D&D 5E what are your top three "$#%#@$ stop forgetting this rule" annoyances?

[lowkey13]

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[tetrasodium]

@lowkey13 Actually no. I started it because the variant & custom rules I plan to use for my next campaign felt pretty fleshed out & I wanted to add an extra page of reminders to help players so figured getting them from others might help pad a rather short list. Because I wanted a wide variety of input I appealed to @Aebir-Toril's ppoint of just wanting to vent sometimes

 

[Count_Zero]

We simplified it. When you level, you get inspiration points equal to your new level and can spend them anytime before you reach your next level. They aren't there as a reward for good play, etc. more for players to help off-set an unlucky roll from time-to-time when it is really needed.

The way our group handles it is we award Inspiration points for doing added things like Journal entries, and if the players really likes a particular thing a player does, the group can nominate a player for Inspiration as well.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

This is not a new player. Perhaps it's an issue because he's played so many editions over the years. I've tried gently reminding him, but it's not my place as a DM to tell someone how to run their character.

I didn't say anything about "new players", did I though? Absolutely my experience is that players who have been through a ton of editions are the most likely to misremember or forget or be confused by rules that it seems like they should grok.

Reminding someone more than once or twice that they could do something IMHO would be nagging. YMMV.

Wow, really? That seems like an incredibly low threshold to regard something as "nagging" in a game with complex rules. Virtually every complex game I've ever played in, for like, my entire life, has required people to remind each other of the rules and/or of stuff their unit/army/character can do, because there's so much to know and it's so complex.

If you were reminding someone about taking the recycling out I could see that. But reminding them how X ability works, or that they have Y ability and seem to keep forgetting about it? I mean, I've had a lot of "Oh naughty word I do? Thank you!" reactions and never a "YEAH I KNOW STOP TELLING ME HOW TO PLAY MAN!!!!" reaction ever.

I get this vibe like some DMs are really just very reticent about reminding players that they have abilities or stuff because they're really worried about coming off like they're pushy or something, but my feeling is that generally players thank you for it, especially that one time when it's totally clutch that they use it, and after they use it in a totally clutch way, they don't forget about it as much anymore.

Unless you want to come to my table and sit with the player who is playing the fighter and you are going to remind him to use action surge.

That is a staggering one to forget given how extremely powerful and purely advantageous it is, I have to admit.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Oofta]

I didn't say anything about "new players", did I though? Absolutely my experience is that players who have been through a ton of editions are the most likely to misremember or forget or be confused by rules that it seems like they should grok.



Wow, really? That seems like an incredibly low threshold to regard something as "nagging" in a game with complex rules. Virtually every complex game I've ever played in, for like, my entire life, has required people to remind each other of the rules and/or of stuff their unit/army/character can do, because there's so much to know and it's so complex.

If you were reminding someone about taking the recycling out I could see that. But reminding them how X ability works, or that they have Y ability and seem to keep forgetting about it? I mean, I've had a lot of "Oh naughty word I do? Thank you!" reactions and never a "YEAH I KNOW STOP TELLING ME HOW TO PLAY MAN!!!!" reaction ever.

I get this vibe like some DMs are really just very reticent about reminding players that they have abilities or stuff because they're really worried about coming off like they're pushy or something, but my feeling is that generally players thank you for it, especially that one time when it's totally clutch that they use it, and after they use it in a totally clutch way, they don't forget about it as much anymore.



That is a staggering one to forget given how extremely powerful and purely advantageous it is, I have to admit.

What exactly are you suggesting? I asked a couple of times about action surges. Reminded him battle masters get maneuvers. Should I just tell him what he should be doing? Grab his character sheet and tell him "this is how to play your fighter!"

It's not my PC.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Yes it is.

....and he almost always plays Fighters.

To paraphrase Anchorman:

You're playing a 12th level Champion? And you've never used action surge? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad — that's amazing.

Good lord.

The high-level Fighter in my game blows Action Surge pretty much every time it's up, immediately. It's like, his whole deal. Admittedly he is a Samurai so always combining it with that horror-show deal with Advantage. Don't put any NPC with less than 200 HP in front of him whilst he still has that up and expect them to survive long.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Sacrosanct]

Inspiration is the big one. The other, which has been true of pretty much every edition, is spell components.

Others are player specific. Like the guy who always forgets to add modifiers or use any of his rogue abilities (sneak attack and cunning action). He was playing that PC for over a dozen sessions over more than a year, and still always forgot.

 

[lowkey13]

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