Reflections on 5th Edition

From the 1892 classic “A Strange Elopement.” Illustration by W.H. Overend.

I have played a lot of D&D 5e. I ran the playtest material for a group back in 2012 (which is getting scarily close to 10 years ago) and have played 5e continuously since then. It is important to take a step back and figure out what you like and dislike in a system as that may inform your future design goals. I have enjoyed playing 5e… a lot. But after some reflection, i have a lot of opinions. Let’s do the bad news first, that is just the kind of person I am

The bad

As much as I love 5e, I have some gripes.

High-Level Combat becomes slow

Anything past level 11 (or maybe even earlier) becomes an epic slog with monsters. Rounds slow down, and the frantic pace of combat, where snap decisions should mean the difference between life and death, become grinding hp subtract-a-thons. Part of the issue is that each PC gets “something neat” at each level, and after a dozen or so levels it takes time to sort through all of your options and shoot for an optimal combat solution. The other part is hitpoint bloat. Heroes and creatures are just harder to kill at higher levels.

I think you can tell that high-level play isn’t great because there aren’t any official WotC adventures that support it. Most official adventures end at level 15 or before.

I don’t have a way to solve the problem besides limiting levels. Sorry.

Skills

As far as skill systems go, 5e does a nice job, that isn’t my complaint. My complaint is the concept of skills in general. They break down the complex nuance of our characters into a list on a sheet that everyone stares at during the game. It leads to really obtuse language that feels clunky and out of place. “I would like to INVESTIGATE to see if there are any traps across the room please” or “Perhaps I can MEDICINE up some good drinks” or even “Do I PERCEIVE that the shop owner is lying to me?”

I would much rather have something like your background (i.e. what you did before you adventured) and your class (i.e. what you do now) inform when you get your proficiency bonus. Are you a pig farmer turned fighter? You probably know a lot of stuff that can’t be reduced to the 5e skill system. Convince me that you have some experience with the situation and I’ll give you your proficiency bonus on the check. In short, if you want a bonus on tracking an animal, tell me about your lost pig. We might even learn something about your character… and, you know, roleplay. This leads to a more in-depth and shared world.

Also, the base skills in 5e are sometimes paired with odd stats. Medicine is based on wisdom? Seems like intelligence is a better fit. Medical advice based on “intuition” as opposed to “rigorous diagnosis” is worrying. Again, what stat is used can also be a conversation. A doctor recalling what they learned in med school is an intelligence check with proficiency.

I think I would just throw skills away if I could (there are rules for this see your 5e DMG on page 264). I know this messes with core components of Rogues, but I think it’s workable: they can enjoy a double proficiency bonus on Rogue-y things like knowing what boards on a wooden floor are especially creaky on a moonless night, etc.

The Good

We got through the bad, now let’s celebrate what is awesome about 5e.

Death saving throws

In earlier editions, if you dropped to zero hp, you just died. If you had 6 hp and the monster hit you for 7, you are now standing before the Black Gates. Death-saving throws are a great replacement for this brutal system. It keeps the DM from accidentally butchering a character and death-saving throws add focus and tension to combat. When a character drops to the ground, bleeding and incapacitated, everyone pays attention. It is the perfect level of safety net for a game: Heroes remain mortal but are not murdered off the time one roll doesn’t go their way.

Proficiency Bonus and Bounded Accuracy

Are you trained at a thing? You get the bonus. This is a nice mechanic to show that your training as a warrior, scholar, thief, has a mechanical benefit. It also keeps your bonuses from inflating too much and keeps your characters within the relevant range play. Nothing becomes too game-breaking. With a proficiency bonus of +6 and an ability score of 20, the biggest bonus a level 20 character can get to attack is +11. While it is high, it means that even mundane armor can still occasionally stop blows from expert demi-gods.

This is in contrast to 4th edition, where you added half your level to...everything… including your armor class. Eventually, your non-armored wizard became impossible to hit by lower-level monsters, regardless of their battle axe’s sharpness. It was a bit weird. In 5e, low-level monsters are still a threat, and can even hurt a high-level squad. I love this. I love that Orcs can still give the characters pause, even with they are rolling at a high level.

Mechanical Simplicity

Most of the rolls in 5e come down to this: roll a d20, add the relevant ability, add your proficiency bonus, if you are trained, and try to hit a target number.

Everything else is just shaping the conditions in which this rule applies. Does a Druid change into a giant beast? Sure, that just increases the Strength modifier for melee attacks. There are no other secondary core systems to add to your character sheet. No reflex saves (which I still occasionally call for at the table), no combat maneuver defense modifiers, no breath saves, no THAC0, no rolling under, and no cheeky +1s added by the mandatory feats that you need to track. Plus, most of the weirder stuff is contained in optional rules. At its core, it’s a very clean experience.

This also means you can change options at will as long as you keep to the core mechanic. Do you like the OD&D ability score modifiers and rolling 3d6 during character creation? That works within the system. Your characters will be weaker, of course, but it’s still a viable way to play.

Also, you always want to roll high. Which satisfies a caveman part of my brain. Large numbers good.

For me, this simplicity is the reason that I almost refuse to leave the 5e style system. As much as I whine about 5e’s flaws, this is what keeps me coming back.

Static HP gains

I know I ranted above about too many hit points, but I HATE rolling hp. In older editions, you go through all the work of creating a character, and then you roll a 1 for your hit points. I guess Snarlax the barbarian who survived the Seige of Nightwatch, will die to a house cat.

Invariably there are a bazillion house rules to prevent such problems, but this means that HP bloats as low rolls are removed. Static HP gains remove this problem entirely and also lets players know what to expect from their character.

There you have it what I like and dislike from 5e. The process of sitting down and thinking about the game I play so often has been a great exercise to really pinpoint what to take with me. I highly suggest you do it. What do you like and dislike about your favorite RPG?