D&D 5E Is Tasha's Broken?

[Amrûnril]

Where WotC made the wrong call was in setting the benchmark of your primary stat at level 1 at 16 - as is shown by every single pregen having a 16 in their primary stat at level 1. They then made it physically impossible to reach that 16 when using the standard array with any race that didn't have a bonus in their primary or secondary stat. And not being able to reach the benchmarks just feels bad. This means that thanks to what is in this particular spot the poor design of the 5e PHB playing anything other than a cookie cutter race/class combination just felt bad.

This meant that in PHB 5e most races can not meet the benchmark in the majority of classes. This was exceptionally bad for table diversity. There was a really awkward patch for this by creating a plethora of subraces for 5e - but this grew messy. And for a (non human/helf) race that doesn't have subraces you can't meet the benchmark in four out of six stats.

I'd go a step further and say that the issue isn't just the benchmark, but more broadly the focus on "primary ability scores". If a fighter with 14 strength and 14 intelligence could have similar combat effectiveness to a fighter with 18 strength and 10 intelligence, this would be an entirely different conversation.

 

[ECMO3]

the Swarmkeeper really isn't much to get excited about,

A swarmkeepers movement ability is super powerful when combined with spike growth.

That is like 12d4+1d6 extra damage every single time he hits with an attack and the enemy fails the save. And he can do this turn after turn until enemies get more than 15 feet away from the spikes (which is super hard because they are difficult terrain).

That is a crapton of damage out of a second level slot and that before considering it is an awesome spell to start with that your allies can also cash in on.

 

[ECMO3]

There's no "Well X,Y and Zfeature to make STR based Orc Rogues"

You can have an effective strength-based Rogue in any class. Strength based Rogues are great in play, they just can't multiclass.

 

[bedir than]

A swarmkeepers movement ability is super powerful when combined with spike growth.

That is like 12d4+1d6 extra damage every single time he hits with an attack and the enemy fails the save. And he can do this turn after turn until enemies get more than 15 feet away from the spikes (which is super hard because they are difficult terrain).

That is a crapton of damage out of a second level slot and that before considering it is an awesome spell to start with that your allies can also cash in on.

How is it 12d4+damage since it's drag 15 feet or damage

 

[ECMO3]

How is it 12d4+damage since it's drag 15 feet or damage

15 feet across spike growth is 6d4 and it is another 6d4 when he closes on his turn to attack again. It could be less if he moves away in another direction to avoid some of the damage. But that is usually not the way to go to reengage and will usually mean lost actions and lost turns. It could be 0 if he makes his save. But in general it is a damage boost turn after turn to what is already relatively high attack damage.

 

[bedir than]

15 feet across spike growth is 6d4 and it is another 6d4 when he closes on his turn to attack again. It could be less if he moves away in another direction to avoid some of the damage. But that is usually not the way to go to reengage and will usually mean lost actions and lost turns. It could be 0 if he makes his save. But in general it is a damage boost turn after turn to what is already relatively high attack damage.

Unless you're fighting zombies few monsters are going to be stupid enough to kill themselves just for an exploit.

 

[Ogre Mage]

No. Tasha's is power creep but that has happened in every edition since 2E (I only played 1E at the very end so cannot say). And this is baby power creep compared to what I saw from official WoTC supplements during my 3.X days. Even the twilight cleric is child's play next to the Cheater of Mystra, divine metamagic and all the other absurd brokenness of that era.

 

[Maxperson]

Incrementally more powerful than older content, maybe. “Broken”? No.

Such hyperbole.

I agree. Nothing in Tasha's is broken. Not even the Twilight Cleric.

 

[GreyLord]

No. Tasha's is power creep but that has happened in every edition since 2E (I only played 1E at the very end so cannot say). And this is baby power creep compared to what I saw from official WoTC supplements during my 3.X days. Even the twilight cleric is child's play next to the Cheater of Mystra, divine metamagic and all the other absurd brokenness of that era.

In regards to 1e...

Many would say Unearthed Arcana introduce a LOT of power creep in it.

Some refuse to use it to this day (Personally, I love it).

 

[Maxperson]

That is the best kind of bard!

Dead, and unmemorable.

Hmm. I thought that they were either live or Memorex.