attunement sucks

[HoboForEternity]

i guess this isn't the game's fault but DnD's fault. 3 magic items really? i never played PnP but familiar with the ruleset mainly from games, but in 3E or pathfinder you can cover every inch of your body with magic items. no problem with that. you found magic item, you earned it you can equip everything into available slots but now we have only 3 and it just feel very limiting.

also only 1 slot for utility items, no belt item or feats to increase the amout of slots, this sucks. overall really good game and it's the ruleset fault probably but i get now why 5E is not regarded as well as 3.5

[Second Batch]

You can have a magic item in every slot, and they will work. Up to 3 may be attuned.

[Cassilda]

5e wanted magic items to be rarer and feel more special. In 3.5, the profusion of magic items, magic buffs, feats and the overall way class progressed, caused massive power creep and stat bloat. 5e toned it all down.

While the end result is far from perfect, I prefer it over 3.5.

[Blackmage]

In other words, you don't like challenge. Got it.

You can have magic items in every slot of your body, and use all the magic items you got. A wand of Magic Missile, Circlet of Blasting, or +1 armor all do not require attunement. Only certain magic items you can max at 3, and it's really not that big of a deal, nor that big of an inconvenience.

5e was also designed to empower player characters, not have them rely on magical items. A warrior with a regular starting longsword will perform just as well as another with a +2 longsword. This is actually a design pro, because martial classes all suffered severely at higher levels compared to true spellcasters in all the previous editions.

D&D 5e is also the best selling and most popular version of D&D ever made. So no, it's actually very highly regarded. Only old fogies like me who prefer older systems dislike certain aspects of 5e. But the attunement system isn't one of them. Advantage and Disadvantage are blessings for DMs. It makes skill checks much easier than stacking +2/-2s to DCs all the time.
My only major gripe against 5e is how every character is the same. Every totem barbarian is the same, every arcane trickster is the same, every battle master is the same, every wizard is the same. But 3.5e had so many supplements and options that it was almost impossible to replicate someone else's character by accident.

The utility slot is just a "quick access" slot. You can still dig into your inventory to use another item.

[psychotron666]

There's lots of magic items that don't require attunement. All the best require attunement and that's because not having that makes it op

[DiceWrangler]

In my home D&D 5e games I limit the number of attuned items to your Proficiency Bonus, which scales with level, so at 9th level, for example, you can have up to 4 items attuned.

[Something completely different]

Pathfinder is THE Min max setting of them all so if you compare it to that (and are used to min maxing your way to demigod status on every toon) then yes, 5E will feel limited.

I guess your next post will be about concentration.

[BoogieMan]

I get the point of the system.. But the thing that sucks about attunement is you have to attune a lot of relatively mundane items which really aren't that powerful or rare. Especially circumstantial with niche uses. Seems like it would have been better to reserve it for items that make more of a difference.

It also depends on how they are given out. In P&P it can be more likely to get lucky and get an item outside of your power level because of a lucky roll. In CRPGs loot drops are usually tightly bound to your level so you rarely, if ever, get anything very powerful for your level.

[Snefru]

No, you don’t actually have to attune anything, especially if mundane and not that powerful. You can choose to not use that stuff which you describe that way.

[Firfurz]

This is based on 5E. There's a hard limit of 3 attuned items on 5E unless you're an artificer and that class is not in this game. The system does not suck, it's just not what you want.

[BoogieMan]

Originally posted by Sparkle:

No, you don’t actually have to attune anything, especially if mundane and not that powerful. You can choose to not use that stuff which you describe that way.

A ring of darkvision doesn't seem all that powerful to me yet it requires attunement.

[starkmaddness]

Almost every magical item in this game requires attunement.

When I beat the game most of my characters only had a few slots used despite having numerous items in my inventory. That is not good itemization design. It severely limits the usefulness and excitement of loot as most often anything you find will not be worth giving up your existing items. Essentially the game only has 3 equipment slots which makes it rather simplistic, a trend in 5e which seems to be more about make believe than mechanics.

And no, having a character with an ordinary longsword be viable is also not good design. RPGs use gear upgrades to give a sense of progression, which this game sorely lacks, both in itemization and character customization.

[Lord Kerwyn]

The main campaign actually gives out more magics items then it probably should. Fundamentally you are saying you don't like the design of 5e. That's fine but lots of people do, and many who have bought the game like it because of how closely it follows the 5e mechanics.

If you want more +1s all over, Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a solid game.

[Wantoomany]

Originally posted by BoogieMan:

Originally posted by Sparkle:

No, you don’t actually have to attune anything, especially if mundane and not that powerful. You can choose to not use that stuff which you describe that way.

A ring of darkvision doesn't seem all that powerful to me yet it requires attunement.

In a game where light and dark is a fundamental part of the game, why would think a ring of darkvision isn't all that powerful?

[Nox]

ring of darkvision is probably the most useful magic item in the game, possibly secondary to a ring of free movement.

cast darkness on your fighters wearing dark vision rings, enjoy fighting at a double advantage all the time.

[BoogieMan]

Originally posted by Wantoomany:

Originally posted by BoogieMan:

A ring of darkvision doesn't seem all that powerful to me yet it requires attunement.

In a game where light and dark is a fundamental part of the game, why would think a ring of darkvision isn't all that powerful?

1. Easily replaced by a low level spell
2. Only helps like two races
3. There are many trivial ways of creating light sources

Originally posted by Nox:

ring of darkvision is probably the most useful magic item in the game, possibly secondary to a ring of free movement.

cast darkness on your fighters wearing dark vision rings, enjoy fighting at a double advantage all the time.

Flavor, really. Hasn't been needed for me.

What if the fighter already has dark vision from race or spell?