D&D 5E Rules We Have Been Doing Wrong This Whole Time

[Benjamin Olson]

I was using healing Hit Dice wrong for a while. We used to get all of them back after a long rest instead of only half of them. Must have been some 4e surges leftover. Did not really change anything though once we started only getting half. I think we noticed that you get the Con bonus for each die about the same time so it may have balanced out.

One of my groups did the same thing and we liked it somewhat better that way. It mostly just made them easier to track with no other real practical impact since in that campaign we usually had non-adventuring days between the sort of days where we would be doing lots of short resting. No 4e experience was required to do it "wrong", I think we just assumed that since you get everything else back on a long rest, that hit dice would not be on their own "two long rest" system.

 

[Shiroiken]

After playing for a while now, I realized that the delay action mainly caused delays in play and made Dex way more powerful.
I wonder how many people who argue that dex is too strong because it gives a bonus to initiative allow the delay action as a house rule.

Delay isn't a tactic that most would use, especially those fond of "rocket tag." Delay's primary value is in occasionally setting up real world tactics that can't work under 5E's initiative system. Realize that unless you roll initiative for each monster individually, you're allowing them this ability while denying it to players.

I don't think Dex is the god ability score, yet I allow the option to delay. Since 5E came out, I've seen it happen maybe 3-4 times, usually because two players wanted to set up something together, but an enemy could move between their turns and ruin it.

I don't handwave Darkvision. I apply it's penalties, and it's really devalued the ability.

I wondered forever why everyone complained about Darkvision being so powerful. I only found out everyone else was using it wrong earlier this year.

 

[J.Quondam]

Delay's primary value is in occasionally setting up real world tactics that can't work under 5E's initiative system. Realize that unless you roll initiative for each monster individually, you're allowing them this ability while denying it to players.

I hadn't thought of that. It's a really good point.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Delay isn't a tactic that most would use, especially those fond of "rocket tag." Delay's primary value is in occasionally setting up real world tactics that can't work under 5E's initiative system. Realize that unless you roll initiative for each monster individually, you're allowing them this ability while denying it to players.

Unless you resolve each monster's turn separately before moving on to the next one in the group, no?

 

[Shiroiken]

Unless you resolve each monster's turn separately before moving on to the next one in the group, no?

Yes, because no PC can go between each monster's initiative. If the fighter and cleric want to move up to form a battle line at a choke point, it can't happen if an enemy goes between them (unless the higher initiative PC gives up their action to Ready to move when the other is in position). Monsters can just move to the location without worries of the PCs stopping them. This is a significant advantage for enemies against tactical players, simply because of the arbitrary initiative rules. With Delay as an option, the higher initiative PC gives up their better initiative (allowing the enemy to go first), in order to gain a tactical advantage the enemy could have used themselves.

I'd also like to reiterate that it really doesn't come up often. If such a tactical advantage existed, the higher initiative group (if intelligent) is likely going to either take the advantage themselves or deny it to their enemy. Most of the time it involves timing actions, which can normally be done by Readying anyway (at the cost of Concentration if casting a spell). However, in the rare instance it comes up, I don't want to arbitrarily deny a player the opportunity because they rolled well.

 

[Mannahnin]

Delay isn't a tactic that most would use, especially those fond of "rocket tag." Delay's primary value is in occasionally setting up real world tactics that can't work under 5E's initiative system. Realize that unless you roll initiative for each monster individually, you're allowing them this ability while denying it to players.

I don't think Dex is the god ability score, yet I allow the option to delay. Since 5E came out, I've seen it happen maybe 3-4 times, usually because two players wanted to set up something together, but an enemy could move between their turns and ruin it.

Yeah, I think the main reason 5E dropped it is probably for simplicity and duration tracking. There are lots of (both harmful and beneficial) effects which last until a character's next turn, or activate at the beginning or end of their turn. Delay can make the durations on some of these inappropriately stretchy.

IIRC both 3rd and 4th handled this by making a special case rule that if you Delay, any beneficial effects still end on your old initiative count- you can't "stretch" them. But any harmful effects on you last until your delayed turn. It's a bit kludgy and can be annoying to track, which I imagine is why WotC didn't keep it.