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Why does 5E SUCK?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6651214" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Advantage puts a pretty good floor under a skill check: only a 1 in 4 chance of 10 or less, only a 1 in 16 chance of 5 or less. It removes a lot of the randomness to which the fighter (by way of contrast) remains vulnerable.</p><p></p><p>I don't see why it is a combat ability. From Basic PDF, p 28:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">If your attack misses a target within range, you can turn the miss into a hit. Alternatively, if you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20.</p><p></p><p>Nothing there about combat.</p><p></p><p>As for it being limited use, it returns after a short rest. The same as Action Surge, which you were lauding upthread as a major fighter ability in non-combat contexts. It seems to me that auto-success on an ability check once per short rest is a more useful non-combat ability than taking an extra action once per short rest.</p><p></p><p>I'll deny the second part - Action Surges doesn't let you take a reaction, does it?</p><p></p><p>The fighter brings very little to non-combat other than ability checks, which s/he has no ability to manipulate (via dice tricks) or render needless in the way that rogues and casters do. I don't have a strong view on whether or not that's worthless, or close to worthless. I don't find it very impressive.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure for whom these are intended to be fixes.</p><p></p><p>Not playing a fighter doesn't sound like a very good fix for someone who wanted to play (say) a Conan-esque character. Conan is notably effective out of combat.</p><p></p><p>Rewriting a class or a skill system is something I'd rather pay someone else to do, rather than have to do myself.</p><p></p><p>The bits about "arbitrary" ruling and hammering caster limits push towards a GMing style that I personally find pretty unattractive. More on this below.</p><p></p><p>I think this misunderstands [MENTION=82106]AbdulAlhazred[/MENTION]'s point about 4e.</p><p></p><p>The system stipulates a numerical, mechanical weighting for DCs of various levels. But it doesn't correlate those DCs to the fiction except at a few points. This is a marked contrast with (say) 3E, which has a very tight correlation between DCs and fiction (eg balancing on a cloud is DC 100 Acro, from memory) or (in non-D&D systems) a marked contrast with Rolemaster or Burning Wheel, both of which stipulate a whole lot of DCs in fictional terms.</p><p></p><p>This. LostSoul described this feature of 4e very nicely about 3 years ago:</p><p></p><p>It's not at all clear to me how 5e is meant to work, in this respect. Some posters upthread (eg [MENTION=48965]Imaro[/MENTION]) have said that 5e works like 3E - DCs are set "objectively", based on the features of the world, and then we find out whether or not the players can pile enough bonuses onto their PCs to beat them.</p><p></p><p>But other posters, over the past few pages, have said some stuff that points in quite a different direction:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If a DC for a STR ability check can be (say) 15 for a Titan but impossible for a human (even a 20th level fighter with 20 STR), then what is the point of boosting STR? Of Remarkable Athlete? Etc. If the GM is entitled to override the system at any point and declare that a player's declared action <em>fails</em>, what is the point of the system?</p><p></p><p>Absolutely this. I took the system to be one of "objective" DCs - as you put it, "world-set" DCs.</p><p></p><p>If the system is just unfettered GM fiat, I don't even see the point of all the numbers. What are they for?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6651214, member: 42582"] Advantage puts a pretty good floor under a skill check: only a 1 in 4 chance of 10 or less, only a 1 in 16 chance of 5 or less. It removes a lot of the randomness to which the fighter (by way of contrast) remains vulnerable. I don't see why it is a combat ability. From Basic PDF, p 28: [indent]If your attack misses a target within range, you can turn the miss into a hit. Alternatively, if you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20.[/indent] Nothing there about combat. As for it being limited use, it returns after a short rest. The same as Action Surge, which you were lauding upthread as a major fighter ability in non-combat contexts. It seems to me that auto-success on an ability check once per short rest is a more useful non-combat ability than taking an extra action once per short rest. I'll deny the second part - Action Surges doesn't let you take a reaction, does it? The fighter brings very little to non-combat other than ability checks, which s/he has no ability to manipulate (via dice tricks) or render needless in the way that rogues and casters do. I don't have a strong view on whether or not that's worthless, or close to worthless. I don't find it very impressive. I'm not sure for whom these are intended to be fixes. Not playing a fighter doesn't sound like a very good fix for someone who wanted to play (say) a Conan-esque character. Conan is notably effective out of combat. Rewriting a class or a skill system is something I'd rather pay someone else to do, rather than have to do myself. The bits about "arbitrary" ruling and hammering caster limits push towards a GMing style that I personally find pretty unattractive. More on this below. I think this misunderstands [MENTION=82106]AbdulAlhazred[/MENTION]'s point about 4e. The system stipulates a numerical, mechanical weighting for DCs of various levels. But it doesn't correlate those DCs to the fiction except at a few points. This is a marked contrast with (say) 3E, which has a very tight correlation between DCs and fiction (eg balancing on a cloud is DC 100 Acro, from memory) or (in non-D&D systems) a marked contrast with Rolemaster or Burning Wheel, both of which stipulate a whole lot of DCs in fictional terms. This. LostSoul described this feature of 4e very nicely about 3 years ago: It's not at all clear to me how 5e is meant to work, in this respect. Some posters upthread (eg [MENTION=48965]Imaro[/MENTION]) have said that 5e works like 3E - DCs are set "objectively", based on the features of the world, and then we find out whether or not the players can pile enough bonuses onto their PCs to beat them. But other posters, over the past few pages, have said some stuff that points in quite a different direction: If a DC for a STR ability check can be (say) 15 for a Titan but impossible for a human (even a 20th level fighter with 20 STR), then what is the point of boosting STR? Of Remarkable Athlete? Etc. If the GM is entitled to override the system at any point and declare that a player's declared action [I]fails[/I], what is the point of the system? Absolutely this. I took the system to be one of "objective" DCs - as you put it, "world-set" DCs. If the system is just unfettered GM fiat, I don't even see the point of all the numbers. What are they for? [/QUOTE]
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