D&D 5E Optimizing for more grit…

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Remove Darkvision. Attack their light sources.

This is all starting to sound suspiciously familiar ...

 

[overgeeked]

This makes a huge difference in how 2014 monsters play, IMO. My fervent hope is that the 2024 Monster Manual authors learned a lot from this blog and make the strategies and synergies much more central to how the monsters play, especially with the 2024 focus on new DMs.

Yeah, really. Though I'm honestly past the point of relying on WotC's official monsters. This problem, of grittiness in 5E, is why I made my own monster stats.

One thing I really like about Dragonbane is the list of 1d6 things the monster will do on its' turn. That takes a massive load off the referee. I think Sword World did something similar with their Fellows mechanic. Clearly not quite the same as fully fleshed out battle tactics, but if you're starting from zero and have no idea what the monster would do, having a handy 1d6 table is great.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I think in addition to some of that folks are suggesting is making healing kits necessary for a lot of healing.

I do rant to matter light. Since the central deity in my campaign is related to a brazier image, I do alter light a bit but I really like the idea of the barrowmaze suppressing cantrips. Clerics will need to carry maces…warlocks…well I will have to think about them.

If light and cantrips generally are suppressed in the mega dungeon and I crank down on easy healing…i am going to try anyway.

Maybe grittier healing as per dmg maybe.

No full healing in the dungeon overnight. It’s super evil and lots of random encounters…

Some of it barrowmaze includes I believe.

If cantrips are suppressed missile attacks and ammo should come into play in the dungeon….

Playing monsters to kill is the way too as someone recommended. Stabbing downed characters works for me but think I will keep death saves even as I work to use them up.

They made turning harder too… off to good start…

 

[Bill Zebub]

Yeah, really. Though I'm honestly past the point of relying on WotC's official monsters. This problem, of grittiness in 5E, is why I made my own monster stats.

One thing I really like about Dragonbane is the list of 1d6 things the monster will do on its' turn. That takes a massive load off the referee. I think Sword World did something similar with their Fellows mechanic. Clearly not quite the same as fully fleshed out battle tactics, but if you're starting from zero and have no idea what the monster would do, having a handy 1d6 table is great.

I'm going to have to look at Dragonbane for that reason alone.

As a DM, I would love to have monster choices be determined by a die roll, so that I don't have to make those decisions.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I believe the Alien RPG does the same roll-to-see-what-they-do thing for xenomorphs.

I do think it's a system worth exporting, at least as an optional rule. It'd be nice to have in one corner of a DM's screen: "Mentally overloaded? Not sure what the monster does in combat? Roll a 1d6!"

Ooh, or even better, one could probably make/sell custom d6s with simple choices on them. Throw that in your DM's kit and roll when you've got tons of stuff to worry about already and don't want to worry about deciding what each critter is doing in combat. The challenge there, though, would be getting the symbols to be clear enough in their meaning while still fitting on the sides of a typical d6.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I believe the Alien RPG does the same roll-to-see-what-they-do thing for xenomorphs.

I do think it's a system worth exporting, at least as an optional rule. It'd be nice to have in one corner of a DM's screen: "Mentally overloaded? Not sure what the monster does in combat? Roll a 1d6!"

I want it partially to alleviate overload, but also partially because I often find it hard to find the right balance between being "a fan of the heroes" and their adversary.

Ooh, or even better, one could probably make/sell custom d6s with simple choices on them. Throw that in your DM's kit and roll when you've got tons of stuff to worry about already and don't want to worry about deciding what each critter is doing in combat. The challenge there, though, would be getting the symbols to be clear enough in their meaning while still fitting on the sides of a typical d6.

Custom dice could be cool, but really I'd rather just have laminated monster cards (oversized playing card size) with a random table. 1d6 for basic monsters (goblins, etc.) and 2d6 for more advanced ones.

 

[overgeeked]

I believe the Alien RPG does the same roll-to-see-what-they-do thing for xenomorphs.

I do think it's a system worth exporting, at least as an optional rule. It'd be nice to have in one corner of a DM's screen: "Mentally overloaded? Not sure what the monster does in combat? Roll a 1d6!"

Ooh, or even better, one could probably make/sell custom d6s with simple choices on them. Throw that in your DM's kit and roll when you've got tons of stuff to worry about already and don't want to worry about deciding what each critter is doing in combat. The challenge there, though, would be getting the symbols to be clear enough in their meaning while still fitting on the sides of a typical d6.

This is why something like monster roles is such a great idea. Do a custom chart for each monster role. It's an ambusher, use this chart. It's a skirmisher, use this chart. Then make a set of custom d6s. Say color coded to role.

Yeah, symbols on dice are weird and hard to pull off. Typically the dice are also larger to compensate. Looking at my Doctor Who Rory's Story Cubes, they are about 25% larger than your standard d6.

 

[bedir than]

One thing I did for a grittier 5e was limit cantrips to X times per long rest where X was their attribute bonus+prof bonus per cantrip. That's a bit more use than a javelin, but much less than arrows

 

[Jahydin]

I see Greg retooled the adventure specifically for 5E, so my advice would be to run it as is and see if the rules actually need to be tweaked. If it's already designed to run "gritty" wouldn't want to double down on it.

Levels 1-3 are generally deadly enough anyways, so wouldn't hurt!

 

[Jahydin]

Might get into dragonslayer one day?

Now that the hardcovers are finally reasonable priced on DriveThru, I say do it!