D&D 5E Too many choices? (Options Paralysis)

[DND_Reborn]

A month ago we took a pause in our regular game so one of the players could start running Curse of Straud. Yesterday we had our second session and finished our first adventure, making 3rd level.

Now, our "normal" DM, was looking at his character and couldn't decide what he wanted to take for his 3rd level. He kept going back and forth, weighing different options and such. Finally, he sat back and said something along the lines of "this sucks, there are too many choices...".

I laughed. This is his first time playing 5E as a player since he normally runs the game. After the game broke up, we chatted for a while before I went home. Basically, the conversation revolved around 5E and all the choices.

He and I grew up playing in the 70's and 80's. You had choices, but not tons, really. 2E got more complex, but not too much so. Finally, we ended with sort of a point to discuss next time at our table:

Two issues (for us) any way with options paralysis:
1. Multiclassing expands choices by 5-10 fold depending on the classes you qualify for.

2. Too many subclasses don't appeal to us, so choosing one is difficult.

To #2, Paladin's are a problem. The current adventure has the 2nd paladin our group has seen since we started a year ago. And in both cases, we homebrewed the oath because none of the ones we had "fit".

For my own character, at reaching 3rd level, I had to decide between 1st level Fighter, or picking my subclass. I chose the College of Swords. It gave me the TWF style and medium armor. I am not thrilled about the flourishes, since I see using the bardic influences in other ways. Still, the decision took me until today to make it... And I have been playing since we started.

How much is options paralysis an issue for your group? Is it just new players, or do experienced players have to take time to decide what direction they will go?

 

[EthanSental]

None. Typically our group already has a play style to theme in mind for a character. We did have 1 player that was a power gamer that researched builds online but overall, pretty quick decision making process at key levels.

 

[the Jester]

How much is options paralysis an issue for your group? Is it just new players, or do experienced players have to take time to decide what direction they will go?

I have a mix of newbie players, veterans who have played for years, and people who have played a few older editions "back in the day" but not for years. So far, I have never seen anyone need more than maybe an hour to decide on level up options, and I offer a ton of homebrewed content (e.g. at least three to five subclasses for each class).

So, not too much of an issue.

That doesn't mean it's not an issue for other groups, though- every group is different.

 

[MarkB]

Most players in our games have a pretty good idea what they're going to pick at next level long before it comes around. The exception to that is spellcasters when they gain access to a new level of spells - that can be a daunting list for some players to work through.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

A month ago we took a pause in our regular game so one of the players could start running Curse of Straud. Yesterday we had our second session and finished our first adventure, making 3rd level.

Now, our "normal" DM, was looking at his character and couldn't decide what he wanted to take for his 3rd level. He kept going back and forth, weighing different options and such. Finally, he sat back and said something along the lines of "this sucks, there are too many choices...".

I laughed. This is his first time playing 5E as a player since he normally runs the game. After the game broke up, we chatted for a while before I went home. Basically, the conversation revolved around 5E and all the choices.

He and I grew up playing in the 70's and 80's. You had choices, but not tons, really. 2E got more complex, but not too much so. Finally, we ended with sort of a point to discuss next time at our table:

Two issues (for us) any way with options paralysis:
1. Multiclassing expands choices by 5-10 fold depending on the classes you qualify for.

2. Too many subclasses don't appeal to us, so choosing one is difficult.

To #2, Paladin's are a problem. The current adventure has the 2nd paladin our group has seen since we started a year ago. And in both cases, we homebrewed the oath because none of the ones we had "fit".

For my own character, at reaching 3rd level, I had to decide between 1st level Fighter, or picking my subclass. I chose the College of Swords. It gave me the TWF style and medium armor. I am not thrilled about the flourishes, since I see using the bardic influences in other ways. Still, the decision took me until today to make it... And I have been playing since we started.

How much is options paralysis an issue for your group? Is it just new players, or do experienced players have to take time to decide what direction they will go?

For us, we nearly always know what subclass we want before session 1 begins. We often begin play at 3rd level, when everyone has their subclass.

Even when we do start at one, we know what the concept is, and generally that includes subclass and a couple feats.

This isn’t an optimization thing, it’s just that we generally want to play a Bladesinger more than we want to play a wizard, if that makes sense.

Still, sometimes the “none of these subclasses appeal to us so we homebrew” does hit us. I’m surprised by Paladin Oaths, though. They’re pretty broad, so I always figured they’re pretty easy to flavor how you want?

 

[DND_Reborn]

Well, the sad thing was during our conversation he actually seemed annoyed? maybe even a little depressed? that there were so many options. I really think it was a case of so much he wanted to do/try and knew he wouldn't get the chance to do it all. I know he's DM'd over 90% of the time from what I've played with him and he indicates about past groups. He seemed to have a lot of fun playing (and his character was good, effective, and fun to have), so I don't know.

Still, sometimes the “none of these subclasses appeal to us so we homebrew” does hit us. I’m surprised by Paladin Oaths, though. They’re pretty broad, so I always figured they’re pretty easy to flavor how you want?

The first paladin (in the other game that is paused for now) we created an "Oath of Protection". For CoS, the character's oath is more akin to a grave domain cleric I guess. It isn't my character so I don't know for certain.

 

[Eric V]

A month ago we took a pause in our regular game so one of the players could start running Curse of Straud. Yesterday we had our second session and finished our first adventure, making 3rd level.

Now, our "normal" DM, was looking at his character and couldn't decide what he wanted to take for his 3rd level. He kept going back and forth, weighing different options and such. Finally, he sat back and said something along the lines of "this sucks, there are too many choices...".

I laughed. This is his first time playing 5E as a player since he normally runs the game. After the game broke up, we chatted for a while before I went home. Basically, the conversation revolved around 5E and all the choices.

He and I grew up playing in the 70's and 80's. You had choices, but not tons, really. 2E got more complex, but not too much so. Finally, we ended with sort of a point to discuss next time at our table:

Two issues (for us) any way with options paralysis:
1. Multiclassing expands choices by 5-10 fold depending on the classes you qualify for.

2. Too many subclasses don't appeal to us, so choosing one is difficult.

To #2, Paladin's are a problem. The current adventure has the 2nd paladin our group has seen since we started a year ago. And in both cases, we homebrewed the oath because none of the ones we had "fit".

For my own character, at reaching 3rd level, I had to decide between 1st level Fighter, or picking my subclass. I chose the College of Swords. It gave me the TWF style and medium armor. I am not thrilled about the flourishes, since I see using the bardic influences in other ways. Still, the decision took me until today to make it... And I have been playing since we started.

How much is options paralysis an issue for your group? Is it just new players, or do experienced players have to take time to decide what direction they will go?

Honestly, in our 5e game there was NO options paralysis (in character creation/leveling up...sadly, plenty during play). If anything, our problem was the opposite.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Honestly, in our 5e game there was NO options paralysis (in character creation/leveling up...sadly, plenty during play). If anything, our problem was the opposite.

As in you didn't find enough options? Or you just knew what path/direction you wanted to take?

 

[Eric V]

As in you didn't find enough options? Or you just knew what path/direction you wanted to take?

Both. For the barbarian, it was the latter, and for the sorcerer it was the former (the limited options in this case was the limited number of spells known).

Because subclasses are pre-packaged suites of abilities, it's easier to plan out ahead what you might want; pretty much all my players had planned out 1-20 because there are actually very few actual decision points in leveling up, even if it sometimes seems like there are more.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Both. For the barbarian, it was the latter, and for the sorcerer it was the former (the limited options in this case was the limited number of spells known).

Because subclasses are pre-packaged suites of abilities, it's easier to plan out ahead what you might want; pretty much all my players had planned out 1-20 because there are actually very few actual decision points in leveling up, even if it sometimes seems like there are more.

I guess maybe that's a big part of the difference for us: no one plans out their characters to level 20.