MichaelSomething
Legend
What do your players think about the issue??
My initial thought is - start them at level 1 and slow the leveling by increasing the xp to the next level. Make magical loot fairly hard to come by.This is not to start an argument, but to seek advice: I am not thrilled with how quickly characters become powerful in 5e. I am a dude who started with 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd edition, and I find the powers that characters have very quickly in 5e is a bit...vexing. Similarly, they just get too many powers, in my observation. So what are some ways to take some of that out? Remove bonus actions and reactions? No feats? Limit spell choice (like a ranger could only take spells like Animal Friendship)? I'm open to ideas.
My crew plays on Roll20, so it's not hard to futz with the built in 5e character sheet. I'd love some FRIENDLY, POLITE council. I'm not yucking anyone's yum.
I don't think you're really describing power gaming (players min-maxing to create optimal characters, usually with combat as a measuring stick) but rather the power of a typical character being too high for your tastes. I find it a bit surprising that you find this more of an issue in 5e than in 2e and especially 3e, but setting that aside, this is a hard issue to deal with without seriously tinkering with the design.This is not to start an argument, but to seek advice: I am not thrilled with how quickly characters become powerful in 5e. I am a dude who started with 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd edition, and I find the powers that characters have very quickly in 5e is a bit...vexing. Similarly, they just get too many powers, in my observation. So what are some ways to take some of that out? Remove bonus actions and reactions? No feats? Limit spell choice (like a ranger could only take spells like Animal Friendship)? I'm open to ideas.
My crew plays on Roll20, so it's not hard to futz with the built in 5e character sheet. I'd love some FRIENDLY, POLITE council. I'm not yucking anyone's yum.
I suppose the first question I would ask is: have you considered how your players would feel about reducing the power levels of their PCs? The biggest problem I have with houserules in D&D 5e (either version I would assume) is that the game is so forgiving on PC oomph that any houserules feel like nerfs. Most players don't like nerfs.This is not to start an argument, but to seek advice: I am not thrilled with how quickly characters become powerful in 5e. I am a dude who started with 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd edition, and I find the powers that characters have very quickly in 5e is a bit...vexing. Similarly, they just get too many powers, in my observation. So what are some ways to take some of that out? Remove bonus actions and reactions? No feats? Limit spell choice (like a ranger could only take spells like Animal Friendship)? I'm open to ideas.
My crew plays on Roll20, so it's not hard to futz with the built in 5e character sheet. I'd love some FRIENDLY, POLITE council. I'm not yucking anyone's yum.
The core assumptions of D&D 5e and 5.5. Those assumptions have not stayed the same over the decades.Power level is always going to be relative to what the PCs are facing. So if that is an issue, there are several tweaks you can do. Another possibility is magic items, I'm pretty stingy in my own game. Last thing from a power level is that many of the really cool things people can do are a limited resource. Don't let them take a rest after every fight or every other fight might be a solution.
But overall? Just slowing down progression can help a lot. Ultimately though it may just be that the core assumptions of D&D don't fit what you prefer, which I get. I've learned to just roll with it, but that's me.
So if you can be more specific about what the issue is, there may be different answers.
Great if you can find players that want to play 1e.Honestly the easiest way to recreate the 1e experience is to just play 1e.