Giving martial characters crazy abilities like evasion makes sense when you realize the wizard can start warping reality at the same level.

Past Jacob: "Saving throws are dumb." Post-baby Jacob: **is currently making con saves everyday to not die of exhaustion.**

I like how at 7th level a wizard can banish a creature into another dimension or see a week into the future but past Jacob got mad the character that uses their agility and cunning to dodge attacks can dodge attacks

As a DM who has been playing with a Rogue who is now 14th level... I love his evasion. He's so cocky about it and smug. It makes every wisdom save that I subject him to (fairly sparingly, I like to let him enjoy his evasion) so much better. The panic feeds me.

I see that Jacob had to make a constitution saving throw to deal with past Jacob choices lol

Step 1: Choose to play an elemental monk Step 2: Flavor evasion as bending the elements around them Step 3: Profit

Evasion is honestly fine. This is around the same level where Clerics get almost 1/10 odds of getting their god to blast monsters into atoms or Wizards get encounter-ending spells like Wall of Force.

This is a very noble video. It’s great to not only see you publicly changing your mind about something (which many people are annoyed by even when it’s about a game lol), but even joking about the old video as if it’s a different person on screen. Awesome stuff ✌🏻

I’m glad you’re finally doing a take down on XP to Level 3, I hate that guy, Jacob is a superior KZfaqr.

In fantasy you don't have to move outside of a fireball to avoid the damage. It's easy to explain how you avoid the damage and stay in the radius. You shield yourself with your cloak. You hold up a shield. The ability creates a psychic forcefield (soul knife?). 5E asks us to suspend our disbelief in physics far more than the evasion ability.

Additional point on the Intellect Devourer situation: 5e isn't exactly optimized for the players to retreat from encounters, and that's rarely ever the first option players consider.

14:39 I could be wrong, but I believe this was actually the intent when saving throws were first introduced. In classic editions (1e or basic or I forget which one), poisons and spells and dragonbreath just straight-up killed you. No save. No chance. Dead. Didn't wanna be dead? Shouldn'a drank that poison. Should'a been more careful about traps. Shouldn'a pissed off that dragon and/or wizard. Saving throws were literally introduced as a "last chance" mechanic, essentially "you dun fucked up, the only thing can save you now is sheer dumb luck, better hope the dice gods are in your favour".

If ”uncanny dodge” and ”evasion” swapped names then i think that people would go: ”Okay but HOW do you dodge the fireball?” way less because its implied in the name that something wierd is happening during the dodge

I dont see Evasion as being too crazy: "As the Fireball erupts from the center of your group, you see your party bracing for impact. Instinctively, you jump to the ground prone as the flames bypass over you. You jump back up, the worst of it over, though the air rippling with the heat of a light sauna." I think there's definitely ways to justify taking no damage as long as you remember damage is metaphorical.

Content creators allowing their opinions to evolve, change, and who aren't afraid to admit that and even challange their old views publicly, is awesome and something that helps our community better itself.

You wonder how people stand you, but here you are completely and totally being accountable for your shortcomings, acknowledging their impact, and overcoming them tangibly and visibly. You're honestly a role model that a LOT of people in the scene, KZfaq CREATORS INCLUDED, would do well to follow! And I don't mean stealing more of your ideas either!

When it comes to Evasion letting you "backflip out of a Fireball's radius", I've always pictured it being that the character with Evasion quickly weaves through all of the tiny pockets where there are gaps in the flames. Plus, having a character who has spider-sense level of awareness to be able to BACKFLIP 30 feet in the air to dodge an explosion is fucking badass! It can be annoying to deal with as a DM, bit god damn is it cool as a player.

Missing Barbarian feature: Fortitude Beginning at 7th level, you can stoically endure certain effects, such as a white dragon's icy breath or a Shatter spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Constitution saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

I only have two saving throw hot takes: 1) Having every ability have a save made most saves underutilized for both spells and creature designs. 2) If we’re going to have a Strength save, it should at least be used when a creature converts a successful attack into a grapple. But I might be biased as I was a barbarian in CoS

I've noticed that many D&D enthusiasts run into walls when the narrative in the story doesn't fit with the game mechanics. This breaks their suspension of disbelief and ruins the fun. I have also felt this, and I have a solution. Instead of changing the game mechanics, change the narrative. High-level Fighters and Rogues (and some Monks) can have no magic features, yet do things that are physically impossible without magic. Give them magic, narratively, implicitly. Give them a magic that is simpler, more primitive, and more foundational to the universe than spells. The only change to the game is acknowledging that "non-magical" classes are accessing powers inherent to the Material Plane itself. A high-level Fighter can literally survive falling from space at terminal velocity. Let them. Fighters access the magic that holds together matter. They can survive dozens of mortal wounds, they can fend off monsters that weigh thousands of pounds more than they do, and they can swing a weapon 8 times in three seconds. Rogues are able to perceive and manipulate the infinitely small lines of force that link all things. How can a simple dagger or arrow hurt a Dragon? The sneak attack damage comes from the Rogue's ability to transfer kinetic energy from their weapon through a line of force in their enemy. The force of "Pounds Per Square Inch" goes exponential when applied to a molecular line, passing straight through the enemy's whole body. The hydrostatic pressure wave of that damage ruptures the interior of the Dragon. Fighters can tank a mace, lighting bolt, or acid spray to the face and be just fine. They are full of the energy that holds the Material Plane together. Their bodies won't break until it runs out. Rogues can dodge explosions of any size because they can momentarily slip around a line of force that both binds and separates dimensions. The Rogue has no limited number of uses for its class mechanics. Why is that? They have the metaphysical precision to touch the Material Plane's magical lines of force, and tug on them, requiring no more effort than swinging a sword.

I just want to say: The telegraphing system doesn't even make sense for any AOE spells, because it would make those spells effectively useless. "Oh no, the wizard is going to cast fireball in this area on their next turn. Better run those 20 ft to get out of its radius. Well, now I'm safe and the wizard wasted a 3rd level spell slot. HURRAY!"

As a DM I don’t really get it when others have thoughts like “It sucks when my plays roll well on the ability they have specifically to avoid this situation that I know they have and knowingly put them in.” Lol. I’m not ragging on him in particular here it’s just something that seems to come a lot. I think it’s awesome when I design an encounter with the intention of one or two players being able to shine against certain tactics. The rogue can avoid the fire breath, but needs the tank to hold melee attention, for example. Avoiding damage can sometimes feel as cool as doing big damage.

When you mentioned the telegraphed attack, i was like, ah yes this adds the important choice of...move...or die...what challenging and inventive choices we make on this game of make believe. Love u Jacob and glad u made this redux video

Good on you, Jacob, for recognizing your mistakes and owning up to them! A true hallmark of a great DM!!

I IMMENSELY love that Jacob does videos like these, like his follow-up on the bard video he was able to understand that maybe he was looking at something in the wrong way at the time and can come back to the topic having read what others have to say. I know plenty of people online who would die on the hill they've made with a hot take but Jacob changes his stance and grows.

Evasion of a Red Dragon's breath by a rogue: "Tim stood defiant to the dragon as it's chest muscles tighten and it's head lunges forward sending out a gout of intense heat and flames. Tim had but a moment to stamp his foot down kicking up the old tower shield before the flames washed over him, and the rest of the party. As the flames died down, he realized he completely weathered the storm, looking to the others, they were infinitely worst for wear."

The one thing that I think people want when they complain about Evasion is an explanation on how they avoid it. No one talks about the Shield Master feat, and it has a near identical effect to Evasion.

I like how you had Spencer drop in, and you knew what point you wanted her to help you make, but instead she came in and made an even better point.

How our dm balances our lvl 16-20+ level characters is the story just gets bigger. And he mixes new and old stat blocks for more challenge. And relies on the "if my players can do it so can my enemies" idea. Doesn't feel like we steamroll everything or just get rekt everytime. I think adding more content and rules to 5e makes it refreshed enough for that "not fun over level 10" problem

Ideally your players are terrified of dying, while never (or very rarely) actually dying/TPK'ing. Make them think they got away with the skin of their teeth every time.

For me saving throws are part of the power fantasy: I like when my character is good at resisting certain effects. I like the image of my character diving to the side to avoid a lighting bolt, or resisting a hold person with pure force of will

Game design is a process and it shows that you are willing to learn to try new ideas and realize those ideas may be crap. It's not you being dumb for having a bad take, it's just part of the process.

I love that rogues can back flip out of an explosion without a scratch, I just imagine it being so cartoony, and I think we should embrace d&d´s cartoony-ness more

I'm glad you made this video, that saving throw video is probably one of the only things I disagreed with u on, You even mentioned the suspension of disbelief when 8 hour long rests HEAL OPEN WOUNDS, so why can't we backflip out of a fireball that makes the player feel awesome

It is actually really cool making something like this, because peoples ideas and opinions change over time, and addressing this I think is really important, because its something people always forget about, especially with content that's derived from opinions. Basically what I'm trying to say is, thanks Jacob, for always having an open mind, being self aware, and always being able to reflect and move forward. Its truly a testament to your honesty and I want you to know that we appreciate it.

I wanna play a game where the GM keeps sounding like they’re going to lead into a surprise combat, but every time, it’s something completely mundane. Right up until the cliff hanger at the end. I think that sounds like a good five minutes!

agreed Mythic is the direction to go for actual encounters. honestly i feel any endgame BBEG should use this system like FS does with their games. it just makes the encounters more interesting like the enemy is having to push past their limits to try to beat the party Edit: this is why scripts are important

This is something that I like about Pathfinder 2e, most effects with saving throws have degrees of success, so almost anyone *can* negate a fireball, but those with high Reflex and Evasion are more likely to negate it. Also, there are more reactions that players have access to which trigger on saves, so you have resources to spend on a turn by turn basis to improve your defenses. Also, Juggernaut and Resolve are basically Evasion but for Fortitude and Will, so you can improve your defenses to other types of effects as well. Finally, there’s Incapacitation effects, which are weaker (a degree of success in the defender’s favor) against creatures with a level higher than the attacker (or twice the level of the spell). This means that you can potentially be completely immune to a powerful effect unless you roll a natural one, and even then it’s not the worst possible effect. Oh yeah, and this means that save or suck spells basically don’t exist in PF2e.

Dodging a flame breath makes perfectly sense when you consider that it's not just one solid wall of fire. There are always spots and gapes one could use to get less harmed or in case of capable characters like Rogues not get harmed at all ... good for you for owning up to your less good hot takes though! :D

I like to think of dex saves against breath weapons as not dodging the breath weapon, but being fast enough to protect yourself. Such as shielding yourself with your cloak to protect your skin from damage.

I do miss Will, Fort, and Reflex. Favorite quote from my college D&D group. “I punch him in the will” Also I feel the next edition of D&D is going to be more simplified and sanitized. Then the one after that, would start to get engaging and expand rules again.

Really good video. Not hating on past Jacob or anything, but going back and analyzing some of your past ideas this way was really interesting to hear. Going back and assessing the perspectives we've had and decisions we make as DMs is something I think we need more role models for, and you demonstrated this well!

I remember reading a post from the angry GM that talked about saves in relation to traps and how they were dumb because it all kinda boiled down to two scenarios: 1: players spot the trap, have a chance to examine/disarm it (which might set off the trap) 2: players don't notice the trap and someone sets it off Either way it just boils down to a dice roll and yeah this is a game about rolling dice, but these situations, especially when the players don't notice the trap, just kinda feel like gotcha moments. Stepped on that pressure plate you didn't know was there? Roll to avoid damage. Grabbed a drawer handle without using detect magic or searching for traps? Oops, that one was booby trapped! Roll to avoid damage. What he was getting at is that traps kinda sucked and almost always boiled down to roll to avoid random damage which can feel kinda cheap. The resolution of a trap was basically completely devoid of decisions. You roll or take damage and if you fail you hope you have resistance or evasion. There's also a paranoia associated with traps because if the players run into one then there's probably more right? And that situation slows the game down because paranoid players then will go around rolling search/perception/investigation checks before they do ANYTHING. So he came up with the idea of what he called a Click rule. When a player activates a trap, you go CLICK, pausing the game, and ask the players "what do you do?" You don't tell them anything hints about what's going on around you beyond knowing that they triggered something. Stepped on a pressure plate, snagged a tripwire, heard a mechanism go off while opening a chest or door sorta thing. From there you interpret their reaction and apply it to the trap to see if it would help or hinder them in avoiding the trap. If it would help (ducking under a swinging blade trap) they'd get advantage on their save but if they did something really bad (dropping prone on top of a collapsing floor trap) it might give them disadvantage. In essence sometimes the players would be blindly guessing how to avoid a trap since they wouldn't know what it was, but if you were leaving clues or had an observant (or paranoid) player they might be able to guess what kind of trap it would be and come up with a way to avoid it. You might even end up in situations that a normal trap resolution doesn't account for. Like if a player's reaction is to push another player out of the way or to try and shield another player with their body. I think it was a pretty cool idea because instead of just rolling saves it gives the players a little bit of agency after a trap goes off and could lead to some interesting or memorable moments. It wasn't a fully formed rule or anything so there would be some things you might have to hash out with your players to see if everyone was on the same page about trying it out and how you might handle troublesome situations or perceived fair/unfairness in interpreting their reactions to the traps. But I think it sounded like a decent start to trying to find ways to make traps more interesting instead of just chance based HP taxes.

I think jacob would really like 4th edition. The things he wants are in 4th addition. -Smaller Spells going off more often (At Will powers) -Big spells doing things even on a miss (Almost all Daily Powers have a miss condition, and some Encounter powers do too) -Saving throws being more like an AC that pings off of different abilities (4e has AC, Reflex(Dex&Int), Fortitude(Str&Con), and Will(Wis&Cha)

The way I see Evasion working so that people can just negate damage is kinda similar to how spell casting is. The Weave is essentially the fabric of reality, and spells are essentially hacking into the Weave to manipulate reality to your will. However, as beings in reality and thus part of the Weave, some exceptional individuals can innately tap into the Weave through skill, will or force of personality. I see Rogues as being so skilled and nimble that they can sometimes duck into the Weave to avoid harm, like their reflexes are so good they can dip into the gaps of reality for a brief moment. Monks being essentially one with the universe can use their power of ki to subtly warp reality and avoid harm in the same way. Apply this logic to all saving throws, and certain people can mentally overcome another's attempt to weave the reality of their mind etc. This is what I've established with my players, so people not instantly dying to Fireball makes sense from a gameplay and narrative standpoint.

I pointed it out in the original video and I'll point it out here. There is in fact a spell for a telegraphed fireball. _Delayed Blast Fireball._ It does exactly what past Jacob wanted it to be and that's why it's a pretty bad spell for anyone to take because 9 times out of 10 the person you're trying to cast this high level spell on just... walks out of the radius if they're aware of the spell. At base it's the same as casting Fireball at 7th level, which is the same level as Delayed Blast Fireball. The problem is that not only do you have to WAIT for it do deal more damage, enemies can move out of it or even worse an enemy with high dex or legendary resistances can yeet the bead back at you or your allies. It is a telegraphed fireball and it is not good.

Betrayal at House on the Hill has this number counter system you could use for that stress points system if you wanted to make mental spell saves stronger. you could make it to where if one of these types of spells (that doesn't have "on successful save" text) is used on them they take 1 point of stress (or trauma or something) which lowers your mental score for the purpose of spell saves by the corresponding number on the point counter, and 1 point can be removed with Lesser Restoration. (or something along those lines.)

I think a great idea to make mental spells like illusions and enchantments more unique would be to introduce a mental exhaustion mechanic. Basically whenever you make a saving throw against a spell that affects your mind, you gain levels of mental exhaustion as your psyche is worn down by all of these mental attacks. The outcome of the save would determine how much mental exhaustion you gain. Plus, then you could have monsters like Mind Flayers and other psionic users be immune to mental exhaustion.

Rogue and Monk have very little HP anyhow. I think if anything they NEED evasion more than anyone else

For the record, I really appreciated this video! It’s totally fine to have hot takes, and you did a good job with explaining your thoughts in this video. You were also very open to feedback here, and that means a lot.

Hey man don't be too hard on yourself. New family, new growth, new books all coming is a lot on top of running your channel bro. Toughest part of grace is extending it to ourselves

I said it before and I’ll say it again: in all fantasy or adventure movies since the dawn of time, fire explodes in an area and the hero crunches down/turns their back/spins like a top and as the flames disappear their clothes are smoking but they’re unharmed. If it’s a person with a shield, they block it with a shield lower body untouched, or grab a cape and pull their cape around them. There’s literally a scene recently in a series where a teen kid with a trash can lid stood in place with a thousand flying bat like demons rushing him and not a single one hit his lower, exposed body, they all hit the trash can lid. Cool looking scene but not realistic at all. Realism and physics means nothing in d&d, it’s all about the flavor and fun.

Fun reaction to your hot take 😄 I have no issue with saving throws. Thanks for revisiting and being humble enough to engage in self critique!!

It helps to not take the area of effect "mechanics" as the actual visual, a fireball might instead shoot into the target area and explode outwards in several bursts of fire and debris, imagine several firey bursts shooting from the centre of the fireball area, therefore a dex save let's you avoid the brunt of those whilst still being in the area. A dragon's breath doesn't have to mean "it opens its mouth and a precise cone of fire comes out", maybe it's a thinner stream and the dragon sweeps its head around, therefore affecting that whole area but again, avoidable by dexy characters ducking and jumping about for cover etc.

*Character Idea:* Kronk, from _The Emperor's New Groove_ (2000), but as a Monk. Every time he Evades he just stands there saying, "Well, ya got me. By all accounts, it doesn't make sense."

I think a valid solution to Evasion is, if you choose to use it, you’re forced to move outside the area of effect. It would help avoid the damage but could also put you next to bad guys. Or it could help the character maneuver to a better spot, giving them an advantage. That might be cool.

Jacob backfliped out of criticism like a G

I love how Jacob throws a bad take every now and then and apologises a few months after

what i love most about this, is that you are always willing to call yourself out because you seem to want to just help people tell the best story and have the most fun they can. keep on doing what your doing. also, come to the 3.5 side (or back to it).

The idea about a depleting number for avoiding damage is used in Troika. Characters roll a luck stat at creation that allows them to tip the scales in fights and skill checks, might be worth looking into.

"You have a choice to dodge or not the dodge" Well, to play devils advocate, no you don't. A saving throw is completely free, it's not a reaction ability. If you choose to dodge, there is no cost. If you choose to not dodge, there is no benefit. Effectively "There is but one choice"; Which is the same as no choice; Because the game doesn't provide ample reason to want to not dodge. (I am not saying that crowding the reaction by forcing saving throws to take a reaction is a good idea. it's a really bad idea.) Edit: Honestly though, this is good design. If you see a person cast a fireball, who in their right mind would ever want to not dodge? What benefit could possibly exist to make being hit good, save maybe a class ability that works by reacting to damage, but you could still dodge and take less damage and react then. Basically, there is no choice in saving throws, and that is fine. That kind of choice in a game is meaningless. It's like asking if a person wants to kill a bandit with a sword or a spear. It doesn't really change anything. Either way, the bandit dies. End result is the same.

We play a different TTRPG. Here, everytime you roll (including for a 'save', where you react to something), you get to decide, how you do it. So if a fireball is cast on you, you could decide to jump from the area (mobility roll), magically absorb the energy around you (fire magic roll) or even shoot the wizard before they finish casting (ranged combat roll). If you then fail, you can spend resources to get at least a partial success (for example you miss the wizard, but make them finish the spell hastily, so it misses you too). These resources are sparse and you also use them to activate your abilities or as HP basically, so the choice is real (also one night of rest does't restore all of them). I really love this system.

I appreciate that you revisited this one! It definitely sounds like a forest-for-trees preoccupation with some specific scenarios. And what I think past!Jacob was missing was that… Some choices you make in dnd are “something just happened. Now what will you do?” Like, there are some features that let you add to AC when you get attacked, but you don’t have the choice of just Being Hit or Not Being Hit most of the time. I think an important takeaway is that Consequences are good for the game, and they give players more scenarios and conflicts to react to and to make decisions. Not every decision the players make have to come whole-cloth from their own idea/they don’t have to be the instigators.

What I love is self evaluation and introspection. You’ve earned a sub my man! Keep it up

This man has a very healthy relationship with his KZfaq self. He still finds himself funny even when rewatching for probably the 100th time. Keep it up!

The main thing I take away from rolling dice in DnD: 1) roll less (skill checks only when necessary) and 2) 1d20 is VERY random and I prefer Xd6 systems over 1d20+X systems.

If I had a coin for everytime I've seen Jacob respond to a video he made on a subject he changed his mind about I'd have two coins, which is not a lot but it's interesting it happened twice

"somebody has evasion and I was mad" *Looks at Spencer's pile of rogue carechter sheets*

14:00 *Fun story about saving throws:* I recently started a new game of Dragon Heist and one of my players is a Goliath Paladin with 7 INT and when they got to the end of the Xanathar hideout, they were the only one in range. Lv1 Paladin with 7 INT vs an Intellect Devourer - They rolled a 19 (aka 17 with -2 INT). As a reward I let them knock out the Intellect Devourer and I gave it amnesia (aka removed it's mind zapping abilities) and let them keep it as a pet.

Being a DM is a journey that has no end, it's nice to see a well-known DM showing that yeah, sometimes DMs get stinky opinions. It's through trial and error that we realize why certain things work and don't work in DND, being a DM means experimenting for the sake of enjoyability at the end of the day.

I love watching these videos, you actually kick your own @ss when you rethink your own points. Seriously entertaining.

Props and respect to you for being willing to make this video. Most people who criticize and/or make their own content would not being willing to do so. Shows a lot about you in a great way sir.

I just discovered this channel and went on a watch spree. Yesterday I saw that video about Saving Throws. I disagreed with it, but it was generally entertaining.

As a DM, Evasion is lame and boring unless you put effort in to narrate it well. As a Player, Evasion is SICK AS HELL, because avoiding 28d10 damage will never not feel great. It's all perspective really

I'm proud of you Jacob, for being able not only to accept when people told you you were wrong and you thought about it and said you know what I was kind of wrong there, but to admit that here in the very place you had made that bad take. You are how much bigger man than the Jacob I played D&D and Pathfinder with.

Great follow up vid. The first video raised some great points. And in regards to player choice vs DM, the first thing most people do in a video game is seeing how far they can push the game until it breaks. The same thing can happen in D&D.

Imagine backflipping back into the fireball.

I recently DMed a hybrid Star Wars 5e/D&D 5e game that reached 20th level, in the party there was a monk and a rogue and both had a version of evasion. By then, you have plenty of options with monsters, spells and abilities that target things other than Dex saving throws so you should change it up and target their weaknesses occasionally to keep them on their toes (Charmed rogues are fun 😈) in addition to Dex, so they they feel rewarded for taking it yet still challenged.

Facing your mistakes publicly takes a lot of character. I appreciate it.

The "points to resist spells/traps/whatever, but it makes you weaker if you spend too much" is the whole basis of Monte Cook's Cypher system. You should have a look at whether you want to nab something from it for your house-rules. You basically have normal HP but they can also be spent to get a bonus to rolls to succeed at challenges, even ones that might cost you more hp if you fail. Then you also have basically nimble HP and mental HP and they're used for the other two avenues of "doing things". It works surprisingly well to simulate characters running out of steam, even when they manage to avoid getting hit by a trap or mind-controlled, while at the same time rewarding your decision to spend some of your HP. It requires a bit of getting used to in comparison, but if you're used to 5E you're already used to giving the characters regular chances to rest.

The whole "if they save, the spell basically fizzles and does nothing" IS frustrating, I'll give you that, which is why I'm such a huge fan of the Pathfinder 2E tiers from crit fail to fail to success to crit success. For many spells there is still something that might happen, but it could be a lot worse, and if you're built for it you can negate the spell entirely. If there was ever a system I'd want to bring to 5E, the tiered system (as well as the +/- 10 for crits to make it work) would be it

"How do you guys stand me?" - we all make mistakes Jacob - the fact that you can look back and realize your mistakes and own them and learn from them is exactly part of the reason why we can stand you! Plz don't be so hard on yourself :)

I think it’s really admirable and awesome that you can look back at yourself, and make light of yourself. Great video 🤘 thank you, and congrats!

I took a break from watching your channel after the saving throw video. Thank you for responding to it after you cleared your mind.

Backflipping out of a Fireball is dumb, though.

There’s actually a really easy fix to this that’s already in the game in a different place that I use in my home brew game. The Shield Master feat allows you to basically have evasion when you have a shield equipped. The idea being you have such control of the shield you can use it to absorb all the damage. But this only works when the spell or attack targets only you. It doesn’t work for AOE. You just apply the same principle to evasion and jobs done. It makes sense for a rogue to be fast enough to dodge a ray of sickness or frost when it only targets them. It’s real hard to dodge an explosion if you’re in the middle of it. They still get a saving through to kind of brace and maybe take half but they can only negate it if it only targets them. On the other hand tho evasion still costs your reaction. So yes you negate the damage but you may now miss out on an opportunity attack or a chance to assist a team mate. THATS the decision of evasion and I’ve seen players choose not to use it for the sake of keeping an opportunity attack or in the case of multi classing, counterspell.

Props for going back and taking an analytical look at a previous video and addressing it. So many people would just double-down even if when they realize what they previously said was silly or made no sense.

The telegraphic thing about fireball is just describing delayed blast fireball but a little more complex.

Yeah, I took a lot of time to think really hard about what you said about Saving Throws last time, since I'm designing another system for personal use. I had to conclude that Saving Throws are actually really great, but that there are _also_ better alternatives that could be invented for that new system. In 5e however, they're a good design. The system is integral with them currently.

My favorite videos aren't the "(insert mechanic) is dumb" videos. It's the inevitable response video that Jacob makes about himself, which I would love to be called "Jacob is dumb"

Unrelated, but I just stubbed my toe and now have decided to add toe stubbing to my campaigns. Just imagine that you, the fighter, moves 50 feet and rolls a nat 1 to attack a dragon. This causes you to take, let’s say 2d4 bludgeoning damage from running, stubbing your toe on a unseen rock, and dropping your sword.

10/10 Really shows maturity and humility to be able to do something like this.

I feel like past Jacobs just wanted AC-like saves, so it doesn't involve rolling dices. As well as rogues and monks to die from a fireball :)

I literally can't wait for the 3rd part of this trilogy in 8 months when he realizes his video on his bad take is a bad take. Also if you want people and monsters to get hit more often, just give everbody a plus or minus 1 or 2 across the board, you're upset over balence when you can adjust it as you see fit. Silly goose.

*Laughs in Mutants and Masterminds defenses system*

I'm watching you from not so long ago, and must say your content is amazing. Keep up the good work!

I wouldn't mind if Evasion cost your reaction like the Rogue's Uncanny Defense, but I'm not sure I'd ever nerf it in my home game. There are plenty of other ways to attack character's other defenses.

I've actually run a one-off encounter that used telegraphs as a test, but they didn't replace saving throws or alter existing spells, they were only for specific, special abilities. For instance, the enemy would use an action to do a special attack with a specific weapon, and depending on what weapon they drew, a certain AOE or attack would occur at the start of their next turn. Or they'd summon pylons that would, before the start of their next turn, launch attacks in predetermined directions. Since they were coupled with other abilities, they didn't stifle the boss's action economy, and since they weren't automatic, the players actually had time to react. Some things did automatic damage if the players were in the telegraph, but others still would allow for saves if they were in the telegraph, depending on the strength and what it was. But, if players could identify the attack pattern, players could avoid all damage. The goal was more to encourage mobility in combat, avoid immediate unavoidable damage and allow players to react, but still make the boss more dangerous, and it made for a really interesting combat. It's worth noting this was PF2, so players had a bit more freedom for movement as they didn't have to worry about Attacks of Opportunity, but this would also be possible to implement in something like 5e, especially if it's tied more to the map itself. E.g. the boss can designate some emplacements or sections of terrain to charge at the end of his turn, and they go off at the start of his next. You just don't want them using their entire action or resources to do so.

I remember watching the original video and being so confused by your argument 😂 glad you were able to revisit it with clear eyes.

*"Only through admitting our own mistakes do we grow."*