Flanking Response to XP to Level 3 | Dungeons and Dragons 5e

XP to Level 3 had some words about Flanking and even though it took me a while to respond, I want to let Jacob know why he so wrong about flanking in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition— at least for how I homebrew it. It's all about the math!

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[Taking]

***EDIT*** Jesus people, Jacob and I are friends that PLAY TOGETHER EVERY WEEK. It's a fun jab, and I told Jacob about wanting to make this video weeks and weeks ago! I assure you, he knew way in advance hahaha



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[Kardel_VA]

ITS TIME FOR THE TORCHES AND PITCH FOR-
"I'm a friend of Jacob!"
awww...

[LeaderV]

When Jacob said “ a +2 is almost nothing”, I imagined my players almost killing each other over a +1 dagger

[XPtoLevel]

This is a genuinely good analysis of the system and a much more optimal way to run flanking. I also appreciate all the kind words. I am 100% deserving of the “diss” to my hypocritical statements and didn’t do much research before my video. I literally just ranted on the floor 😂
To have any sort of response to this, I’ll say this:
The +1 rule is definitely better. However, I find it boring. I’m not trying to make combat harder or easier, I want to make it more interesting. “Forcing” my players to describe their flank can get tedious, sure. But my goal is to encourage them on describing their actions and coming up with creative solutions in combat. I couldn’t care less about the math and combat effectiveness.
I want to make combat more interesting, not faster or simpler.
That’s why I bring up Pathfinder. I like the /options/ not necessarily how complicated it is.

Anyways, that’s all I’ll say about it. Again, great video. That video definitely needed and deserved that criticism and you knocked it out of the park. Love you too buddy :)

[geoffdewitt]

Cody's wife proposed to him, and Cody's response was, "It's only logical for us to wed. The math checks out." :)

[SaintVoid]

A simple solution to congo-line flanking. "A character can not assist in flanking if it is being flanked itself."

[PlasticJ]

2:20-2:55 "You think with your emotions, based on how you FEEL. I, on the other hand, think with logic. I'm very analytic. I don't rely on feeling for pretty much anything in my life."
6:50 "Why do I choose to use a +1? Well, that's just what feels best to me."

[beardboywonder]

Here's my 2 cents. Rounds happen in 6 seconds. If someone is swinging at you from the front and behind at (almost) the same time. How likely are you to be able to block both of those attacks? While that one dude is more FEELING based and you're more LOGIC based; d&d is about both of those things.

[theDMLair]

"You're home schooled and not good at math" LMAO
Waiting for Jacob's comeback...

[mjr]

TFW When you see a response video, become a little worried that it'll be a video where the person is rude to the person they're responding to, but in reality it's just a decent criticism and response, like how all discussions should be.

👍🏼

[viviyinn]

lmao why is the idea of dnd drama and response videos so funny to me

[lichkingsvault]

I never use my emotions to make decisions.

Me: with that haircut? Right. But I agree with the rest of what you said.

[Zedrinbot]

I think I've commented this on one of your two guys' vids before, but I really like the prospect of simply having flanking reducing the crit threshold by 1, roleplayed as you can better exploit weaknesses in enemy defenses.

If you'd crit on 20, it's 19 when your target is flanked. If you're a champion, then 18, or 17 if a high level champion. It's probably even less of a mechanical bonus than a stock +1, but I feel it's more interesting flavor wise.

[caseyhullfish]

new house rule: if you wanna flank, you have to flank the dm irl and successfully punch him

[ronsorage]

I already sub to all 3 of you because why limit your knowledge when you can pick as many brains as you can.

[PrettyWizardProductions]

My table adds a d4 for flanking. Adds a little bit of randomness and doesn't ✨feel✨ as underwhelming as a +1 might

[Cgates]

I just give the players a choice at session zero. Do you want flanking? Yes, then your enemies do as well. You don't then no one does. It's easy and I keep it as the books say advantage/ disadvantage. I love the mechanic and don't feel it breaks the game in any way. But most of the time they pick no flanking.

[matt.oconnor]

I scrapped flanking for a homebrew rule called: Engagement.

Engagement: Works just like Pack Pactics in terms of position on board but gives a +2 bonus to hit. This effect also applies to enemies against the players. The bonus can never go higher than +2.

I also have a shield wall rule. If two creatures stand within 5 ft of each other and are both using a shield, each of them gets +1 to AC.

[Zulk_RS]

I know the math but I still like Advantage for Flanking. Why? Because it is always more fun when people hit things compared to when people miss things. Plus, when you have that higher of a chance to hit something due to flanking, you're going to be more worried of monsters using that against you.
(Editing because I forgot to talk about the conga-line of death)
I understand why people have a problem with the line of death but I find it funny so it's something I have 0 problems with.

[feartheghus]

Wow, they weren’t kidding when they said dnd is math disguised as Skyrim...

Seriously though this is a cool and pretty in-depth explanation, thanks for the video.