D&D (2024) Rules that annoy you

[mamba]

If you force casters to waste their resources - spell slots - on boring utiltiy spells, they will use them, completely overshadowing any mundane class that could do the same things, because otherwise it will feel like wasting resources. And then they will use whatever spell slots remain to outshine the martials in combat.

that still means they have fewer slots for both combat and utility than they otherwise would, as utility would be free (ritual) and slots would be for combat, so they are outshining the others less

And beleive me, the kind of bookkeeping casters do now is tolerated only because it is midigated by excitement for all cool things they will do with their spells, which is completely killed if they're forced to take bunch of utiltiy spells, that also require far more planning and spotlight o nthe caster, that takes away from rest of the group.

eh, that level of bookkeeping barely registers

I actually want martials to be as pwoerful as casters and beleive casters need a nerf. HOWEVER, I do not beleive it will be accomplished by enforcing tiresome busywork that makes playing caster a chore and makes them annoying to play with,

then how do you accomplish this, esp. the nerf the caster part

 

[pukunui]

This is a long thread and I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it (like so many others I agree with, such as first aid - in 3e we ruled stabilizing someone took 1d10 rounds which the DM rolled secretly!) but I hate how 5e handles charges of wands and staves. I still use numeric limited charges like the old days. None of this “at dawn” bs (which means those items also serve as inefficient clocks when you’re underground for days at a time )

2014 DMG includes a “Wands that don’t recharge” variant rule. I have used it occasionally. I am curious to see if variant rules like that will be in the 2024 DMG as well.

 

[GobHag]

I honestly can't tell if you're joking or serious with these claims; because at face value they're bordering on - well, I'll just say impossible.

6 seconds to: remove armour to get at a wound, when removing that armour would normally take a few minutes; and assess the wound and-or determine whether the victim is still alive; and dig out an herb or potion from your backpack or wherever you've stashed it; and apply said herb or potion that would normally be a full-round action (i.e. take 6 seconds) in itself?

Shenanigans all round, I say to that.

Yep, that's all possible.

 

[Lanefan]

Yep, that's all possible.

Care to explain how, in considerably more detail than "it's possible"?

And I'm talking about reality here. If you can explain to me how this is possible in reality, then I'll accept it's possible in the game while at the same time being rather surprised.

 

[R_J_K75]

Your’re really not selling it with these one-line responses, my dude.

Think they're just trying to get a rise out of people or just overly attached to the fact that RAW it only takes 6 seconds.

As an example, I've had stiches by professional doctors at least 4 times and from start to finish it took anywhere from 20 minutes when I sliced my hand for a few to over 2-1/2 hours for about 300 when I tripped and smacked my face off the gas meter on the side of my house. That was a fun night. But anyhow the rule is very unrealistic and should at least give some reference to the type of damage vs time required.

 

[R_J_K75]

But does wasting all that time and possibly letting all the problems that comes from character death due to wasting that time actually make the game more fun?

Depends on what your groups definition of fun is. For me, yes its worth the time if we're playing a grittier game. What problems come with character death? Is it the DMs job to keep the players PC alive? I don't think so. I don't set out to kill PCs but if they die, then they die.

 

[R_J_K75]

One thing, (while maybe not a single rule), that annoys me is the +/- modifier. For example, make a heal check to perform brain surgery in under 6 seconds (with advantage), roll d20+4. Make an attack roll, saving throw, skill check, etc with a single or series of modifier(s), spells that give a +/- modifier, magical items, etc; see where I'm going with this? I really wish that D&D would have gotten rid of this by now and just made rolling a dice pool rather than having to add or subtract modifiers. It can slow the game down at times. 1d20+1d4, 1d20+2d6 would be so much easier IMO, or something similar. There's a lot of ways it could be done I suppose. It's been over 20 years since I've played it, but I think this is the way Alternity worked, and there were no modifiers IIRC. Yes I know this would mean redesigning from the ground up.

 

[pukunui]

One thing, (while maybe not a single rule), that annoys me is the +/- modifier. For example, make a heal check to perform brain surgery in under 6 seconds (with advantage), roll d20+4. Make an attack roll, saving throw, skill check, etc with a single or series of modifier(s), spells that give a +/- modifier, magical items, etc; see where I'm going with this? I really wish that D&D would have gotten rid of this by now and just made rolling a dice pool rather than having to add or subtract modifiers. It can slow the game down at times. 1d20+1d4, 1d20+2d6 would be so much easier IMO, or something similar. There's a lot of ways it could be done I suppose. It's been over 20 years since I've played it, but I think this is the way Alternity worked, and there were no modifiers IIRC. Yes I know this would mean redesigning from the ground up.

They did experiment with a proficiency die during the Next playtest. I think they decided it was too swingy, but it did make it into the 2014 DMG as a variant rule.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

that still means they have fewer slots for both combat and utility than they otherwise would, as utility would be free (ritual) and slots would be for combat, so they are outshining the others less


eh, that level of bookkeeping barely registers


then how do you accomplish this, esp. the nerf the caster part

Discussion about solving martial-caster imbalance deserves its own thread and it's silly to expect me to come with an answer in the middle of another discussion, that is only tangentially related.

Also, the casters have exactly the same amount of spell slots. They're more eager to use them to outshine martials outside of combat to not feel like they wasted time preparing utiltiy spells, however. The moment they know its a resource they won't run out of, in my experience, they tend it to slide or even forget about it, letting other classes to shine.

 

[pukunui]

@R_J_K75 Here's the full rule:

Spoiler: Proficiency Dice

While I enjoyed rolling the extra dice, I can understand the designers' thinking that proficiency should be a more stable benefit than what a die roll represents ~ especially since it gets swingier as the die size gets bigger, which is probably the opposite of what an increasing proficiency should represent.

Rather than increasing the die size, it might make more sense to increase the number of dice so you end up with dice pools, as you say. So maybe it should start with 2d4 and then go up to 6d4.