D&D 5E Parts of the game that get a lot of hate but you love

[Tony Vargas]

I guess, because I love Bounded Accuracy so much, this counts as "a lot of hate" to me.

My touchstone for 'hate' in the context of D&D is the edition war: anything subjected to less hate than that has nothing to complain about.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

The Forgotten Realms. I find it to be a good catchall setting for generic high fantasy that is easily manipulated to the GM's purposes. If you want to adventure against orcs in the cold tundra, FR can handle that. If you want a political urban intrigue adventure, FR can handle that. If you want your adventure alongside big named NPCs, FR has them in spades. If you want to homebrew your adventure, there are plenty of blank places in the FR to plop your plot and have it untouched by "canon". Its setting assumptions (NPCs, gods, organizations, etc.) are flexible enough that they can be removed entirely or replaced with homebrew material and not spoil the setting.

 

[cmad1977]

The Forgotten Realms. I find it to be a good catchall setting for generic high fantasy that is easily manipulated to the GM's purposes. If you want to adventure against orcs in the cold tundra, FR can handle that. If you want a political urban intrigue adventure, FR can handle that. If you want your adventure alongside big named NPCs, FR has them in spades. If you want to homebrew your adventure, there are plenty of blank places in the FR to plop your plot and have it untouched by "canon". Its setting assumptions (NPCs, gods, organizations, etc.) are flexible enough that they can be removed entirely or replaced with homebrew material and not spoil the setting.

I'm with you. I currently use the FR, but basically with no canon. Handy having a whole region available that can accommodate whatever the heroes feel like doing.


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[BookBarbarian]

The Basic Rules.

Honestly, try playing with just the Basic Rules every once in a while. It's super fun.

 

[flametitan]

The Basic Rules.

Honestly, try playing with just the Basic Rules every once in a while. It's super fun.

I don't know if I see hate for it so much as dispassion for it. A lot of people tend to overlook it in favour of encouraging people to go for the PHB or the Starter Set. (I believe that somebody new should be pointed to the Basic Rules, as it serves as a good means of "Try before you Buy." The Starter set is mainly for if you want to learn how to DM.)

That said, I agree that the Basic Rules on their own can actually be great fun. I haven't had much of an opportunity to take advantage of it, but it is.

On a similar note, I see a similar level of dispassion for the pregens in the starter set. Everybody makes their own characters, it seems. However, half my group of 6 is using the pregens (originally we had all five pregens, but then two dropped while another 3 joined) and it's been as great of fun as if they made their own.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I don't know if I see hate for it so much as dispassion for it. A lot of people tend to overlook it in favour of encouraging people to go for the PHB or the Starter Set. (I believe that somebody new should be pointed to the Basic Rules, as it serves as a good means of "Try before you Buy." The Starter set is mainly for if you want to learn how to DM.)

That said, I agree that the Basic Rules on their own can actually be great fun. I haven't had much of an opportunity to take advantage of it, but it is.

On a similar note, I see a similar level of dispassion for the pregens in the starter set. Everybody makes their own characters, it seems. However, half my group of 6 is using the pregens (originally we had all five pregens, but then two dropped while another 3 joined) and it's been as great of fun as if they made their own.

Good point. I guess it's not Hated as much as overlooked.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Inspired by the other thread: streamlined monster stat blocks.

If I have a monster stat block that has what spells it knows, I don't need some of those spells defined again further down in the statblock. I also don't want a list of actions the monster will take as reactions/actions because I find that limits players into thinking that's all the monsters can do. The absence of these does not make the monster boring, IMO, because as the DM, I have the power to make them as interesting as I want. And it was very easy. How smart is a kobold? What kinds of objects/tools/traps would a creature like a kobold use? Great! Just because those things aren't in a statblock doesn't mean the kobold can't or won't use them. Alternatively, I can simply bump up the CR of the creature by one category and give it a feat. Shaman kobold? Magic initiate feat and done. simple.

Apparently the lack of additional defined abilities gets a lot of hate.

 

[happyhermit]

Inspired by the other thread: streamlined monster stat blocks.
...
Apparently the lack of additional defined abilities gets a lot of hate.

If that is something that gets a lot of hate I definitely agree. If you give somebody a script, it is going to end up getting followed, and lot. Most players don't want to fight monsters that are following a script. I much prefer the way they are currently presented "want to swap their weapons, sure just refer to PHB" etc. Perhaps they could have spelled out better that the monsters have any logical action available to them, but I would hate to see a change in approach to a less dynamic one.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I love 5e's swinginess. A lot of folks don't like that the dice matter at least as much (if not sometimes more than) your character options. I totally love it. I love that it nerfs system mastery, hard. I love that your carefully planned house of cards is subject to a good, stiff breeze from the dice. I love that it makes the players react in the moment to what's actually happening at the table, and weakens the benefits of The Optimal Build. I love that a STR 8 gnome has a chance to move a solid marble statues that the STR 20 goliath couldn't move. It encourages everyone to give everything a try. Pray to RNGesus and roll the dice, son!

I love the limited character options. A lot of folks feel like they need more granular details to truly build the character of their dreams. I love that it's simple. I love that it's quick. I love that The Optimal Build is most of the time pretty clear and unambiguous, and that any one character can only squeeze so much out of the system. I love that even the Optimal Build is not dominant, and it doesn't force everyone else to try and play catch-up.

I love that magic items are not part of character-building. A lot of players feel like they should be able to get what magic items they want and that are appropriate for their character type. I love that your GWM might have to make due with a spear for a while because that's the way the treasure came out in the end. I love that magic items can be wacky, that they can be disposable, that they can be optional.

I get that not everyone loves these things, and that even 5e needs to balance what I love about these things with what other players might want. But I love that the game is weighted in favor of these things.

 

[Shasarak]

The only time it's a "win" is if you have a Rules Lawyer to deal with. 5E does a pretty good job of cutting the legs out from underneath them, since it doesn't try to have rules for everything.

Ah, you know nothing, John Snow!

If you can not rely on official rules then you just have to use the DMs rulings and precedent against him for the win.