So, I’m actually a fan of the design work that the 5th Edition folks put into D&D 5e.
They knew what they wanted to build, and they built it pretty well. It makes a lot of sense for what they had in mind. I agree with 99% of everything they say. They did a really good job, and I’m a fan of 5e.
Here’s one, though, where Jeremy Crawford, writing an answer to a question in Sage Advice, really really really got his answer wrong and unnecessarily nerfed some weapon damage.
To wit: The Barbarian has a Class Ability called Brutal Critical that adds an additional Damage Die (or two or three) when a Barbarian inflicts a Critical Hit. Jeremy apparently doesn’t understand the concept of what a Damage Die is… The damage die for a Longsword is 1d8 if used 1-handed (or 1d10 if used 2-handed). The Damage Die for a Greatsword is 2d6. So if a 9th-Level Barbarian got a Brutal Crit with a Longsword, he’d do 3d10 if using it 2-handed… because he got the extra Damage Die from the Crit, and another extra Damage Die from Brutal Critical. Now… according to fucking Jeremy, if the Barbarian were wielding a Greatsword and achieved a Brutal Crit, he’d roll 5d6… 2d6 because that’s the Greatswords Damage Die, 2d6 because you double the Damage Dice when you Crit, and then 1d6 for the Brutal Critical because fucking Jeremy has somehow changed the definition of “Damage Die” to mean only one DIE!!
Seriously???
This makes any weapon that rolls two dice as its Damage Die utterly inferior to weapons that use a single die.
Bullshit.
In our game, the Damage Die listed in the Damage section of any weapon’s stats will be the thing that is doubled when you Crit, including any power that adds Damage Dice like Brutal Critical.
Fucking bullshit, illogical shit.
Have some sense.