[RPG] Are upper-level combat encounters still as complicated and time-consuming

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With level 10 and higher PCs, a lone Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 or Pathfinder combat encounter can take a long time, but I haven't heard if the same is true in Dungeons and Dragons 5E.

Does a 5E upper-level combat encounter take just as long and require the same amount of planning and forethought as an upper-level 3.5 or Pathfinder combat encounter?

Below are some specifics that interest me.

  1. Does 5E's smaller number of modifiers speed play significantly?
  2. Does 5E's pre-combat buff management take a long time? That is, can players of upper-level characters more quickly pick their spells and effects than in 3.5 or Pathfinder?
  3. Does 5E's theater-of-the-mind combat style end at-the-table arguments or encourage them when upper-level effects are used?

Best Answer

Here's One Player/DM's Experience

For the DM, 5e is much, much easier to manage and the combat flows much faster than 3.5e. High-powered monsters have much simpler mechanics and strategies, and yet they still "feel" powerful and interesting - thanks largely to the "legendary actions". Thanks to the simple advantage/disadvantage mechanic there are fewer rulings to make and its much easier to answer the fundamental question of combat: Did I hit? Hit points and damage levels are generally well-balanced, so a 15th level combat doesn't take all that much longer than a 3rd level combat with a similar number of figures. That said, high-level combat in other systems can be brutally short due to save-or-die mechanics, which are nearly absent in 5e.

For the player, preparation for spellcasters takes roughly as much time as in other editions, depending on the particular class. But I find that there is one huge difference, and that is that in 5e getting the preparation right is much less important. A player doesn't have to obsess over getting just the right set of spells for their caster to be effective. You can pick up a blank character sheet and draw up a 15th-level wizard in the minutes before the game, pick out spells based on how you like the names, and your character will still, more likely than not, have a successful adventure.

In my experience, the theater-of-the-mind style can work both ways. At times it can slow things down as players pepper the DM with questions. On the flip side, it eliminates fussing over things like how precise can an area-effect spell be figured. Whether it is a plus or minus for you will really depend on your group.

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