D&D 5E What are the "True Issues" with 5e?

[Campbell]

Is gold not being that important an actual gameplay issue? There are essentially 2 ways to make gold important (cost sinks and more fungible magic items). I'm not sure adding in more upkeep cost sinks would improve the play experience at the table in a way that feels rewarding instead of painful. More fungible magic items have their own set of issues.

Honestly, I am pressed to think of a tabletop roleplaying game I have ever played where managing wealth feels like a vital part of play (that isn't just an alternative progression path). Except maybe Blades in the Dark, but that was tied to a much tighter gameplay loop. In damn near every trad game I have ever played money just fades into the background.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Is gold not being that important an actual gameplay issue? There are essentially 2 ways to make gold important (cost sinks and more fungible magic items). I'm not sure adding in more upkeep cost sinks would improve the play experience at the table in a way that feels rewarding instead of painful. More fungible magic items have their own set of issues.

Honestly, I am pressed to think of a tabletop roleplaying game I have ever played where managing wealth feels like a vital part of play (that isn't just an alternative progression path). Except maybe Blades in the Dark, but that was tied to a much tighter gameplay loop. In damn near every trad game I have ever played money just fades into the background.

In classic play, economics can be very important. I've seen characters interested in starting their own business, or becoming a trader between communities. And of course there are henchman to pay for, heals and resurrections, gear for your hirelings and soldiers, upkeep on your holdings, and of course the domain game. Lots of uses for cold hard cash.

 

[cbwjm]

In answer to your question, I have rarely seen anyone say gold is really essential barring initial armor purchases and campaign specific situations.

Gold seems to be just a scoring system in 5e, I don't think I've ever really cared about collecting it since it's unlikely that any game I'm in is going to move into domain building and management which is where I'd spend most of my money, or if a wizard spending it on spell research, etc. I tend to just throw it at NPCs as bribes because I just don't feel the need to keep it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Gold seems to be just a scoring system in 5e, I don't think I've ever really cared about collecting it since it's unlikely that any game I'm in is going to move into domain building and management which is where I'd spend most of my money, or if a wizard spending it on spell research, etc. I tend to just throw it at NPCs as bribes because I just don't feel the need to keep it.

Depends on what kind of game you're playing I suppose. Certainly 5e's current stance on gold isn't idea.

 

[Jahydin]

Agree with the gold issue. I have to wait long stretches before magic items can be purchased (thankfully easy), pre-select which ones are available, and then get a rough estimate of how much gold the PCs currently have to come up with prices. A more fleshed out reward system would be appreciated.

Buy far though, I think combat math needs a complete overhaul to be faster and deadlier ("knockouts" for PCs, not death, death) to match the "easy-going, loose, over the the top" tone of the rest of the game. I've run and have played countless 5E sessions now and just about every one has some form of "fudging" to either end combat faster or make the combat more challenging.

 

[cbwjm]

Depends on what kind of game you're playing I suppose. Certainly 5e's current stance on gold isn't idea.

Yeah, I feel like 5e is more story focused. That's not a bad thing but it makes getting gold which typically doesn't matter to the story kind of pointless.

If you're doing something a little more sandboxy, where players can affect the world long term, then gold becomes more useful. A lack of downtime, as is often the case in adventure paths, also makes gold less useful.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah, I feel like 5e is more story focused. That's not a bad thing but it makes getting gold which typically doesn't matter to the story kind of pointless.

If you're doing something a little more sandboxy, where players can affect the world long term, then gold becomes more useful. A lack of downtime, as is often the case in adventure paths, also makes gold less useful.

That does seem to be the tone WotC wants to set with their version of 5e. I fight against it in my own game, and it works pretty well.

 

[TerraDave]

Looking for consensus!

The whole encounter per day, resting, encounter design, mobster monster math gordian knot: biggest issue.

Layout/index: Issue! (especially DMG, no matter how many post its I use).

Gold: The fact that I have adopted the optional rules and added some, I guess I felt it was an issue (and the PCs are greedy for gold, that is for sure).

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I like 5e's largely pointless gold better than 4e and 3e's threadmill where you have to invest your gold in character upgrades or fall behind the power curve. Why am I even doing this dangerous job if I'm not actually making any profit?

 

[Incenjucar]

Uneven multiclass effectiveness.

Iconic spells being intentionally overpowered for their level to enforce tradition.

Spell schools just being an utter mess in implementation and variety.

Arcane spells lacking the wacky creative factor.