D&D 5E I'd like to see individual difficulty settings in 5e

[ahayford]

I just don't think there are many gamist players that would put up with having narritivist players that are essentially invincible for free in the same group. I think it would create more intergroup conflict then just having the GM actually run a varried style game that appeals to different people in the group at different times.

The best solution, of course, is letting people know what type of game you are running before hand, or finding out what type of game your fixed group is most interested in and run that. But at some point, you just have to realize some people want to play football and other people want to play basketball. Trying to force them to play together using different rules is just not going to work imho. Better to play basketball on Saturday and football on sunday and enjoy them for what makes each fun.

 

[howandwhy99]

This could be interesting. I bet they make it more of a complexity dial per class though. Challenge is a gamer concern, telling a story is a storyteller concern. Getting them both in the same campaign will take some mixing.

I have a theory that XP totals in earlier versions are descriptors of complexity by level by class. So a 1st level thief is 1250 while a magic-user is 2500. But both increase in complexity as their levels increase. Of course this is based mostly on the scope of the world for each, but the starting abilities come into it too a bit.

 

[Stormonu]

One of the things that has annoyed me about some adventures (such as AP's) is the deadliness of these adventures. I'm a casual DM, my players are a very casual group, and I don't like a game that pushes the players every second with combats and encounters that are designed to be near-impossible to beat.

I'd like to see attention paid to those of us who don't treat this as if the game were set on "Nightmare" difficulty. Some of us are just kicking back to enjoy a fun romp and barely surviving each encounter by the skin of our teeth wasn't really what we were looking for.

Likewise, having the difficulty always set on Hard can kill creativity. You are, in some ways, less likely to try something out of the ordinary (unless you're desperate) because you know if you try something off the wall, it'll only get you killed.

-- Stormonu, the NON-Rat Bastard DM

 

[Argyle King]

One of the things that has annoyed me about some adventures (such as AP's) is the deadliness of these adventures. I'm a casual DM, my players are a very casual group, and I don't like a game that pushes the players every second with combats and encounters that are designed to be near-impossible to beat.

I'd like to see attention paid to those of us who don't treat this as if the game were set on "Nightmare" difficulty. Some of us are just kicking back to enjoy a fun romp and barely surviving each encounter by the skin of our teeth wasn't really what we were looking for.

Likewise, having the difficulty always set on Hard can kill creativity. You are, in some ways, less likely to try something out of the ordinary (unless you're desperate) because you know if you try something off the wall, it'll only get you killed.

-- Stormonu, the NON-Rat Bastard DM

I'm perfectly fine with different adventures catering to different group types. However, I feel slightly negative toward the idea of different difficulty settings being used by different players sitting in the same game. There was already friction caused in some groups because of the power disparity between a 3rd edition fighter and a 3rd edition wizard; adding another way to cause even more power disparity is not something I like the idea of.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Difficulty settings would be pretty easy for groups:

Easy Mode- everyone has double action points
Hard Mode- everyone has 1/2 hp

Regarding individual players though, I'm extremely dubious about the prospect. I mean, you could, but I don't think it would end well. In all fairness, there's nothing stopping your friend who likes to be challenged from wearing no armor or dealing half his hp in damage to himself every morning. Or, if you play 3e, he could play a Commoner. That would certainly up the challenge for him. I expect he doesn't though, because there's a difference between wanting a challenge and wanting to be weaker than the rest of the party.

This type of a solution would only be effective for the type of player that doesn't mind running a Rifts Vagabond alongside a group of Glitterboys and Dragons. That also doesn't address DMs who don't enjoy having such power disparities amongst their players. Some people love Rifts, but there are plenty who don't care for that system.

I'm going to echo what a lot of others have said and say that this is something probably best worked out within the group.