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

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, we can't have everything though and have to choose what to focus on?

What are your rules for campsite sanitation (from the biffy to food spoilage) to avoid illness and disease? Same for foot care on marches (blisters, foot fungus, rot, infection)?

No, we can't have everything, but we can have more than WotC gives us.

 

[Maxperson]

Fine. I do have one final set questions, because you haven't actually addressed it yet.

What, to you, is the benefit of having shovels, tents, bedrolls, mess kits, and the like in the rulebook?

The benefit is for those who value realism and preparedness. If you have a tent and the weather turns bad, good for you. You were prepared and will be rewarded by staying dry and getting a good rest, rather than a level of exhaustion for trying to sleep in the rain and being miserable all night.

If you don't care about those things, then it's not going to be of much value to you. And no, I don't need specific spelled out rules to know that a tent will aid in keeping someone dry.

Does anyone reference their entries in the rulebook for anything beyond cost and weight?

My group does all the time.

 

[Cadence]

No, we can't have everything, but we can have more than WotC gives us.

Once there is a line, then the debate over where the line should be happens. :-/

 

[Warpiglet-7]

My group and I decided to get rid of Tiny Hut, Rope Trick and the other ways to avoid a large portion of the game. We enjoy it. Talk to your group about it and see.

Well we take turns DM ing. I can totally have that in my homebrew world.

I do more travel than they do anyway. I could play it 100 ways. Druids are important in my world. Maybe the earth will only surrounded its bounty by mundane work and wood craft.

It could be due to a calamity. No player will shed tears over goodberry while they drop smiths illusions etc

 

[Micah Sweet]

Once there is a line, then the debate over where the line should be happens. :-/

True. First we have to get out of the mindset that if a poster says they want more of something, that means they want everything, and since that's impossible, they're being ridiculous.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

I mean, I used to know why we had details on torches. But with everyone having darkvision now...

Of course this begs the question of how well tables are implementing the rules around Wisdom(Perception) and lighting conditions.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Of course this begs the question of how well tables are implementing the rules around Wisdom(Perception) and lighting conditions.

A lot of DMs don't seem to want to bother, and of course the players won't object, since players are almost always in favor of things that make their PCs lives easier. And the game just gets simpler and simpler, and the power fantasy reaches new heights.

 

[Oofta]

It feels like I might want a "winter gear" category. But I think that's fine enough grain for me.

There is cold weather clothing and blankets, along with a bedroll which is kind-of-sort-of a sleeping bag. I'd probably combine the price (and more importantly weight) of a blanket and bedroll to have a cold weather sleeping bag. Depending on locale I allow people to make survival checks to find/make proper shelter, snow shelters really do work well.

It really just depends on how detailed people want to get and whether or not they have tiny hut.

 

[R_J_K75]

I'm sure I'm going to get lamb basted with this one and I should probably put it in the "Unpopular Opinions" thread, but after playing 5E up until a year or so ago, when D&D 2024 started its playtest, it made me realize that this edition was a step backwards, harkened back too much to 3E and the core d20 mechanic, and didn't do much, if anything to innovate the game. For me that's the true issue with 5E D&D.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I was curious, so went looking to see if someone had come up with a magical shovel and I give you ...

Spoiler: Detailed description

Mister Shovel
Wondrous item, rare

This magical shovel has an animated face carved into it. It works as a trusty tool and friendly digging companion. Mister Shovel can be wielded as a magic weapon, equivalent to a quarterstaff with a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Dig. As an action while holding this shovel, you can remove a 5-foot cube of dirt, sand, or clay from a space within your reach. As you dig, Mister Shovel instantly gobbles up the earth and stores it in a pocket dimension. Mister Shovel can store up to twenty 5-foot cubes of earth within itself before it’s full.

Expel Earth. If Mister Shovel has earth stored within itself, you can use your action to expel one 5-foot cube of earth onto a space within your reach. The expelled earth immediately falls to the ground and becomes a 5-foot mound of loose earth. Traversing over or through the mound is difficult terrain. A Large or smaller creature within the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw to see if it can successfully move into an unoccupied adjacent space, or a DC 15 Strength saving throw if it wishes to stay in its space. On a failed save, the creature is knocked prone and restrained by the weight of the earthen mound until it uses its action to free itself.

Sentience. Mister Shovel is a sentient, neutral good shovel with an Intelligence of 11, a Wisdom of 8, and a Charisma of 16. It can see and hear out to a range of 60 feet. The shovel can speak, read, and understand Common. Mister Shovel is a polite and helpful companion who is always hungry for dirt and happiest when digging. Mister Shovel doesn’t like being used as a weapon, and apologizes to anything it bonks.

“Man! Thiths sthuffth iths good!-” Mister Shovel was blabbering excitedly through mouthfuls of dirt, barely intelligible as Jesse dug at the base of the wall.
“Shush! I’m not trying to alert the guards!” She hissed. If they were spotted, the whole fort would descend upon them.
“Hey, itsth not MY faul-” Jesse was sweating profusely as she jammed Mister Shovel into the ground again, muffling its speech. This was a disaster.

This existing is horrifying and a ‘true issue’ with DnD, i hope to soon forget i ever learned of it.