Level Up (A5E) Random LU Feedback

[lichmaster]

Rangers only have a number of uses equal to their Wis modifier per long rest. But! Rangers are no longer spellcasters and therefore not as Wisdom-dependent as they used to be, especially since skills aren't tied to stats anymore. So the ranger player may not put one of their high stats in Wisdom if they have another build idea.

But anyway, assuming that a ranger does max out their Wisdom and it's 16 at 2nd level, they can only get that huge bonus to damage once per long rest, and they only get that bonus if they hit, unlike a herald's smites, where they can choose to get the bonus damage. If they use point buy and max their primary Dex and their not-actually-secondary Wis, then all of their other stats are going to be utterly mediocre, which means they'd be penalizing themselves just to maybe get one nova per day.

To me, it seems that unless it's a do-or-die event, it'd be more likely a ranger would instead choose to get multiple instances of +1d6 damage.

I know all that, but in the maybe not so uncommon situation described above (low number of encounters per day) it becomes quite the possibility. And the damage potential is absurdly high, even for a nova. There's no other class with the same damage potential at level 2, and frankly this really seems an oversight to me.

 

[Stalker0]

6/1 notes added

 

[Stalker0]

7/27 notes added

 

[Stalker0]

Rangers only have a number of uses equal to their Wis modifier per long rest. But! Rangers are no longer spellcasters and therefore not as Wisdom-dependent as they used to be, especially since skills aren't tied to stats anymore. So the ranger player may not put one of their high stats in Wisdom if they have another build idea.

But anyway, assuming that a ranger does max out their Wisdom and it's 16 at 2nd level, they can only get that huge bonus to damage once per long rest, and they only get that bonus if they hit, unlike a herald's smites, where they can choose to get the bonus damage. If they use point buy and max their primary Dex and their not-actually-secondary Wis, then all of their other stats are going to be utterly mediocre, which means they'd be penalizing themselves just to maybe get one nova per day.

To me, it seems that unless it's a do-or-die event, it'd be more likely a ranger would instead choose to get multiple instances of +1d6 damage.

Just noting that over 6 months running the game, the ranger is still novaving with that ability almost all the time. They are definitely the highest DPR member right now, though the cleric does well in mass group scenarios with their sun domain fireball and spirit guardians.

 

[zen_cat]

I'm enjoying these periodic updates, and I'm going to steal your approach to inspiration for my upcoming game.

 

[Stalker0]

11/27 notes added

 

[lichmaster]

11/27 notes added

I read your update and I agree with you about size up.
First thing I'd rule that the fighter needs a check with a DC that depends on the CR of the target (or opposed by the target's deception, if the target is actually trying to conceal it)
Also, it would make sense to me that to size someone up the fighter would need to see how the target moves, so it wouldn't work on a statue or a chest in order to discover if the statue is animated or the chest is a mimic.

 

[tetrasodium]

I read your update and I agree with you about size up.
First thing I'd rule that the fighter needs a check with a DC that depends on the CR of the target (or opposed by the target's deception, if the target is actually trying to conceal it)
Also, it would make sense to me that to size someone up the fighter would need to see how the target moves, so it wouldn't work on a statue or a chest in order to discover if the statue is animated or the chest is a mimic.

Eyes of the runekeeper with warlocks has a bit of the same "I just do it" no huelfdles no real delay problem. When players can say "Oooh I know/almost took [obscure language]" there's a lot of wiggle room for a gm to not appear that they are deliberately obfuscating things with dialect age & condition. When it's just "no it says I can read it" the gm saying "it's written in code" raises problematic questions of why this is written in code & why the code keeps changing after the first deciphering or two.

 

[Strider1973]

Now compare it to the Size up Fighter ability for the Ranger/Fighter in the group. With a glance, the character can tell the CR of any creature they encounter. Suddenly that mysterious Fey master they met....oh what's its CR? No check, no effort....just spill the beans, how strong are they really. Oh that statue that looks like a person, is it actually a creature with a CR? (aka a threat) or it is just a statue? Is that treasure chest actually a mimic (creature with a CR) or just a treasure chest? Suddenly as a DM I have to ensure every NPC I have created has CR stats just because of this ability. Its not magic, so nondetection doesn't block it, it only requires sight....so I'm limited in options there. Sure I can DM hand wave and say "it doesn't work on person X"....but anytime as a DM your in that territory you have to question if the ability is proper. And...it doesn't really make flavor sense. A rogue frisks someone to get a feel for their items...sure. A person literally meeting someone for the first time and knowing that they are a powerful CR 20 creature and not this small frail looking guy, just doesn't make sense.

The first ability is cool, unique, and well balanced. The second one is gamey and abusable.

I completely agree with this: i didn't like a similar feature of the Battlemaster Archetype in O5e, and Seize Up is even more powerful and broken, to me in a sense. By the way, I'm really enjoying A5e so far, so much better in overall game design than O5e!