D&D 5E What are your favorite/non-favorite house rules?

[Sadras]

PCs need to bleed for their loot and magical gear.
They need to suffer. It builds character.

I'm more concerned with PCs using it, rather than monsters.
I mean there is no second-guessing if you have the Heavy Weapon Master feat (-5 to hit, +10 damage). Advantage comes too freely with the DMG's flanking rule.

Monsters have Pack Tactics and Mob rules and DM can always add more critters. No worries there.

 

[Blue]

I disagree. Flanking a foe has been the desired goal of melee combat since the earliest days; ever been sacked from the side in football?

Then do it with some other bonus besides advantage, like the poster you were replying to changed it to. Plentiful Advantage really cheapens the characters that have features or other investments in order to generate it. And it pairs two well with things like crit hunting, Great Weapon Mastery, and the like.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I disagree. If your PCs can double up on creatures, your tactics are at fault, not the rules. My players very seldom get the flanking Advantage because they are nearly always outnumbered, and they have to protect the squishier members of the party. They can't afford to break formation just to pick up an Advantage.

 

[Maxperson]

Would that be considered a favorite house rule - No random treasure generating?

No it's not a house rule. From the 5e DMG, "The following pages contain tables that you can use to randomly generate treasures carried by monsters" Can use, not use. It's the DM's option on whether the DM wishes to use them, not use them, or sometimes use them.

 

[CleverNickName]

I agree with @Benjamin Olson - I have no problem with using Advantage occasionally. But when players try to rig their characters to always get Advantage over and over again for every die roll ever, it makes me crazy. It's not about about realism or balance for me; I find it friggin' annoying and makes me want to play something else.

 

[Lanefan]

You rarely hear about Conan the Basically Equal to the Task, or Beowulf the Competent.

How about Hercules, Exemplar of All That is Average?

No?

Perseus the Almost Heroic? Surely you've heard of him....hm?

History - and D&D character folders - are full of these: the common foot soldiers who by their very existence allow the real stars to stand out and shine.