D&D 5E Unarmored Defense and Surprise

[Yunru]

You are not wrong. But some aspect of being flat-footed needs to be brought back to the game.

*coughsurpriserulescough*
Because losing your actions and not being able to take reactions isn't enough?

 

[jasper]

.... Characters don't sleep in anything other than padded or perhaps leather armor. Anything else would be too uncomfortable and would result in less than ideal sleep....... I have seen people sleep in full plate with just a polearm and pillow under their neck. One of them could do cartwheels in his plate. (boo hiss I can't do cartwheels at all). I have slept in leather, chain and helm. Would have been a great sleep if was not for the bugs and 80+ heat.
You want to dm but DO NOT want the players to know the rules!!! Please tell me this whole thread is just good natured trolling. I am old fart, the first time a DM did this; I would pack my stuff up and go home. If it was in my house I would bounce the dm.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[canucksaram]

heh

Fair enough! Perhaps the best way to approach this is just to say that you are trying to incorporate the flat-footed rule for everyone, and attempt to figure out what that means in 5e. My only cautionary note is that incorporating selective 3.5e rules can lead to unexpected game balance concerns.

A succinct way of putting it.

As for game balance, my primary concern is to eliminate anything outside the fuzzy edge of moderate imbalance. Again, the threshold for this is relative.

The popular conception of game balance that many folks espouse (with talk of "DPI" and "optimization," etc.) is not one I share. All classes are not created equally; they are not all equally capable in all circumstances; they don't have to be perfectly balanced. At certain times, Class A might shine more brightly than Class B, and vice-versa. There are no ribbons just for participating.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[canucksaram]

I don't think so. I cannot speak for the OP, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that he is incredibly comfortable and used to the 3.5e mechanics, and those feel realistic and familiar to him, and he would like to incorporate some of what he knows into 5e.

Personally, I think it's a not-good idea (it will lead to game balance issues, and require further corrections), but if he gets table buy-in, more power to him.

I mean, I incorporate some concepts from 1e at my own 5e game- but that's because I play with grognards that are fearful of change and remember when they had to walk 10 miles, in a snowstorm, both ways uphill, just to pick up the pizza for the game.

Actually, I never played 3.5. I looked at some of it, but I was still in the "D&D is too simple for me now" camp back then. I've come back to the game with 5E because some of the simpler parts of 5E are better than a lot of the complicated parts of 3.5 (or Pathfinder). Perhaps it's safe to say that I want the best parts of any edition of the game that help emulate low magic, gritty fantasy, pulp-ish swords and sorcery, and a Nolan-style take on kewl powerz as compared to a Michael Bay take on them.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[pukunui]

But some aspect of being flat-footed needs to be brought back to the game.

The fact that being surprised means you lose a turn isn't enough?

Personally, I think it would be more hassle than it's worth in the long run. Having to recalculate AC scores on the fly isn't fun and will just bog the game down. I recommend giving the RAW a try if you haven't already done so first before trying to bring in rules from previous editions. And, above all, get your players' buy-in before making any changes!

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

Recalculating the defensive target number was always fiddly and time consuming…

5E is simple: You only have one Armour Class.

There is no "flat-footed AC" or "touch AC" or "Sleeping AC" or "Immobilised AC" or anything — just one number to remember/write down.

Some characters might have two, for example, a Wizard with and without mage armour, but generally one is going to be used most of the time. For my Wizard, i've permanently marked off one spell slot and told everyone to assume my char casts it every single morning.

 

[Faenor]

I think of the game surprise mechanic as the players have already chosen not to do anything with their turn. I find this fits well with all these logic issues people have with the sucker punch surprise attack questions. The whole game could be done a round at a time, really.