Something Nice To Say About 5E

[Pex]

I know I give 5E hard time in various threads, but I do like it enough to want to play it and having found a new 5E group I am enjoying it. I'm playing a Paladin. Some of you may remember my past concern about having to give up spell slots in order to smite. Taking into consideration by coincidence the DM is running a campaign with fiends as a common foe, in practice trading spell slots for smites hasn't been such a bother for me. The extra d8 for smiting against a fiend I suppose is the deciding factor. The spell slot has been worth it. I do occasionally also cast a spell as normal. I'm glad my earlier concern is no longer an issue.

I am absolutely thrilled there's no such thing as a 5 ft step. It is great freedom to be able to move as far as I want as my speed allows and still do whatever it is I want to do or do it then move or move, do it, then move again. I'm happy seeing other players do it too because letting them do their thing makes the whole party strong.

I miss flanking, but I'm glad to trade it for no attacks of opportunity. When the concept was first introduced in 3.0 I was wary of it due to thinking players would suffer more often than monsters plus the example given in the book with the spider and Mialee rubbed me the wrong way, but the details aren't important. I got used to AoOs and I do like the tactics involved that they cause, but now going back to playing without them gives a sense of relief. The Opportunity Attack rule is fine, but now doing anything including spellcasting without provoking and not needing a feat or some game resource for it is a stress reliever. I like them just fine in my Pathfinder games, but it's nice not having to worry about them in my 5E game.

[Final Hyena]

Some of you may remember my past concern about having to give up spell slots in order to smite.

I miss flanking, but I'm glad to trade it for no attacks of opportunity.

Paladin is generally considered one of the strongest classes, but anyway. Flanking exists as an optional rule, I play with it in one game and it has been ok so far. Attack of opportunities are a thing, they're just less frequent. I wish I had a DM who played monsters smart and tried to get to the back rows. Sigh

To get back on topic, I love 5E because it is a different philosophy from what I'm used to (PF) instead of having thousands of options of which very few are competitive, there are just less of those bad options.

[lebefrei]

A lot of people that have voiced serious complaints about the edition seem to have never played it. Once someone has played it they seem to admit it's a pretty great run at the game. Perfection is unrealistic, every game has flaws. Does this one give most players most of what they want? It seems to, yes. Glad it worked out for you after all. I hope you didn't dissuade anyone from trying it by putting it down before playing.


I wish I had a DM who played monsters smart and tried to get to the back rows. Sigh

Playing tactically makes a huge difference between easily slaughtered hit point sponges and devastating combat. Personally I play very heavy tactics based on Int, Wis, and monster description (unless it behaves differently in my world). I've had players shocked that enemies don't just stand there taking hits from "tanks" until they die.

If you, or any player, feels that your DM is unrewarding then please start going to Adventurer League games (if available in your area...) and shop around until you find one that satisfies you. Stores get rewarded for having more players, you get a chance for combat you really like.

[Final Hyena]

Playing tactically makes a huge difference between easily slaughtered hit point sponges and devastating combat. Personally I play very heavy tactics based on Int, Wis, and monster description (unless it behaves differently in my world). I've had players shocked that enemies don't just stand there taking hits from "tanks" until they die.

If you, or any player, feels that your DM is unrewarding then please start going to Adventurer League games (if available in your area...) and shop around until you find one that satisfies you. Stores get rewarded for having more players, you get a chance for combat you really like.

One game I play in we had a fight last session and only half the enemies attacked us, for little reason. The session before that the enemy decided to stop hitting me (tank who was almost out of hp) and start whittling down the other tank. I guess the DM was afraid of knocking a player unconscious.

I however care more about roleplaying, after many games of lacklustre/non existent RP, that became my main focus. I really should also check that combat isn't a breeze in the future.

And this talk of combat reminds me of another thing I love about 5E you die at negative hp rather than negative con. When I was DMing pathfinder most enemies were at a point of doing minimum 20 damage. One bad roll let alone a crit and a player is just dead. I like lethal combat but there was one instance of a level 5 tank almost being killed from full hp in a single attack from a guy who was a mook compared to the PC.

[Lines]

A lot of people that have voiced serious complaints about the edition seem to have never played it. Once someone has played it they seem to admit it's a pretty great run at the game. Perfection is unrealistic, every game has flaws. Does this one give most players most of what they want? It seems to, yes. Glad it worked out for you after all. I hope you didn't dissuade anyone from trying it by putting it down before playing.

Those aren't mutually exclusive. I have played 5e, I have DM'd 5e, I very much enjoy 5e, and I have serious complaints about 5e.