Only if you add the optional rules to do so.
If you just up HPs to makes both sides HP sponges who twach each other, what's the harm of introducing optional tactics to liven up the pillowfight? Or options to remove the nerf swords?
What's the harm?
D&D 5E Volo's 5e vs Tasha's 5e where do you see 5e heading?
- Thread starter Henadic Theologian
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Only if you add the optional rules to do so.
If you just up HPs to makes both sides HP sponges who twach each other, what's the harm of introducing optional tactics to liven up the pillowfight? Or options to remove the nerf swords?
What's the harm?
Some people claim 4E did, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Actually it was more like they took kool-aid and called it tea, but that's a different story.
If your combat is just two sides swinging swords at each other every single combat, of course it's going to be boring.
The harm is that the more you codify special maneuvers and tactics the more people get locked into this idea that you have to have access to that special maneuver or tactic to ever use it. Or that there will be exploits that make the game one of system expertise with a barrier to entry. Or that combats will drag on endlessly as people shuffle through their options and struggle with analysis paralysis. Or that ...
Well I could go on but I think you simply want a different game than what D&D is or has ever been.
That's why you stick the words OPTIONAL on the top.
Hell make 2-3 options ofthe same things. I've always been a fan of having different sets of feats. Gritty Feats. Action Feats. Mythic Feats. Let the DM choose which ones to use, to use the advanced combat rule, or make up their own way to do it.
The reason why people get locked in isbecause they only see one option and also see WOTC not teaching DMs to create their own so players can trust their DMs.
"Hey this campaign is pretty low of the fantasy. So only Gritty Feats are allowed, and we are using the Weapon group rule and Healing Option 3. Cool?"
"Guys. No feats. No Multiclassing. No Official Advanced Tactics. Just tell me what you will do and I'll rule on it. Don't worry. I read Chapter 17. I don't like OAT and think I can do better."
4e has a reasonably good tactical game, though, in my opinion was more designed as a movie fight simulator. Something similar could be done be done for 5e but would need some kind of templating for the monsters. It would add a lot of decision points to the battles and that was one of the thing that made 4e fights super long. I was a 4e fan but I am not sure I would go for a subsystem that made fights longer.Some people claim 4E did, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Actually it was more like they took kool-aid and called it tea, but that's a different story.
I liked some aspects of 4E and not others. One of the things that led me to decide that I'd never play it again (especially high level) was the hour or more per round combats. There was just too much going on to keep track of.
It's bad enough when you have a computer to keep track of multiple simultaneous or nearly simultaneous things happening at once, but our poor analog brains just don't do well with that kind of complexity. Even 5E combat can be kind of slow, especially it you have The Analyzer(tm) at the table. Heaven forbid you have multiple.
I'd like a DM-oriented book that covered things like optional tactical rules and some other stuff such as mass combat, building castles and a smattering of other things. I just don't expect to ever see it. There are options in DmsGuild and 3rd party like Matt Colville's Strongholds & Followers.
Azzy
ᚳᚣᚾᛖᚹᚢᛚᚠ (He/Him)
A slight (pedantic) correction. The the description of studded leather in the 1e AD&D DMG seems like it was trying to describe brigandine. Brigandine also appeared in the 2e AD&D PHB (though, why I don't know—having a separate entry from studded leather seemed redundant). 2e also included padded armor (so, technically, it had the gamberson).
Amusingly I'm starting to skim & dig into anime5e and it's better in this regard. That goes both foroptions in combat, an almost strategic flanking mechanic more involved than gang beatdown=good plus some mechanics for advancing weapons as you gain levels. Then there is the complete rebuild of races classes & skills. I would have liked if grid combat was a little better handled but it's no worse than stock 5e's & there in some ways is better with move speed/type being more of a differentiator.
Ironically it's very much not intended to be low fantasy
Yaarel
🇮🇱 🇺🇦 He-Mage
While my challenges are mainly humanoid, they and the party include many spellcasters. I dont feel your pain, but I understand how it could be repetitive if the challenges were mainly humanoid and nonmagical.
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