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[+] How do you make 5E more challenging?
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 9315536" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>I think there is a point being missed if you want to increase the difficulty of 5e. It would be better, IMO, to address the basic math of the game to increase difficulty, rather than trying to do it on the back end with increasing encounter difficulty or bolting on new rules. </p><p></p><p>Take a few fairly simple changes:</p><p></p><p>1. Reduce Proficiency Bonus for PC's by 2. So, a 1st level PC has a Proficiency bonus of 0 and a 20th level PC has a +5. This has all sorts of knock on effects - caster save DC's become a lot lower, attacks miss more often and PC's fail saving throws more often. Drop the bonus by 1 instead of 2 for a lesser effect.</p><p></p><p>2. Reduce the Standard Array. Instead of 15,14,13,12,10,8, change it to 13 12 12 10 10 8. With racial bumps, that means the highest stat a PC will have is 15. Combine that with the reduced Proficiency bonus and suddenly the PC's are MUCH weaker. We're talking a DC of 10for the best caster and a +2 attack bonus at 1st level. And that reduction will affect play all the way through. And, let's not forget, that takes 3 ASI's to reach 20 - 12th level for a lot of characters. </p><p></p><p>3. Drop Hit Dice by one step. D10 becomes D8, d8 becomes d6. Not a huge drop, but, again, combined with a lower Standard Array, and suddenly your PC will only have 20 HP at 5th level. </p><p></p><p>Those three simple changes will drastically raise the difficulty of the game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 9315536, member: 22779"] I think there is a point being missed if you want to increase the difficulty of 5e. It would be better, IMO, to address the basic math of the game to increase difficulty, rather than trying to do it on the back end with increasing encounter difficulty or bolting on new rules. Take a few fairly simple changes: 1. Reduce Proficiency Bonus for PC's by 2. So, a 1st level PC has a Proficiency bonus of 0 and a 20th level PC has a +5. This has all sorts of knock on effects - caster save DC's become a lot lower, attacks miss more often and PC's fail saving throws more often. Drop the bonus by 1 instead of 2 for a lesser effect. 2. Reduce the Standard Array. Instead of 15,14,13,12,10,8, change it to 13 12 12 10 10 8. With racial bumps, that means the highest stat a PC will have is 15. Combine that with the reduced Proficiency bonus and suddenly the PC's are MUCH weaker. We're talking a DC of 10for the best caster and a +2 attack bonus at 1st level. And that reduction will affect play all the way through. And, let's not forget, that takes 3 ASI's to reach 20 - 12th level for a lot of characters. 3. Drop Hit Dice by one step. D10 becomes D8, d8 becomes d6. Not a huge drop, but, again, combined with a lower Standard Array, and suddenly your PC will only have 20 HP at 5th level. Those three simple changes will drastically raise the difficulty of the game. [/QUOTE]
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[+] How do you make 5E more challenging?
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