5e Specific Advice For Experienced DM new to System

[AlhazTheRed]

I've been gaming for 15 years, and have been almost exclusively GMing for most of that time: 3, 3.5, PF, Traveler T20, Spycraft, Modern, Rifts... You get the idea.

In preparation for the move to 5e I've been pretty involved in following homebrew community and reading up on metagame analysis. The Starter Set I'm taking this batch of mostly new players through will help, but there are always some things you can only learn by playing. So I want your advice and experience!

What are some risks and pratfalls you've found in running a 5e game?
Where do you find the system shines especially?
What do I need to be careful or wary of?
What works best when balancing encounters for larger parties?
Just how disruptive are magic items really?
What have you found that the RAW doesn't cover well?
Are there things that more readily lead to accidental PC deaths?
Any other system-specific advice you may have?

Thanks in advance, guys. Love this community, and my players and I appreciate the help!

[Adderbane]

The biggest thing to note is that 5e is designed to involve smaller bonuses than 3.x. This makes +x items much stronger than you usually expect. A lot of the "disruption" caused by magic items is due to DMs stuck on 3.x mindsets and giving players too powerful items.

[Puh Laden]

I've been gaming for 15 years, and have been almost exclusively GMing for most of that time: 3, 3.5, PF, Traveler T20, Spycraft, Modern, Rifts... You get the idea.

In preparation for the move to 5e I've been pretty involved in following homebrew community and reading up on metagame analysis. The Starter Set I'm taking this batch of mostly new players through will help, but there are always some things you can only learn by playing. So I want your advice and experience!

What are some risks and pratfalls you've found in running a 5e game?
Where do you find the system shines especially?
What do I need to be careful or wary of?
What works best when balancing encounters for larger parties?
Just how disruptive are magic items really?
What have you found that the RAW doesn't cover well?
Are there things that more readily lead to accidental PC deaths?
Any other system-specific advice you may have?

Thanks in advance, guys. Love this community, and my players and I appreciate the help!

Not too many pratfalls. None I can remember clearly. The system is pretty basic — if you ignore or forget a rule, it’s not likely to mess up more than one thing.
I think the system shines in getting players excited to play a character concept. I think this is because a player has four archetypal choices (race, class, background, and subclass) instead of only one or two.
Be careful of being careful about the more loosely defined rules; the rules for hiding are there, but they’re not extremely well-defined because they are mostly meant only for combat.
I hear having more minions helps.
The thing about 5e is you and the module are what decides which magic itrms are available. It depends on level also. Even at level 11, a +1 is a big help and a +3 is pushing it.
The RAW doesn’t technically cover the requirements of spell targets you don’t need to see, but just ise common sense.
Level 1 is dangerous - beyond 3 isn’t unless you keep attacking downed PCs.

[Twizzly513]

What are some risks and pratfalls you've found in running a 5e game?
I've only played 5e, so I wouldn't be able to say anything specific compared to other editions, but make sure to steer players away from taking bad subclasses. These include beastmaster ranger, way of the four elements monk, champion fighter, and trickery cleric (unless they specifically plan on multiclassing to rogue).

Where do you find the system shines especially?
The simplicity. I've DMed for people coming from other editions and they always make comments on how much easier it is to grasp the rules since they're so general.

What do I need to be careful or wary of?
Giving too many magic items. I made the mistake because I thought little bonuses couldn't possibly make that big of a difference, especially with attack rolls, but keep in mind that even CR 20+ monsters have an AC of about 20. Keep rarities mostly even with level tiers (Uncommon: 1-4 | Rare: 5-10 | Very Rare: 11-16 | Legendary: 17-20). These are rough estimations given by WotC, but it shows when players should have access to a couple of these items. For instance, a level 3 might have access to a rare item, a group of level 9's might have a very rare, and so on. A large part of it rides on how much magic is in the rest of the campaign.

What works best when balancing encounters for larger parties?
Just keep in mind that in the DMG, players are supposed to be able to fight 6-8 Medium encounters per day. They are not actually medium difficulty. Much of the encounter building there is based off of numbers as well, not assuming parties have good tactics. I use this generator (http://tools.goblinist.com/5enc) for encounters.

Just how disruptive are magic items really?
Not disruptive at all, as long as you plan for them. Don't give too many, don't let them buy a bunch, don't give them anything you don't want them to have. Also make sure you give items that characters can all use so no one feels useless. With how much they affect the game, a player can quickly dominate encounters with even two more good magic items than the rest of the party. For reference, I made a chart to compare effectiveness of different characters with their magic items. Uncommon are worth 1 point, rares 2, very rares 3, and legendaries 5 (there is a large power jump). Add the points up, try to keep them even. When using this chart, do not include non-combat items or group items, like a brazier of commanding fire elementals. That's something everyone person benefits from. Also don't use points for two +x magic weapons that a character dual-wields, only add the points once, since dual wielding with magic weapons is still on par with one big magic weapon from a numbers standpoint.

What have you found that the RAW doesn't cover well?
Elves taking long rests in half the time due to trance. I've seen a post saying they couldn't, I've seen something contrary in an errata. I suppose it's ultimately up to you for the decision. I personally say they can't, because you don't get the benefits of a rest from sleeping/trancing, those are just what can do during a rest. Only thing I've ever had a player try and argue that someone wasn't clearly wrong about.

Are there things that more readily lead to accidental PC deaths?
Why themselves! In reality, there's nothing specific I can think of that wouldn't come up in other editions.

Any other system-specific advice you may have?
Levels 1 and 2 are intended to be tutorial levels to teach players how to get used to using their class features. Treat them as such. If you have new players, level 1 or 2 will work. If you have experienced players, those levels are a waste of time in which they cannot flesh out their concept ideas fully. Start them at level 3 or above. My go-to is level 4 so that if a character wants to make something with a feat in mind, they don't have to pick vhuman, although I'll go lower in smaller campaigns. As I said before, stay away from some subclasses. These are bad and will make players unhappy. Wizards are not huge damage-dealers here. They are for the most part utility casters, and, while very powerful, are better off with a support-ish role. Treantmonk's guide to wizards is a phenomenal source to understand this.

[KorvinStarmast]

What are some risks and pratfalls you've found in running a 5e game?
Make sure you know what the game terms mean in this edition. There are some terms used (concentration) that are a little different from previous editions.


Where do you find the system shines especially? KISS principle, easy for new players to pick up. No stacking of concentration effects/buffs.

What do I need to be careful or wary of?
You need to make Rulings. You are the DM. Also, the hide/stealth rules are a bit soft around the edges. I suggest that you don't have them roll the dice unless the result makes a difference. (Obviously, in combat it's often necessary).

What works best when balancing encounters for larger parties?
The DMG has decent guidelines on encounter building and plussing up for party size. You'll still need to play with it a bit to get it where you like it.

Just how disruptive are magic items really?
not really. But they don't have to be plentiful. There is no WBL thing in 5e. (This is a good thing).

What have you found that the RAW doesn't cover well?
Surprise, stealth, and hiding. It takes a bit of getting used to. Here is a good coverage of the stealth/hiding thing (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/q/110430/22566).

Are there things that more readily lead to accidental PC deaths?
Low level combat is very swingy. Not being prepared to take care of players at 0 HP may be a problem. A crit at first level may trigger the death by too much damage rule.

Any other system-specific advice you may have?
yeah, no such thing as negative hit points
No such thing as a move action
Action economy has five elements:

Move
Action
Bonus action
Reaction
Interact with an object (sort of like a free action)


You can always move (unless constrained by an outside effect)
You can always take an action (unless constrained by an outside effect)
Bonus actions only come from a feature or spell that offers one
Reaction likewise as bonus actions.
Opportunity Attacks are a reaction: they are similar but different to previous AoO.
there is a table describing "interactions with objects' that you'll want to take a good look at.

Thanks in advance, guys. Love this community, and my players and I appreciate the help!Enjoy. Take a look at the Conditions in Appendix A. Know how they work. They are similar but different to previous conditions in previous editions.

Also, make sure the players understand how the mechanic of "spending hit dice to heal" during rests works, and how recovery of those hit dice works.

[Unoriginal]

One of the biggest pratfalls one can do while approaching this edition is thinking it's the same game as 3.X.

5e is a different game, and trying to apply 3.X assumptions to it is not a good idea.

[Ninja_Prawn]

What are some risks and pratfalls you've found in running a 5e game?
Player expectations might be a risk if they're 3.5 veterans, though you say you've got mostly new people, so... I'd say it pays to pay attention to the encounter-building guidelines in the DMG, bearing in mind that 'deadly' means one or two PCs might get KO'd, not 'certain TPK'. Remember that 5e expects a certain number of encounters and short rests per day, a bit like the 4e style but much looser.

Where do you find the system shines especially?
It's simple, clean and elegant. The PHB is pretty well-balanced. Bounded accuracy was a good decision. Advantage/disadvantage works well. Monster stat blocks are easy to use and fairly easy to write from scratch.

What do I need to be careful or wary of?
Giving out too many magic items, not having enough encounters per day. Avoid solo monsters (though that's always been true). Expect that some rules are open to interpretation; WotC expect DMs to make calls on the fly rather than encoding everything in black & white.

What works best when balancing encounters for larger parties?
I don't have much experience here, but having large groups of monsters should help. The DMG has some rough guidelines for this, but I've never tested them out.

Just how disruptive are magic items really?
Varies depending on which items you give, when, and whether you account for them in encounter design, I guess. I've heard plenty of stories about magic items disrupting games and triggering arms races that make encounters a bit like rocket tag.

What have you found that the RAW doesn't cover well?
Like I said above, the RAW is intentionally incomplete. You're supposed to use your best judgement now.

Are there things that more readily lead to accidental PC deaths?
Combat in 5e is quick; expect the result to be clear before the fourth round. That means that PCs don't have a very big window in which to realise they're outmatched and disengage. Low-level PCs aren't very durable so a few bad rolls can spell doom for them. Bounded accuracy means that low-CR monsters can still hurt higher level PCs, so they can't just stride around the battlefield with impunity anymore.

Any other system-specific advice you may have?
I guess I'd say: you get the best out of 5e if you fully embrace its philosophy. It may look like 2nd/3rd edition on the surface, but it is a very different beast in practice. Otherwise, just have fun with it! 5e is built to encourage 'yes, but/yes, and'-style improvisation and creativity.

[mgshamster]

One of the biggest pratfalls one can do while approaching this edition is thinking it's the same game as 3.X.

5e is a different game, and trying to apply 3.X assumptions to it is not a good idea.

A strong "This."

One of the largest challenges I had coming to 5e from PF was treating the game like PF. Since I frequent the Paizo forums a lot, practically everyone there who tried 5e had the same issue, and those who hated 5e were the ones who were unable to come to terms that 5e is a different game that requires a different mindset.

One of the biggest is: Don't worry about adhering to RAW. 5e is designed to be customised for the DM to make the game the DM wants to make. If you forget a rule or simply don't know it, don't worry about looking it up - just make a call to your best judgement and look for it later. This edition is all about Rulings over Rules.

Remember that both bonuses and DC are reduced in this edition. More importantly, dice should only be rolled when there's a question of whether or not it will pass. A lot of time, things should be automatic passes or failures. But when there is uncertainty (or when it's interesting), that's when you call for a die roll and set a DC.

[BeefGood]

Pitfall: The Challenge Rating (CR) of a monster is not nearly as useful as it may seem, because numerical advantage makes a big difference in 5e. An adventuring party consisting of four or five X-level characters will beat the snot out of a single CR=X monster. A solution to this is to give solo monsters some minions.
Pitfall: The Encounter Building Guidelines in the DMG are, similarly, not quite as useful as they may seem. They result in encounters that are too easy. Some say, and this may well be the case, that they are intended to be used in a context of a 6-8 encounter adventuring day. But the point I want to make is that the Encounter Building Guidelines and the Challenge Rating are not that useful "out of the box." You have to do some work to create the conditions in which they are useful.

[Hyde]

What are some risks and pratfalls you've found in running a 5e game?
Nothing major that wasn't ever an issue in previous editions, operations-wise. I'll echo the sentiment of "don't go into it with a mindset of: it's like 3.X but-"

Where do you find the system shines especially?
Combat is simple and fairly fluid. They could have keyworded certain things a bit better, but I think 4e scared them off of that.

What do I need to be careful or wary of?
If your players are new-new, then probably not a whole lot other than the usual. Read the rules for spellcasting and spellcasting classes carefully. Prep and slots aren't the same thing.

What works best when balancing encounters for larger parties?
More monsters. Have monsters show up. Have monsters run away. Action economy remains king.

Just how disruptive are magic items really?
Fairly? Not super. If I could do it over it'd be a much longer time before my players saw a +1 or +2 weapon.

What have you found that the RAW doesn't cover well?
A few things, but not anything that isn't fairly easy to intuit. Nothing that I'm immediately reminded of at the moment.

Are there things that more readily lead to accidental PC deaths?
PCs are exceptionally difficult to permanently kill outside of a TPK. The nature of death, dying, and healing keeps them pretty insulated from death unless things go horribly wrong (for them).

Any other system-specific advice you may have? Don't worry about it. As far as DnD systems go, this one is probably the least punishing if you goof up a rule, imo.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I can't echo enough the recommendations to forget all the mechanical knowledge from previous editions. Almost none of it carries over well enough to be useful, and it's easy to get confused and get frustrated with 5e because you're trying to use 3e (especially) thinking.


Pitfall: The Challenge Rating (CR) of a monster is not nearly as useful as it may seem, because numerical advantage makes a big difference in 5e. An adventuring party consisting of four or five X-level characters will beat the snot out of a single CR=X monster. A solution to this is to give solo monsters some minions.
Pitfall: The Encounter Building Guidelines in the DMG are, similarly, not quite as useful as they may seem. They result in encounters that are too easy. Some say, and this may well be the case, that they are intended to be used in a context of a 6-8 encounter adventuring day. But the point I want to make is that the Encounter Building Guidelines and the Challenge Rating are not that useful "out of the box." You have to do some work to create the conditions in which they are useful.

This goes to the philosophy of 5e. Running by DMG standards, you should only rarely have a TPK. TPKs happen if the party makes a series of stupid mistakes--nova'ing too hard one encounter and not saving resources for later. It's a slow bleed, not a bunch of difficulty peaks.

As to solo encounters--working by DMG guidelines, a solo monster only counts for 1/2 XP (which cuts their CR to about half (a little more at higher CRs)) when facing a party. This allows the party to face solo monsters (with appropriate lair and legendary actions) well above their APL. Ancient dragons (CRs ~ 20), for example, start being feasible at about level 14-15 (or less, depending on magic items and player skill). Never run any solo monster that doesn't have at least legendary resistances (a limited number of no-sell, guaranteed saves), legendary (off-turn) actions. Lair actions (environmental effects that go on INIT 20) are good as well. Even then, you'll have to go with CR quite a bit above APL to have an epic fight.

Balance based on adjusted encounter XP (using the table on pages 82 (Encounter Multipliers) and 84 (Adventuring Day XP)). Or use an encounter builder like Kobold Club (http://kobold.club). CR gives you XP, that plus number of enemies gives you adjusted XP, which, when combined with the encounter budget, gives difficulty.

A medium encounter should rarely result in someone going to 0 HP, but should drain some resources (hit dice, spell slots, etc). A hard encounter has some chance of someone going to 0 HP, but mainly should drain more resources. A deadly has a decent chance of at least one player being knocked to 0 HP, and a small chance of someone dying outright.

Policing the working day is important--to maintain inter-class balance it's best if you have 1-2 fights of at least medium difficulty between each of 3 rests (2 short, 1 long). You can do fewer, harder encounters, but there should be a wide range. Especially don't fall into the trap of letting the players do one huge fight, then a long rest, rinse and repeat. This will make balancing real hard--a single encounter that is challenging and not just nova'd to death runs a real risk of TPK based on the fall of the dice.

Edit: And about magic weapons (especially)--remember that you can have a magic weapon (pierces resistance and immunity) that doesn't have a +X to hit. A weapon enchanted to permanently shed light can count if you want it to. Just say "this is a magic weapon" and it is. Examples include flametongue (sword that does +2d6 fire damage, but doesn't get a +1 to hit). In fact, the system math doesn't require any +X weapons or armor, but it does expect either magical weapons for martials or someone that can cast magic weapon by about the time you're level ~7-9 (creatures with resistance/immunity to non-magical weapons start showing up around CR 4-5). Be wary of handing out +X weapons and armor too freely--those make for large power jumps.