D&D 5E (2024) Mike Mearls explains why your boss monsters die too easily

[Not a Decepticon]

Me? I will procrastinate to the last minute! But yeah, if the characters are hurt, exhausted and missing some magic, I would expect them to wait to those things to recover before undertaking a dangerous task if there is no pressing need to not to do so.

"hurt, exhausted and missing some magic" - that's what short rest is for. And also NOT what you are after a single fight, as 5 minute Adventuring Day people claim is happenning.

So you do not think the rules represent thing known to the characters?

No. Unless you're playing Deadpool, you do not know hit points, ac, exact stat numbers of your character or exact mechanical effects of conditions applied. And I do not allow Deadpool-like characters on my table.

They do not know they are hurt, they do not know that some of their magic is spent and by waiting they can recover it?

That's what short rest is for. They can take hsort rests as long as they have hit dice to spend, this is the equvalent of tkaing some time off to recover, like a break at work, so to speak. No works owuld let you work for five minutes, then take 8-32 hours rest, and the rules assume the common sense here - characters are heroes, who want to do heroci things. Not cowards who need to run to town to recover after casting one spell and taking one punch because they need to always be guaranteed to win.

So they don't know that spells recharge with a rest? That seems like an odd thing for nobody to know.

Do you want Kender? Do you want an in-universe explanation why wizard can use a dagger that ties to the history of the war between gods? Because I find that laughable and this is what we get from pretending that the worlds of the game are reflecting the mechanics. They're not, the mechanics are the way the story is translated to the players.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Removing the problem is a defacto way of dealing with it.

I equate that to losing half a chessboard and deciding to play with 4 pawns, 1 rook, 1 knight, 1 bishop and 1 king to fix the issue.

Secondly why is matching the difficulty to the players capabilities offloading it? Surely that is one of the DMs prime responsibilities?

One of the DMs prime responsibilities is not offloading system issues onto the players.

"Hi I know there are no court lines but you must still find a way to play your tennis match in this situation"

 

[Not a Decepticon]

• Wargamers: the decision is largely a cost benefit analysis of pure logic. Although factors such as potential impact on enjoyable tactical combat might weigh heavily, the level of disdain and outright contempt shown in 5e's rules design tactical combat should not be ignored.
• Videogames: the game is treated like a video game. Why would they not rest as often as they could in order to unload with full on nova power as often as possible when the purpose of playing is to win. To these players wotc's choices to actively remove elements from past editions that would make choosing to wait a nonoptimal choice yells loud and clear that waiting and resting again is the intended way of play. Setting such a low bar on what it takes to start or complete a rest only underscores design intent here. Like the wargamers the impact on tactical combat might be considered as something to weigh against the sheer joy of being able to wtfpwn & ROFLstoml the enemy, but tactical combat is heavily downplayed by the 5e ruleset itself and is unlikely to provide much weight to offset a mindset that approaches & plays the game largely as a place to crush your enemies see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women.

If I wanted to play wargame or video game, I would play wargame or video game. People who treat ttrpgs like these need to learn they're wrong and correct their behavior or I doubt they will stay at my table for long.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Yes. Just ban it. I however find a lot of GMs are for some reason reluctant to ban problematic spells and features. And regardless, it is ludicrous that they included in the first place at least in the invincible bunker from it exists in 5e.

Too many spells to ban and THEY are not the problem. You're not treating the actual issue which is the rest and recovery mechanic.

I'm ok for banning OP spells or classes or even a class feature if it deviates from the norm but what you've listed doesn't deal with the core problem.

 

[Charlaquin]

Not sure but it turned up in a top ten worst sets of magic.

I remember a surprising amount of them (haven't played in 15 years).

Oh, yeah, it’s terribly designed and I’ve yet to meet a dedicated Magic player who actually likes it. But, based on what sealed collector boosters are going for compared to other sets’ collector boosters, there are enough people who aren’t dedicated magic players who want the cards just because they’re Spider-Man cards and don’t care that they’re poorly designed as game pieces, that it doesn’t matter. Magic players can hate it all we want, if it’s still beating “real magic” in terms of sales, it’s a success in Hazbro’s eyes.

 

[Zardnaar]

Oh, yeah, it’s terribly designed and I’ve yet to meet a dedicated Magic player who actually likes it. But, based on what sealed collector boosters are going for compared to other sets’ collector boosters, there are enough people who aren’t dedicated magic players who want the cards just because they’re Spider-Man cards and don’t care that they’re poorly designed as game pieces, that it doesn’t matter. Magic players can hate it all we want, if it’s still beating “real magic” in terms of sales, it’s a success in Hazbro’s eyes.

Yeah sales are everything. You can probably design a better D&D for ones tastes but who would by it.

Dailies are the problem if people are defaulting to 5MWD. I think Mearls is being a bit hyperbolic but not by much.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Do you want Kender? Do you want an in-universe explanation why wizard can use a dagger that ties to the history of the war between gods? Because I find that laughable and this is what we get from pretending that the worlds of the game are reflecting the mechanics. They're not, the mechanics are the way the story is translated to the players.

This did not answer the question though.

Are you saying that Wizards in your worlds, for example, are completely ignorant of the fact that their magic recharges after they sleep?

 

[AnotherGuy]

So they don't know that spells recharge with a rest? That seems like an odd thing for nobody to know.

Spells do not recharge (video game concept)
The character finds the necessary stamina to cast these spells once more.
And that's why it's weird to have HD and an exhaustion mechanic and fail to integrate the two for the casting of spells or any other activity that requires exertion.

 

[Charlaquin]

Spells do not recharge.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I've added more so you can delight us with another meme