D&D 5E Tweaking DMG Combat Options

[Li Shenron]

I'm going to try this out and see how it goes. Any thoughts, or opinions about the concept?

I had the same thought as [MENTION=6746242]mips42[/MENTION] i.e. how about trying to play gridless? It has a more 'natural' feel compared to using any kind of grid, and if you want to ignore things such as being on 'opposite' sides, then my guess is that it's going to work quite well.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I don't know why any DM would want to implement a rule like that.

As a DM who wants to implement a rule like that:

Giving +5 to hit a flanked target does strike me as totally absurd. Combat would become a game of flank (and avoid flanks) at all costs

Why's that absurd? It makes perfect sense to me. Surround your enemies, and avoid getting surrounded. Isn't that a fair description of basic combat tactics?

, turning combat into an intense minis chess game.

Well, if you're the type of DM who likes to play on a grid, that's the whole point of implementing something like this. As for myself, I'm mostly doing TotM combat. I can say "3 more lizardmen jump out from behind you, so they flank you and get advantage," and we move on with our lives.

 

[Kalshane]

I personally think this is a pretty easy rule to use, and works both with the grid and TotM.

What's the general consensus on sword-and-board? Pre-5E, it's been often considered the weaker option than either TWF or great weapon fighting. If that's still the case in 5E, maybe using a shield increases the number of necessary attackers to flank by 1.