D&D General Things That Bug You

[Ancalagon]

I've got one - the dual weapon wielding rules show a fundamental lack of understanding on how swordfighting works.

 

[Stormonu]

I am still trying to figure out what a ranger is as it feels less of an idea than say the paladin.

The Ranger is a fighter with a large portion of his abilities in the exploration tract of the game.

Sadly, things like tracking, stealth, wilderness lore and the like have been handed out to everyone now, so it’s a “Fighter whose had his combat abilities reduced for a couple skills (of dubious value)”. You could probably at this point make a better Ranger if you took Battlemaster and the Outlander background and no one would be the wiser unless they looked at your sheet.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Before we continue can you clarify if you agree or disagree with my position? I honestly can't tell if when you say handwave you mean "the game is handwaiving the issue by giving out other benefits like bigger hit dice" or "DeviousQuail is handwaiving these other benefits that make up for the drop in AC when unarmored."

I'm saying, "I can kind of find answers to your objections, but these answers are giant handwaves, so don't think about them too hard, because D&D explanations are all kinda nonsense."

 

[DeviousQuail]

I'm saying, "I can kind of find answers to your objections, but these answers are giant handwaves, so don't think about them too hard, because D&D explanations are all kinda nonsense."

And here I was thinking we were on totally opposite wavelengths. Glad I checked before I started trying to quantify to-hit and save probabilities, the pros and cons of bounded accuracy, and the meaning of life.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Yeah, I'm pretty firmly in the "don't worry too much about realism, just worry about it a little, tiny bit, just enough to be fun" camp.

 

[Minigiant]

Regarding the Ranger.

It all goes back to the "All science is magic" thing.

The ranger is supposed to be a survivalist warrior who defends the homelands and travelers from outside wilderness threats.

However almost all the aspects associated with it: tracking, medicine, perception, animal lore, plant lore, long distance communication are handled with magic past level 1. Just Stealth/Surprise and Monster killing aren't.

So a class that should be warrior specialist becomes a fighty druid. All because all science = magic. And known that we are 5 editions in. It's too late to change it.

 

[Lanefan]

what do you like about him so much?

Halfway-interesting personality plus many years of some of the craziest in-game history you can imagine equals a character very much still worth playing, even though mehcnaically many would think him "just a simple Fighter".

 

[CleverNickName]

Oh, I thought of another thing that bugs me: disposable dragons.

If your players aren't visibly terrified when facing off against a dragon at your table,
if their voices don't lower to a nervous whisper,
if they don't lean forward in their chairs rapt with attention,
if they don't immediately start planning an exit strategy "just in case this doesn't go well," or "just so one or two of us might survive,"
...I'm talking to you and your overgrown lizards.

 

[dave2008]

I've thought about DR for armor but then you run into issues with it being fiddley and affecting single powerful attacks vs multiple weaker attacks an so on.

I can see why you do it, I've just never bothered adding it to my house rule list.

In our house rule it only comes into play on a critical hit or when your HP is 0. Otherwise AC and armor are RAW. Makes it much less fiddley in our experience.

 

[dave2008]

I'm talking 5e but that's not the only game I've played where this is an issue. Using 5e as an example, if you take off your plate mail armor you go from AC 18 to AC 10ish. My fighter's training and experience don't do anything to protect me. So when I take off my armor to attend a court function, hit the tavern, or go to sleep I'm a sitting duck. That bugs me.

Games that make use of DR for armor don't have this issue as much IMO.

We that is only if your DEX is 11 or less. What I don't like is that an unarmored person could have an AC of 15 and putting on full plate only takes them up to 18. However, the mistake your making, as I see it, is assuming your fighter's defensive capability is relying on their AC. Their skill and training as a fighter is represented by their hit points not their AC. That is why hit points go up every level. The fighter is not getting tougher skin and organs, they are better able to avoid serious injury (aka 0 hit points). Hit points represent the fighter's combat training, that is the level up mechanic your looking for.