confidentcrescent
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User ID: 423
confidentcrescent
13d ago
Honestly, I think the concentration mechanic and spell nerfs that 5e did are the bigger sticking point for me.
They probably had more impact on my enjoyment when actually playing, but I have some sympathy for these two changes because they did at least partially solve issues that were widely complained about in 3.5e.
Spellcasters ignoring the recommended adventuring day to dump everything immediately made fighters feel irrelevant, which is less of a problem now that the spells are weaker. I also don't think anyone liked the pre-fight buff dance that happened whenever a party got to surprise their foes, which has been killed off entirely by concentration.
I disagree but I can see someone liking those changes enough to outweigh having less interesting and impactful spells.
On the other hand, the loss of proper prepared spellcasting feels like almost entirely downside since we went from having a choice between wizard and sorcerer to two flavors of sorcerer.
From what I remember of 5e, I think the "ritual" tag was supposed to handle a lot of the situational utility stuff.
I think they might have initially intended this, but most of the best utility spells got left off the ritual list. That was a good decision. Characters being able to cast Detect Magic and Leomund's Tiny Hut effectively at-will was enough of a problem. The idea of dealing with characters who get to cast Fly, Fabricate, or Clairvoyance any time you let them sit still for half an hour should fill any DM with dread.
Rituals were a mistake and if WotC ever gets tired of making slight iterations on 5e I hope the next edition removes or reworks them. At least make them limited by something other than just time!
confidentcrescent
15d ago
5e's equivalent problem is only having space on your preparation list for a very short list of spells. It also sucks to take Fireball and find out that you actually needed Lightning Bolt or something situational like Feather Fall.
I preferred the 3.5e system because in this situation it means I still got to use that ideal spell once, and the larger quantity of memorized spells gave more space to take something experimental or niche without leaving a massive gap in my spell list.
I decided to try Sorcerer in 5e so it's possible some of the problem came from having to make changing my spell list a multi-session affair. I think they've since made the UA which let you change spells without levelling up official which is a positive change.
However, I did feel like 5e gave a much greater pressure to have something optimal if you want to to properly contribute to a fight. Preparing multiple options to diversify across different saves, different damage types, and single-target vs multi-target ate up that list quickly.
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