Admittedly, I don't like pre-buffing and the pre-buff-heavy playstyle. I DMed a very high-level 3.5 campaign and it was absolute madness with the buffs. But you could make durations short enough that casting them much before combat would waste a lot of the buff, or make some buffs only castable while in combat, or specify certain buffs that don't stack with each other, or provide typed bonuses that don't stack with each other, or institute a sort of "buff limit" on characters (kinda like how you can only attune to 3 magic items, you could like, only be able to have 3 active spells on you or something).
This was actually how Larian dealt with it in D:OS 2, buffs had really short durations (usually like 3 turns or so), so you couldn't get much benefit out of prebuffing. This still more or less achieves the same result though, it effectively kills off the buffer playstyle for those who enjoy it. Adding a buff limit also achieves the same result (killing off the buffbot playstyle) and functionally its very similar to concentration, but instead of concentrating to maintain the limit, you have now moved the limit onto the target instead of the caster. It is also more gamey than concentration, because its harder (although still possible) to explain.
My main concern is, is there a way to maintain this playstyle for those who enjoy it, without unbalancing the game for everyone else? I rather tentatively feel yes there is, but it will involve significant tradeoffs to achieve that result.
I don't see how it has all that much verisimilitude when it's applied so unevenly, though. Either persistent effects require spellcasters to concentrate on them, or they don't. 5e can't seem to decide which it is.
Mage is like, "Wow, that summoned hammer thing is powerful, do you have to concentrate on that?"
- "Nah, I just cast it and it sticks around for a minute without further attention."
- "Wait, really? But I just made some little dancing lights, and I have to keep concentrating on those..."
Cleric is like, "Wow, that armor spell you cast is even better than my Shield of Faith (well, kinda), do you have to concentrate on that?"
- "Nah, I just cast it and it lasts eight hours without me ever thinking about it again, lol"
- "WAT."
My comment about verisimilitude there had more to do with the concept of concentration itself, rather than how 5e applies it. I absolutely agree, the way it is applied in 5e is inconsistent, but that is not the fault of the mechanic itself, rather it is the fault of the implementation of it.
