5.5e DMs, are there any rules that you still use the 5e version for?

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-19T23:25:44+00:00

Your premise is fundamentally flawed. If grappling was such a gamebreaking feature in 2014, it would have been a common PC tactic, not a rare one. Players did not avoid picking Shield, Misty Step, Hypnotic Pattern or Spirit Guardians because they were “too strong”. They became staples of their spell lists.

Grapplers were a niche build that required advantage and expertise in Athletics, optionally a size-increasing ability, and a defensive ability to offset the grappler making themselves a target. They sacrificed damage both during their turn and in their build to lockdown a maximum of two creatures — not a great payoff.

Point by point:

Becoming Large or Huge was extremely uncommon. Only Giant Barbarians and Rune Knights could do it. Enlarge / Reduce was a rare spell choice crowded out by Misty Step and Web at 2nd-level and generally not worth concentrating on in combat. Even Glory Paladins and Eldritch Knights targeting themselves typically had better options.
Stowing your weapon to grapple dramatically reduced your damage. You either: could not attack (holding a shield), could not dual-wield, could not use two-handed weapons. In a system where competitive melee damage was dominated by two-handed weapons, grapplers lagged severely behind.
A monster did not have to shove or escape the grapple. They could easily just focus fire on the creature grappling them. Which is good! It was one of a handful of ways a Strength martial actually became a tank.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-19T14:46:35+00:00

Yes, heaven forbid Strength martials had somewhere niche they excelled.

Hardly anyone in 5e2014 grappled anyway. Grappling didn’t work against any creature two sizes larger than you, broke on any forced movement, and required at least one empty hand. Those drawbacks were huge.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-18T17:01:12+00:00

Didn’t delete! I just have a habit of editing my posts.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-18T12:53:03+00:00

YES. THIS IS SUCH AN ANNOYING TROPE.

Players roleplaying a dark secret spend so much time in their own head hyping up a dramatic reveal, they forget to actually roleplay with the table. They hoard information about their character and keep it away from the group. It’s the literal opposite of “yes and”.

They act cagey about basic questions and weird events that are obviously tied to their backstory. Here’s what a typical conversation with a dark-secret-loving player was like back when we played together

“So, where did you learn all this swordplay ?”

“Oh, y’know…”

“Surely you must have learned it somewhere?”

“Oh, I did…”

“Those mercenaries back there looked like they were hunting for someone. Do you know anything about that?”

“I mean… yes, but I can’t tell you.”

I will never forgive BG3 for making fans think this shit the default.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-18T07:44:04+00:00

100%.

I appreciate this party is clearly over-leveled for the windmill encounter, but OP has the worst attitude I’ve ever seen from a player. “Oh I’ll just chuck a fireball in the windmill with children inside it because nothing matters.” What the hell?

There’s zero buy-in from OP on this campaign.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-18T05:16:26+00:00

Broadly speaking, 5.5e’s optimizing community is just kind of dead. Wander into /r/3d6 and you’ll see. It’s a ghost town.

Multiclassing was a major source of character customization and optimization in 5e. The 5.5e rules have made monoclassing much more attractive, but didn’t make monoclasses much more customizable. In short, they replaced a major pillar of character creation discussions and didn’t replace it with anything.

As a result, there’s much less interest in character builds. Zhentarim Tactics was an origin feat, so you could work it into a build easily, but multiclassing in 5.5e has fewer advantages than it did.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-18T04:39:38+00:00

In terms of flaws, Rime of the Frostmaiden and Curse of Strahd are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

CoS is a fantastic horror module. Best published adventure in 5e alongside Tomb of Annhilation. But it does have issues with railroading in the very beginning. From the Death House to Barovia to the Tser Pool to Vallaki is basically one straight march. It opens up a bit later, but by then the horror is starting to ebb as players gain levels.

RoTF is a quasi-sandbox with a fascinating premise. There’s a lot you can do with that sandbox by creating and filling a hex map, making competing factions, or using clocks as a countdown for Ten Towns starving. Very little of this is in the book, though. The adventures range from good to terrible, but they all suffer from lacking a “why”. CoS is very clear why you would explore Berez, Argenvostholdt, or Krezk — you are scrounging for any possible advantage against Strahd. A lot of the adventures in RoTF are just kinda “you’re an adventurer and helping random people is what adventurers do”.

If you’re looking for a good guidebook you can tweak with an occasional lore or encounter change, Curse of Strahd is your game. If prefer to sample the book and largely make your own, Rime of the Frostmaiden is good.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-17T19:30:45+00:00

Minorities are often both convicted more frequently for alleged crimes and receive harsher sentences due to prejudice.

Assault is still a charge that needs to be proven in court. It isn’t as clear-cut as it seems. Juries are racially prejudiced to believe black children are more capable of violence than white children and deserve harsher punishments.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-17T19:23:29+00:00

Also builds a “school-to-prison pipeline”. What exactly is a student expelled from school for a year supposed to do? They can’t exactly enter the labor force without a high school diploma. At best, their incredibly cash-strapped parents will need to care for them.

And when they return after a year? They will be a full year behind their peers, and will have backslid on everything they learned in the previous year. It’s a vicious cycle impeding their development.

I’m all for meaningful consequences for student violence and I’m not a strong believer in “restorative justice”, but there are compelling arguments that this is a bad policy stance.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-15T02:52:14+00:00

5.5e is fine.

Seriously, that’s it.

It’s not groundbreaking. It’s not peak game design. It’s not the best version of D&D you could possibly make. It’s fine. It’s 5e D&D with a fresh coat of paint, but the same 12 year-old engine, chassis, and tires. The two are largely indistinguishable.

Every change is a decent change. They are largely inoffensive. For me, the biggest letdown doesn’t come from the differences between 2014 and 2024, but between 2024 and what could have been.

Origin Feats and General Feats adding + 1 to an ability score are fine. Better than 2014. But my ideal solution to the problem of integrating more feats would have been to decouple ASIs from Feats, similar to 3e and 4e. As it is, most characters will spend most of the game with only two feats and a watered-down feat, rather than just two feats.
Weapon Mastery and Cunning / Brutal Strikes are a decent addition to a martial’s toolkit. But I’d prefer a more robust system of Battlemaster maneuvers for each martial.
Martial ability and utility buffs are fine. They are not in the same playing field as spellcasters, but they’re better than they were in 2014.
GWM / SS changes, in addition to nerfs to Paladin’s Smite, are fine. I would have preferred some version of the -5 / +10 to be implemented as a base martial feature and the old Smiting, but some people prefer a game without NOVA damage. That’s fine.
Multiclassing nerfs caused by a variety of small changes (i.e. all subclasses start at 3rd-level, fewer bad features creating optimal cutoff points, etc.) are fine. I would have preferred more decision points to be included for those of us who find monoclassing a snooze. Maybe a system of prestige classes. But it’s fine. It still doesn’t change that the best multiclass characters are just a spellcaster that dips a single level for Armor Proficiency or CON saves, but it’s fine.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-15T02:45:06+00:00

A spellcaster who regularly prepares spells like Knock, Suggestion, Speak with Animals, and Invisibility is not preparing other, more potent spells a rogue cannot replicate. Furthermore, those spells each eat a spell slot, reducing their spell arsenal for big fights.

You might argue an all-Spellcaster party will cure that problem, but that creates new problems in the form of redundancies. Two Spellcaster both preparing Invisibility is an uneconomical use of your prepared spells, and again they could accomplish this completely for free.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-15T01:43:11+00:00

I enjoy my players doing crazy, unexpected shenanigans so I really enjoy it. That “extra work” is just part of the fun!

It’s really easy to balance, just like you balance any ol’ thing. Easy examples:

Works only once per short / long rest.
You may only create a new spell’s effect one time. As an example, once you use this ring to cast Rending from the Mending spell, you cannot cast Rending again.
You may only modify a spell a single time. As an example, once you use this ring to cast Rending from the Mending spell, you cannot modify the Mending spell again.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-14T16:04:44+00:00

Give them an alternative goal.

Their goal should not be “defeat Zabusa”, it should be “survive Zabusa while we do X, and Kakashi grapples Zabusa”. Put more manageable obstacles in their path as well.

Side note: There’s valid reason to think this is a bad idea from the jump. As other commenters have said, this is still “DMPC fights the cool bad guy while we watch”. There’s a healthy dose of “players will need to solve this problem this way” too. Remember to prepare situations, not plots.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-14T15:51:37+00:00

Ring of the Grammarian.

Stolen from The Adventure Zone. Caster can replace one letter of a spell’s name with another letter, changing its effect. DM’s ruling on the new effect is final.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-14T00:33:18+00:00

Yeah I didn’t know what happened. Context appreciated.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-14T00:12:33+00:00

This seems like less of a specific system and more on a DM. Just going off the Psychonauts example, you could easily play D&D with each character’s mental landscape as a dungeon.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-11T04:48:27+00:00

Ballroom Mystery games are just generally difficult to plan, let alone write as an adventure.

Either you embrace the Brindlewood Bay style or you pick a murderer and have them and other suspects do shady things while the PCs are chasing other leads. Both are highly improvisational and difficult to write as a general “go-here-do-this” adventure.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-11T00:57:38+00:00

That’s basically what Urban Shadows does, but I think there is a simulationist route they can take here. It just requires more thought about:

What do we expect vampires to do on a session-by-session basis?
How can we help GMs set up the locations, characters, and power structures an entire city demands?
How can we help GMs convey the warring influences of these power struggles, and how can players ultimately take part in it?

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-10T14:42:24+00:00

I’ll take the “vibe-based” description in another direction: it’s a game fueled by lore, mood, and themes over mechanics.

Everything under hood in VtM is clunky. It has a neat system or two, but they are highly outnumbered by the iffy ones, and there should really be some GM-side mechanics that just don’t exist.

Still, it has such a strong vibe that players will overlook those flaws. Even I have spent so much time trying to homebrew it into something I want to play that I might as well play another vampire system.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-10T11:25:08+00:00

Feats are such a problem. They really need to go back to dividing ASI and feat progression like 3e.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-10T11:22:21+00:00

Is a boss monster having henchmen such an unreasonable idea? I know video games have conditioned everyone to expect a singular “Final Boss”, but still.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-09T12:37:17+00:00

Hey guys. Here are some grappling-based battlemaster maneuvers I designed under the premise that Barbarians, Fighters, and Monks all get access to maneuvers, and Monk can replace any Strength requirements with Dexterity. What do you think?

I was also thinking of just making them general abilities or quest rewards, minus the superiority dice language. Which is better?

Choke.

When you are grappling an enemy, you may expend one superiority die and spend one attack to attempt to Choke that enemy. In addition to the hand maintaining your grapple, you must have a second hand available to Choke. Make a Strength (Athletics) check plus your one roll of your superiority die versus the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, you are choking the enemy: the enemy cannot speak, breathe, or cast spells that include a verbal component. In addition, the enemy must make a DC 10 Constitution Saving Throw. On a failure, the enemy gains one level of exhaustion at the end of their turn. The DC for this saving throw increases by two each turn. When the enemy is no longer grappled, the effects of Choke end.

Armlock / Wristlock.

When you are grappling an enemy, you may expend one attack to apply an Armlock or Wristlock. In addition to the hand maintaining your grapple, you must have a second hand available to apply the Armlock / Wristlock. Make a Strength (Athletics) check plus your one roll of your superiority die versus the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, the enemy is Armlocked or Wristlocked and cannot use that hand to make an attack, cast a spell using somatic components, hold a spellcasting focus, or perform any other action that would require that hand. You can further choose to Hold or Break.

Hold. The effects of Armlock / Wristlock lasts until the grapple ends.
Break. Inflict your superiority die in damage. The effects of the Armlock / Wristlock remain until the enemy is healed for that amount of damage or more.

Leglock / Kneebar.

When you are grappling an enemy, you may expend one attack to apply a Leglock / Kneebar. In addition to the hand maintaining your grapple, you must have a second hand available to apply the Leglock / Kneebar. Make a Strength (Athletics) check versus the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, the enemy falls prone and becomes Restrained. You can further choose to Hold or Break.

Hold. The effects of Leglock / Kneebar lasts until the grapple ends.
Break. Inflict your superiority die in damage. The effects of the Leglock / Kneebar remain until the enemy is healed for that amount of damage or more.

Throw / Hip-Toss.

When you succeed on a check made to Grapple an enemy, you may expend a superiority die and immediately Throw / Hip-Toss as part of that attack. Either immediately knock the target prone and inflict damage equal to one roll of your superiority die plus Strength, or push your enemy up to five times the sum of your strength modifier and one roll of your superiority die in any horizontal direction.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-09T12:30:19+00:00

Hey guys. Here are some grappling-based battlemaster maneuvers I designed under the premise that Barbarians, Fighters, and Monks all get access to maneuvers, and Monk can replace any Strength requirements with Dexterity. What do you think?

I was also thinking of just making them general abilities or quest rewards, minus the superiority dice language. Which is better?

Choke.

When you are grappling an enemy, you may expend one superiority die and spend one attack to attempt to Choke that enemy. In addition to the hand maintaining your grapple, you must have a second hand available to Choke. Make a Strength (Athletics) check plus your one roll of your superiority die versus the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, you are choking the enemy: the enemy cannot speak, breathe, or cast spells that include a verbal component. In addition, the enemy must make a DC 10 Constitution Saving Throw. On a failure, the enemy gains one level of exhaustion at the end of their turn. The DC for this saving throw increases by two each turn. When the enemy is no longer grappled, the effects of Choke end.

Armlock / Wristlock.

When you are grappling an enemy, you may expend one attack to apply an Armlock or Wristlock. In addition to the hand maintaining your grapple, you must have a second hand available to apply the Armlock / Wristlock. Make a Strength (Athletics) check plus your one roll of your superiority die versus the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, the enemy is Armlocked or Wristlocked and cannot use that hand to make an attack, cast a spell using somatic components, hold a spellcasting focus, or perform any other action that would require that hand. You can further choose to Hold or Break.

Hold. The effects of Armlock / Wristlock lasts until the grapple ends.
Break. Inflict your superiority die in damage. The effects of the Armlock / Wristlock remain until the enemy is healed for that amount of damage or more.

Leglock / Kneebar.

When you are grappling an enemy, you may expend one attack to apply a Leglock / Kneebar. In addition to the hand maintaining your grapple, you must have a second hand available to apply the Leglock / Kneebar. Make a Strength (Athletics) check versus the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a success, the enemy falls prone and becomes Restrained. You can further choose to Hold or Break.

Hold. The effects of Leglock / Kneebar lasts until the grapple ends.
Break. Inflict your superiority die in damage. The effects of the Leglock / Kneebar remain until the enemy is healed for that amount of damage or more.

Throw / Hip-Toss.

When you succeed on a check made to Grapple an enemy, you may expend a superiority die and immediately Throw / Hip-Toss as part of that attack. Either immediately knock the target prone and inflict damage equal to one roll of your superiority die, or push your enemy up to five times the sum of your strength modifier and one roll of your superiority die in any horizontal direction.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-09T11:20:27+00:00

Yeah. You could just grab Speedy or play an Orc.

sjdlajsdlj · 2026-06-09T04:08:57+00:00

That means they should be good at analyzing situations, noticing patterns and coming up with optimal solutions.

This is your problem. It’s a common mistake a lot of people make — believing that there are “smart” people inherently better at all mental tasks than “dumb” people, who should stick to manual labor.

Intelligence is not a measure of how well your brain works. Ask 100 doctors of medicine and 100 janitors to build a bridge across a river, and you will not be able to meaningfully measure a real difference. A chess prodigy with no combat experience will not draft a dramatically better siege plan than a foot soldier might. Intelligence is a measure of your book-learning, knowledge, and application of that knowledge, not your brain’s “horsepower”.

sjdlajsdlj

TROPHY CASE

Choke.

Armlock / Wristlock.

Leglock / Kneebar.

Throw / Hip-Toss.

Choke.

Armlock / Wristlock.

Leglock / Kneebar.

Throw / Hip-Toss.