D&D 5E What is Over-Powered?

[SirAntoine]

You mean that's not what we're doing? Okay, I admit the add-ons are more than a few...

AD&D is fantastic. I have never stopped playing it since I started to thirty years ago. It's how it's supposed to be.

 

[SirAntoine]

The bard seems the least well balanced class in 5th Edition PHB, being able to cast any wizard spell and also healing spells.

 

[miniaturehoarder]

I don't find the sharpshooter or great weapon master feats that overpowered, the -5 to hit is a big deal. One of my players uses GWM constantly and has a huge *whiff* factor.

I mean I love polearm master but still wouldn't call it overpowered.

I think the issue of concern the poster had was the taking -5 / +10 with the minor action attacks.

TBH I think ruling that feats don't combine would solve several issues. Take the AoO from Polearm Master, fine, but then you are not getting the AoOs stop movement of Sentinel.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

You mention later "the original rules were made with the expectation that a random ability score generation would provide your options of what character to play. This limited the overall number of rangers, paladins, and even magic-users, but when you take that away everyone would be free to be one of the strongest classes."

This is terrible design. TERRIBLE. It's more punishment for bad rolls. Oh, you rolled poor enough not to be able to play a good class? Well, enjoy your low scores and substandard class, peasant!

That's not terrible design. It's not even a punishment. It's just part of the game. Is it "punishment" when somebody in Monopoly rolls a 2 on their very first move and winds up behind everyone else? Nonsense. It's just part of the game. Your next character will be completely different.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The bard seems the least well balanced class in 5th Edition PHB, being able to cast any wizard spell and also healing spells.

Meh. You're overlooking the very high opportunity cost. The bard can choose a bare handful of wizard spells to cast; is permanently locked in to the wizard spells he does cast (whereas the wizard gets to choose new ones every day); doesn't get ritual magic; and doesn't get wizard specializations. Don't get me wrong, bards are great fun--but they're not anything like what someone might imagine from the phrase "can cast any wizard spell and also healing spells."

 

[Hussar]

That's not terrible design. It's not even a punishment. It's just part of the game. Is it "punishment" when somebody in Monopoly rolls a 2 on their very first move and winds up behind everyone else? Nonsense. It's just part of the game. Your next character will be completely different.

False analogy. If you roll a two in monopoly, at worst it impacts only that game, which only lasts a few hours. (Just to be pedantic, rolling a two at the outset would not put you behind since you get another turn right away).

Poor game balance can mean you are spending several sessions playing a character you don't particularly like. We're talking dozens of play hours. That can truly suck.

I don't want to play a game I'm not enjoying. There's a reason that class restrictions were lifted.

 

[SirAntoine]

Characters are a big share of the game, and rules that help bring them to life are much more important than rules that only help reduce the challenge.

 

[SirAntoine]

False analogy. If you roll a two in monopoly, at worst it impacts only that game, which only lasts a few hours. (Just to be pedantic, rolling a two at the outset would not put you behind since you get another turn right away).

Poor game balance can mean you are spending several sessions playing a character you don't particularly like. We're talking dozens of play hours. That can truly suck.

I don't want to play a game I'm not enjoying. There's a reason that class restrictions were lifted.

No character should start with any score higher than 7 with the rate of ability score increases in 5th Edition. It would stop the jealousy of other players who rolled well, and get everyone experience playing with low scores. I recommend it for everyone who plays 5th Edition.

 

[SirAntoine]

Meh. You're overlooking the very high opportunity cost. The bard can choose a bare handful of wizard spells to cast; is permanently locked in to the wizard spells he does cast (whereas the wizard gets to choose new ones every day); doesn't get ritual magic; and doesn't get wizard specializations. Don't get me wrong, bards are great fun--but they're not anything like what someone might imagine from the phrase "can cast any wizard spell and also healing spells."

A suitable compromise could be letting them use the druid spell table instead, which will give them some fine offensive spells, take away raise dead, and give them heal instead of power word heal. No picking wizard spells. Maybe warlock spells, but any spells over 6th level is already making the bard into a full caster class.

 

[PnPgamer]

Meh. You're overlooking the very high opportunity cost. The bard can choose a bare handful of wizard spells to cast; is permanently locked in to the wizard spells he does cast (whereas the wizard gets to choose new ones every day); doesn't get ritual magic; and doesn't get wizard specializations. Don't get me wrong, bards are great fun--but they're not anything like what someone might imagine from the phrase "can cast any wizard spell and also healing spells."

They do get ritual casting.