D&D 5E The Decrease in Desire for Magic in D&D

[Micah Sweet]

If one is ever tempted to say "RAW be damned," that's...pretty clearly an indication that there's something wrong with the rules, no? Even if I disagree with you about this specific choice, we seem to be of the same mind that some kind of problem is found here.


It's perfectly balanced in 13th Age though! I genuinely love the design of the 13A Druid. They actually managed to solve the problem of the class trying to be 7 things all at once, half of them stupidly overpowered!

13A takes too much from 4th ed to really work for me, but I read it and its a great game if you buy into the design philosophy (just like 4e).

 

[Hussar]

What does the 13th Age druid do?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

What does the 13th Age druid do?

Long story short, you have six things you can invest into: Shifter, Terrain Caster, Elemental Caster, Wild Healer, Animal Companion, Warrior Druid. You get 3, and only 3, talents that can be spent on these six options. If you spend one talent, you are an "initiate" thereof; spend two and you're an "adept." The basic rules are the same for both, but you get to do it more often or more proficiently if you spend two talents.

So you can have a dabble of three of the above things, or specialize in one and dabble in another. "Druid" as a whole has all the things people want of it--but each individual druid cannot be all things. IMO, a brilliant solution to a major problem.

 

[Garthanos]

But it would make a fantastic drawback for Polymorph. And a pretty reasonable one too.

drawback , not so much when used against adversaries... unless it was the caster who was fatigued

 

[Vaalingrade]

It's not. Following RAW is not adversarial,

Following this one is. Rules are made to encourage certain playstyles and this one encourages adversarial DMing. Like Wish Classic.

 

[Maxperson]

Following this one is. Rules are made to encourage certain playstyles and this one encourages adversarial DMing. Like Wish Classic.

No. It doesn't. There's absolutely nothing adversarial about it. The player gets to choose within the limits of the spell what he turns into or turns someone else into, knowing all of the risks. It's not at all player vs. DM.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Sometimes it's the Player vs the book AND the DM. Like this time.

 

[Maxperson]

Sometimes it's the Player vs the book AND the DM. Like this time.

Show me how it's adversarial, because I'm not seeing it.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Following this one is. Rules are made to encourage certain playstyles and this one encourages adversarial DMing. Like Wish Classic.

Absolutely. RAW can be blatantly adversarial even--consider the ear seeker, the various forms of cloaker, cursed items that look identical to beneficial magic items.... Epitome of adversarial DMing

 

[Hussar]

drawback , not so much when used against adversaries... unless it was the caster who was fatigued

Well, that's true. But, by the same token, by the time you've polymorphed a baddie, it's most likely dead anyway. Everyone stands around that fish, drop spell and everyone's readied attack goes off. Having a level of exhaustion isn't really a big deal.

Or, you could gain 1 level of exhaustion for every size increase. So, sure, you can be a Giant Ape, but, you gain 2 levels of Exhaustion afterward. A Bear would give you 1 level of exhaustion and a wolf or smaller, no exhaustion at all. Simple enough to add to the spell. Although with the new OneD&d rules, that might not be so much of a penalty, but, you could always grant 2 levels/size increase.

Would kinda suck for small PC's though. Maybe just exhaustion for large and then huge - 1 for large, 2 for huge, regardless of the starting size. The strain of becoming so big is exhausting.