D&D 5E What Spells Would You Nerf? (and how would you change them...)

[Istbor]

While I have my own gripes about that Tiny Hut, I can work around it.

Otherwise, my biggest pain is honestly comprehend language. That spell...

Though, magic isn't meant to be fair. It IS magic after all. Partly I feel that if you don't have a competent castor with you when taking on a resourceful party... you brought a knife to a nuke fight my friend. And deserve to die a horrible death scorched by your own armor.

 

[tetrasodium]

While I have my own gripes about that Tiny Hut, I can work around it.

Otherwise, my biggest pain is honestly comprehend language. That spell...

Though, magic isn't meant to be fair. It IS magic after all. Partly I feel that if you don't have a competent castor with you when taking on a resourceful party... you brought a knife to a nuke fight my friend. And deserve to die a horrible death scorched by your own armor.

That's a side effect of overly devaluing intelligence & going overboard with feat consolidation making feats too precious to "waste". In the past you used to get bonus languages for a high intelligence & it was easier to learn them at least a little in 3.5 plus bonus feats & feats every 3(?) levels & in 4e you got a feat every even level so taking a feat like linguist wasn't crippling in either compared to 5e

 

[billd91]

That's a side effect of overly devaluing intelligence & going overboard with feat consolidation making feats too precious to "waste". In the past you used to get bonus languages for a high intelligence & it was easier to learn them at least a little in 3.5 plus bonus feats & feats every 3(?) levels & in 4e you got a feat every even level so taking a feat like linguist wasn't crippling in either compared to 5e

Fortunately, learning languages in 5e doesn't have to be particularly crippling either. The number of languages you want to learn is limited by time and money, not level or intelligence (PH, p.187).

 

[tetrasodium]

Fortunately, learning languages in 5e doesn't have to be particularly crippling either. The number of languages you want to learn is limited by time and money, not level or intelligence (PH, p.187).

If that was all that downtime did you might have a point, but lets be honest that not only is there not any guuidance for awarding downtime it's not even something with a box on the character sheet. That section is about as useful as if it said "You may be able to learn other languages, ask your gm."

 

[billd91]

Teleport - nerf by adding the 1e-style risk back in, that there's a small chance you'll come out in solid rock below your tartget point, and rule that your target must be a solid surface (i.e. no teleporting into mid-air).

Honestly, I think the teleportation spells in 5e are pretty well reduced in power. The traditional 5th level spell limits you to set teleportation circles for which your PC knows the address and the 7th level version has risks built in (though perhaps not as deadly since 3d10 damage is going to be relatively survivable at the caster's level).
The teleport changes are among my favorite changes to 5e spells.

 

[Oofta]

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If that was all that downtime did you might have a point, but lets be honest that not only is there not any guuidance for awarding downtime it's not even something with a box on the character sheet. That section is about as useful as if it said "You may be able to learn other languages, ask your gm."

If learning languages is important to the player, I think the DM should listen and give them the time to learn.

You don't need a rule for everything. I wouldn't even want it.

 

[TheSword]

Tiny Hut: definitely, an abomination that does far more than it should.

 

[tetrasodium]

If learning languages is important to the player, I think the DM should listen and give them the time to learn.

You don't need a rule for everything. I wouldn't even want it.

While your first point is accurate, it's irrelevant to the point I made. In fact from the PoV of "If learning languages is important to the player, I think the DM should listen and give them the time to learn." a blurb that said "You may be able to learn other languages, ask your gm." would be more useful than that 250 downtime day blob of nonsense because then they aren't conflicting with a half implemented mechanical framework of downtime days & if words like "for roleplay reasons" are included it comes out admitting that learning extra languages isn't a big deal.

On your second point... Having half a rule pretending to be more than it is results in something worse than no rule. %e's "Tactical combat" as another example

 

[Gadget]

I agree with Healing Spirit in the OP.

Goodberry - consumes material components (so you have to find more Mistletoe and whatnot, kind of a nice compromise)
Forbiddance - add a clause that one has to traverse the entire area to be protected during the casting, chanting and inscribing mystic symbols in the air & on the walls. rules out the instant dungeon fumigation function of the spell.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

The problem with that - and it's a problem with the as-written 1e version also - is the serious inconsistency between bullet-points 2 and 6. Rain, dust, and sandstorms can't get in but "objects" can; yet what are raindrops and sand grains (and snowflakes, and hailstones) if not objects.

Swarms of dead, tiny elementals, why? How else would they come into existence?