D&D 5E (2024) NPCs, and the poverty of the core books

[Maxperson]

What if I say they have notes about how they did it but they're the indecipherable, idiosyncratic scrawlings of a singularly gifted savant?

Then I would consult the gods with a commune spell. Or ask a wizard to contact other plane to get the information. Or Legend Lore. Or...

There are other ways to get information once it is known to be out there. Lots of other ways.

I get wanting consistency but there are some things PCs just shouldn't have access to. Just as there are PC abilities that NPCs shouldn't get, if for no other reason than because the DM only has so much mental bandwidth and needs to run ever other monster.

Those things can be gated behind things no sane player would accept, such as a -6 wisdom and the like. The option should be there, though, if the PC can learn about it(not a given since rolls and ideas can fail) and is willing to pay the price.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

We must play very different D&D. I've seen 15th level 5E parties get wiped within a handful of rounds.

By what? A pack of tarrasques?

 

[Chaltab]

Very very rarely compared to earlier editions. It is the safety wheels version of DND.

I've seen way more PCs die in 5E than I ever did in 4E.

 

[TiQuinn]

By what? A pack of tarrasques?

Our 5 PC party got nearly wiped by the lich in Dungeon of the Mad Mage which also had summoned a Marilith. The fight was in a fairly small space in the Lich's tower which meant most of us were in range of the Marilith's attacks.