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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Action Rule Variant for more powerful heros



SketchT
2018-02-12, 08:21 AM
Hi All,

I'm in the middle of producing a more homebrew campaign and looking at adapting the action economy system to feel like the heroes are more superhuman in this reality,

I am aware you could just lower encounter difficulty, however this generally feels almost too weak and limits options in enemy types,

I'm thinking, could I simply double Actions, Bonus actions, Movement, and reactions and class abilities?

i.e double spell slots, double uses of action surge available but keep all else the same?

My thought it this essentially doubles the team size, however the group is still only controlling one character each, therefore I can then double the combat encounter CR and still be similar difficulties, whilst giving the feeling that the characters themselves are vastly superior to those they are encountering.

A fighter being able to dash through opponents at blinding speed cutting them down, followed by the Wizard that casts fly, shoots up to the sky and decimates the ground below in the same turn.

I'm newer to homebrewing items, and am just wondering if any one has tried any thing like this, or has a different way of granting this feeling without changing the system in it's entirety?

Lalliman
2018-02-12, 10:09 AM
I think this will lead to some strange results.

The most obvious is that if you do as described above, doubling the amount of things a player can do each turn, all characters will become glass cannons. The 5th level fighter now makes a minimum of four attacks per round, but still has the HP of a 5th level fighter. With a greatsword, he deals his full HP in damage every round, or double his own HP with action surge. Putting this character up against an opponent appropriate for a normal fighter of higher level would result in rocket tag.

I guess you could balance this out by also giving them double HP, but then the character becomes a total of four times as powerful. That's getting kind of silly.

Alternatively, gestalt is still a solid way to make more powerful characters without level inflation. Have you considered that?

JBPuffin
2018-02-12, 11:47 AM
You can also just reduce the numbers on enemies, allowing you to use more of them, rather than hyper-accelerating the party's power growth.

demonslayerelf
2018-02-12, 12:00 PM
The way 5e handles things, there's not a great way to represent the sort of... "BAMFness" of the main characters. Lalliman handles why just doubling everything isn't the best option. Gestalting is a good fix, but presents more or less the same problem(Frail, but with tons of stuff). My personal recommendation is that you give everybody new, unique abilities, indicative of how heroic they actually are.

Almost think of these as personalized feats or boons. For instance, if one of your players roll Fighter, you can make them feel more heroic and epic by giving them a Commanding Presence. Commanding Presence would frighten enemies and deal psychic damage if they fail their saves, or something akin to that. Might be an action, might be a bonus. Probably a bonus, for a Fighter uses their actions to hit things.

If a player rolls Wizard, you might give them Boundless Intellect, which lets them cast ANY spell they know of- Prepared or not, maybe it's a Cleric or Druid spell, etc.- a number of times equal to their intelligence modifier each day. Still takes a spell slot, but that gives your wizard the feeling of the "Unstoppable Spellcaster."

Things like that make players feel badass and awesome, not listed class abilities that ANY mook would get at 2nd level. Yeah, you have more of them, but does it feel heroic and great to carry twice as many bullets as the guy next to you? Not particularly.