D&D 5E Losing Concentration

[billd91]

We noticed the ability to cast fly at a higher level and affect more targets too which brings up the possibility of correctly identifying the caster, targeting him, and causing the whole party to fall because of the broken concentration. Fun times ahead!

 

[Nebulous]

We noticed the ability to cast fly at a higher level and affect more targets too which brings up the possibility of correctly identifying the caster, targeting him, and causing the whole party to fall because of the broken concentration. Fun times ahead!

I just noticed that Dispel Magic (3rd) automatically dispels any magic 3rd level or lower. No save. So that flying character is in danger around a spellcaster!!!

 

[Psikerlord#]

One of the changes from the last public playtest packet is that you can lose concentration if you're damaged. There's a Constitution saving throw to be made with a DC or 10 or half the damage taken, whichever is higher.

I hadn't noticed that before. (Just when I was writing a guide about spell-casting worked)

It makes buff spells and hold spells quite a lot more fragile, IMO.

Cheers!

So fragile they are probably not worth casting over save or dies, occasional AoE, and out of combat utility. Might be exceptions for a very high AC fighter mage/eldritch knight, maybe mountain dwarf wizard, who can avoid being hit in the first place more often than not and has good con/con prof for when they do get hit (also many concentration buffs synergise well with melee). Alternatively, cast buffs on front liners and hide, but that isnt much fun for the buffer, in my experience.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Which I think is part of the plan. Save or Suck spells get harder to resist as you level (unless its your proficient saves) but you're less likely to be taken out of the fight long because someone is going to break your concentration. Likewise, blowing a dozen buff spells on a cleric and charging in is a lost tactic; even if he can get a good buff going, getting into melee is going to chance ruining concentration.

Magic just got a lot more tactical; no more blowing buff-after-buff or save-or-suck and forgetting direct damage.

I think you'll find the opposite is true - it will be all save or die, out of combat utility, and occasional AoE where useful. I dont think you'll see buffs much at all apart from dedicated fighter mage types.

 

[Stalker0]

So fragile they are probably not worth casting over save or dies, occasional AoE, and out of combat utility.

I am curious to see how it plays out for the melee combat cleric. Aka the old buff myself up and wade into combat. That said, there are still some buffs that do not require concentration.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I am curious to see how it plays out for the melee combat cleric. Aka the old buff myself up and wade into combat. That said, there are still some buffs that do not require concentration.

Yeah I kinda expect the combat cleric wont work out too well this edition. Probably worth going Fighter Cleric for the extra AC etc.

 

[MerricB]

Wait. I know you lose concentration on one spell if you cast another concentration spell, but I don't remember seeing anything about long casting times doing it. Did I miss something?

I must confess I didn't call this out in the article. Thanks for the reminder! It's there now.

Cheers!

 

[Stalker0]

Yeah I kinda expect the combat cleric wont work out too well this edition. Probably worth going Fighter Cleric for the extra AC etc.

I would place a bet that some of the "battle cleric" archetypes get a bonus to their concentration checks. We shall see!

 

[MechaPilot]

I think it's a good thing that concentration can be broken with damage. The concern I have is that the DC goes up the more damage a caster takes. Damage scales considerably as you go up in level, while things like checks and saving throws are subject to bounded accuracy (hit points and damage are not bounded). At higher levels, the DC is going to often be much, much higher than 10, while the caster's con saves haven't really improved at all (since neither clerics nor wizards are proficient with con saves). If a caster is struck by a higher level effect that does 40 or more points of damage (which I imagine is fairly common at higher levels), he's pretty much guaranteed to fail the saving throw and lose his concentration.

If there is a problem with losing concentration due to taking damage, I don't believe the problem lies at the high end. I believe that if the problem exists it is the "death by a thousand cuts" that require a DC 10 save for taking as little as 1 HP of damage.

 

[Falling Icicle]

If there is a problem with losing concentration due to taking damage, I don't believe the problem lies at the high end. I believe that if the problem exists it is the "death by a thousand cuts" that require a DC 10 save for taking as little as 1 HP of damage.

If a big spell hits you and you take 50 damage, well good luck succeeding on your DC 25 Con save. I'd much rather have to succeed on several DC 10 saves than one DC 25 save.