Hey @mikemearls @JeremyECrawford hope your day is awesome 🙂 for 5e what was the reasoning behind an unconscious creature still getting their Dex bonus to AC? Did playtesting show people forgot about it or was it a conscious (haha) design decision?
— Dan B (@Sectioned16) August 14, 2018
In playtesting, we found that removing your Dexterity modifier from your AC in different situations wasn’t enjoyable enough to justify the slowdown in play. Applying disadvantage got us close enough to our design target to call it good and get on with the fun. #DnD https://t.co/h17VSnQcTf
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) August 14, 2018
We need to capture this in the next errata, but the game assumes that characters who fall unconscious drop to the floor and start break dancing to pass the time until the fight ends. Hence, they keep their AC. https://t.co/fdpEmkpGRQ
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) August 14, 2018
This IS accounted for when we understand that Advantage/Disadvantage ~5+/- any given d20.
Since the maximum Dexterity modifier is +5, a character never really benefits from their Dexterity modifier while prone and every hit being an AUTOMATIC CRIT ~should~ sate DM bloodlust. It’s actually rather brilliant and elegant froma. Design standpoint and I’d be hard pressed as a designer to say that swapping the loss of dexterity for the Adv/Disadv system would prove more exciting. My vote is that the system stay the same.
— RutyWoot! #Inclusivity (@RutyWoot) August 15, 2018