take 50 minutes to recalculate, because I can make up nonsensical big numbers too!

 

[TwoSix]

You must have some mighty quick combats. Since an attack and damage roll would also only be a few seconds per round you must get your combats over in under 2 minutes!

Are you making the argument that every single combatant in a 5e combat will be maintaining a concentration effect, thus requiring every hit to have a consequent Concentration save? That's the only way I could see a doubling, and even that would require that every attack roll ALSO be a hit.

So rolling for haste getting dispelled every single hit in 5E and accounting for it is "seconds", but getting debuffed in 3E takes 5 minutes. Yeah, not buying that bridge there.

If you're already in possession of an underbridge domicile, buying another one would be rather silly.

And the haste example doesn't make any sense. Unless I've wildly misread the Concentration rules, you only make Concentration checks when you yourself are hit, not when anyone under the effect of the spell gets hit.

Again, a completely overblown time estimate that destroys any credibility, not to mention a completely inappropriate comparison. High level 5E characters walking into an anti-magic field and losing all their potions, buffs and magical equipment bonuses would be more accurate. And I'll say that will take 50 minutes to recalculate, because I can make up nonsensical big numbers too!

An hour is probably a bit of an outlier, but I've seen MD in play in a high-level game. It was awful. It happened once, and everyone at the table vowed never to use it again, either as a player or a DM.

 

[77IM]

IMO, there aren't enough decent spells that avoid the concentration mechanic.

This. It seems like any halfway-decent spell with a duration is Concentration. Like, why does blur require concentration but mirror image not? Is there any rhyme or reason to this?

In particular, I don't like having to choose between a buff, a debuff, or a zone. I feel like there should be some way to get multiple different duration effects going at the same time, especially if getting hit risks losing them.

I think I really like the attunement idea: beneficial spells take up your slot, and a given person can only be affected by one at a time (target's choice). Offensive spells require concentration; it's like an ongoing attack and can be disrupted.