Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 7287184" data-attributes="member: 12731">That is true. In my opinion the list is much too specific. For instance, even though my group consists mostly of veterans of d20 (some even back to AD&D), they have yet to use Fly even a single time.The main points I feel are ubiquitous (at least for performance-focused games where this matters*) are:1) overcoming magic weaponry issues (yes, I'm fairly sure he means resistance/immunity to non-magical weapons). Unless you actively remove weapons from published supplements and/or choose to play a low-magic game where DMG treasure tables aren't used, there will be at least one magic weapon already at level 5 or so. And remember, spells and cantrips already count as magical (and/or elemental). The monster trait (to be resistant to non-magical attacks) is exceedingly soft in this edition, and I dearly wish there was at least one more level of this type of resistance. In short, once you have found a decent magic weapon, you really don't need anything else for the rest of your career. Going from a +1 sword to a +2 sword means exactly plus one, which is incredibly minor.This also means that a wererat is probably a MUCH more dangerous foe at, say, level 3, than a werebear at level 6. The first is outright likely to ignore physical attacks (which is huge) while the other is definitely not getting much utility of his non-weapon immunity in most parties/adventure supplements.2) Ability to cause specific damage and shut down regeneration. Having Firebolt as a cantrip, or Chill Touch, can completely trivialize the trait of a Troll.3) "Ability to rest comfortably in any environment" or, more generally, ability to ignore weather conditions, wandering monsters and pretty much every other old-school rest inhibitor. Yeah, most parties get so many goodies from the PHB that this becomes a non-issue, and much earlier than 10th level. (Cue Sacrosanct and his sacred "have the story hurry the heroes along" which simply gets old fast). The reality is that in most cases, there's nothing you the DM can do when the players decide they want to face the next encounter fully rested. And the very generous game rules are to blame, not you the DM.That's the big three, as I see it.Then (unfortunately) there's one more:4) ability to transverse the field of battle / ability to stop enemy from doing the same.Having a good movement rate is HUGE. Having good ranged attacks is HUGE. [SBLOCK]Unfortunately 5th edition doesn't put nearly as high a price on these abilities as they are worth. In English: it doesn't cost you (much) to create a Dex-based mobile character. It doesn't cost you to create a ranged fighter. You gain very little (too little) by choosing a slow, encumbered character (such as the archetypal axe dwarf in plate mail).Sure that dwarf is impressive in melee combat. But the secret is that most monsters are only impressive in melee combat. Fight them in other ways and they are wimps. Unfortunately, while the PHB hands out mobility and range like free candy to heroes, it is exceedingly stingy with giving monsters tricks up their sleeves. Monsters simply aren't given the tools they need to ensure they reach the heroes in melee, and they are often only given impressive melee attacks.Taken together, this means you can break 5th edition by not playing it the way its designers naively just assumed you would: the way you've always played D&D. But if you focus on battlefield control and range, you will find that monsters are much less likely to counter that to deliver any real challenge, than in any previous edition.[/SBLOCK]In comparison, something like "+1 to attacks and damage" is of little consequence in this edition. It simply doesn't change anything in significant ways, so I wouldn't consider it worth tracking.About the only one that appears significantly later would be "Ability to leave a combat when the party is in trouble." Yep, that's true, and it's significant. Thank god it happens only at highish levels.*) I mean, if you (not Jester personally, "you" reading this) are hosting a light friendly game where combats aren't difficult or even the main focus of your game, you might not recognize any of these points. And that's fine. But that also means the whole subject is kind of irrelevant to you.</blockquote>

Verification